Lost. A picture in the State Archive of Tajikistan: 1.I
  • Details
  • Transcriptions
  • Translations
Details
Download

Download IEDC Data

You are about to download data for the current text from the IEDC database.

To start the download, please click on your desired format below.

Note: it can take up to several minutes to download your data, so please wait whilst it processes

  • Microsoft Word (.docx)
  • JSON
Download started

Content

This is a letter from ʻAbd al-Raḥmān b. Ṣubḥ to Dhēwashtīch.

Dates

  • The Gregorian calendar: 720-721 or earlier (0721)

Details

1.I
Lost. A picture in the State Archive of Tajikistan
Mount Mugh Papers
Gold (given following external peer review through journal/book publication)
Sogdian (Sogdian script)
Letter

Physical Description

paper
23 lines
29.8
28.2

People

Publications

  • Livshits, Vladimir A. 2015. Sogdian Epigraphy of Central Asia and Semireche’e. tr. Tom Stableford, ed. Nicholas Sims-Williams. London. (Pages: 88-93)

Related Shelfmarks

IEDC Data

951
10/01/2025
11/05/2026

Citations

Nicholas Sims-Williams
The transcription and translation have been taken from a previous publication (see Publications)
See 'How to Cite'
https://www.invisible-east.org/corpus/951/

Contact

invisible_east@conted.ox.ac.uk (Please include the above permalink when contacting the editorial team about this Text)
Folios
1. recto
Tags
Transcription
Translation
Transcription
Folio:
1  prn’m βγy δ’mδn’k
2  MN xmyr ’’βtrxwm’n pwn swpx ’t sγwδy-k MLK’ sm’rknδc MR’Y
3  δy-w’štyc ’sp’s ZKn βγy rty nwkr py-’’n’kh ZK ny-z-tk ’’ys ZY ZK
4  kwrcy βγnptw rty MN xmyr w’n’kw pwstkw ’’β’rnt pr (mnt‑)xws’nty-’kh
5  c’β’k rty c’nkw kw t’β’k s’r pwstkw ’krtw δ’rt rtms kw t’m’k s’r pry-wyδ
6  ’’δ’kw m’yδ pwstk(w) ’krtw δ’rt rtkδ pts’r kw t’β’k s’r m’yδ pwstk L’
7  βr’y-št’y-w c’nkw ZY kw t’m’k s’r βr’y-štw δ’rty rty ’zw m’yδ pwstkw kw t’β’k
8  s’r βr’y-šw k’m rty py-št tym kw t’β’k s’r wyδ pwstkw βr’y-š’m k’m
9  ZY šw xwty wy-ny ZY ptγwšy rty nwkr ’zw kδ’c L’ wytw δ’rm cywyδ n’m’k
10  L’ prtr L’ γy-rtr L’ ’st’rtryw rtkδ tγw xwty pr xy-pδw δstw kw xmyr
11  s’r w’nkw pwstkw kwn’wt’y kw t’m’k s’r pr’ymyδ βrγh pwstkw kwn’
12  rtšw tγw kδ’c w’xwpt L’ βr’y-štw kwn’wt’y L’ ’nβx-tw kwn’
13  rtms MN pwstk ky kwny tym pr ny-z-ytkw δstw ZY pr kwrcy βγnptw δstw
14  ptγ’m βr’y-štw δ’rt ZY pr pwstkw L’ np’xštw δ’rty rty pts’r tγw xwty
15  w’nkw βrtpδ ’y-š ZY wβy-w ZNH ny-z-tk ZY ZNH kwrcy βγnptw tw’ ’zγ’m šyrxwz-’kt
16  ’nt rtp(rw) tw’ prtry-’kh šyr-rw ’nt’xws’kt ZY ZKw tw’ prtry-’kh
17  k’m’nt wβy-w ZKn xmyr sytt ’z-γ’m xwrnt ZY prm’nt rty w’nkw kwn’
18  ZY ZKw xmyr pwstkw ZNH δsty ptcxš rty ’cw ZK nyztk ZY ZK kwrcy βγnptw
19  MN xmyr ptγ’m ’’βr’nt rtšw ny-xw (nγ)’wš rty ’y-w mγwnw prywyδ r’δh
20  šw’ w’nkw ZY cn’γty ’yw knpy L’ kwn’ rty ’yw ’z-mnw L’ βrkyn L’
21  nwr kw wt’š’k s’r ’pstnh kwn’ rty ’cw s’c’t ’krty rty nwr kwn’
22  p’rwty kδ tγw ZKw xmyr prm’nh ywnyδ šw’m’ntk L’ kwn’ rty pts’r y-wnyδ
23  MN xmyr ’nyh ’nyh prm’nh ’’y-stk’m rty ZKh xmyr ZY wz-y-z γrβ
24  ].. y [
Translation
Folio:
1-4 In the name of God, the centre of creation! On behalf of the amīr, ʻAbd al-Raḥmān b. Ṣubḥ is writing to Dhēwāshtīch, the king of Sogd and sovereign of Samarkand. Praise be to God! It was yesterday that (the priest) Nizhitak and the priest Kurchī arrived, bringing (me) the following letter of dissatisfaction with you from the amīr:
5-9 “When he (= Dhēwāshtīch) com-posed the letter to you (= ʻAbd al-Raḥmān), he also composed a letter to me (= the amīr) in the same terms. If he (= Dhēwāshtīch) then did not send this letter to you, but did to me, then I shall send it to you (to convince you). And afterwards I shall send this one as well, so that you yourself can see and hear (its contents). Now, I have never seen anything of that letter of yours –
10-14 neither sooner nor later, nor even later. And if sometime you, on your own initiative (?), compose a letter to the amīr in the same terms, compose one in the same way (?) to me, and (if) you cannot send it (= the letter) (to me) in an adequately safe way, do not conceal (it from the amīr). And also (the amīr) has sent a verbal reply via (the priest) Nizhitak and the priest Kurchī to the letter you composed, but has not written (this reply) in a letter. But after all you
15-19 do know that (the priest) Nizhitak and the priest Kurchī are your best friends, (they) are very worried about your wellbeing and wish you well, yet are very upset thinking about the amīr’s troubles. Here is what you should do: get the amīr’s letter from them. And to what (the priest) Nizhitak and the priest Kurchī have brought from the amīr (as) a verbal reply listen carefully and
20-24 always follow the route of not acting otherwise. And do not waste a moment, do not delay either today or tomorrow, and do what you have to without delay. And if you do not carry out the amīr’s order straightaway, many more will soon come, and the amīr, and many wzyz (?) …