28 
Dr. Hoernle— Antiquities from Central Asia. [Extra No. 1, 
A.D. 1010-11(^^1 c-O JL> 0 12th line). Seven 
witnesses are named : (1) Zakariyya, son of Likokongi, (his mark) + + ; 
(2) Hasan, son of Likokongi, mark lost; (3) Ya^qub, son of Sirkuwa 
Sipasi, (mark) + ; (4) Omar, son of Qela‘ Sipasi, mark lost; (5) Mahmud, 
son of Qela‘ Sipasi, (mark) -f ; (6)—, son of Qela‘ Sipasi, (mark) + ; (7)—, 
son of Kara, (mark) 0. Their names are Arabic, indicating that they 
were Muhammadans : their fathers’ names are Turki (readings uncertain), 
and they are described as members of the Sipasi ( ), a non-Islami- 
♦* 
tic, sect. All seven were illiterate persons, as shown by their affixing' 
their marks in lieu of signing their names. 
The date of the document refers it to the reign of the great Yilik 
Khan, alias Hazrat Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan, who is said to have 
lived H. 333-429 (A.D. 944-1037) to the age of 96 years. Three silver 
coins of his (dated 1003, 6, 7) are in the British Collection and are 
described in Part I, page 29. He was the founder of a very extensive, 
but short-lived, Uigur kingdom, with its capital at Kashghar. In his 
time, the first permanent introduction of the Islam into Eastern 
Turkestan took place. Tradition says that his father Tangri Kadir 
Bughra Khan was still an “ idolater ” ; so was his uncle and immediate 
predecessor, Harun Bu gh ra Khan. He himself is said to have adopted 
the Islam when he was twelve years old, and to have been the first 
convert to Muhammadanism in Eastern Turkestan. 6 This is precisely 
the religious state of things disclosed by the signatures to the contract. 
The document, further, proves the existence of the Sipasi sect in 
Eastern Turkestan as early as the beginning of the 11th century. The 
Dabistan contains a long account of the history of the sect and its 
tenets. It is said to be a survival of the old Iranian religion. Its home, 
accordingly, should be Western Turkestan, whence it might easily spread 
into Eastern Turkestan. It also spread into India where the author of 
the Dabistan says he met one of its leaders, Azar Kaivan, in Patna, early 
in the 17th century. The claim to antiquity of the sect, as well as of 
its sacred book, the Dasatir, which has been much questioned, would 
seem to receive considerable support from the present document. 
No. 2. Document. 
Belongs to M. 10. Size, 8| x 11 2 *, being the complete lower half of 
the sheet. Inscribed with ten lines of Naskhi writing, which, however, 
in some parts is almost illegible owing to the damaged state of the 
exceedingly frail paper. It is also a deed of sale of land, the details of 
which, together with the date, are partly illegible, partly lost with the 
upper portion of the document. The extant lower part gives the names 
6 See Sir T. D. Forsyth’s Report on a Mission to Yarkand in 1873, pp. 122 ff. 
