The writing on this manuscript is ninth-century Sogdian script. The orientation of the drawing suggests that at this period Sogdian, like Turkic in the same script, was read vertically rather than horizontally as, for example, in the oldest Sogdian texts of the fourth century (cat. nos. 191 & 192). The text, which is largely incomprehensible, is written on the back of a manuscript copy of the Diamond Sutra in Chinese. It contains an obscure remark about the man pictured, who is referred to as Tämär Quš, a Turkic name meaning ‘Iron bird’, and a lady Yimkičor.
Ink on paper
The British Library,
Or.8210/S.1360