Sogdian ancient letter 2, around June/July 313 CE

September 02, 2023

Sogdian ancient letter 2, around June/July 313 CE

"The Sogdian “Ancient Letters” are so called because they are the earliest substantial texts written in Sogdian, the language formerly spoken in the area around Samarkand in present-day Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. In 1907 British archaeologist Sir Aurel Stein discovered five nearly complete letters in a group of eight letters, written on paper, known as the Sogdian "Ancient Letters" in a Chinese watch tower just west of the Jade Gate, a fortified outpost guarding the western approaches to the administrative and cultural center of Dunhuang (at the western end of today's Gansu Province), some 90 km. west of Dunhuang and 550 km. east of Loulan, another important outpost on the southern branch of the silk route, which skirted the Taklamakan Desert. Stein discovered the letters in a mail bag that may have been confiscated en route from the Eastern Silk Road back to Sogdiana. None of the letters ever reached their intended destination.

The Sogdians, a people of Iranian origin, were an important link in the commerce of the Silk Road between the fourth and ninth centuries CE. From their home in the region near today's Samarkand in Central Asia Sogdian merchants traveled across Eurasia. Sir Aurel Stein's discovery showed that paper was used by Silk Road merchants throughout the oasis cities of Central Asia even before the coming of Islam.

Two of the letters that Stein discovered were sent by a lady in distress who had been abandoned in Dunhuang (nos. 1 and 3); the other two letters (nos. 2 and 5) concern commercial activity of the writers.

"It is important to understand the historical context in which Miwnay’s letter, and all of the ancient letters, were written. This period in the early 4th century was a time of momentous upheavals in the central Chinese government, mentioned in Sogdian Ancient Letter #2 found in the same mailbag. While Miwnay is expressing her anger at having been abandoned by her husband, it is possible that Nanaidhat himself met a worse fate amidst the sacking of Luoyang and Ye, the subsequent famine in Luoyang, and the fighting between Xiongnu and Chinese in this area (Whitfield 2001, 249). This historical document may be revealing not just for what it shows us about Miwnay in Dunhuang, but also for what it tells us about the dangers of silk road travel, and the lack of steady communication between those at home and abroad.

...

The author of letter 2 likely was resident in Jincheng (today, Lanzhou), a town in Gansu at the gateway to the Hexi Corridor, the passage between the southern mountains and northern deserts which leads to Dunhuang.

This letter was written by Nanai-vandak. The recipients of the letter were his business partners in the Sogdian capital of Samarkand. Given the content of the letter, it can be dated to June or July 313 CE. The distance this letter was meant to travel was more than two thousand miles. The letter was carefully wrapped, possibly in order to survive the long journey. There was brown silk that served as an inner wrapping envelope, and a coarse fabric as the outer layer envelope. It is on the outer envelope that the instructions are written in terms of delivering the letter (Juliano, Annette L., Judith A. Lerner, and Michael Alram 2001, 47).

It is possibly due to the careful wrapping of this letter that feature the two layers of envelopes, that it is well preserved and available today. Considering the age of the letter, more than 1700 years old, that there is minimal wear on the letter, especially along the fold lines, is impressive. As a result, most of the content within the letter is decipherable.

The contents of this letter is addressed to Nanai-vandak’s father, Nanai-dhvar, as well as Varzak. Nanai-vandak reports on the political happenings in Northern China at the time. Not only does he mention the fighting of the Chinese with the Xiongnu (or Huns), but there is mention of a famine in Luoyang. Nanai-vandak also mentions that the emperor of Luoyang left his palace due to the famine and that his palace was burned to the ground and all of Luoyang was destroyed (de la Vaissiere 2003). He adds that this information is not of much use to them. The mention of the emperor of Luoyang allows for the dating of the letter. This letter also provides an example of what Sogdians abroad wrote about when sending correspondence back to their families in Samarkand.

Nanai-vandak does not think he has much time left to live and is chiefly concerned with what should happen after he dies. He asks both Varzak and his father to take control of a large sum of money he will leave behind. Nanai-vandak further indicates for them to invest the money for Takhsich-vandak, who he mentions is an orphan, and is thought today to be his son (Juliano, Annette L., Judith A. Lerner, and Michael Alram 2001, 47). (AC)"

-taken from NYU, Jeremy Norman's History of Information, the Smithsonian, and Prof. Daniel C. Waugh at University of Washington

Translations of the letter (translation by Prof. Nicholas Sims-Williams, University of London):

"[Envelope] . . . should send and bring [this] letter to Samarkand. And [the noble lord Varzakk . . . should receive(?)] it all(?) [complete(?)]. Sent [by his] servant Nanai-vandak.

[Verso] To the noble lord Varzakk (son of) Nanai-thvar (of the family) Kanakk. Sent [by] his servant Nanai-vandak.

[Recto] To the noble lord Varzakk (son of) Nanai-thvar (of the family) Kanakk, 1,000 (and) 10,000 (times) blessing (and) homage on bended knee, as is offered to the Gods, sent by his servant Nanai-vandak. And, sirs, (it would be) a good day for him who might see you happy (and) free from illness; and, sirs, (news of) your (good) health having been heard (by me), I consider myself immortal!

And, sirs, Armat-sach in Jiuquan (is) safe (and) well and Arsach in Guzang (is) safe (and) well. And, sirs, it is three years since a Sogdian came from "inside" [i.e. from China]. I settled(?) Ghotam-sach, and (he is) safe (and) well. He has gone to Kwr¹ynk, and now no-one comes from there so that I might write to you about the Sogdians who went "inside," how they fared (and) which countries they reached. And, sirs, the last emperor, so they say, fled from Luoyang because of the famine, and fire was set to his palace and to the city, and the palace was burnt and the city [destroyed]. Luoyang (is) no more, Ye (is) no more! Moreover, the . . . Huns(?), and they . . . Changan, so that they hold(?) it(?) . . . as far as N'yn'ych and as far as Ye, these (same) Huns [who] yesterday were the emperor's (subjects)! And, sirs, we do not know wh[ether] the remaining Chinese were able to expel the Huns [from] Changan, from China, or (whether) they took the country beyond(?). And [. . . in . . . there are] a hundred freemen from Samarkand . . . in [. . .] Dry'n there are forty men. And, sirs, your [. . . it is] three years since [. . . came] from "inside" . . . unmade (cloth)(?). And from Dunhuang up to Jincheng in . . . to sell, linen cloth is going [= selling well?], and whoever has unmade (cloth)(?) or raghzak (which is) not (yet) brought (to market)(?), not (yet) taken, [can](?) sell [all](?) of it . . . And, sirs, as for us, whoever dwells (in the region) from Ji[ncheng](?) up to Dunhuang, we (only) survive [lit. "have breath"] so long as the . . . lives, and (we are) without family(?), both old and on the point of death. If this were not (so), [I would] not be ready(?) to write to you (about) how we are. And, sirs, if I were to write to you everything (about) how China has fared, (it would be) beyond(?) grief: there is no profit for you (to gain) therefrom. And, sirs, it is eight years since I sent Saghrak and Farn-aghat "inside" and it is three years since I received a reply from there. They were well . . ., (but) now, since the last evil occurred, I do [not] receive a reply from there (about) how they have fared. Moreover, four years ago I sent another man named Artikhu-vandak. When the caravan departed from Guzang, Wakhush[akk] the . . . was there, and when they reached Luoyang, bo[th the . . .] and the Indians and the Sogdians there had all died of starvation. [And I] sent Nasyan to Dunhuang, and he went "outside" [i.e. out of China] and entered (Dunhuang), (but) now he has gone without (obtaining) permission from me, and he has (received) a great retribution and was struck dead in the . . .

Lord Varzakk, my greatest hope is in your lordship! Pesakk (son of) Dhruwasp-vandak holds 5[...]4 staters from me and he put it on deposit(?), not to be transferred, and you should hold [it . . .] sealed from now (on), so that without (my) permission . . . Dhruwasp-van[dak] . . .

[Lord] Nanai-thvar, you should remind Varzakk that he should withdraw(?) this deposit(?), and you should (both) count [it], and if the latter is to hold it, then you should (both) add(?) the interest to the capital and put it in a transfer document, and you (Nanai-thvar) should give this too to Varzakk. And if you (both) think (it) fit that the latter should not hold it, then you should (both) take it and give it to someone else whom you do think fit, so that this money may thereby become more. And, behold, (there is) a certain orphan . . . dependent(?) on this income(?), and if he should live and reach adulthood [lit. "years"], and he has no hope of (anything) other than this money, then, Nanai-thvar, (when) it should be heard that Takut has departed(?) to the Gods -- the Gods and my father¹s soul (will) be a support(?) to you! -- and when Takhsich-vandak is grown up [lit. "big"], then give him a wife and do not send him away from yourself. Mortal(?) gratification(?) has departed(?) from us(?) in the . . ., because (from) day (to) day we expect murder(?) and robbery. And when (the two of) you need cash, then you (Nanai-thvar) should take either 1,000 staters or 2,000 staters out of the money. And Wan-razmak sent to Dunhuang for me 32 (vesicles of) musk belonging to Takut so that he might deliver them to you. When they are handed over you should make five shares, and therefrom Takhsich-vandak should take three shares, and Pesakk (should take) one share, and you (should take) one share.

[Verso] This letter was written [lit. "made"] when it was the year thirteen of Lord Chirth-swan in the month Taghmich."