From Gilgit Lotus Sutre Manuscripts from the National Archives of India,
Facsimile Edition:PREFACE
Mushirul Hasan

Among the most ancient in the world, the Gilgit manuscripts
are the oldest surviving manuscript collection in India. Greatly
significant in the area of Buddhist studies, they contain both canonicaland non-canonical Buddhist works that have enormous relevance in theevolution of Sanskrit, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Tibetan religiophilosophical literature. Opinions vary on exactly when they werewritten, but there is some consensus that the period was between the 5thand 6th centuries CE.
The manuscripts were discovered in three instalments in the Gilgit
region in what is described as Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Theirdiscovery was first announced by Sir Aurel Stein, who reported in The
Statesman of 24th July 1931, that some boys watching flocks in a hilly
area in Naupur village, about two miles west of Gilgit Cantonment, had
found a circular chamber within a Buddhist stupa filled with hundreds ofsmall votive stupas and relief plaques common in Central Asia andTibet. Within these, some ancient manuscripts were discovered in awooden box. The grazers took these to the Maharaja of Jammu andKashmir. The fact the manuscripts have survived is partly because they
were written on the bark of the Bhoj tree that does not decay ordecompose, and partly due to the near-freezing temperatures of theGilgit region.
The corpus of the manuscripts contains inter alia, sutras from theBuddhist canon, SamådhiråjasËtra and Saddharmapuˆ∂ar¥kasËtra
(popularly known as the Lotus Sutra). Written in the Buddhist hybrid
Sanskrit language in the Gupta Bråhm¥ and post-Gupta Bråhm¥ scripts,
they cover a range of subjects, such as religious rituals, iconometry, folk
tales, medicine, and several related areas of life and knowledge. Their
importance lies in the fact that they are perhaps the only corpus ofBuddhist manuscripts that have been discovered in India. The language
is similar to the early Mahayana texts and a mixed Sanskrit of a peculiar39

40

prefacetype, using largely Sanskrit words with Prakrit inflections and Prakrit
words with Sanskrit inflections.
Dr. Lokesh Chandra, Director of the International Academy of Indian
Culture, and an eminent scholar of Buddhism and cultures of South andSouth East Asia, first published a facsimile edition of the voluminous
Gilgit manuscripts in New Delhi in 1974. According to him, the text has
reference to three Buddhist synods (meetings of religious heads). Thissuggests a date sometime around or after the reign of Emperor Kanishka(78?-128?CE), as according to Sanskrit texts, the third synod was held
during Kanishka’s reign. Apart from the literary significance thesemanuscripts also provide examples of decorated books. Two of theearliest Sanskrit manuscripts that form part of the Srinagar Collection,
were nestled between wooden book covers, painted on both sides, withthe lotus scroll decorating the outer side. These painted covers fill aknowledge gap of Kashmir art of this period since they are the only
authentic specimens of Kashmir paintings.
The manuscripts were discovered in three stages. The major portion,
as mentioned earlier, was discovered by cattle grazers in 1931, and sent
to Srinagar. These were examined by archaeologist Sir Aurel Stein, and11 folios retrieved by local inhabitants were sent to the British Museum;most of them now housed in the National Archives of India. The second
lot was discovered by Pandit Madhusudan Kaul in 1938, and a third lot
was mentioned by Prof. Giuseppe Tucci in 1956.
The major portion of the Gilgit manuscripts, called Vijananidhi ormanuscript treasure, became the possession of the National Archives,
underwent a preliminary conservation process followed by lamination,and has since been kept with highly restricted access. The National
Archives of India, attached to the Department of Culture, is therepository of non-current records of the Government of India holdingthem in trust for the use of administrators and scholars.
Some portions of the manuscripts are in the Jammu and Kashmir
State Government libraries and research department, and fragments arealso in the collection at the British Library and the Department ofArchaeology in Karachi, Pakistan.
Though the grammatical and literary aspects of the text are more ofhistorical interest, what is more interesting is how this information
throws light on the social fabric. While they are of immense significanceto the scholarly community and practicing Buddhists, they are also
invaluable to historians and linguists who might illuminate aspects
related to the history of the period.
A crying need in our country and in other parts of the world is topreface

41

make historical documents accessible. We are indeed fortunate that thesewonderful manuscripts can now be viewed and studied more freely
thanks to the dedicated work of the Institute of Oriental Philosophy(IOP) that has helped to produce a new facsimile edition of themanuscripts.
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Soka Gakkai
International (SGI) President, Dr. Daisaku Ikeda, who is also thefounder of the IOP and all others who were directly and indirectlyinvolved in the publication of this valuable contribution to the study ofBuddhist texts. I would also like to thank all those at the IOP led by theDirector, Dr. Yoichi Kawada, who have successfully brought about thispublication through the coordinated efforts of the many people
concerned.
It is hoped that this landmark achievement will herald the start of atrend of thinking about creative and innovative ways of making our richcultural heritage not just accessible but also meaningful to many.