Sogdian inscriptions from the collection of the Samarkand State Museum Reserve Inventory No. – Кp-6251/1.

Sogdian inscriptions from the collection of the Samarkand State Museum Reserve Inventory No. – Кp-6251/1.

Wall painting. settlement Afrasiab, 1965. Object 23, room 1, Western wall, 27th figure. A vertical inscription containing 16 short lines inscribed on the western wall on the flap of the white coat of one of the figures of ambassadors who arrived from Chaganian.

Транслитерация : /1/ ʼYK-ZY ʼβrxwmʼny ʼwnšʼw MLKʼ ny[w] ʼmn(t) /2/ ʼʼys rxʼ ʼʼpʼnʼy-h ʼYKZY ʼzw /3/ ZK cγʼnkw δpʼy-rptw pwkr z-ʼtk MN /4/ cγʼnkw xwβw tw(r)ʼntšw mδyδ ʼt /5/ smʼʼrknδh ZKn MLKʼ nβʼntw pr /6/ ʼspʼs ʼʼγtym rty ZKn MLKʼ /7/ pr ʼspʼs ʼskwʼm skwn /8/ (rt)m cnʼnstʼtk ʼs(kwʼ?)t(y?) ʼyδ Lʼ δ(ʼr) /9/ smʼʼrknδc βγ-y-cty ʼPZY wβyw /10/ (δ)pʼyry-ʼkh šy-rʼkkw yw(γth) ʼym /11/ wβyw ZKn MLKʼ γ-nt(ʼkh Lʼ ʼkrtw) /12/ δʼr(ʼ)m /13/ (šy-r ʼkkw) ʼz-cy-ʼtw ʼʼswʼʼy /14/ (wβyw) ʼβrxw(mʼny ʼwnš- ʼw) MLKʼ (ʼʼprs) /15/ rty rxʼ ʼʼpʼnʼyh /16/ (xw) cʼcnʼkw δpʼyrptw

Translation: 1/ ‘When king Avarkhumān (of the family) of Unashu (or Unshu?) came up to him, /2/ (the ambas-sador) opened his mouth, (saying): “I /3/ am Pūkar (or Pūgar)-zātak, the δipīrpat of /4-5/ Chaghāni-yān. I have come here to Smārkanth, to the king, from Turāntash, /6-7/ the sovereign of Chaghāni-yān, and (now) I am (here) showing respect to the king. /8/ And have no misgivings (or suspicions) /9-10/ about me: I am well informed about the gods of Smārkanth and its writing, /11-12/ and have done no harm to the king. /13/ Stay completely well!” /14/ And king Avarkhumān (of the family) of Un(a)shu dismissed (the δipīrpat of Chaghāniyān). /15-16/ And (then) the δipīrpat of Chach opened his mouth.’

  Notes: As can be judged from the text of this inscription, during the reception of ambassadors who arrived in Samarkand (in 650-655?), the King Avarkhuman approached the head of the Chaganian embas-sy, and he delivered a welcoming speech. At that time, Chaganian was considered an independent principality, its center was probably located on the settlement of Budrach, 6 km southwest of Denau.

The Sogdians, who experienced many religious upheavals in the middle of the 7th century, for the most part remained faithful to Zoroastrianism. The Chaganian ambassador (Pukarzade) considered it his duty to assure the Samarkand king that he would not preach the religion of his country and in-troduce the Bactrian script, on which he probably brought a message to Avarkhuman from the Cha-ganian king Turantash. The researchers came to the conclusion that the inscriptions, as well as the murals, reflect the true events of the history of Samarkand and the relationship of the king of Samarkand Sogd with the rulers of other regions of Central Asia - events that were recorded in great detail, probably in the city chronicle of Samarkand or in other chronicles, having an official character or based on original documents.

  Bibliography:

   Альбаум Л. И. Живопись Афрасиаба. Ташкент: Фан, 1975. С. 52-56.

Лившиц В. А. Согдийская эпиграфика Средней Азии и Семиречья. Санкт-Петербург: Филоло-гический факультет Санкт-Петербургского университета, 2008. С. 312-318.

  Livshits V. A. Sogdian epigraphy of Central Asia and Semirech’e / tr. from the Russian by T. Stableford.

Ed. by N. Sims-Williams. London: School of oriental and African studies, 2015. (Corpus inscriptionum iranicarum. Part II: Inscriptions of the Seleucid and Parthian period and of Eastern Iran and Central Asia. Vol. III: Sogdian). P. 237-243.

  Livšic Vladimir. The Sogdian Wall Inscriptions on the Site of Afrasiab // É. de la Vaissière, M. Compareti (ed). Royal Nawrūz in Samarkand. Pisa – Roma: Accademia Editoriale, 2006. P. 59–65.

  Каталог памятников согдийской письменности в Центральной Азии, Самарканд, МИЦАИ, 2022,С. 214-216