258 ' R. Hoernle —Three further Collections of [No. 4, 
Had been formed, it follows that by the side of it the Northern Indian 
style of writing can only have maintained an artificial existence, that is 
to say, it can only have existed either in manuscripts imported from 
India, or in the usage of Native Indians who had immigrated into 
Central Asia (Kuchar). It follows further, first, that the maintenance 
of the Northern Indian style in Kuchar (or Central Asia) ceased from 
the time the importation of Indian manuscripts or the immigration of 
Indian Buddhist teachers came to an end; and secondly (which is the 
main point in the present argument), that all manuscripts written in 
the Northern Indian style and discovered in Kuchar must, as regards 
their age, be judged solely by the rules that apply to Northern Indian 
palaeography. This postulate applies to the Bower MS., to Parts I, II 
and III of the Weber MSS., to Sets I a and I b of the Macartney MSS., 
and to Fragments Nos. I, II, III (exc. Ill d), V-VI1T, XI. It applies 
also to Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 of the Godfrey MSS. As to the final epoch 
of the use of the Northern Indian alphabet in Central Asia (Kuchar), 
it may be noted that no manuscript has yet come to light, which 
shows the employment of the final square form of the Northern Indian 
ya. Hence it may fairly be concluded that after the sixth century, 
no more manuscripts were exported or Buddhist teachers emigrated 
from India to Central Asia. This practically coincides with the great 
Muhammadan invasions, and is probably to a great extent accounted 
for by the troubles attendent on them. 
I may add that those manuscripts which are found written on 
palm-leaf or birch-bark are evidently importations from India, and it 
may be noted, as a confirmatory circumstance, that neither the palm-leaf 
fragment No. I, nor the bircli-bark fragment No. II, nor the birch-bark 
Bower MS. shows any trace of the Central Asian style of writing. As 
neither the Tar-palm nor the birch exists in Central Asia (Kuchar), the 
facts could not well be otherwise. On the other hand, those manuscripts 
in Northern Indian Braliml, which are found written on paper, I am 
inclined to believe, must have been written in Central Asia by Indian 
Buddhists who had migrated there from India. 
There remain the manuscripts written in the Central Asian Brahuri. 
How long the use of this peculiar modification of the Brahmi remained 
current in Central Asia (Kuchar), it is for me impossible at present to 
say. I know of no direct evidence. The ruling race in Central Asia, 
up to the time of the Mongols, were the Uighur tribes of Turks. It is 
well-known that they were a literate people, and that they adopted a 
modification of the Syriac characters from the Nestorian missionaries 
who came among them from the 6th century A.D., if not earlier. This 
modified Syriac became their national characters, and is known as the 
