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Abstract
About 150 years ago, after Avestan researchers such as Jackson, Browne, and Westergaard had unsuccessfully attempted to discover new manuscripts in Iran, it was assumed that there were few or no Avestan manuscripts remaining in Iran. However, recent research and fieldwork in Iran have resulted in important findings disproving this assumption. Since 2011, more than eighty-five Avestan manuscripts have been discovered in Iran. One of these important discoveries has been Pouladi’s Collection, which was found in February 2016 in a Zoroastrian house in the Priests’ Quarter (Mahalle-ye Dastūrān) in Yazd. This article deals with the secondary life of Avestan manuscripts of Pouladi’s Collection, focusing on colophons and marginal notes.
The article makes available a collection of Middle Persian and New Persian colophons and marginal notes, all which have been excerpted, transcribed, and translated for the first time from the Avestan manuscripts of Pouladi’s Collection, copied mostly in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Based on different types of colophons, this contribution establishes a classification of colophons and marginal notes of this collection with regard to formal, contextual, and functional characteristics.
Notes
1 Westergaard, Zendavesta.
2 Geldner, Avesta.
3 Humbach, “Beobachtungen.”
4 Hoffmann and Narten, Sasanidische.
5 Cantera, Citation2012.
6 Tremblay, “Ibant Obscuri.”
7 Mazdapour, “Cand Dastnevis” and (Citation2012).
8 Martínez-Porro, “Avestan Manuscript.”
9 The era is unclear.
10 Quite uncertain.
11 Moradiyan, “Dastnevešte.”
12 This part has been deleted.
13 Uncertain. Unlikely bāqī “eternal.”
14 Likely the Yazdgerdi era.
15 A mistake for asad اسد .
16 Leo is the fifth astrological sign of the zodiac.
17 A variant of az “from”.
18 Quite uncertain.
19 Or 1317 Yazdgerdī.
20 For the transcription of the New Persian texts in this article, the DMG (=Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft) transcription system is used.
21 The word rūz-e must be deleted here.
22 Alternatively “as a good deed for experienced Ḫosro.”
23 Martínez-Porro, “Avestan Manuscript.”
24 Libra is the seventh astrological sign in the Zodiac (Time period: 23 September–23 October).
25 Leo is the fifth astrological sign of the Zodiac (Time period: 22 July–23 August).
26 The meaning of this part is quite uncertain. If the reading is correct, xošat a variation of xōšīyat “joy.”
27 The reading is uncertain and the meaning unclear.
28 Meaning “alone.”
29 Written ṣahn صهن instead of صحن .
30 Šamsī is uncertain.
31 Ibid.
32 A mistake for ʽayān
33 Xosro Parvīz (Xosro II) was the last great king of the Sasanian Empire, reigning from 590 to 628.
34 Meaning Hatim al-Tai. He was a poet and stories about his extreme generosity have made him famous.
35 The last meṣra’ is missing.
36 The era is unclear. If Yazdgerdi, the era would be AD 1971, while if Hejri, the era would be AD 1923.
37 The metre of the poem does not seem to be correct here nor in the next parts.
38 Instead of bar.
39 Uncertain. It does not correspond to the rhythm of the verse.
40 Uncertain.
41 Meaning “from the Yazdgerdi era.”
42 Arabic saḥḥaḥa means “to redress, to correct.”
43 Probably aj. Persian form is az “from.”
44 It seems that 7 has been corrected and changed to 9.
45 This is a common system for writing the numbers in the years in the Persian colophons of the Avestan manuscripts.
46 Arabic ṣaḥḥaḥa means “to redress, to correct.”
47 If it is the reading ṣaḥḥaḥa, then the meaning “to redress, to correct” would be correct.
48 The first beyt بیت “verse” of a famous qasideh قصیده is entitled dar nasihat va setāyesh “regarding advice and praise” from Saʽdi. Instead of zendegi, the word ādami is used in this colophon.
49 Arabic word ʿyn “eye”. In Saʽdi’s qasideh, the Persian word chashm for “eye” is used.
50 Literally meaning “One did not have the eye of knowlege, who [only] gathered and did not eat.”
51 The last beyt بیت “verse” of the same qasideh.
52 Very likely meaning “me.”
53 Instead of ashāyi.
54 Middle Persian term tar “over, through.”
55 Very unlikely meaning “broken” in this context.
56 Instead of joz. In this colophon, we find strong influence of the Middle Persian colophon on the text and pronunciation of the words.
57 Uncertain. Probably the Middle Persian word anyā “other.”
58 This part has been damaged and cannot be read correctly.
59 Another possible translation, which seems unlikely to me, would be “with the command of the Dastur Ḫosro Dastur Ǧamšid Dastur Rostam, whose name belongs to the names of God. May they use it with health and happiness and with good deed and good behavior until 150 years and after 150 years.”
60 The text has been altered, and the meaning is therefore unclear.
61 Probably a mistake. The word az is not necessary here.
62 In V 4045, ke čandān amān dīdam az rūzegār.
63 The scribe of this verse probably misread the word ʿayn as the form of ʿisā “Jesus.”
64 In Persian transcription written barādar, which is not correct. ABYtl is an ideogram for pēdar.
65 Written bēd [byt] instead of bud.
66 Alternatively ērēz.
67 Meaning “use, profit,” unlikely dēn.
68 Quite uncertain.
69 Quite uncertain.
70 Alternatively nibišt.
71 Unlikely anōšag-šān. The word anōšagihān is plural of anōšagih “immortality.”
72 Probably a mistake for xwānād.
73 Written dēftar.
74 Persian/Arabic waγf “habous or mortmain property.”
75 Written ka [AMT] “if, when”, which is not correct.
76 Written xarēd [hryt] and not xwarēd [hwryt].
77 Written in red.
78 Written b't.
79 The term ǰād “portion” does not occur in this passage in other manuscripts.
80 In a number of manuscripts, such as in 4010, manā˚.
81 In many manuscripts, ahmi. In the second colophon of the manuscripts 4063 and 4000, čahmi.
82 In a number of manuscripts such as 4010, 4030, 4063, zazuša.
83 Written maškiika. In 4000, 4030, 4040, 4062, maškiiāka.
84 The word xweših also means “possession”, in which case the translation would be “for his own possession.”
85 Quite uncertain.
86 The word eʽzām is in Arabic, meaning “respecting.”
87 The word ekrām is Arabic and a synonym of eʽzām, meaning “commemorating.”
88 Quite uncertain.
89 A mistake for raḥmat رحمت . Written rahmat رهمت .
90 Uncertain.
91 Probably 1077.
92 Possibly Yazdgerdi era.
93 Probably 1047.
94 Probably Yazdgerdi era.
95 On this page, two different dates of death for this name have been mentioned: (1) 1047 and (2) 1077, both probably Yazdgerdi era.
96 Quite certain.
97 As in Arabic, “p” does not exist, “f” is found instead. The reason for the Arabic pronunciation here is not clear.
98 An Arabic pronunciation of miparidand.
99 His name occurs four times on this page: (1) In 1197 AY (AD 1828); (2) as the scribe of this verse: rūzegārānī ke yārān-e bā ham būde-īm … , which was written in 1198 AY (AD 1829); (3) In 1223 probably in the Hejri era, that is AD 1809; and (4) In 1243 Hejri (AD 1828).
100 Probably the Hejri era (AD 1809).
101 Quite uncertain.
102 Meaning 1242.
103 A mistake for marḥūm.
104 Probably the Yazdgerd era.
105 Probably the Yazdgerd era.
106 Probably the Yazdgerd era.
107 Uncertain.
108 The phrase sāken dārad seems to be false here, and it is perhaps soknā dārad instead.
109 Probably a Zoroastrian Dari (also known as Behdini, Gavri, Gavruni) pronunciation.
110 Instead of tavaqoʾ “expectation.”
111 A place name.
112 This verse occurs in other manuscripts, for example, in Suppl. pers. 29 (see Colophon 3a in Unvala 1922, Collection of Colophons of Manuscripts Bearing on Zoroastrianism in Some Libraries of Europe, 7).
113 Probably Tishtar (Tir).
114 Cantera and König discussed some important issues regarding the special characteristics of this manuscript in “The 5th Meeting of the CORPUS AVESTICUM: Editing Avestan Texts in the 21st Century: Problems and Perspectives,” held at the Institute of Iranian Studies in Berlin, 23‒24 March 2017.
115 This is written lezat لزت , which is a mistake.
116 The word alom means “millet.”
117 In Hafez’s poem collections, in “this.”
118 In Hafez’s poem collections, haft “seven.”
119 Or 1159.
120 The meaning of this part is not clear.
121 Quite uncertain.
122 Uncertain.
123 This part is incomplete.
124 Uncertain.
125 Uncertain.
126 Uncertain.
127 Uncertain. This part has been altered.
128 A mistake for be sar-češme ī bar be sangī nevešt. The first two lines are from Saʽdi.
129 Meaning “we may be dead.”
130 Unlikely be-u bespārad.
131 The words gāh naresānand va har gāh are added at the top of the main text.
132 A mistake for nāmarbūṭ.
133 It seems that in this colophon, the conjunction va sometimes functions as a comma.
134 A mistake for marbuṭ.
135 Quite uncertain.
136 An interesting characteristic of this colophon is the use of a plural verb with har kas. In Persian, this pronoun is always used with a singular verb.
137 In other manuscripts, abastāg.
138 Written wsprt'. In other manuscripts, wisparēd [wspryt].
139 Above this part, the name is written again in Pāzand.
140 Written L instead of OL.
141 Written L instead of OL.
142 Probably the Zoroastrian Dari pronounciation for mablaq “price”, which is written in Pāzand.
143 The words be moblaq-e shash hazār dinār khrideh are written in Pāzand.
144 Written L instead of OL.
145 The second page of the colophon, page 138v.
146 Alternatively warzēd.
147 Written 'w.
148 Or “having his place in Garōdmān”.
149 Alternatively “relatives”.
150 Or maybe only Aspandyār Adurbād Wāhrom-šā Ērdešir Wāhrom-šā (?).
151 Less likely as “it has been bought”.
152 Unlikely Husraw as a personal name.
153 Only this part is written in Pahlavi. The rest of the colophon is in Persian.
154 Quite uncertain.
155 Quite uncertain.
156 Quite uncertain.
157 Uncertain. Maybe xištan “self, own.”
158 Uncertain.
159 Uncertain.
160 Uncertain.
161 MP pačēn.
162 MP/NP az.
163 Quite uncertain.
164 Quite uncertain.
165 Quite uncertain.
166 Less likely Ğahān.
167 Very unlikely āmade bud “had come.”
168 Three or four words are illegible.
169 Doubtful.
170 Not clearly written and cannot be read.
171 Doubtful.
172 Doubtful. Not clearly written.
173 Not clearly written.
174 Doubtful.
175 Not clearly written and cannot be read.
176 Not clearly written and cannot be read.
177 Not clearly written and cannot be read.
178 Unlikely pačīnī.
179 Alternatively īzad.
180 This part is damaged.
181 Tabrizi Dinār was one of the official currencies of Iran during the Safavid and Qajar periods.
182 Not clearly written.
183 Uncertain, unlikely zardosht.
184 Written by another person.
185 The era is here Hejri, that is, 1114 AY (AD 1745).
186 Meaning empty end papers.
187 Quite uncertain.
188 The era has not been mentioned, probably Yazdgerdi.
189 The era has not been mentioned, probably Yazdgerdi.
190 This Sālmarg is repeated and written by another scribe for the second time on this page.
191 A feminine personal name.
192 The era has not been mentioned, probably Yazdgerdi.
193 Written Šīrīnī.
194 It is not clear whether or not this year belongs to this Sālmarg. On account of the similarity in the color of the ink, I think that this is the year of the death of Šīrīn Bahrām.
195 Not clearly written.
196 Zetzel, “Emendavi,” 227.
197 Schiegg, “Scribes’ Voices,” 131.
198 Beit-Arié Citation1995.
199 Stone Citation1995, Sanjan Citation1969.
200 Golob Citation1995.
201 Unvala Citation1940.
202 Sanjana, The Zand.
203 Cantera, “Remarks,” 31‒42.
204 Cantera, “Building Trees” Citation2012.
205 Mazdapour, “Saraghaz,” “No Yafteha,” “Bon Nevesteha,” “Cand Dastnevis,” “Vandidad.”
206 Jahanpour, Vandidad.
207 Borumand Amin, “Kātebān,” 355‒64.
208 For this topic, see Gholami, “Remnants.”
209 This form is also attested in the Persian colophon of the manuscript No. 10, a Yasnā Visperad.
210 Schiegg, “Scribes’ Voices.” In his monograph on speech acts, Searle (Speech Acts, 12) differentiates between Assertives (i.e. utterances that provide some truthful information), Expressives (i.e. utterances that express the speaker’s emotions and attitude towards something), Directives (i.e. utterances that make the recipient do something), Commissives (i.e. utterances that make the speaker do something), and Declaratives (i.e. utterances that change the world through the mere pronouncement of words).
211 Persian colophon of 4030, p. 138r.
212 Schiegg, “Scribes’ Voices.”
213 Drogin (Anathema!) dedicated a whole monograph to this topic.
214 Treu 1980, 325.
215 Afshar, “maqām” Citation2002.
216 This expression appears very often in the Islamic Iranian manuscripts, where the name of the person who ordered the manuscript needs to be mentioned.
217 For examples of these expressions in Islamic Iranian manuscripts, see Afshar, “Maqām,” 230.
218 Aromatic biotic material such as incense.
219 For these notes, see, for example, pages 40 to 42 of YV10 of this collection.
220 All examples of Sūgnāme are from the marginal notes of V 4000, p. 162v.
221 Written ṣahn صهن instead of صحن .
222 A mistake for senān سنان . Written ثنان .
223 As in Arabic p does not exist, f is replaced. The reason for the Arabic pronunciation of the word is not clear.
224 An Arabic pronunciation of mīparīdand.
225 Another version of this proverb is:
226 “Split mortar” means to knock with a pestle on four sides of a mortar, that is, north, south, west, and east (personal communication with Mūbed Mehraban Pouladi, 3 January 2019).
227 Meaning Boswellia (personal communication with Mūbed Mehraban Pouladi, 3 January 2019).
228 Probably added at a later time.