[Excerpt of pages 293-303 and 315, regarding Cherchen / Qiemo.]
[p.293]
Journey from Endere to Charchan. The journey from the Endere River to Charchan was covered in six marches, between November 16 and 20, the same number as in Hsnan-tsang's itinerary. The route, described already in my personal narrative,1 can have changed but little since his time, lying in an almost straight line to the north-east. It carefully hugs the line where the glacis of the sterile 'Sai' of gravel, sloping down from the foot of the K'un-lun and overrun in parts by high ridges of sand, is fringed northward by a zone of desert vegetation, varying in width and as yet unsurveyed (see Maps Nos. 43, 46).
Hsüan-tsang's [Xuan Zang's] description of route [in 644]. For direct archaeological observations there was no scope here. But I was able to convince myself here also of the truthfulness of the record which Hsüan-tsang has left of the impressions gathered on his journey eastwards to Lop-nor.2 On leaving, the territory of Ni-jang or Niya
'he took the direction to the east and entered a great desert of moving sands. These sands have an immense extent ; they are piled up or scattered according to the wind. As there are no tracks for wayfarers, many go astray. On every side there extends a vast space, with nothing to go by. So travellers collect the bones of animals left behind to serve as road-marks. There is neither water nor grazing, and hot winds frequently blow. When these winds rise, men and animals lose their senses and become unwell. Often one hears singing and whistling, and sometimes wailing. While looking and listening, one becomes stupified and unable to direct oneself. Hence travellers frequently lose their lives here. The phenomena are caused by demons and sprites.'
We shall see how curiously the facts and superstitions here described reappear in Marco Polo's account of the great desert crossed between Lop-nor and Sha-chou.3 No doubt, the pilgrim's remarks were meant to apply generally to the desert route as he saw it on his way from Niya to the Lop tract and hence to Sha-chou or Tun-huang.
Itinerary of T'ang Annals. For the period immediately following Hsüan-tsang's journey, a succinct account of this route is contained in the itinerary which the [Chinese character] furnish from Sha-chou to Khotan, and of which M. Chavannes has translated an abstract.4 We are told there that after leaving 'the garrison of Po-hsien, which is the ancient town of Chü-mo' and, as we shall presently see, identical with the modern Charchan, 'one passes the Hsi-li-chih wells, the Yao wells, the river Wu-chê, and, after 500 li, arrives at the military post of the town of Lan, which is east of Yü-t'ien'. By the latter expression we may assume that the eastern frontier of Khotan territory is meant, and in this case the distance indicated would justify us in identifying ' the military post of the town of Lan ' 蘭 [兰] with the T'ang fort of the Endere Site first explored in 1901. The mention of wells as stages west...
1 See Desert Cathay, i. pp. 381 sqq.
2 See Julien, Memoires, ii. p. 246; Walters, Yuan Chuang, ii. p. 304. I reproduce the latter translation, except where Julien's version seems to give a better context.
3 Cf. Yule, Marco Polo, i. pp. 196 sq., with the illuminating notes of Sir Henry Yule on the widespread belief in goblins haunting deserts, ibid., pp. tot sq.
4 See Chavannes, Voyage de Song Yun, p. 12, note 9; also cf. Ancient Khotan, i. p. 436, note 14.
294 FROM CHARCHAN TO CHARKHLIK [Chap. VIII
...of Chü-mo is a clear indication that the ground traversed by the route between Charchan and the Endere Site had still remained without permanent habitations after the establishment of Chinese control, but, as now, offered water in wells dug at regular halting stages. In the absence of direct evidence, such as distance estimates would supply, conjectural identifications of the stages recorded in the Tang itineraries would serve no useful purpose. So much, however, is clear that by the Wu-chêRiver [勿che水] either the Kara-muran or Mölcha [/ Moleqie] River must be meant, the beds of which, dry except during the summer floods, are passed near the halting-places of Chingelik and Shüdan-öghil [Serikule?] respectively (see Map No. 43).
Marco Polo's description of route. Marco Polo's description of this route is somewhat fuller than Hsüan-tsang's, and brings out more clearly the distinctive features of its main stages.5 In his account of the ' Province of Charchan ', to which we shall have to return presently, he tells us :
'The whole of the Province is sandy, and so is the road all the way from Pein, and much of the water that you find is bitter and bad. However, at some places you do find fresh and sweet water. When an army passes through the land, the people escape with their wives, children, and cattle a distance of two or three days' journey into the sandy waste ; and knowing the spots where water is to be had, they are able to live there, and to keep their cattle alive, whilst it is impossible to discover them ; for the wind immediately blows the sand over their track.'
Desert route between Niya and Charchan. It is easy to recognize here a faithful recollection of the route as it still presents itself to the traveller between the oases of Niya and Charchan.6 Whereas fresh water is obtainable on the Yär-tungaz and Endere Rivers and at the usual halting-places as far as the Yär-tungaz, the water at the wells beyond is throughout brackish, and at some points so salt as to be scarcely fit for drinking. This, coupled with the great summer heat, the mosquitoes then bred in the flood-beds, and the serious risks arising from ' Burans ' or sand-storms, practically closes the direct route through the desert from May till September. It is equally certain that at that season the terminal forest-belts of the rivers and the extensive areas of sandy scrub and jungle, which spread out northward near the lakes of Bileklik and Sizütke and for two marches east of the Endere River, would provide safe places of refuge for the flocks and the families of the shepherds who subsist on these dreary pastures.
Oasis of Charchan. Though the combined claims of practical travel arrangements and archaeological remains did not suffice to detain me at Charchan for more than two busy days, November 21 and 22, yet there was much to interest me in this small and flourishing oasis both from the geographical and from the antiquarian point of view. Already on the march I had gathered information which showed that Charchan was no longer the wretched collection of hovels such as it was described some thirty years earlier, but a steadily growing oasis.7 From a dreaded place of exile, used by the Chinese in pre-rebellion days as a settlement for malefactors from Khotan, it had gradually developed into a lively oasis quite as large as, if not larger than, Niya. Referring for details of local observations to my personal narrative,8 I may content myself here with a rapid survey of the factors which have had a manifest bearing on the history of the place.
Abundant water-supply in Charchan R. Brief as my stay at Charchan was, it amply sufficed to impress me with the advantages which physical conditions here offer for the growth of a large and important settlement. Chief among them is the abundant water-supply assured by the Charchan River. This drains a series of high snowy ranges to the south beyond the outermost chain of the K'un-lun, and brings down thence so ...
5 Cf. Yule, Marco Polo, i. p. 194.
6 Cf. for the route between Niya and Endere as seen by me in 1901, Ruins of Khotan, pp. 423 sqq.; Ancient Khotan, i. pp. 443 sq.
7 Cf. Prejevalsky, From Kulja to Lob-nor, p. 76, note 2 ; Forsyth, Yarkand Mission Report, p. 34. 8Cf. Desert Cathay, i. pp. 321 sqq.
Sec. i] EARLY ACCOUNTS OF CHARCHAN 295
...great a volume of water that, alone among the rivers which descend front the mountains east of the Khotan River, it can at all seasons force its way right through the desert until it joins the Tarim. All my informants agreed that the possibilities of irrigation in this area were more than sufficient for an oasis quite as big as Keriya. Of this I had ocular evidence when crossing the river within the oasis. I found the bed here fully half a mile broad and the river still flowing, in spite of the late season, with a strong current in five or six well-filled channels, from ten to twenty yards broad. Its volume was certainly far in excess of that of the Yurung-käsh or Khotan River, as I had seen it about two months before or in October and November of 1900.
Possible development of Charchan oasis. Of arable land there was abundance on both banks of the river, more than any colonization scheme, however extravagant, would require ; for apart from the broad belts of potentially fertile steppe, now covered with reed and scrub, north of the present oasis, it is certain that a few years ofsystematic irrigation would suffice to deposit again a layer of fertile riverine loess over the wide stretches of fine denuded gravel south of the oasis where ' Tatis ' attest the existence of extensive ancient settlements.9 Nothing was wanting but fresh settlers, and for these all the land-holding ' Bais ' of Charchan were eagerly longing. The influx of labourers from the Khotan side was steady but slow. The long desert route manifestly acted as a deterrent. Nothing had been done to mitigate the hardships it would necessarily imply for poor cultivators, and of the large batches of colonists, brought on several occasions by official pressure, numbers had escaped again to rejoin their relatives, etc., at the more populous centres westwards. The demand for labour there was still great enough to assure an easy existence even for the poorest.
Difficulties of colonization. Charchan is separated from the nearest permanent settlements of importance by greater distances than any other oasis within the plains of the Tarim Basin. This geographical fact and the economic conditions resulting account for the special difficulties with which colonization has to contend here in spite of the advantages offered by abundant irrigation facilities. At the same time the geographical position of Charchan, about half-way between Niya and the small area of cultivation in the Lop-nor tract [Charklik / Ruoqiang], was enough to ensure importance to the oasis at any period when the route south of the great desert saw much traffic. In the interaction of these causes we may find, I think, the best explanation of the fact that the history of Charchan offers a particularly striking illustration of those péripéties [adventures] to which isolated settlements along the southern edge of the great Turkestan desert have been subject at different periods. These repeated alternations between agricultural occupation and abandonment to the desert, which the history of Charchan shows us must have a special interest for the geographical as well as the historical student. They are fully authenticated by reliable dated records, and, in view of the facts already mentioned about the water-supply of the Charchan River, cannot reasonably be attributed to the sole agency of physical changes brought about by desiccation.
Charchan in Former Han Annals. The earliest record of Charchan is furnished by the Former Han Annals, which mention it by the name of Chü-mo 且末 as a territory situated on the high road leading westwards from Shan-shan or the Lop-nor tract.10 The distance of 720 li given from Shan-shan and the bearing westwards make this identification certain.11 In agreement also is the statement that the territory...
9 I may note here in passing that I observed this process of reclamation vigorously proceeding on exactly similar 'Sai' in widely distinct localities, e. g. to the north of Kuchä and along the southern edge of the Yurung-käsh, Sampula, and Borazän cantons of Khotan.
10 For a translation of the notice of the Former Han Annals, cf. Wylie, J. Anthrop. Inst, x. p. 28; cf. also Chavannes, T'oung-pao, 1905, p. 536.
11 This identification appears to have been firstsuggested by Mr. Kingsmill; see Wylie, J. Anthrop. Inst., x. p. 23, quoting from the Chinese Recorder, VIII. p. 341. It was definitely proved in a critical fashion by Al. Grenard ; see Mission D. de Rhins, p. 146, where the references to Charchan in Sung Yun's and Hüuan.tsang's itineraries are also duly noticed.
296 FROM CHARCHAN TO CHARKHLIK [Chap. VIII
...of Ching-chüeh, located above on the Niya River, lies to the west of Chü-mo, though the distance shown as 2,000 li is grossly exaggerated.12 Chü-mo, with its capital of the same name, is described as a petty 'kingdom', containing
'230 families, comprising 1,610 persons, with 320 trained soldiers, a Guardian Marquis, a Right General, a Left General, and an Interpreter-in-chief. The city is distant front the seat of the Governor-General on the north-west 2,258 li. The country joins Hwuy-le on the north, and it is about three days' journey to the kingdom of Little Wan on the south. Grapes and other fruits are produced. The kingdom of Tsing-tseue (Ching-chüeh) on the west is 2,000 li distant.'
Neighbouring territory of Hsiao-yüan. By Hwuy-le, i.e. Wu-lei 烏櫐 [乌櫐], is meant the vicinity of Chādir, between Korla and Kuchā, on the great route north of the Tarim, which served under the Former Han dynasty as headquarters for the Protector-General of the Western Regions.13 A reference to the map shows that the bearing here recorded is accurate enough, Charchan being situated in 85° 35' long. according to our surveys (see Map No. 46), while Dr. Hassenstein's map places Chādir in circ. 84° 50'.14 As to the still smaller ' kingdom of Little Wan ' or Hsiao-yüan [Xiao Yuan], which lay about three days' journey to the south of Chü-mo, and of which a brief account is given in the succeeding notice of the Hsi yü chuan, it is certain that it must be identified with the small settlements of cultivators and herdsmen which are scattered along the foot of the K'un-lun south and south-west of Charchan, from Achchan to the debouchure of the Mölcha and Endere Rivers (see Maps Nos. 43, 47). To judge from the distance indicated, the 'capital' of this tract, the 'city' of Yü-ling, may be placed about Dalai-kurghān, as suggested by Dr. Herrmann.15 The population recorded for Hsiao-yüan, 150 families, throws light on the modest resources of this hill tract. It is correctly described as ' lying out of the way of the high road ' and adjoining on the east the territory of the nomadic Jo Ch'iang, who held the high plateaus south of the Altin-tagh, including Tsaidam.
Charchan in later Annals. The annals of the Later Han duly mention Chü-mo 且末 in its proper place between the territories of Shan-shan and Ching-chüeh, on the great southern route from Yü-mên to Khotan.16 Also the Wei lio (composed A.D. 239-265) notes it, along with Hsiao-yüan and Ching-chüeh, among the territories dependent on Shan-shan.17 No details are furnished by these records, nor does Charchan appear otherwise to receive any special notice in the Annals of the dynasties which intervened between the Han and T'ang periods.
Calmadana in Niya Kharoşţhi tablet. But we have direct and authentic evidence that Charchan was still inhabited and probably a separate chiefship towards the end of the third century A.D. in the Chinese tablet from the Niya tablet. Site, N. xiv. üi. 10, which mentions a present offered to a Royal consort from Chü-mo.18 There is also reason to believe that Charchan is meant by Calmadana, mentioned in a Kharoshthi tablet from the same site as the locality from which a messenger is dispatched to Khotana, i. e. Khotan,...
12 See above, pp. z 59 sq. ; cf. also Hermann, Scidenstrassen, p. 99, where an endeavour is made to account for this palpable exaggeration. Seeing that the position of Chit-mo and Ching-chtieh are quite certain, this great error in distance serves as a warning against placing too great reliance on the distance estimates, in the Han Annals' survey of the Western Regions.
13 Cf. Wylie, J. Anthrop. Dal., xi. p. 95; Herrmann, Stidenslrassen, pp. 38, 86. See also below, Chap. xxx, sec. ii note 8.
14 I must leave it undecided how this bearing to the north of Chü-mo is to be reconciled with the statement immediately preceding about the seat of the Governor-General, i.e. Wu-lei, being to the north-west. Considering the vast distance, almost all impassable desert, which in the direct line separates Churches from the small oasis north of the Taklamakan, either location is sufficiently correct and suggests the use of some map by the compiler of the ' Notes on the Western Regions '.
15 See Herrmann, Seidenstrassen, p. 99.
16 Cf. Chavannes, T'oung-pao, 5907, p. 170.
17 See ibid., 5905, pp. 535 sqq. The Wei lio by a graphic error shows the name as 且__[Chinese character] Chü-chih instead of 且末.
18 See above, p. 218; Chavannes, Documents, p. 203.
Sec. i] EARLY ACCOUNTS OF CHARCHAN 297
...via Saca and Nina, i.e. Niya ;19 for it is probably this full form of the local name Calmadana which Hstian-tsang's transcript Chê-mo-t'o-na is intended to reproduce.20
Charchan noticed by Li Tao-yüan. Interesting geographical information regarding the territory and its river is furnished at a somewhat later period by a commentary on the Shui ching, 'the Classic of the Waters', from which M. Chavannes' translation has made important extracts accessible.21 Li Tao-yüan, the author of this commentary, died in A. D. 527 ; but various observations prove that his remarks concerning the Tarim Basin are largely based on earlier materials. We shall have occasion further on to consider his statement concerning the lowest course of the Tarim and the marshes of Lop-nor.22 After discussing the course of the Khotan River and its junction with the Tarim, the commentary informs us that the river, ' going further east, passes north of the territory of Chü-mo 且末; still further eastward it receives on its right the great A-nou-ta 阿耨達 [阿耨达] river (i.e. the Charchan River). To this river also the Shih shih hsi yü chi is referring when it says : " To the north-west of the A-nou-ta mountains there is a great river which flows northward and throws itself into the Lao-lanLake (Lop-nor)." This river flows northward ; it cuts through the mountains which are to the south of Chü-mo ; further north it passes to the west of the walled town (ch'êng) of Chü-mo: Then follow some remarks on the latter which are manifestly based upon the Hsi yü chuan of the Former Han Annals, if not literally taken from it.23 'This kingdom [of Chü-mo] has for its capital the town of Chü-mo, which, towards the west, communicates with [the kingdom of] Ching-chüeh at 2,000 li distance, and which, towards the east, is 720 li from Shan-shan. The five kinds of cereals are there cultivated ; the customs are approximately the same as in China.'
Course of Charhan R. described. The notice concludes with an account of the further course of the A-nou-ta River. ' From here onward it is called " the river of Chü-mo ". Flowing towards the north-east, it passes to the north of Chü-mo. Flowing still further, it unites itself on its left with the River of the South (i. e. with the Khotan River merged in the Tarim). Together [the two rivers] flow in an oblique course towards the east, and, having joined, become the Chu-pin 注 薲 River. The Chu-pin River further east passes north of the kingdom of Shan-shan.'
A reference to the map will show how correctly the chief topographical facts about the river of Charchan are delineated by the Chinese commentator. South of Charchan it breaks through the northernmost chain of the K'un-lun, to which in its eastern extension the name A-nou-ta applies. Its course from the debouchure as far as the Charchan oasis and its subsequent deflexion to the north-east are accurately stated. So is also the easterly direction assumed by the river near its junction with the Tarim and beyond, until its waters are lost in the Kara-koshun marshes of Lop-nor. The exactness of these details creates a strong presumption of the correctness also of the statement which makes the river pass to the west of the old town, though its course now lies through the existing oasis. To this point we shall return presently.
Sung Yün's account of Charchan. A somewhat more detailed account of Charchan is contained in the itinerary of Sung Yün.24 This Buddhist pilgrim passed here about A. D. 519 along the southern route on his way from China to Khotan : 'Having marched sixteen hundred and forty li westward after leaving Shan-shan, [the travellers] arrived at the walled town (ch'êng) of Tso-mo 左末. In this town there reside about a hundred families. In this region it does not rain. Irrigation is used to make the wheat grow. The people know the use neither of oxen nor of ploughs for tilling their fields. In this town there are representations of a Buddha and a Bodhisattva which have by no means...
19 Cf. Ancient Khotan, i. pp. 311, note 7; 326. [Calmadana is named also in other Niya tablets, e.g. N. iv. 59 ; xv. 136, 158, 164, 310.]
20 Cf. below, pp. 298.
21 See T'oung-pao, 1905, pp. 564 sq.
22 See below, pp. 325 sqq.
23 Cf. above, pp. 295 sq.
24 See Chavannes, Voyage de Song Yun, pp. 12 sq.
298 FROM CHARCHAN TO CHARKHLIK [Chap. VIII
...the figure of barbarians (hu); the old men questioned said that it was Lü Kuang who had had them made on the occasion of his expedition against the barbarians.'
Charchan conquered by the T'u-yü-hun. Sung Yün's account is of interest because it makes it quite clear that the Charchan of his time had become an oasis of very modest extent. His description of the primitive conditions in which agriculture was practised points to a population occupying a far lower cultural plane than that indicated by the remains of the Niya Site more than two centuries earlier. This finds its probable explanation in Sung Yün's previous statement that the neighbouring Shan-shan or Lop-nor tract had been conquered and actually held by the T'u-yü-hun.25 We know that these were nomad tribes of uncertain origin who in Sung Yün's time and for centuries later occupied the high plateaus stretching westwards from the Koko-nor region. It is very probable that this T'u-yü-hun conquest at the time of Sung Yün's visit already extended to Charchan ; for the Pei shih distinctly mentions both Shan-shan and Chü-mo as territories held by the T'u-yü-hun during the reign of their king K'ua-lü, who is mentioned for the first time in A. D. 540.26
Sacred images at Charchan. Sung Yün's reference to the sacred images supposed to date from Lü Kuang's invasion is also of historical interest. It shows that the expedition undertaken by this Chinese general into the Tarim Basin in A. D. 384 was not restricted solely to the temporary subjection of Kara-shahr and Kucha.27 It further supplies us with a definite instance of the early influence which specimens of Chinese art must have exercised on Buddhist sculptural work in the Tarim Basin, in exchange as it were for the far stronger influence carried by Central-Asian Buddhist art eastwards. It only remains to add that the distance of sixteen hundred and forty li which Sung Yün's itinerary gives between Shan-shan and Tso-mo is greatly over-estimated, while the subsequent reckoning of twelve hundred and seventy-five li from Tso-mo to Han-mo, which corresponds to Hsüan-tsang's P'i-mo,28 is distinctly too low. But, as M. Chavannes justly emphasizes, these and other serious errors in Sung Yün's distance estimates can cause no surprise, if account is taken of the critical defects of the text in which his itinerary has reached us.29
Hsüan-tsang's account of Chê-mo-t'o-na. Hsüan-tsang, following the same route just a century and a quarter after Sung Yün, but in the reverse direction, has also left us a record of Charchan. After leaving the ruins of the old Tu-huo-lo kingdom, which, as we have seen already, must be located at Endere, ' he travelled about six hundred li eastward and arrived at the old Chê-mo-t'o-na 折摩駄那 kingdom, which is precisely the territory of Chü-mo. The city walls are very lofty, but there are no inhabitants.'30 That the form Nieh-mo, which the present text of the Hsi-yü-chi shows here for Chü-mo 且末 is but a graphic error, is clearly proved by the correct form found in the Life of the pilgrim. That his Chê-mo-t'o-ma is probably meant as a reproduction of the current indigenous form of the name which in the Prakrit of Kharosthi tablets from the Niya Site figures as Calmadana, has been previously mentioned.31
Charchan deserted at Hsüan-tsang's passage, but reoccupied under T'angs. Hsüan-tsang's testimony as to the deserted condition of Charchan at the time of his visit is of particular interest ; for when Chinese control had been re-established, some fifteen years after his passage, Charchan figures once more in the T'ang dynasty's Annals as a place duly garrisoned. In an itinerary which is given by the T'ang shu for the route from Shan-shan to Khotan, and of which M. Chavannes has translated an abstract,32 we are informed that after leaving...
25 See Chavannes, Voyage de Song Yunp. 12.
26 Cf. ibid., p. 12, notes 2 and 7. As regards Shan-shan, cf. below, p. 323. [For the Tu-yü-hun, cf. now M. Pelliot in J. Asiat., 1916, janvier–février, pp. 117, 122.]
27 Cf. regarding this expedition, Chavannes, Voyage de Song Yun, p. 13, note 2; Ancient Khotan, p. 543. note 2.
28 Cf. Ancient Kholan, i. p. 456.
29 Cf. Chavannes, Voyage de Song Van, p. 14, note 4.
30 See Julien, Mémoires, p. 247; also Vie de H.-Th., p. 290; Watters, Yuan Chwang, p. 304 ; cf. above, p. 288, and Ancient Khotan, p. 435, note 9.
31 See above, p. 297.
32 Cf. Chavannes, Voyage de Song Yun,p. 12. note 9. My extracts of this itinerary are here and elsewhere supple-...
Sec. i] EARLY ACCOUNTS OF CHARCHAN 299
...Shan-shan to the south of Lop-nor and passing several stages which will be discussed below, 'one crosses the river Chü-mo, and at the end of five hundred li arrives at the garrison of Po-hsien [播仙] ("the garrison of the banished Rsi") which is the ancient town of Chü-mo 且末.33 It was Kao-tsung who changed its name in the period Shang-yüan (A. D. 674-676).' That this place was actually occupied at the beginning of the eighth century may be concluded from the record which the T'ang shu makes of a meeting there between a Chinese commissioner and a chief of the Western Turks who was retreating towards Sha-chou along the southern route, some time between A. D. 706-708.34 This record speaks of the 'town of Po-hsien', which confirms the date given for the change of name.34a It is true that Chü-mo already figures in the T'ang Annals about A. D. 640 as one of the many territories subject to the vast dominion of the Western Turks.35 But the list there given seems purely formal, and the mention in it of Chü-mo can in no way invalidate the statement of an eyewitness like Hsüan-tsang, who a few years later found the town completely deserted.
Marco Polo's description of Charchan. We have no further record of Charchan until we come to the account by Marco Polo, who passed here along the route from Khotan to Lop and into China about A. D. 1273-4.36 His description of the 'road' which took him there front the 'Province of Pein', including the present of tracts of Chira, Keriya, and Niya, has already been quoted. 'Charchan ', he tells us, ' is a Province of Great Turkey, lying between north-east and east. The people worship Mahommet. There are numerous towns and villages, and the chief city of the kingdom bears its name, Charchan. The Province contains rivers which bring down Jasper and Chalcedony, and these are carried for sale into Cathay, where they find great prices. The whole of the Province is sandy.'37 It is clear that Marco must have seen the oasis in a comparatively flourishing conditions, and it seems difficult not to connect this with the abundant traffic which must have passed along this ancient route into China at a period when the vast extent and the effective organization of the Mongol conquests had thrown China open to trade-intercourse with the most distant parts of Asia. The mention of ' Jasper and Chalcedony ', just as in the case of the ' Province of Pein ',38 undoubtedly refers primarily to jade, which is found among the rubble brought down by the Charchan River and in the beds of all the large rivers descending to the Tarim Basin through the northernmost chain of the Run-bun. But that true jasper and chalcedony occur here also is proved by the worked stones of these materials, evidently belonging to the neolithic period, which I collected from eroded ground in the Lop-nor desert, and the material for which must have been derived from the K'un-lun detritus.39
Charchan mentioned by Mirza Haidar. Charchan does not appear to be mentioned by Shah Rukh's envoys, whose journey in Charchan A. D. 1422 along the desert route from Su-chou to Khotan is the next in time of which we possess a record.40 But Mirza Haidar in the sixteenth century knew its name, under the varying...
(from footnote on previous page) mented fronts a MS. translation of the full text as found in T'ang Shu, chap. XLIII b, p. 15 recto, which M. Chavannes has very kindly placed at my disposal; see Appendix A.
33 For notes on the several stages indicated by this itinerary west of Chü-mo, including 'the military post of the town of Lan' which may, perhaps, be identified with the T'ang fort of the Endere Site, see Ancient Khotan, p. 436, note 14 ; also above, pp. 293 sq.
34 See Chavannes, Turcs occid. p. 185.
34a For this date cf. now Pelliot, J. Asiat., 1916,janvier-février, p. 121, note 3.
35 Cf. Chavannes, Turcs occid.., pp. 30, 57, 306.
36 Herrmann, .Seidenstrassen, p. 99, assumes that the Ta-thun mentioned in the itinerary of a Chinese mission dispatched to Khotan about A. D. 940 it the same as Charchan; cf. Rémusat, Ville de Khotan, p. 78. The identification is possible, but I can find no direct evidence for it.
37 Cf. Yule, Marco Polo, i. p. 194. It was Sir Henry Yule who first discovered 'the continued existence of Marco's Charchan ' through a route attached to Mr. Johnson's original report on his journey to Khotan in 1865; see ibid., p. 195, note.
38 Cf. Yule, Marco Polo, i. p. 191.
39 Cf. Mr. Reginald A. Smith's article on those worked stones, The Stone Age in Chinese Turkestan, in Man, xi, (1911) pp. 81 sqq.; also below, p. 357.
40 Cf. Yule-Cordier, Cathay2, i. p. 286.
300 FROM CHARCHAN TO CHARKHLIK [Chap. VIII
...forms of Charchan and Jurjan, as that of a region in the extreme south or south-east of the Tarim Basin.41 But from the way in which he associates it with the distant wastes of Lob-Katak and Sarigh-Uighur and talks of the territories east of Khotan as ' deserts which consist of nothing but heaps of shifting sands, impenetrable jungles, waste lands, and salt deserts ',42 it appears to me very unlikely that an oasis of any importance could have existed there in his own times. Probably cultivation at Charchan rapidly declined when the cessation of free intercourse with China after the advent of the Ming dynasty in the fourteenth century deprived it of its chief raison d'être as an important halting-place on the long desert route connecting westernmost Kan-su with Khotan. We know that Benedict Goëz, after his long stay at Yarkand in 1604, was obliged to take for his journey to Cathay the devious route via Ak-su, Turfan, Hami, followed by the infrequent caravans of that time, even though he had previously visited Khotan.43 It is obvious that the direct and much shorter route from Khotan past Lop-nor to Su-chou was completely abandoned by such trade as was carried on at the time between Eastern Turkestan and China. Here it may be noted also in passing that the well-informed Persian trader Haji Muhammad, whose remarkably accurate account of a trade journey to Su-thou and Kan-thou Ramusio heard at Venice about a. D. 1550, knew only the northern route from Cathay past Hami, Turfan, Kashgar, etc.44
Charchan resettled as a penal station. From the inquiries made at Charchan, it seems to me certain that cultivation had completely disappeared there by the end of the eighteenth century, and probably for a long period earlier. It was only after the first third of the last century that the Chinese began to settle Charchan once more as a small penal station.45 The growth of the new settlement seems to have been slow at first, and the shifty character of the original convict colonists retarded ordered development. The disturbed conditions during the Muhammadan rebellion, when the great oases westwards suffered depopulation, deprived Charchan for long years of any chance of attracting fresh settlers. But with the establishment of a much improved Chinese administration and the general rise of economic conditions in the country, the tide of renewed expansion has been steady. The convenience offered by Charchan as a base for supplies has helped to attract increased labour to the gold mines worked on the slopes of Arka-tagh in the south-east ; the oasis in turn has benefited by the market thus assured for its surplus products. Since the ancient desert route to Tun-huang and Kan-su came again into regular use for trade purposes some eight years before my visit, the commercial importance of Charchan had much increased, as all my local informants acknowledged. That there were among them four enterprising Pathan traders from Bajaur, who had found Charchan a convenient half-way station and base for their ventures extending from Khotan to Turfan and Tun-huang, was a striking illustration of the vitality of this ancient oasis, vigorously asserting itself after the latest ebb in its chequered fortunes.
SECTION II.—ANCIENT REMAINS AROUND CHARCHAN
Ancient canal west of Charchan. The remains of earlier settlements at Charchan consist chiefly of extensive areas covered with hard débris to the south and south-west of that part of the modern oasis which lies on the left bank of the river. But traces of ancient occupation were met with when I first approached the oasis from the west. On crossing the bare gravel 'Sai' which extends to it, and when still close on three miles froth the western edge of the present cultivated area, my attention was attracted by the raised...
41 Cf. Elias and Ross, nrikh-i-Rashidi, pp. 7, 9 note, 52, 406 ; in the last passage the 'river of Charchan' is also mentioned.
42 Cf. Eli. and Ross, ibid., pp. 52, 64, 295.
43 Cf. Yule-Cordier, Cathay2, iv. pp. 222 sqq.
44 Cf. Yule-Cordier, Cathay2, p. 293.
45 Cf. also Grenard, Mission D. de Rhins, i. pp. 176 sq., also p. 184, where an interesting account given by an eye-witness is recorded of the early days of the present Charchan; Forsyth, Yarkand Mission Report, p. 32.
Sec. ii] ANCIENT REMAINS AROUND CHARCHAN 301
...embankment of a canal running northward. The fact that its bottom level was several feet higher than that of the deflated ground near by was a sufficient proof of its antiquity in spite of the name Yangi-üstang, ' the new canal ', by which it is known now, and of the tamarisk scrub growing along it. I soon learned front my local informants that the name and the signs of returning vegetation were due to the attempt which Musa Beg, an enterprising local headman, had made here, some twenty years before, to utilize an ancient irrigation channel for founding a new colony below the present oasis. The water had flowed freely for some years, during which young tamarisk scrub found time to effect a footing. But soon the endeavour to assure cultivation had failed front want of adequate labour, even though the ground which irrigation front this restored canal commanded was declared to be very fertile. It was an apt illustration of the main difficulty which seems ever to have dogged the fortunes of the most isolated of Turkestan oases.1
Ruined wall or Tam. Going to the north-east for about a mile from the point where the canal line was crossed, I was shown a ruined wall of stamped clay about fifty feet long and still rising about eleven feet above theeroded ground. This was strewn with plentiful pottery débris of ancient appearance for a short distance all round. The ruin is known only as Tam, 'the wall', and its original character could not be determined. Proceeding thence across the bare Sai towards the south-western extremity of the oasis, I was shown a low and much-burrowed mound about forty feet in diameter, known as Kalaghak-dong, which from the human bones scattered around seemed to have served as a burial-place. By its layers of brushwood inserted between gravel it recalled the mounds of Tüga-dong examined in 1901 near Gulakhma.2
' Tati ' of kōne-shahr, on edge of Charchan oasis. Within half a mile to the east of this, and quite close to the edge of cultivation, there was reached the northernmost part of the extensive ' Tati ' generally known to the people of Charchan as the ' Kōne-shahr '. Some nameless saint's Ziārat, called Yalghuz-tugh Mazar (' the shrine of the Charchan lonely yak-tail '), marks its present limit northward. About a quarter of a mile south of this I could trace scanty remains of foundations of walls built of clay and bricks, all dug into by ' treasure-seekers '. The bricks measured about twenty by ten inches, with a thickness of about three and a half inches. Otherwise the site wore the look of a regular ' Tati ', the potsherds mostly of coarse material resting on eroded riverine loess. The extent to which wind erosion has here lowered the ground-level could be gauged by far-stretched loess terraces extending on the east of the 'Tati' along a flood channel which carried water to a newly irrigated part of the oasis. These terraces, which moisture had evidently helped to protect, also bore pottery débris on their top.
Cultivation extended over ' Tati '. Recently levelled fields fringed this 'Tati' on the north and north-east, and confirmed the statements of my local informants that much of the ' Kōne-shahr ' area had been brought under cultivation again by the gradual southward extension of the oasis. M. Grenard, who visited Charchan in 1893 and first noticed its ' Kōne-shahr ', evidently found the structural remains more extensive, though not differing in character from those I could still trace.3 He was inclined to attribute them to the Charchan of Marco Polo's time, and to look for the ruins of the older Chü-mo further north about Tatran. But he based this belief on a supposed change in the Charchan River's...
1 The line of this old canal was crossed by me again at two points to the south-west of the present oasis. Owing to an error of the Surveyor, who passed here after dusk at the end of a long march from the foot of the mountains, Map No. 47 shows the head of the Yangi-üstang as taking off from the Ayak-tār stream instead of the Charchan River. In Dr. Hassenstein's map, based on Dr. Hedin's survey, the uppermost line of the canal is correctly delineated ; but by a reverse error itis treated there as a side branch of the Charchan River and conjecturally shown as uniting itself lower down with Me bed of the Ayak-tār, while in reality its course northward remains quite distinct. The point where the route southward crosses the canal is correctly marked in both maps...
2 Cf. Ancient Khotan, i. pp. 465 sq.
3 Cf. Grenard, Mission D. de Rhins, i. pp. 183 sq.; iii. p. 146.
302 FROM CHARCHAN TO CHARKHLIK [Chap. VIII
...course, of which actual survey has failed to reveal any evidence,4 while all topographical considerations point to the conclusion that in historical times the area best adapted for cultivation must have lain in the present oasis and its immediate neighbourhood. The absence of datable relics precludes any definite judgement as to the period when the 'Kōne-shahr' area was last inhabited, just as it is impossible to guess how much of the remains of ancient Chü-mo and of Marco Polo's Charchan lies buried in the soil now again irrigated.
Oldest part of oasis east of river. Here it may be noticed that according to local information, confirmed by the appearance of the trees and other indications, the oldest portion of the present oasis is represented by the Aralchi ' Mahalla ', which lies on the right bank of the main river bed.5 It takes its name, meaning ' the island one ', from the fact that on its east side there is another smaller bed known as Kōne-daryā, which is still filled by the summer floods. If we assume the main settlement of ancient Chü-mo to have occupied the position of Aralchi, we can account for the fact that the passage already quoted from Li Tao-yüan's commentary on the Shui ching speaks of the Charchan River as flowing ' to the west of the walled town of Chü-mo'.6 Otherwise it might be assumed that the old flood-bed, which passes close to the ' Kōne-shahr' and is now utilized to irrigate the westernmost part of the existing oasis, represents an earlier main bed. Owing to the very uniform slope of the detritus fan, at the northern foot of which Charchan is situated, the river bed is so broad and shallow that such a change could have taken place during the last fifteen hundred years without much affecting the position of the irrigated area.
Small antiques found at ' Tatis '. Owing to the close vicinity of the ' Kōne-shahr ' to the inhabited area and the constant search for ' treasure ' proceeding among the small relics brought to light by wind erosion, there was little chance of picking up there in situ any fragments of archaeological interest. But ancient beads of stone and glass, as well as fragments of bronze ornaments, &c., are frequently found by the villagers, and of these a small representative set, as described in the List below, was acquired without difficulty during my brief halt. In general character these small relics resemble those obtained from the ' Tatis ' around Khotan. None are of a type which at present admits of exact dating ; but I may at least mention a bead of cornelian, Char. 0011, showing a peculiar inlay which is a characteristic feature in some acquisitions from Yōtkan. I greatly regretted the total absence of recognizable Chinese coins among the objects brought to me by the villagers ; but my informants declared that such finds were rare now, since all structural remains had been destroyed by burrowing. My own search at the more distant ' Tatis ' described below yielded no intact coins, only tiny fragments which, retaining the characteristic square rim, attest their former existence. I was inclined to attribute this complete destruction of copper coins, elsewhere so common at such sites, to the much-increased force of wind erosion on ground which is practically clear of drift-sand and is scoured in most places down to the bare gravel surface.
On November 22, I paid a visit to the more distant ' Tatis ' which Saif-ullah, a local ' treasure-seeker ', had to show me to the south-west of the present oasis. Proceeding from the Yalghuz-tugh Mazār, we first followed for about a mile and three-quarters the line of an ancient canal, still clearly recognizable, to a point where it was found to diverge from the ' Yangi-üstang ' restored by Mūsa Bēg. For about one-half of that distance, or a little less, the pottery debris of the ' Kōne-shahr ' Site extended. The embankment of the' Yangi-üstang ' showed sharply above the absolutely bare gravel plain. From a line about three miles south-west of Yalghuz-tugh there commenced an extensive ' Tati ' area which was found to reach, with scarcely any interruption, for about two and a half miles further to the bank of a shallow depression marking a flood bed of the Ayak-tār stream.
4 Cf. Hedin, Central Asia and Tibet, i. pp. 306 sq.
5 Cf. also Hedin, Reisen in Z.A., p. 179.
6 See above, p. 297.
Sec. ii] ANCIENT REMAINS AROUND CHARCHAN 303
Saif-ullah called it by the name of Nān-yaigan "Tati" (' the Tati where the meal was eaten '), explaining it by a whimsical story.
Surface features of ' Tati ' ground. The ground showed a uniform surface of fine gravel. Its flatness was broken only by occasional low swelling ridges which, however, bore signs of being swept and scoured with equal force by the winds. Their erosive power was attested by the general smallness and wind-worn appearance of the potsherds which covered the ground in abundance. The material was mostly dark-brown, black, or a deep red on the outside faces. As the specimens taken (Char. 001-007) show, both hand-made and wheel-made pottery are represented. A very conspicuous feature in the midst of this ' Tati ' was a big ' witness ' of pure riverine loess, about eighteen yards long and eight across, rising with steep slopes to a height of not less than twenty-three feet above the ' Sai ' surface. Potsherds lay plentifully at its foot and also on all the small terraces breaking the slopes. Thence it may be safely assumed, I think, that the height of this ' witness' marks the extent to which the ground-level has here been lowered by wind erosion since such relics of ancient occupation came to be deposited. In the sides of this ' witness ' I was unable to trace either clear stratification or embedded pottery débris. This suggests that the loess deposit is due mainly to aeolian growth and took place during a period preceding settled occupation.
Irrigation of ancient cultivated area. There is every reason to assume that this area received irrigation mainly by a canal taking off from the Charchan River. But the flood-water of the Ayak-tār stream, which after heavy rain in the mountains is said still to carry water on occasion as far as the ' Tati ', may also have been utilized as an additional source of supply. To judge from the configuration of the gently sloping alluvial fan, it seemed clear that the water of the Charchan River could still be brought here without any difficulty. It is equally certain from the instances of similar reclamation which I observed near Khotan (e.g. on the ' Sai ' south of Sampula) and Kuchā, that the soil of all these ' Tatis ', which far-advanced deflation has reduced to a surface of fine gravel, could be rapidly improved and rendered capable of cultivation by adequate irrigation ; for the silt-depositing process which results from irrigation is everywhere in this region greatly aided by aeolian action, i.e. the accumulation, on moist soil and on all ground protected by vegetation, of the fine dust which fills the air of the Tārīm Basin so abundantly during the greater part of the year.7 But, with many thousands of acres of fertile ground available lower down and near the river, renewed cultivation is not likely to take this direction.
' Tatis ' of Lālulik and Koyagh-ketme. The ' Tati ' of Lālulik, to which I was subsequently taken at a distance of about two and a half miles northward, proved to be of the same character, except that small ' witnesses ' of loess, about four to six feet in height, were here frequent. Pottery débris covered the ground for over a mile towards the existing oasis. A third ' Tati ' area in this neighbourhood, called Koyagh-kelme, I was obliged from want of time to leave unvisited. I had seen enough to make sure that none of these ' Tatis ' offered scope for systematic archaeological labour. Nor did I succeed in discovering among their small débris anything affording a definite clue as to their age. Some gauge, however, as to the relative chronology of these débris areas is afforded by the fact that, while to the south the ground once cultivated has been uniformly denuded right down to the underlying Piedmont gravel, the ' Kōne-shahr ' ' Tati ' close to the present oasis exhibits remains resting on loess soil. Here the process of erosion is still in progress, and will be continued until the new fields being pushed southward have invaded the whole area. The ' Lālulik ' area, with its numerous surviving small loess banks, may represent an intermediate stage. However this may be, and whatever intervals of time may divide the periods of abandonment of these different ' Tatis ', their extent is quite sufficient to prove that the ancient Chü-mo must be located in the position of the present Charchan oasis and its immediate vicinity.
7 Cf. Ancient Khotan, pp. 126 sqq.
304 FROM CHARCHAN TO CHARKHLIK [Chap. VIII
Section III.—THE CHARCHAN RIVER ROUTE AND VĀSH-SHAHRI
Journey along Charchan River. Careful inquiries made at Charchan had failed to reveal any information about ancient remains except those already described and some modest ruins mentioned near the route which leads along the Charchan River towards Charkhlik. I was anxious to reach the latter place as early as possible, and left Charchan for it on November 23 with all the more assurance because I knew that the diligent search made by Professor Huntington in the desert eastwards had failed to reveal there any traces of earlier settlements. For a general description of the five marches which we made down the right bank of the river or along the line of lagoons and marshes fringing it at various distances, I must refer to my Personal Narrative.1 In Ismail, a hunter and cultivator from Tatran, a small hamlet and the only inhabited place on the river below Charchan, I found an exceptionally reliable guide, and with his help the reported remains near the route could be located and visited without loss of time. Tatran itself, being situated on the opposite side of the river, was not visited. But from the information supplied by Ismail and confirmed at Charchan, it was clear that what hampered the growth of the small settlement, then said to count only six families of permanent settlers, was not want of water or of arable land, but mainly the difficulty, due to inadequate labour, of maintaining the canal head in position during the heavy floods of the spring and summer. In fact, the flow of water in the river, in spite of the late season, was still so deep and rapid as to make its fording on foot awkward at most places where the bed was united.
Ruin of Stūpa known as Tim. I had occasion to convince myself of this when on November 25 I crossed the left bank from near the shepherd hut of Shōr-köl-öghil in order to examine a small ruined structure called merely known as Tim or ' tower '. It is situated about eleven miles below Tatran, at circ. 38°33' lat., 85°55' long., and has been briefly referred to by Dr. Hedin as the ruin of an ' old P'ao-tai '. The ' Tim ', discovered only some hundred yards off the river-bank, proved to be the ruin of a small structure, once apparently square, solidly built with sun-dried bricks and stamped clay. The extant portion, best preserved on the south-west face, showed there a length of eleven feet. The north-east face being badly broken, the breadth of the surviving masonry was reduced to about seven feet. Its clear height was also about seven feet ; but the top of the small débris-covered mound which the structure occupied rose itself four feet above the general ground-level. The ruin represents in all probability the lowest base of a small Stūpa, and its antiquity is attested by the great size of the bricks and their peculiar setting. The bricks measured on the average nineteen to twenty by fourteen to fifteen incises, with a thickness of four inches. They were well made, and set in regular single courses with layers of hard stamped clay, eight inches high, between them. The system of masonry closely resembled that observed in the ruins of the earlier settlement at the Endere Site, and bore the same ancient appearance.
Early settlement by present river course. No pottery debris or other ancient remains could be traced near by. But this is scarcely surprising on ground kept moist by the vicinity of the river, where less solid structures were bound to decay and small débris was liable to be covered by riverine loess. The main interest of the ruin lies in the fact that it proves the existence of a settlement in Buddhist times very near the present river course, and thus supports the presumption that the latter has changed less in its main direction than the many dry channels and the strings of lagoons, encountered on either side from a point below Tatran, might otherwise lead one to suppose. Close by I noticed the course of a small irrigation cut. According to Ismail it dated back to an attempt made about fifteen years before by people from Tatran to carry on cultivation at this point. After a few years it was abandoned owing to the shōr or salinity developed by the soil. ...
1 Cf. Desert Cathay, i, pp. 326 sqq.
[Pages 305-314 are not included in this excerpt.]
Sec. v] OBJECTS FOUND AT, OR OBTAINED FROM, CHARCHAN SITES 315
SECTION V.—LIST OF OBJECTS FOUND OR EXCAVATED AT CHARCHAN AND VĀSH-SHAHRI
OBJECTS FOUND AT, OR OBTAINED FROM, CHARCHAN SITES
Char. 001. Pottery fr. from neck of vase, hand-made, of ill-levigated clay, hard-fired on an open hearth. Slightly everted lip with well-moulded rim. On shoulder, traces of incised orn. 3 1/16" x 2" x 2/5".
Char. 002. Pottery fr., hand-made, of ill-levigated clay, fired on an open hearth. 2 5/16" x 1 1/8" x 1/2".
Char. 003. Pottery fr., wheel-made ; body of pale yellow colour, exterior face light red. 2 1/8" x 1 7/16" x 5/16"
Char. 004. Pottery fr. of handle, hard-fired ill-levigated red clay, orn. with vertical band of single circles between .00 border lines. Length 1 5/8".
Char. 005. Pottery fr., hand-made, of ill-levigated clay, hard-fired on an open hearth, orn. with single incised line ; interior of fr. red ; faces black. Gr. M. 1 3/8", thickness 1/4".
Char. 006. Pottery fr., hand-made, of ill-levigated clay, dark red with black exterior face. Much sand-worn.
2 3/8" x 1 5/16" x 3/8".
Char. 007. Pottery fr., hand-made, of ill-levigated clay, fired on an open hearth, dark red with black exterior face. Much sand-worn. 2 1/4" x 1 15/16" x 5/16".
Char. 008. Lapis-lazuli pendant, flat triangular, broken through suspension hole near apex. H. 1 1/4".
Char. 009. Bead of white jade, oblong, flat-sided and round-edged. Found 21. xi. 06. 1/2" x 3/8" x 1/4"
Char. 0010. Agate bead, half lentoid, white and brown. Found at21. xi. 06. Diam. 1/4" to 7/16".
Char. 0011. Cornelian bead, spheroid, chipped, artificially striped with white as Yo. 00125 and Khot. 02. q. and r. Found 21. xi. 06. Diam. 5/16".
Char. 0012. Pear-shaped glass pendant, pale blue, now iridescent. Broken at hole. Found 21. xi. 06. 7/16" x 5/16" x 3/16".
Char. 0013. Turquoise matrix, irregular fr. Found 21. xi. 06. Gr. M. 9/16".
Char. 0014. Bronze hinge for tongue of strap-buckle. At end, two eyes for axis; tongue missing. Hollow behind with two rivets for attachment to strap. Found 21. xi. 06. 1 1/4" x 9/16".
Char. 0015. Loop of bronze buckle, D-shaped, hollow behind, with two rivets for attachment to belt. Found 21. xi. 06. 7/8" x 9/16".
Char. 0016. Loop of bronze buckle, like Char. 0015. Three rivets. Found 20. xi. 06. 1" x 5/8".
Char. 0017. Bronze strap-link (?). Rectang., flat, with oblong hole. No rivets. Found 20. xi. 06. 15/16" x 9/16".
Char. 0018. Strip of bronze widening at each end. Towards one end, triangular hole ; at other, short tongue in middle and short pointed projection each side. Cf. L. A. 0051, Found 20. xi. 06. 2 3/16" x 1/2" to 5/16" x 1/8".
Char. 0019. Part of bronze buckle. Flat square plate with oblong opening. Edges bevelled. Behind flat, with rivet at each corner (two broken). Cf. Char. 0016. Found 20. xi. 06. 1 1/16" x 1 3/16" x 1/16".
Char. 0020. Fr. of plate bronze. Two edges intact, meeting at acute angle, others broken. On face solid boss, pierced laterally and round it ring in low relief. Outside pattern (or letters?) in low relief. Found 20. xi. 06. Gr. M. 1 9/16", thickness 1/16".
Char. 0021. Fr. of plate bronze with (broken) hoop at one end. Part of buckle. Found 20. xi. 06. Gr. M. 1 1/4".
Char. 0022. Nodule of iron ore, prob. meteoric (?). 1" x 1/2".
Char. 0023. Blown glass fr., opaque green. Gr. M. 3/4".
[Rest of page 315, with objects from VĀSH-SHAHRI site, is not included in this excerpt.]
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