The Gilgit Manuscripts
The Gilgit Manuscripts discovered in the early 1900s in Gilgit are one of the oldest Buddhist Manuscripts discovered in India. Believed to be one of the most revered Buddhist scriptures, it represents the discourse delivered by Buddha towards the end of his life.
A leaf from the Gilgit Manuscript
The Gilgit Manuscripts : A Treasure Forgotten
A couple of cattle grazers in 1931, in a village Naurpur near Gilgit once came upon a wooden box in a circular chamber in side a Buddhist stupa which contained a large number old Manuscripts pertaining to Buddhism. Little did they know that they had stumbled upon one of the most important finds of the century. The Gilgit Manuscripts are the oldest surviving religious Manuscripts from the sub-continent and of the oldest ones in Buddhism.
The cattle grazers took the collection to the Wazir of Gilgit who in turn turned it over to the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir and the news of the discovery of this Great Treasure spread world wide. Opinions vary about the date of this manuscript. One branch of scholars says it was written in the second century AD., while another puts the date at somewhere between the sixth and seventh centuries.
The Hand Painted Covers in which the Manuscripts were kept
Gilgit was at that time at the cross roads where South Asia, Central Asia and Eastern Asia met and it was an important stop on the Silk Road. Many monks from India carried the message of the Buddha from here to Tibet, China, Korea and even as far as Japan. It was along the Silk Road that Buddhism spread eastwards towards the rest of Asia. Gilgit hence played an important part in the spread of Buddhism and hence this find.
The almost seventeen centuries old Gilgit Manuscript has been giving historians a hard time, as no one has yet been able to fully decipher it. The lamination of the manuscript by the National Archives of India sometime ago has once again put the limelight back on this all-important literature concerning India, Tibet, China, Japan and other neighbouring countries.
Another leaf from the Gilgit Manuscipt
In fact in 1897 - 34 years before it was discovered - the Buddhist Text Society of Calcutta had published references to the Gilgit Manuscript saying that if it were ever to be found it would unravel the ancient history of several communities as it is considered to be the oldest Buddhist manuscript.
A corpus of many Buddhist texts such as the Four Sutras from the Buddhist canon, including the famous Lotus Sutra, the Manuscripts survived because they were written on the bark of the Bhoj (Birch) Tree which does not decay and obviously helped by the sub zero temperatures in Gilgit. They were written in the Buddhist form of Sanskrit in the Sarada or the Sharda Script. The Gilgit Manuscripts deciphered thus far cover a wide range of subjects such as religion, religious rituals, philosophy, iconometry, monastic discipline, folk tales, medicine and culinary art.
The most famous of the Gilgit manuscripts, the Gilgit Lotus Sutra is preserved in the National Archives of India in Delhi. Known as the Saddharma Pundarika Sutra – or the teachings of the white lotus and sun – the sutra is the basis of the Tiantai and Nichiren schools of Buddhism. In 2012 a facsimile edition of it was published by by the National Archives jointly with the Institute of Oriental Philosophy and Soka Gakkai, a Japan-based non-governmental organization.
Another cover for the Gilgit Manuscript
"In August 1938, seven years after the discovery of the texts, the archaeologist Madhusudan Kaul Shastri led a systematic excavation of the Naupur site and discovered another larger chamber at the base of the structure. The chamber contained another set of the Gilgit Manuscripts along with votive objects and probably Buddhist cult bronzes.
"According to renowned scholar Karl Jettmar, inscriptions on these bronzes “reveal that they were produced and dedicated due to the generosity and the religious zeal of a Patola Shahi”. The Patola Shahis, also known as Palola Shahis, were the rulers of Gilgit and Baltistan from the late sixth to the early eighth centuries AD.
"Shortly after, Kaul Shastri and his team outlined the specifications of the second group of manuscripts and other finds from the site including the hand painted covers of two manuscripts.
"In the third phase, the well-known Italian scholar Giuseppe Tucci secured another small group of the manuscripts in 1956. Obtaining them from a street vendor in Rawalpindi, he presented them to the Karachi museum.
"Roughly 60 manuscripts and 17 Avadnas emerging from Naupur are of unmatched significance in Buddhist studies. These are the oldest surviving collection of religious texts in the subcontinent. Based on the paleographical evidence, scholars agree that local Buddhist devotees compiled these texts between the fifth and sixth century AD. With the exception of only a few scripts, all the manuscripts were written on birch bark in Buddhist hybrid Sanskrit language in the Gupta Brahmi and post-Gupta Brahmi script.
More leaves from the Gilgit Manuscript
"The manuscripts contain sutras from the Buddhist canon, the Samghata Sutra, Samadhiraja Sutra, Saddharma Pundarika Sutra, and Bhaisajyaguru Sutra.The Samadhiraja Sutra is one of the important Mahayana canonical texts, which are collectively called Navadharma. The Saddharma Pundarika Sutra, popularly known as Lotus Sutra, figures prominently in the Gilgit Manuscripts and scholars agree it was the most venerated sutra of the Buddhists from the Gilgit area"
Though the grammatical and literature aspects of the text are gradually becoming more of historical interest in the contemporary world, what is of interest is the social relevance of some of the sutras mentioned in the manuscript. Experts feel that when the full text is deciphered a common thread will be found in the language and people of countries like India China, Japan, Thailand, Tibet and Korea which would have the potential of altering the very geo-political map of the region.
At present the main collection is with the National Archives in New Delhi and some parts with the British Museum in London and at the Karachi Museum. Apparently Nehru had the many body of the Manuscripts bought by a special Plane from Srinagar in 1948 after the Tribal Invasion. However a small part of the manu scripts still lie at the Shri Partap Museum in Srinagar though not on display.
The importance of the Gilgit Manuscripts can be guaged from this Report in the BBC :
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-17935041
As luck would have it I managed to have a look and some parts of this Great Treasure at the Sri Partap Singh Museum yesterday and was even allowed to take pics. :)
Some more leaves
To come face to face with such a great treasure is truly a humbling experience and I could not help but tremble with excitement as the significance of what I was going to see. This is the Holy Grail of Buddhist Learning.
NOTE : Compiled from nformation on the Gilgit Manuscripts from various references on the Net.
PS : The Museum plans to put this on Display as it is shifting to a new Building and some Galleries are already open for Public viewing. The Museum has a great collection and is a must see when you visit Srinagar. I will try and share more treasures from the Museum here.
The Treasures of the Shri Pratap Singh Museum
The SPS Museum Srinagar was established in 1898 AD in the Maharaja’s Summer guest house largely based on collections transferred from State Toshkhana. Approximately 79,595 artifacts and objects covering various subjects like Archaeology, Numismatics, Decorative Art, Arms and Armory, Paintings, Textiles etc are housed in the Museum. A must visit for anyone in Kashmir.
The Treasures of the Shri Pratap Singh Museum
The SPS Museum Srinagar was established in 1898 AD in the Maharaja’s Summer guest house largely based on collections transferred from State Toshkhana. Approximately 79,595 artifacts and objects covering various subjects like Archaeology, Numismatics, Decorative Art, Arms and Armory, Paintings, Textiles etc are housed in the Museum. The proposal for the Museum was made around 1889 when a memorandum was submitted to the then Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, Maharaja Pratap Singh by his younger brother General Amar Singh and a European scholar, Captain S H Godferry proposing to build a museum in Srinagar for exhibiting artifacts covering the regions of Jammu, Kashmir, Ladakh, Baltistan and Gilgit. However the Museum was finally opened to public in March 1898.
The Museum was set up in a smaller Palace of the Maharaja by the banks of the Jehlum where the Guests of the Maharaja used to put up. The Old Museum Building in itself is a work of art with great frescoes and art adorning the walls and the ceilings. This Building faced the brunt of the floods in 2014 and is now closed for Public viewing. The Museum exhibits however have been moved to a new Museum building which has come up.
Some of the treasures that are on display (or will be on display are as follows) :
1. Harwan Terracotta Tiles
The Museum has on display a number of Terracotta Tiles which were discovered at the remains of an almost 2000 year old Buddhist Monastery in Harwan. This important Buddhist site is said to be the venue of the Fourth Buddhist Council convened by the Kushan Emperor Kanishka in the first century AD. It was from this Council that an estimated 500 monks left for Central Asia, Tibet and China to propagate the message of Lord Buddha.
The Tiles show a distinct Parthian/ late Sasanian influence underlying the close connections that Kashmir had with the Gandhara region at the time when Buddhism was the prevalent system of belief in both the regions. The Museum has a number of these Tiles showing daily activities of life in those times.
2. The Gilgit Manuscripts
One of the oldest Manuscripts ever found in India, this Manuscript was found is a Village in Gilgit and was then passed onto the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir. As for the significance of the Gilgit manuscripts, especially of the Lotus Sutra which was found among the Manuscripts, I quote from a BBC article on the same “The Lotus Sutra was found in Gilgit region, now in Pakistan.The document, which dates back to 5th century, is perhaps the only Buddhist manuscript discovered in India.
Believed to be one of the most revered Buddhist scriptures, it represents the discourse delivered by Buddha towards the end of his life.
The Lotus Sutra is one of the most sacred scriptures of Mahayana Buddhism , which is strongest in Tibet, China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, and Mongolia.”
A part of the collection is also housed in the National Archives in Delhi as well as some part exists in the Karachi Museum.
3. The 9th Century Vaishnava Avatar Bronze Frame
One of the most priceless treasures on display at the SPS Museum at Srinagar is a 9th Century metal “Vaishnava Avatar” frame which is a Prabhavali of bronze metal alloy measuring 6’4″ in height and 4′ wide and 1’2″ thick weighing almost 100 kgs excavated from Devsara. As the name suggests it shows various Avatars of Vishnu. Devsara, which is in Kulgam district had been in the past a great center for the casting of Bronze images and other metal works. Many of the bronze/ metal sculptures found here have unfortunately gone missing as they were simply taken away in the olden times as metal was always in high demand.
This masterpiece was discovered in 1931 and it is dated to the period of Shankar Varman. Each of the deity cast on it has great detailing and as such is a brilliant example of Kashmiri metal craftsmanship of that period. Fortunately this great piece of art along with another bronze sculpture of Lord Buddha along with a few coins made it to the Museum from the Devsara site. This sculpture is one of its kind in Kashmir and maybe India as well and is rated one of the most significant archaeological find in the Indian subcontinent.
4.Ghodas of the Ghoda Gali
Another fascinating item on display are the Stone sculptures of the Ghoda Galli. Dotted along the Pir Panjals at certain Passes are these stone sculptures of Man Riding a Horse. These are usually found at the top of some Passes and they are found at numerous locations all over the Pir Panjals in the Jammu region. No one seems to be sure of how many of these are spread all over the Region, Even the origin is not very clear. As I spoke to one of the officials in the Museum the sculptures show a distinct Hellenic influence. A significant site for these is a place called the Ghoda Galli situated near Ramban where a great collection of these sculptures exist. A few of these pieces were sent over to the Sri Pratap Museum as well.
5.The Map Shawl
The amazing and exquisite Map Shawl of Srinagar. This Shawl took 30 years in the making. There are 3 or 4 such specimens in the world. And these were made in the late 1800’s.
One was presented to Queen Victoria by Maharaja Ranbir Singh and is presently at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. One more is with a Museum in Australia. One is with a private collector and this piece is at the Shri Pratap Singh Museum in Srinagar though it’s not on display as it needs some refurbishing after the Floods.
It would be one of the most expensive pieces of textile ever made if it would be put on an auction.
6. Boat Gifted by Queen Victoria to Maharaja Ranbir Singh
In the Museum Parking lies an interesting exhibit probably the largest one in whole Museum. A boat that was gifted by Queen Victoria to the then Maharaja of Kashmir, Maharaja Ranbir Singh. As of today it lies in a bad shape as it lies out in the open. Hopefully more would be done to preserve this important piece of History.
Kiki’s Blog
Stories from the Himalayas
Five years ago the Galwan Valley was in the News for the wrong reasons after a deadly clash between the Indian and Chinese Armies in the Valley located in Ladakh lead to many deaths on the contentious Border between the two countries in wake of continued Chinese intrusions into Indian territory.
This area along the Shyok River, of which the Galwan Nallah or the Galwan River which forms the Galwan Valley has been off limits to Civilians since long but now the Indian Government has decided to open up the area for Civilians and we were amongst the First Civilians to venture into this beautifully desolate part of the Eastern Karakorams in Ladakh. Earlier Civilians could only venture upto the Village of Shyok from where the Shyok River takes a U turn and flows in a Northerly direction.