This document from the reign of the Khotanese King Vísa' Dharma (r. c. 746–756) records a case heard at an assembly in Birgaṃdara village. It concerns the sale of water rights from the pool at Phęma pool for 2500 muras. Several examples of these box-shaped wooden contracts, all in Khotanese, have been found around Dandan-Uiliq in north Khotan. The shape, whereby the lid containing a summary of the text slides off and reveals a more extensive text underneath, is perhaps a development of the simpler wooden wedge-shaped documents used in third-century Kroraina.
Ink on wood
The British Library,
Or.9268(A)