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1 See: P. Cannata, Sulle relazioni tra India e Asia Interna nelle testimonianze cinesi, 2006, pp. 3132; Yu Taishan, A Study of the History of the Relationships between the Western and Eastern Han, Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Western Regions, 2006, pp. 316. 2 See: E. Zrcher, The Buddhist Conquest of China. The Spread and Adoption of Buddhism in Early Medieval China, 1959. The path of Buddhism through Central Asia to China was seriously criticized by the same E. Zrcher, one of the greatest scholars on Buddhism in China: E. Zrcher, Han Buddhism and the Western Region, 1990. On the diffusion of Buddhism even before the Kushans, specifically in the period of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka: R. E. Emmerick, Buddhism in Central Asia, 1987, p. 400. See also: P. Daffin, Sulla pi antica diffusione del Buddismo nella Serindia e nellIran Orientale, 1975. 3 See: E. Chavannes, Documents sur les Tou-Kieu (Turks) Occidentaux, 1903, p. 135.
4 See: A. S. Melikian-Chirvani, Lvocation littraire du bouddhisme dans lIran musulman, 1974; R. E. Emmerick, Buddhism Among Iranian Peoples, 1983, pp. 959962; R. E. Emmerick, Buddhism in Central Asia, 1987; D. A. Scott, The Iranian Face of Buddhism, 1990; R. E. Emmerick, Buddhism among Iranian Peoples, i. In pre-Islamic Times, 1990. 5 Also in X. Tremblay, the information about Buddhism in sixth-seventh-century Sogdiana is false mais convient aux merchands sogdiens de Chine: X. Tremblay, Pour une histoire de la Srinde, 2001, p. 2, n. 3. 6 See: . De La Vaissire, Histoire des merchands sogdiens, 2002, p. 84. On Sogdian Buddhism see: M. N. Walter, Sogdians and Buddhism, 2006. The ideas expressed by M. Walter are arguable in some parts. 7 See: D. N. MacKenzie, Buddhist Terminology in Sogdian: a Glossary, 1971; N. Sims-Williams, Indian Elements in Parthian and Sogdian, 1983; X. Tremblay, Pour une histoire de la Srinde, 2001, pp. 6971, 203206; R. Kaschewsky, Das Sogdische-Bindeglied zwischen christlicher und buddistischer Terminologie, 2002. 8 See: N. Sims-Williams, Indian Elements in Parthian and Sogdian, 1983, p. 138; X. Tremblay, Pour une histoire de la Srinde, 2001, pp. 6971. In eighth-century Sogdian art there are several hints of Chinese Buddhism of the Tang period (M. M. Rhie, Interrelationships between the Buddhist Art of China and the Art of India and Central Asia from 618755 A.D., 1988, pp. 2328; F. Grenet, Vairavana in Sogdiana. About the Origins of Bishamon-ten, 1995/96). Loanwords in Sogdian borrowed from Sanskrit exist and refer especially to trade, without particular link to Buddhism: N. Sims-Williams, The Sogdian Merchants in China and India, 1996b, pp. 4950. 9 See: T. K. Mkrtychev, Buddizm v Sogde, 2002a, p. 57. 10 See: B. I. Marshak, The Sogdians in Their Homeland, 2001, p. 232. 11 The spread of Buddhism among the Sogdians with all the related problems is admirably summarized in: R. N. Frye, The Heritage of Central Asia. From Antiquity to the Turkish Expansion, 1998, p. 191. 12 It is worth noting that during the reign of Kanishka (c. 78130), precisely in 9091, the Kushans in open contrast with the Han Empire penetrated as far as the Tarim Basin, apparently for futile reasons: P. Cannata, Sulle relazioni tra India e Asia Interna nelle testimonianze cinesi, 2000, pp. 38, 4142.
Islamic sources do not give detailed information on Buddhism in Sogdiana.
 they went in the direction of Bukhara where there was a village with a house of fire and a house of divinities with peacocks, [so] they called it house of the peacocks  (Tabari, II, 1230). N. Lapierre writes about the construction of the mosque described by Narshakhi in place of a Buddhist temple, quoting a passage of Frye translation where, on the contrary, there are no hints of Buddhist buildings (N. Lapierre, Le Bouddhisme en Sogdiane daprs les donnes de larchologie (IV-IXe sicle), 1998, p. 18). Frye reported in just one note a hypothesis by B. Spuler (Iran in frh-islamischer Zeit, Wiesbaden, 1952: 139) never confirmed according to which the Muslims in Bukhara would have confronted the Buddhists and not the fire worshippers as reported by Narshakhi: R. N. Frye, The History of Bukhara Translated from a Persian Abridgement of the Arabic Original by Narshaki, 1954, p. 48, n. 182. 23 See: H. W. Bailey, The word But in Iranian, 193032. In the Shahrestaniha i Eranshahr (a pahlavi text dated to the eighth-ninth centuries) there is a clear hint about the juxtaposition between the temples of the baghas (gods) and the temples of the daivas (demons): J. Markwart, A Catalogue of the Provincial Capitals of rnahr (Pahlavi Text, Version and Commentary), 1931, p. 10. 24 See: C. Schefer, Description topographique et historique de Boukhara par Mohammed Nerchakhy suivie de textes relatifs la Transoxiane. Texte persan, 1892, p. 47. 25 See: B. Carra de Vaux, Budd, 1960; D. Gimaret, Bouddha et les bouddhistes dans la tradition musulmane, 1969; W. L. Jr. Hanaway, Bot, 1990. As observed by D. Gimaret, it is probable that the Arabs during the invasion of Sind found more Buddhist than Hindu monuments: D. Gimaret, Bouddha et les bouddhistes dans la tradition musulmane, 1969, p. 275. In fact, Brahmans were always hostile to monuments and also to scriptures. For the problem of the Buddhists of Sind from an archaeological point of view: A. H. Dani, Buddhists in Sind as Given in the Chachnamah, 1978; E. J. van Lohuizen-de Leeuw, Pre-Muslim Antiquities of Sind, 1979; W. Ball, The Buddhists of Sind, 1989. In the Chachname (the history of the Chacha dynasty, c. 644712, in Persian) a temple (probably a Buddhist one) is recorded in Alor (modern Rohri) called Naubahar: A. H. Dani, Buddhists in Sind as Given in the Chachnamah, 1978, pp. 2730. On the relations of the Chachas with Buddhism and enigmatic idols: H. M. Elliot, Chach-Nama, 1955, pp. 44, 5051, 5455. 26 See: A. Bausani, La letteratura neopersiana, 1968, pp. 152153; G. Scarcia, I Mongoli e lIran: la situazione religiosa, 1981, p. 170; G. Scarcia, Storia di Josaphat senza Barlaam, 1998, p. 30.
says that in it had been built a atesh-khane, literally a house of fire, i.e., a fire temple.
27 See: C. Schefer, Description topographique et historique de Boukhara par Mohammed Nerchakhy suivie de textes relatifs la Transoxiane. Texte persan, 1892, p. 19. 28 See: C. Schefer, Description topographique et historique de Boukhara par Mohammed Nerchakhy suivie de textes relatifs la Transoxiane. Texte persan, 1892, p. 19. See also: R. N. Frye, The History of Bukhara Translated from a Persian Abridgement of the Arabic Original by Narshaki, 1954, p. 21; A. S. Melikian-Chirvani, Lvocation littraire du bouddhisme dans lIran musulman, 1974, pp. 3233. I am grateful to Simone Cristoforetti for the translation of the Persian texts. 29 These idols could have been very similar to the terracotta statuettes so widespread in Central Asia. As it will be observed below, such statuettes found in great numbers also in the region once corresponding to Sogdiana are probably Buddhist only in a few cases. 30 See: B. I. Marshak, Sogdiana. Part One. Sughd and Adjacent Regions, 1996, p. 253; B. I. Marshak, The Sogdians in Their Homeland, 2001, pp. 232233.
considered pagans by the genuine Mazdeans (the Persians) and by the Muslims.
the sky, of the earth, of the sun, of the moon, of the water, of the fire.
taken this religion going to Persia.
31 See: P. Daffin, La Persia sasanide secondo le fonti cinesi, 1983, pp. 162163; M. Nicolini-Zani, Sulla Via del Dio Unico. Discorso del Venerabile delluniverso sullelemosina Parte terza, 2003, pp. 3738, n. 88.
associated with the cult of the Magi were found during a search of his room at Samarra.
32 See: M. Nicolini-Zani, Sulla Via del Dio Unico. Discorso del Venerabile delluniverso sullelemosina Parte terza, 2003, pp. 3538. 33 At Firuzabad and at Naksh-e Rajab there are scenes showing the investiture of the first Sasnian emperor, Ardashir I (224241) by Ahura Mazda, and again, at Naksh-e Rajab, there is the investiture of Shapur I (241272) by the same god: L. Vanden Berghe, Les scnes dinvestiture sur les reliefs rupestres de lIrn ancien: volution et signification, 1988, fig. 56, 8. 34 See: M. Nicolini-Zani, Sulla Via del Dio Unico. Discorso del Venerabile delluniverso sullelemosina Parte terza, 2003, p. 36, n. 85. 35 See: C. Mango, Deux tudes sur Byzance et la Perse sassanide. II. Hraclius, ahrvaraz et la Vraie Croix, 1985, pp. 109118; G. Scarcia, Cosroe secondo, San Sergio e il Sade, 2000; M. Compareti, The Last Sasanians in China, 2003, pp. 207208. 36 See: M. Nicolini-Zani, Sulla Via del Dio Unico. Discorso del Venerabile delluniverso sullelemosina Parte terza, 2003, p. 10.
37 Tabari, III, 1318. For a summary on this events see also: E. Esin, The Turk al-Aam of Smarr and the Paintings Attributable to Them in the awsaq al- Hqn, 1973/74, p. 51. 38 See: Lo Muzio, Ustruna, p. 918. 39 See: E. Esin, The Turk al-Aam of Smarr and the Paintings Attributable to them in the awsaq al- Hqn, 1973/74, p. 51; . De La Vaissire, P. Riboud, Les livres des sogdiens (avec une note additionelle par Frantz Grenet), 2003. 40 See: W. Tomaschek, Centralasiatische Studien. I. Sogdiana, 1877, pp. 103104. 41 See: W. Barthold and R. N. Frye, Bukr, 1960; W. Barthold, Turkestan down to the Mongol Invasion, 1977, p. 102; A. S. Melikian-Chirvani, Lvocation littraire du bouddhisme dans lIran musulman, 1974, pp. 3, 1122, 4651; A. S. Melikian-Chirvani, Buddhism among Iranian Peoples. ii. In Islamic Times, 1990. Also R. Gauthiot share the same opinion but he seems to ignore the hypothesis by Tomaschek: R. Gauthiot, Termes techniques bouddhiques et manichens, 1911, pp. 5259.
sanctuary while for Masudi (10th century) it would have been the temple of a lunar deity.
42 See: R. N. Frye, The History of Bukhara Translated from a Persian Abridgement of the Arabic Original by Narshaki, 1954, p. 120. 43 See: J. Markwart, Wehrot und Arang. Untersuchungen zur Mythischen und Geschichtlichen Landeskunde von Ostiran, 1938, p. 163, n. 2. 44 See: W. Barthold, D. Sourdel, al-Barmika, 1960; A. S. Melikian-Chirvani, Lvocation littraire du bouddhisme dans lIran musulman, 1974, pp. 1134, 4651; R. W. Bulliet, Naw Bahr and the Survival of Iranian Buddhism, 1976; W. Barthold, Turkestan down to the Mongol Invasion, 1977, p. 77; Sh. S. Kamaliddinov, Istoricheskaja geografija Yuzhnogo Sogda i Toharistana po arabojazychnym istochnikam IX-nachala XIII vv., 1996, pp. 303308. Regarding the archaeological investigation in the historical region of Tokharistan, there are Buddhist remains at Qala-i Kafirnigan, Ajina Tepe, Kafir Qala (Tajikistan), Dalverzin (Uzbekistan) and Dilberjin (Afghanistan): B. A. Litvinskij and T. I. Zeimal, The Buddhist Monastery of Ajina Tepa, Tajikistan. History and Art of Buddhism in Central Asia, 2004, pp. 143174, 180184. In several cases Buddhism is attested until the seventh-eighth centuries. However, in Tokharistan non-Buddhist findings dated to the seventh-eighth centuries as well were discovered at Qala-i Kafirnigan, Kafir Qala, Balalik Tepe and Kujovkurgan: L. I. Albaum, Balalyk-Tepe. K istorii materialnoj kultury i iskusstva Toharistana, 1960; C. Silvi Antonini, Le pitture murali di Balalyk Tepe, 1972; T. D. Annaev, Raskopki rannesrednevekovoj usadby Kujovkurgan v severnom Toharistane, 1984; B. A. Litvinskij and V. S. Solovev, Lart du Toxaristan lpoque du Haut Moyen ge (monuments non bouddhiques), 1985.
ministers and, implicitly, should have supported Mazdeism.45 However, according to M.
was a generic sanctuary.48 Islamic sources do not show the same precision.
45 See: W. Barthold, Der iranische Buddhismus und sein Verhltnis zum Islam, 1933; W. Barthold and D. Sourdel, al-Barmika, 1960. 46 See: M. Carter, Aspects of Imagery of Verethragna: the Kushan Empire and Buddhist Central Asia, 1995, p. 128; F. Grenet, Vairavana in Sogdiana. About the Origins of Bishamon-ten, 1995/96, p. 281. Khotanese upper classes, in fact, considered themselves to be descendants of Vaishravana: H. W. Bailey, The Culture of the Sakas in Ancient Iranian Khotan, 1982, p. 6. Faxian, the Chinese pilgrim who visited Khotan two centuries before Xuanzang, had already described a Buddhist sanctuary in Khotan called New Royal Temple: S. Beal, Travels of Fah-Hian and Sung-Yun Buddhist Pilgrims from China to India (400 A.D. and 518 A.D.), 1869 (reprint 1996): pp. 1112. The name New Royal Monastery used by J. Legge some years after does not represent the real translation of the text by Faxian: Legge, A Record of the Buddistic Kingdoms Being an Account by the Chinese Monk F-Hien of His Travels in India and Ceylon (A.D. 399414) in Search of the Buddhist Books of Discipline, 1896 (reprint 1993), p. 19. The fact that the temple was called new suggests a possible more ancient tradition probably originating in Khotan and later borrowed by the other Buddhist kingdoms as Bactria-Tokharistan, even if it should be considered that Buddhism was accepted in the latter region before reaching Khotan. 47 See: Sh. S. Kamaliddinov, Istoricheskaja geografija Yuzhnogo Sogda i Toharistana po arabojazychnym istochnikam IX-nachala XIII vv., 1996, p. 304. 48 See: N. Sims-Williams, Nouveaux documents sur lhistoire et la langue de la Bactriane, 1996a, p. 648. 49 See: W. Barthold, Turkestan down to the Mongol Invasion, 1977, pp. 86, 102.
but he never wrote expressly about persecutions against the Buddhists. However, as A. S.
As observed above, when the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang arrived in Sogdiana (c.
50 See: R. W. Bulliet, Naw Bahr and the Survival of Iranian Buddhism, 1976, p. 145. 51 See: W. Barthold and D. Sourdel, al-Barmika, 1960. 52 See: S. Beal, The Life of Hiuen-tsiang by the Shaman Hwui Li, 1911, pp. 4546. 53 It is not possible to say whether Buddhism was persecuted in Sogdiana before the seventh century. During the submission to the Western Turks (mid-sixth to mid-seventh century), there is no reference to Buddhism in Sogdiana, but it is attested among the Sogdians in the Empire of the Eastern Turks: H.-J. Klimkeit, Buddhism in Turkish Central Asia, 1990. If Maniakh (the name of the leader of the Turco-Sogdian mission in 567568 to Costantinople) was a Buddhist name (as argued in: S. Lieu, Manichaeism in the Later Roman Empire and Medieval China. A Historical Survey, 1985, p. 185), then it could be considered that Buddhists did not suffer particularly in Sogdiana under Western Turkish rule. 54 See: A. S. Melikian-Chirvani, Lvocation littraire du bouddhisme dans lIran musulman, 1974, p. 61. 55 See: S. Beal, The Life of Hiuen-tsiang by the Shaman Hwui Li, 1911, pp. 4546. 56 See: W. Fuchs, 1939, Huei-Chaos Pilgerreise durch Nordwest-Indien und Zentral-Asien um 726, p. 452.
change the state of the field, which is now still lacking needed information.
57 The information on this finding can be found in: L. I. Albaum, Buddiskij hram v doline Sanzara, Doklady Akademii Nauk Uzbekskoj CCP, 8, 1955 (non vidi); Stavisky, The Fate of Buddhism in Middle Asia, in the Light of Archaeological Data, 1993/94, pp. 118119. Among the few findings that were recovered at the temple of Sanzar there is the sculpture of a lion, but it cannot be considered definitive evidence of the Buddhist nature of the site: T. K. Mkrtychev, Buddijskoe iskusstvo Srednej Azii I-X vv, 2002b, pp. 159160, fig. 1.1; T. K. Mkrtychev, Buddizm v Sogde, 2002a, pp. 5758. 58 See: K. Jettmar, Zur Beweinungsszene aus Pendikent. I. Die Verbrennung der Leiche Buddhas als Kompositionsvorbild? 1961, pp. 265266; M. Mode, Sixth Century Sogdian Art and Some Buddhist Prototypes, 1994; L. I. Rempel, La maquette architecturale dans le culte et la construction de lAsie centrale prislamique, 1987, p. 82, figs. 23. 59 See: G. Stock, Das Samanidenmausoleum in Bukhara II, 1990, pp. 238240. 60 See: F. Grenet and B. I. Marshak, Le mythe de Nana dans lart de la Sogdisane, 1998. The identification was accepted and recently summarized in: C. Silvi Antonini, Da Alessandro Magno allIslam. La pittura dellAsia Centrale, 2003, pp. 130133.
distinctive sign of divine essence that was very widespread in Sogdian painting.
house of a rich merchant who wanted every kind of apotropaic image around him.
works) was very well known in the art of Gandhara as well: A. Filigenzi, Larte narrativa del Gandhara, 2002. 66 See: M. Maggi, Pelliot Chinois 2928: a Khotanese Love Story, 1997, pp. 7579. 67 See: B. A. Litvinskij and V. S. Solovev, Raskopki na Kalaishodmon v 1979 g., 1986, pp. 232233. 68 See: M. Taddei, India, 1976, p. 173. 69 A. Naymark suggested to me the association of these paintings with Buddhist art, even if the idea had already been expressed in: M. Taddei, India, 1976, p. 173. I am grateful to Naymark, who supplied me with a copy of his unpublished Ph.D. thesis: A. Naymark, Sogdiana Its Christians and Byzantium: a Study of Artistic and Cultural Connections in Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages, Ph.D. thesis, Departments of Art History and Central Eurasian Studies, Indiana University, Bloomington, 2001; see especially p. 320. I am grateful also to Ester Bianchi for the Sanskrit terminology of this specific mudra. A very similar mudra can be observed in a much later Sogdian metalwork with the representation of a siege of a city (probably Jerico) represented as a large palace. According to recent studies also this metalwork is evidence of the knowledge that the Sogdian artists possessed of Buddhist art: B. Marshak and F. Grenet, Larte sogdiana (IV-IX secolo), p. 162.
70 See: V. koda, Ein iva-Heiligtum in Pendikent, 1992; C. Lo Muzio, The Ummahevara in Central Asian Art, 2003. 71 See: B. I. Marshak and V. I. Raspopova, Buddha icon from Panjikent, 1997/98. 72 See: G. Verardi, Osservazioni sulle sculture in argilla e su alcuni ambienti dei complessi templari I e II di Pendikent , 1982, pp. 283293; F. Grenet, Compte rendu 163: Verardi G. Osservazioni sulle sculture in argilla e su alcuni ambienti dei complessi templari I e II di Pendikent, 1983; G. Verardi, Pendzikent: on a note in Abstracta Iranica, 1986. 73 See: V. koda, Le culte du feu dans les sanctuaires de Pendikent, 1987; V. Shkoda, The Sogdian Temple: Structure and Rituals, 1996. 74 T. K. Mkrtychev, Buddijskoe iskusstvo Srednej Azii I-X vv., 2002b, p. 94, fig. 2. 75 See: K. Abdullaev, Une image bouddhique dcouverte Samarkand, 2000.
beginning of the last century attracted the attention of students of Buddhist art, and V.
Viatkin identified some of them as being of Buddha or Bodhisattvas (fig. 14).
76 See: S. B. Lunina and Z. I. Usmanova, Terrakotovaja plitka s izobrazheniem Buddy iz Saryktepa, 1990; T. K. Mkrtychev, Buddijskoe iskusstvo Srednej Azii I-X vv., 2002b: 194196. 77 T. K. Mkrtychev, Buddijskoe iskusstvo Srednej Azii I-X vv., 2002b, p. 196, fig. 2. 78 See: T. K. Mkrtychev, Buddizm v Sogde, 2002a, p. 60. This could be considered true also for Western Sogdiana, that is to say, the region around Bukhara: some seventh-eighth-century terracotta statuettes displayed at the Museum of Paykand are described as Buddhist, but no investigations were carried out on them. 79 See: V. L. Vjatkin, Afrasiab-Gorodishche bylogo Samarkanda. Arheologicheskij ocherk, 1927, p. 26; V. A. Meshkeris, Sogdijskaja terrakota, 1989. Terracotta finds coming from clandestine excavations or from the black market are said to be numerous in the area around Samarkand, and in some cases they also present possible Buddhist elements. A terracotta plate embellished with a central head of a Buddha is said to have been presented to E. Rtveladze for study, but the piece (together with many others) was not published: personal communication of Olga Tsepova (St. Petersburg). For some other terracotta figures described as Buddhist, see: V. A. Meshkeris, Sogdijskaja terrakota, 1989, pp. 180183; T. K. Mkrtychev, Buddizm v Sogde, 2002a, pp. 5960; T. K. Mkrtychev, Buddijskoe iskusstvo Srednej Azii I-X vv., 2002b, pp. 194196. 80 See: Yu. V. Karev, Statuetka bodhisattvy Avalokiteshvary iz Samarkanda, 1998. 81 See: W. Willetts, Origini dellarte cinese, 1965, pp. 184196; E. R. Knauer, The Fifth Century A.D. Buddhist Cave Temples at Yn-Kang, North China, 1983, pp. 3546; A. L. Juliano, Buddhist Art in Northwest China, 2001, pp. 133138; Ji Chongjian, The Origins and Development of Chinese Buddhist Sculpture, 19992000; A. F. Howard, Liang Patronage of Buddhist Art in the Gansu Corridor during the Fourth Century and the Transformation of a Central Asian Style, 2000; J. C. Y. Watt, Art and History in China from the Third to the Eighth Century, 2004, pp. 3237; A. F. Howard, Buddhist Art in China, 2004, pp. 9098.
82 A foreign religion open to the whole of mankind such as Buddhism could help to legitimate a foreign dynasty better in China than could Taoism or Confucianism: W. Willetts, Origini dellarte cinese, 1965, p. 178. This idea is also more convincing if one considers that Empress Wu Zetian was even able to found her own dynasty (the Zhou, 690705) within the Tang period. Such an act would have been impossible according to a Taoist or a Confucian point of view: A. Forte, Cenni storici e relazioni estere, religioni straniere, scienze, 2005, pp. 25, 3031. A very similar situation was probably confronted in India by the Kushans who supported the Central Asian trade and, consequently, also Buddhism. On the contrary, the Wei had an agricultural economy exactly like all the native Chinese dynasties. Under the Wei, Buddhism flourished under the sinicization of the culture of this barbaric dynasty and the persecution of 446452. The Wei tombs recovered around Datong (Shanxi) revealed the sinicization also of their customs concerning funerary rites, even if Iranian luxury goods were recovered as well: A. Dien, A New Look at the Xianbei and Their Impact on Chinese Culture, 1991; Yang Hong, An Archaeological View of Tuoba Xianbei Art in the Pingcheng Period and Earlier, 2002. 83 See: Wu Hung, Buddhist Elements in Early Chinese Art (2nd and 3rd Centuries A.D.), 1986, pp. 292303; Wu Hung, Xiwangmu, the Queen Mother of the West, 1987, pp. 3233. The Buddhist elements in this relief from Eastern China can be observed both for divine figures and humans such as adorants, disciples, etc., who are represented dressed in Central Asian garments: Wu Hung, Buddhist Elements in Eraly Chinese Art (2nd and 3rd Centuries A.D.), 1986, pp. 292303; Zheng Yan, Barbarian Images in Han Period Art, 1998, p. 54. 84 See: M. Taddei, India, 1976, p. 173; F. Grenet, The Second of Three Encounters between Zoroastrianism and Hinduism: Plastic Influences in Bactria and Sogdiana (2nd-8th century A.D.), 1994, p. 52, n. 29.
China during the ninth century.
terracotta statuettes, the main sources of information on the Sogdian religious creed.
archaeological bases see: F. Grenet, The Second of Three Encounters between Zoroastrianism and Hinduism: Plastic Influences in Bactria and Sogdiana (2nd-8th century A.D.), 1994. 88 See: M. Carter, Notes on Two Chinese Stone Funerary Beds Bases with Zoroastrian Symbolism, 2002, pp. 274276. On some studies on the (supposed) adoption of Mazdean elements in sixth-century Chinese art: Shi, Study on a Stone Carving from the Tomb of a Sogdian Aristocrat of the Northern Qi, 2000, figs. 1013; Shi, Senmurv and Farn Spiritual Light. An Explanation of the Images on the Stone Coffin of Yuan Mi of the Northern Wei, 2004, pp. 150158. 89 V. Livic, The Sogdian Wall Inscriptions on the Site of Afrasiab, 2006, p. 61. 90 T. K. Mkrtychev, Buddizm v Sogde, 2002a, p. 60. Very recently Frantz Grenet proposed seeing in this inscription at Afrasyab a reference to the participation of the Chaganyans in local sacrifices: F. Grenet, The Self-Image of the Sogdians, 2005. 91 See: R. N. Frye, The History of Bukhara Translated from a Persian Abridgement of the Arabic Original by Narshaki, p. 48.
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