This century is cut in two by the fateful rebellion of An Lu-shan. The first half was a period of halcyon peace and prosperity, hardly affected by the Palace intrigues and massacres that followed the abdication of the Empress Wu. The long reign of the Emperor Ming Huang has some claim to be regarded as the Golden Age of China; for the magnificence of the Court was solidly based on the well-being of the people, and while trade and commerce nourished, the arts of poetry and painting reached a height which has never since been equalled. Buddhism, however, suffered a partial eclipse after its great patroness had passed away; and even in the remote region of Tunhuang a gradual decrease in its influence is clearly observable.

Since 1923 we have witnessed an attempt to reconstruct the Chinese of the Sui Dynasty, or more accurately to reconstruct the Chinese dialect spoken about A.D. 600 in the capital of that time, Ch'ang An (Hsi An), namely Professor Bernhard Karlgren's Analytic Dictionary of Chinese and Sino- Japanese, which constitutes a brief summary of the results of the first three parts of his Études sur la phonologie chinoise (Archives ďÉtudes Orientales XV (1915–1919)) and their practical application to about 6,000 characters which can now be verified in their reconstructed form (v. Deutsche Literaturzeitung, 1924, col. 1905, etc.).

The Sanskrit-Khotanese bilingual text edited in this study is contained in the manuscript fonds Pelliot 5538. Since we are still seriously in need of bilingual texts in the elucidation of Khotanese problems, the present short text is welcome. I am deeply indebted to Professor Paul Pelliot who has most kindly and courteously given me permission to read and to publish Khotanese manuscripts of his collection.

The Pahlavi inscription discovered in 1936 by the expedition of the Oriental Institute of Chicago is perhaps the most important document of the Sasanian empire. It was found at the eastern wall of the so-called “ Kaaba of Zoroaster ” which was probably a Firetemple, in front of the Achsemenian tombs at Naqšl-i-Rustam.

We owe our thanks to Professor Sprengling, of Chicago, who unhesitatingly undertook the task of publishing this very difficult inscription although previously Pahlavi was not among the numerous fields of his researches. As early as January, 1937, a preliminary transcript of the text together with a short commentary was published 1; this edition was closely followed by a further contribution of Professor Sprengling 2 which was accompanied by a photograph of the inscription, thus facilitating the participation of other scholars in the interpretation of the new monument 3; for much remains to be done.

The central figure in this deeply interesting and moving narrative is the Manchu empress-dowager Tz'ŭ-Hsi, for many years (till her death in 1908) the de facto ruler of China. We see her here not as the august and awe-inspiring occupant of the Dragon throne, arbitress of the fates of a fifth of the world's population, the wife of one emperor and the mother of a second; for although in these pages she still plays the sinister role of judge and jaileress of a third emperor, she figures mainly as a scared and bewildered fugitive, a hungry and selfish old lady, amiable and urbane when things were going well with her, petulant and querulous when they went badly, and volcanic when the wisdom of any of her actions was called in question.

In 1904 Dr. H. Stönner published as an appendix to a paper on Zentralasiatische Sanskrittexte in Brāhmīschrift aus Idikutšahri, Chinesisch-Turkistān, i, a short description of a fragment of Turkish in Brāhmi script containing forty lines of text with a Chinese text on the recto side. Its interest and importance for Turkish is evident. We have here a fully vocalized fragment of Turkish. It is therefore somewhat unexpected not to find more use made of it, after the references of Professor F. W. K. Müller in Uigurica [i], 1908, in the many recent publications of Turfan texts. In a brief note, A Brāhmi Aksara, in the JRAS, 1936, 92–4, reference was made to this publication of Dr. Stönner owing to its interest for Iranian studies. Shortly after the publication of that note it was possible to reach clearer views. It had been, however, intended to await the complete publication of the fragment of forty lines. But, since inquiries have made it likely that the publication cannot be expected for a considerable time, and Iranian studies are affected, it has seemed profitable to publish a brief study of the fourteen lines (25–38) already available. They suffice to supplement and correct the earlier note.

In Khotanese Jataka-stava, of which a facsimile has now been published in Monumenta Linguarum Asiae Maioris, vol. ii, Codices Khotanenses (Levin and Munksgaard, Copenhagen, 1938), I noted a text of similar title in the Tōhoku Catalogue of the Sde-dge (Derge) Bstan-ḥgyur under number 1178. After some delay through the kindness of Professor Doi I received from the Library of the Tohoku Imperial University, Sendai, five photographs, somewhat small, but for the most part clear, of this Jātaka-stava. It comprised 14 lines of printed text in Tibetan script. On examination the photographs proved to contain a Sanskrit text, with interlinear partial Tibetan gloss in smaller print, of a Jataka-stava attributed to Jnanayasas. Since I have twice already alluded to this text, in BSOS., VIII, 936, and Codices Khotanensis, xii, at a time when I had not yet seen it, it seems desirable to publish it now.

A Precious fragment amongst the treasures in the possession of the Preussische Akademie der Wissenschaften in Berlin contains a Sogdian “List of nations” (nāfnāmak), the edition of which I am preparing. Two names, however, call for a special study: (1) denoting a people in the Oxus-region, obviously the inhabitants of Toxāristān, and (2) ‘rkcyk, mentioned immediately after Kāšγar, Khotan, and Kučā.

This poem embodies two traditions found among the Mon or Talaing people of Burma, (1) that they came from the east coast of India in very early times, and (2) that they consist of three tribes, occupying three several provinces of the Mon country of Burma-Bassein, Pegu, and Martaban.

The present article is intended to be the first of a series devoted -L to the “Zervanite question”. It seemed desirable that before embarking on the uncertain seas of speculation, the author should publish a transliterated text and translation of the more important passages in the Pahlavī and kindred literature which might be found to bear upon this problem. The present article contains two excerpts from the Dēnkart, and a short passage from the Persian Rivāyats of the greatest interest. It is hoped that the first chapter of Zātspram will appear in the next number of the Bulletin. The notes in this and the next article will be confined, so far as possible, to matters of philology: discussion of the problem itself must be deferred till the linguistic difficulties have been adequately dealt with.

It gives me great pleasure to take this occasion to thank Professor Bailey for material assistance without which this article would probably not have appeared. He has been kind enough to put at my disposition an edition of Zātspram printed in India and sent to him from there. This edition—the work of Behramgore Anklesaria—was utilized by Dr. Tavadia in proof form for his edition of the Šāyastnē-šāyast.

°čcingha~ “ griffe ” (pəšsō. čingha- “ aux griffes écartées ”), auquel répond pers. čäng “ griffe, serre, poing; crochet ”, suppose un radical de type I *qen-g- qui se retrouve au degré o à la base de pers. käng “ aile, bras, branche”

Le type II .qn-eg- (enregistré par Walde-Pokorny, p. 391), apparaît mdans une série de mots germaniques désignant eux aussi soit une partie du corps de forme recourbée, soit un instrument ou objet de même forme; il présente, encore comme le type I, les degrés e et o: par exemple ags. hnecca “ nuque, arrière de la tête ”, en face de v. isl. hnakki “ nuque ”, hnakkr “ ancre ”, etc.

In an illuminating article, ‘Le traitement du groupe Sanskrit sifflante + m Jules Bloch suggests that in the Northwest dialects of Indo-Aryan the groups sp and ṣp became ss and ṣṣ if preceded by a labial at the beginning of the word: Kashmiri braswār ‘Thursday’ < bhaspativāra- (cf. Pkt. bahassadi-, bihassaī-), and MS. Dutreuil de Rhins pusa-, Kash. pōś ‘flower’ < púspa-. This contrasts with the development labial—sp < labial-pph in Pkt. bihapp(h)aī-, Hindi bihphai, Nepali biphe, and in Pa. Pkt. puppha- (see below).

With this article the series “Zurvanica” comes to an end. There still remain passages in the Dēnkart deserving of attention, notably in the fourth book. The author has, however, found the relevant passages in that book so obscure and so difficult that he cannot undertake to publish a translation of them for a long time yet. In the present article all passages of importance have been collected from the third book. To these have been added the celebrated Daharĩ passage in the Šikand GumāniīVazār and the conclusion of that book. The translation of certain Pahlavī terms has sometimes been a source of embarrassment.

T A littérature syriaque est jusqu'aujourd'hui trop partiellementéditée pourqu'on puisse songer à en tirer au profit des iranistes une collection complète de Fontes comparable à celles que nous devons à, M. Gray et à M. Clemen pour les sources grecques et latines. II faut se contenter d'enregistrer les textes nouveaux au fur et à mesure de leur découverte et chercher à serrer de plus près les textes déja connus. Le travail a déjà, été amorcé par Gottheil et plus récemment par Nau qui a opéré un dépouillement assez minutieux des Acta Sanctorum publiés par Bedjan mais en dirigeant ses recherches á l'appui d'une thèse fort hasardeuse sur la transmission de l'Avesta.

The following conjecture which occurred to me owing only to the fact that Persian is my own language, is one of innumerable proofs for the great desirability and the real necessity for an adequate dictionary of the living Persian language.

In the following pages an attempt is made to give as comprehensive J- a list as possible, and to discuss some important features of the eras and calendars which have been or are still being used in the Muḥammadan East since the early years of Islam up to the present day, as well as of those occurring in the books of the Muslim authors. This is, however, not claimed to be complete and can by no means be considered as an exhaustive survey of all the different calendars used here and there in the Near East in Islamic times, though sometimes only for a short period or in a limited area. Many a great and famous ruler had the ambition to found an era in his own name or to reform the calendar in general use in his time. I will content myself with a simple mention of the name, or a very brief description of the eras or calendars which are sufficiently well known in all details, as well as of those concerning which we have very little information, but will try to discuss those which, in spite of the existence of ample materials relating to them, are comparatively little known or about which difference of opinions exists.

It is indeed interesting to find sometimes a national practice of a people in. usage among another nation of quite different race, language, religion, culture, and habitation. This is, however, not a very rare thing if the custom in question was not forgotten, abandoned, or changed among its originators. We have numerous examples of this kind of adoption, in many countries. Amongst others I may mention some superstitious beliefs in the Muhammadan and Near Eastern countries, the origins of which can be traced to Central Asia and China.

Upon the fascinating problem of the dynastic names Sātavāhana and Śātakarṇi there has been “great argument”, and it is to be feared that the judicious reader's experience thereof has been like that of Omar Khayyam.

Pānini enseigne des adverbes constitués par un élément -sāt qui s'attache à un thème nominal, et dormant avec les verbes “auxiliaires” - et bhū- (as-) des locutions périphrastiques analogues aux locutions dites “cvi” en et .

Plus précisément la formation exprime d'apres V, 4, 52, en concurrence avec les “cvi”, que le changement est à entendre comme total (kārtsnye): ex. de la Kāś. agnisād bhavati s´astram “l'arme devient (entièrement) du feu”, udakasād bhavati lavanam “le sel devient (entièrement) de l'eau”. Kārtsnye s'oppose à ekadeśena “partiellement.”