Zoroastrian prayer, the Ashem Vohu, found in China
This manuscript comes not from India or Iran, the lands associated today with the Zoroastrian religion, but from Dunhuang in Central China, and is written in Sogdian, a medieval Iranian language.
It contains a short text concerning the prophet Zarathushtra (Zoroaster in Greek sources) and a phonetic transcription into the Sogdian script of the holy ‘Ashem Vohu’ prayer, composed originally in Avestan, a more ancient Iranian language. Probably dating from the ninth century, this manuscript is some 400 years older than any other surviving Zoroastrian scripture.
Originating in Central Asia, Zoroastrianism teaches the importance of good thoughts, words, and actions, in a world where the forces of the all-knowing Lord Ahura Mazda, are constantly opposed to those of the evil spirit, Angra Mainyu. The oldest scriptures, referred to as the Avesta or Zend, were, however, not written down until around the sixth century AD, many centuries after their composition.
From Central Asia, Zoroastrianism spread southwest to Iran where it was the religion of the Achaemenid kings (550–330 BCE) and their successors until the Arab conquest in the mid-seventh century. Subsequently, Zoroastrian refugees from Iran settled in Gujarat in India, where they are known as Parsis, i.e. ‘Persians’. Today, in addition to the Zoroastrians of Iran and India, there are Parsi communities worldwide.
In Central Asia, Sogdian traders, whose homeland was the area of Samarkand in present-day Uzbekistan, carried their religion eastwards to China where it survived for many centuries alongside Buddhism, Manichaeism and Christianity. Sogdian communities developed at staging posts along the trade route, and in Dunhuang, where this manuscript was found, there is written evidence as early as the fourth century for a Zoroastrian temple, which was still flourishing in the early 10th century. The Sogdian language, in which this text was written, died out some time after the 10th century, but a related dialect, Yagnobi, still survives as a minority language spoken in the Yagnob valley north of Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
How was the manuscript discovered?
This manuscript was one of 40,000 or so manuscript scrolls and fragments hidden in one of the ‘Caves of a Thousand Buddhas’ – a cliff wall near the city of Dunhuang honeycombed with 492 grottoes cut from the rock from the fourth century onwards and decorated with religious carvings and paintings. This manuscript was acquired by the archaeologist and explorer Aurel Stein in 1907 during his second expedition to Central Asia.
What does this fragment show?
This manuscript fragment appears to be the top 10 lines of a scroll. Traces of where the next sheet was attached are still visible at the bottom. The text has been written with some care in a large and calligraphic hand, with a ruled margin on the right hand side. To judge from the paper and style of calligraphy, our scribe may also have copied another similar Sogdian fragment preserved in the British Library which tells the story of the Iranian national hero Rustam.
Thanks a lot for sharing!
Yazdi Sidhwa used to be my class fellow at Adamjee Science College, Karachi (1961-63).
Just wondering if you are my old friend 🙂
Shabbir Ahmed, M.D. drshabbir@bellsouth.net http://www.Ourbeacon.com (Be sure to check out the new and old Forums!) http://www.ourbeacon.com/cgi-bin/bbs60x/webbbs_config.pl http://www.galaxydastak.com/cgi-bin/bbs60x/webbbs_config.pl http://www.youtube.com/drshabbir2 8838 Leeland Archer Blvd Orlando, FL 32836 Ph: 407-217-6680
Dr Yezdi Sidhwa is s medical doctor practicing in Houston Texas. I will be happy to pass on your contact info to him.
BTW, Did professor Rizvi teach you Urdu at Adamjee?
Zoroastrian oldest established religion,whose followers continued the path of Good Thoughts ,Good word ,& Good Deeds, the basic concepts of Humanity .
That’s why it followers have survived even today .Thus honoured and respected world over. Long live my Zoroastrianism. Excited to hear our 950 years BCE heritage.
What an impressive discovery. I am thrilled. I had heard that some Zoroastrians had fled from Persia to China; a Zoroastrian prayer implement had been found in China, hence the conjecture. I shall pass this discovery along to our son who is a Zoroastrian and lived the good life, and I shall also pass this to others .
thank you
Zenobia Baxter Mistri
Parsis my try to acqyire a copy of itand place it in a trust
Parsis in india must try to acquire a copy of it and place it in a trust
wonderful discovery…makes me happy to be a Zoroastrian
This is for Zenobia Baxter Mistri.
Hi my old friend, how are you and
Jal the professor ?
My best regards to you all. Think of you often. Still in the windy city I presume.
Percy Unwalla .
WhatsApp contact … +919820300522
Very interesting article. Will pass it on to my Parsi friends and relatives.
It is known that some Zoroastrians went towards China after the Arab conquests and persecutions. In fact, one of Yazdegard III’s sons went there to get help. A number of Zoroastriand lived in China but were finally absorbed in to the Chinese melting pot.