City, Palace, and Army: Various Fragments of Buddhist Uyghur Literature
Uğur UzunkayaUyghurs who migrated to Ganzhou and Turfan regions after 840 established two new khaganates. In this region, in which religious and ethnic diversity is dominant, the Uyghurs have given importance to commercial activities. Thus, they have adopted a settled lifestyle. Linguistic data about the life of the Uyghurs can be found especially in nonreligious Old Uyghur texts, which contain an extensive vocabulary on architectural structures, interior and exterior structural elements, building materials, carrier systems, public spaces, agricultural areas, and irrigation structures. These texts point toward the settled lifestyle of the Uyghurs. In addition, Buddhist pilgrimage centers, important cities, religious buildings, and mystically divine palaces are occasionally mentioned in the Old Uyghur religious texts on Buddhist themes. This article focuses on the edition of seven Old Uyghur fragments related to Buddhism, which have not been previously published. The fragments primarily address topics such as the city, palace, and army. The Berlin Turfan Collection houses the fragments included in this work, which are identified through archival numbers U 2077 (o. F.), U 2301 (T I D), U 2316 (T I D 505; T I D), U 5465 (T I D 622), U 2418 (T II 530), U 2332 (T I D 526; T I D), and U 4868 (T I D 643; T I D). This article encompasses the transcription, transliteration, Turkish translation, explanation, and a glossary/index of these fragments.
Şehir, Saray ve Ordu: Budist Uygur Edebiyatına İlişkin Muhtelif Fragmanlar
Uğur Uzunkaya840 sonrasında Gansu ve Turfan bölgelerine göç eden Uygurlar burada iki yeni devlet kurmuşlardır. Dinî ve etnik çeşitliliğin hâkim olduğu bu bölgede Uygurlar ticari faaliyetlere önem vermişler ve bunun önemli bir sonucu olarak yerleşik yaşam tarzını benimsemişlerdir. Uygurların bu yaşantısına ilişkin dilsel verilere özellikle din dışı Eski Uygurca metinlerde rastlanılmaktadır. Din dışı Eski Uygurca metinlerde Uygurların yerleşik yaşam tarzına işaret eden mimari yapılara, iç ve dış yapısal unsurlara, yapı malzemelerine, taşıyıcı sistemlere, kamusal mekânlara, tarımsal alanlara ve sulama yapılarına ilişkin geniş bir söz varlığı mevcuttur. Bunun yanında Budist konulu Eski Uygurca dinî metinlerde de kimi zaman Budist hac merkezlerinden, önemli şehirlerden, dinî yapılardan ve daha mistik olarak tanrısal saraylardan bahsedilir. Bu yazı da temelde şehir, saray ve ordu gibi konulara değinen ve şimdiye kadar neşredilmemiş Budizm ile ilişkili yedi Eski Uygurca fragmanın neşri hakkındadır. Bu çalışmadaki fragmanlar Berlin Turfan Koleksiyonu’nda bugün şu arşiv numaralarıyla saklanmaktadır: U 2077 (o. F.), U 2301 (T I D), U 2316 (T I D 505; T I D), U 5465 (T I D 622), U 2418 (T II 530), U 2332 (T I D 526; T I D) ve U 4868 (T I D 643; T I D). Bu yazı söz edilen fragmanların yazı çevirimini, harf çevirisini, aktarımını, açıklamalarını ve sözlük / dizinini içermektedir.
Subsequent to the fall of the Eastern Uyghur Khaganate in Mongolia, which is commonly referred to as the Steppe Uyghur Khaganate, in 840, the Uyghur population residing in this area migrated to the Ganzhou and Turfan regions. Those who migrated to the Ganzhou region established the Ganzhou Uyghur Khaganate, which the Tanguts subsequently abolished circa 1035. Alternatively, the Uyghurs who migrated to the Turfan region established the Western Uyghur Khaganate, which is commonly known as the Qocho Uyghur Khaganate. This second group, which was later referred to as Turfan Uyghurs, was founded on the great trade route network known as the Silk Road in the Tarim Basin in which many ethnic structures and cultural traditions exist and various languages are spoken. The Uyghurs in this region changed their lifestyles and took a step toward the settled life due to this natural outcome. Nonreligious texts mainly document the linguistic data related to the settled life in Old Uyghur literature. In addition, the Old Uyghur religious texts on Buddhist themes occasionally mention Buddhist pilgrimage centers, important cities, religious buildings and, mystically divine palaces. The major focus of this article is the edition of seven previously unpublished Old Uygur fragments that pertain to Buddhism and discuss subjects such as the city, palace, and army. The fragments featured in this work are currently held in the Berlin Turfan Collection, which can be identified through corresponding archival numbers U 2077 (o. F.), U 2301 (T I D), U 2316 (T I D 505; T I D), U 5465 (T I D 622), U 2418 (T II 530), U 2332 (T I D 526; T I D), and U 4868 (T I D 643; T I D). Fragments in the article have been transcribed, transliterated, and translated into Turkish with explanations and a glossary/index.
The first fragment included bears archive number U 2077. The phrase inner palace (Old Uyghur: ič saray) in the fragment suggests that this text identifies the cult of Maitreya. The archive number of the second fragment in the study is U 2301 with an older classification mark T I D. This undefined fragment refers to China (OU: ulug tavgač elintä) and its ruler (OU: tavgač han) and thousand-man army (OU: mıŋlıg alpagut). The third fragment has archive number U 2316 with older classification marks T I D 505 and T I D. The text mentions the city of Śrāvastī (OU: šrav(a)st känt). The fourth fragment bears archive number U 5465 and an old class mark T I D 622. An interesting aspect of this fragment in terms of vocabulary is from birds of prey (OU: talım k(a)ra kuš), this world (OU: čambudv(i)p), and city gate (OU: balık kapıgı) to speak. The archive number of the fifth fragment is U 2418, and its old classification mark is T II 530. The lexis of this fragment refers to Mount Sumeru (OU: sumer tag), sūtra jewel (OU: sudur ärdini), and magic power (OU: küü käliglig küči küsüni). The sixth fragment has archive number U 2332 and two old classification marks, namely, T I D 526 and T I D. This fragment features a lord (OU: bäg) and a crown prince (OU: taitse). The seventh and last fragment bears archive number U 4868 and two old class marks, namely, T I D 643 and T I D.
The findings can be succinctly outlined as follows. The total number of lines of fragments included in the paper is 96. When the dictionary part of the study is examined, 160 entries can be found. Out of these entries, 34 (21.25%) are verbs and 126 (78.75%) are nouns. Considering the entire vocabulary of the text, the study identified 18 (11.25%) borrowed words out of which five (27.77%) are quoted from Sanskrit without identifying an intermediate language. Two (11.11%) words are directly quoted from Sogdian in the text. Moreover, two of the quoted words in this paper (11.11%) have a Sanskrit origin quoted from Tocharian. Moreover, the study observed that three borrowed words (16.66%) as Sanskrit words quoted from Sogdian. Two words (11.11%) were directly quoted from Chinese. In the text, the study documented one (5.55%) word of Greek origin quoted from Sogdian into Uyghur. Lastly, we noted that three (16.66%) entries in the vocabulary are words of Sanskrit origin quoted from Tocharian or Sogdian.
