Examples of Buddhist Letters from A.M. Pozdneev Archives Collection


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Buddhist letters represent official documents that were issued by the Dalai Lamas and Panchen Lamas to prominent political or religious figures as a sign of recognition of their achievements. They appeared at the end of the 16th c. when Buddhism was recognized as a state religion among Mongolian peoples. Three copies of such letters have been kept in the A.M. Pozdneev (1851-1920) collection in the Archives of the Orientalists at the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, RAS. The earliest letter, which was written in Tibetan semi-uncial script and included a translation in the Oirat language, was given by the 5th Panchen Lama (Lobsang ye shes dpal bzang, 1663-1773) to a Torghut Yogochari Tsordji. Two other scrolls were written only in Tibetan semiuncial script and were given by the 13th Dalai Lama (1876-1933) and the 9th Panchen Lama (1883-1937) in 1903 to a Dörbet Lama Ngag dbang sangs rgyas. From a practical point of view, these letters can be seen as certificates of completed education and obtaining a title that enabled the holder to engage in teaching activities. Their language and style have a formal structure and are of scholarly interest to researchers as examples of Buddhist documents.

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Svetlana Sabrukova

Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, Russian Academy of Sciences

Author for correspondence.
Email: ssabrukova@yandex.ru
SPIN-code: 1803-7156
Russian Federation

References

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