188 Note on an Inscription at Bamy an. [March, 



VI. — Note on an Inscription at Bamy an. By Mr. C. Masson. 

 [Read at the Meeting of the 6th April.] 



Of the antiquities of Central Asia, the Idols at Bamyan have long 1 

 been known and celebrated in Europe. To ascertain their character 

 is still a desideratum. An inscription found in so fortunate a situ- 

 ation, as at the summit of the niche in which stands the larger, and by 

 inference, the more ancient of the idols directly over its head, will, if 

 capable of being interpreted, dispel much of the mystery attaching to 

 it and its associates. It contains but six characters as here exhibited*, 

 appears to be entire, and although the copy of it was taken four years 

 since, I think its fidelity may be depended upon. 



When in possession of Mr. Prinsep's plates of the Pehlevi Alpha- 

 bets, this inscription was compared with them, and its characters 

 appeared to me to approach nearest to those of the Pehlevi of Sassa- 

 nian coins from Marsden. Observing the apparent recurrence of the 

 two first letters, and concluding that the alternated characters must 

 be consonants and vowels, of the latter of which A was the more 

 likely to be used as the more common, I sought its equivalent in the 

 Pehlevi alphabet noted, and found it might be expressed by u. Marking 

 also the number of the characters of the inscription, in union with the 

 duplication seemingly of A or U , the word NANAIA occurred to my 

 imagination, and attempting to write it in the Pehlevi of the alphabet, 

 I produced 



cumin 



The first five letters were so similar to those of the inscription, 

 that I judged I might without imputation of temerity bring the 

 circumstance to notice ; and as for the final letter, if we are pretty sure 

 of all the preceding ones, we may reasonably be satisfied with that also. 

 The a of the alphabet, or p has indeed a ?, or doubt, attached to it, 

 while the final letter of the inscription resembles the A or a of other 

 alphabets. 



The idols of Bamyan, perhaps less ancient than many of the caves 

 or temples there, have not an antiquity beyond the reach of verification, 

 and while we pause whether or not to ascribe them to the princes we 

 call Indo-Scythic, we dare affirm that they were constructed during the 

 period of the Sassanian sway in Persia, or 220 A. D., and the era of 

 Muhammedanism. 



Kabul, 1836. C. Masson. 



* See Plate VI. fig. 1 ; we confess the similitude of the marks, which Mr. 

 Masson takes for letters, to the Pehlevi alphabet is but just sufficient to hazard 

 a conjecture upon. JSlanaia, a female, would not be applicable to a male figure : 

 — Nanao or Nanano (lunus) would be more consonant with the Pehlevi, and 

 even with the form of the supposed letters. — Ed. 



