Elements of Turkic Mythology in the Tibetan Document P.T. 1283

ERKOÇ H. İ.

CENTRAL ASIATIC JOURNAL, vol.61, no.2, pp.297-312, 2018 (AHCI) identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 61 Issue: 2
  • Publication Date: 2018
  • Doi Number: 10.13173/centasiaj.61.2.0297
  • Journal Name: CENTRAL ASIATIC JOURNAL
  • Journal Indexes: Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), Scopus, FRANCIS, IBZ Online, International Bibliography of Social Sciences, Art Abstracts, Art Index, Art Source, Index Islamicus, Linguistic Bibliography, Linguistics & Language Behavior Abstracts, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, Sociological abstracts
  • Page Numbers: pp.297-312
  • Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

The well-known Tibetan document P.T. 1283 is a unique historical source that contains significant information about mid-8th century Central Asia. Discovered at Dunhuang in 1908, P.T. 1283 is kept today in the collection Pelliot tibetain at the Bibliotheque nationale de France in Paris. One side of the document is in Chinese and the other side contains two different Tibetan texts. The title of the second Tibetan text, Byang phyogs na rgyal po du bzhugs pa'i rabs gyi yi geo (BNP), was translated into English by Venturi as Text on the sequence of however many kings live in the north, containing several myths belonging to the Turk (Tujue, Gokturks) and Kyrgyz. In conclusion, the Turkic myths narrated in P.T. 1283 are reflections of a very large collection of Central Asian folk beliefs, exemplified in numerous historical sources.