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Harry Falk

Freie Universität Berlin, (institute dissolved in 2012:) South Asian Languages and Cultures, Emeritus

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Indologist retired, interested in the religions, cultures and literatures of ancient Central and South Asia.

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Wilfrid Laurier University

Alessandro Magnani

Università di Bologna

Michael Skinner

University of Hawaii at Hilo

Hebei Normal University

Luca Maria Olivieri

Università Ca' Foscari Venezia

Henri-Paul Francfort

Maison de l'Archéologie et de l'Ethnologie à Nanterre - UMR 7041

CARC Classical Art Research Centre

University of Oxford

University of Oxford

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Papers by Harry Falk

Liako Kusulako and the Era of Maues

Susmita Basu Majumdar (ed.), Transcending Boundaries – Premodern Cultural Transactions Across Asia – Essays in Honour of Osmund Bopearachchi. Calcutta (Primus Books): 49-57, 2024

The Taxila silver plate is believed to refer to a certain Liako Kusulako. It is suggested that li... more The Taxila silver plate is believed to refer to a certain Liako Kusulako. It is suggested that liako is not part of a composite name, but an official title for Scythian (and Bactrian) diplomats. A reconsideration of the arguments for the era of Maues leads to a reconfirmation of the current period of his reign, starting in ca. 85 or 80 BC. A seemingly contradictory reference found on the Mathura Lion Capital receives a new interpretation.

Von Götterfiguren und menschlichen Göttern

Festschrift Klaus Bruhn, 1994

On the use of deva for humans, the introduction of statues representing deities, and the role of ... more

A silver-plate from northern India relating to the accession of Skandagupta

Annual Report of The International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology at Soka University, 2024

When Kumāraguptaʼs reign came to its end, around AD 450, a decade of internal struggle followed b... more When Kumāraguptaʼs reign came to its end, around AD 450, a decade of internal struggle followed before Skandagupta could ascend the throne unimpeded. Who was his adversary? Earlier research was inclined to think of Pūrugupta while a more recent theory builds on a severely truncated inscription from the Kevala Narasiṃha Temple at Ramtek. This theory maintains that the opponent was Ghaṭotkacagupta, a paternal uncle of both Skandagupta and Pūrugupta. The pictorial decoration of a silver plate is interpreted as referring to the situation. Two male figures are taken for Ghaṭotkaca and Skandagupta, a son and a grandson of Candragupta II, the first shown in the act of crowning the younger one. The paper attempts at rehabilitating Ghaṭotkaca, who instead of trying to usurp the throne, rather acted as a helper for Skandagupta in his fight against Pūrugupta. This attempt requires to show that the currently preferred deductions drawn from the Temple inscription need revision. Further literary evidence is adduced, supported by new numismatic insights.

The Patagaṇḍigūḍem copper-plate grant of the Ikṣvāku king Ehavala Cāntamūla

Silk Road Art and Archaeology 6, 1999

Edition, translation, and interpretation of a donation grant from the third century AD found in 1... more

Die westlichste Kharoṣṭhī-Inschrift – Ein Elfenbeingriff aus Wels – mit einem Anhang zu fernöstlichen Funden des 1. bis 2. Jahrhunderts n.Chr. im Römischen Reich

by Harry Falk, Stefan Pfahl, and Renate Miglbauer

Archäologisches Korrespondenzblatt, 2023

An ivory handle of a tool was found more than a hundred years ago in a Roman settlement, today th... more An ivory handle of a tool was found more than a hundred years ago in a Roman settlement, today the city of Wels, near Salzburg in Austria. The handle was inscribed. The paper shows that the script is Kharoṣṭhī, otherwise mainly found in Gandhara and northern Afghanistan. Some particular forms allow one to trace the home of the scribe to a place in the western part of the Taklamakan, Xinjiang, China. The find constitutes, thus, the westernmost place where this script was found.

Faxian and Early Successors on Their Route from Dunhuang to Peshawar: In Search of the “Suspended Crossing”

Bulletin of the Asia Institute, 2023

Early pilgrims from Dunhuang to India kept improving their itineraries, circumventing politically... more Early pilgrims from Dunhuang to India kept improving their itineraries, circumventing politically unstable and geographically difficult passages. It is shown that the supposed trail through the lower Indus Valley never took place. Faxian, as one of the first travelers, seems to have followed a relatively simple path that led through the Yasin Valley and across the Dadarili pass. The Yasin valley, until about a century ago, led to a small path high in the cliff above the Gilgit River. The path ended at the bridge across that river at Khalti.
Several more recent itineraries are analyzed with regard to well-visited pilgrim sites in Gandhara. In addition, the impact of the book scouts on the production and contents of more, new, and enlarged books may add a new viewpoint to the discussions on the development of Mahayana.

Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft 131, 1981

Analysis of the term árma as used in Vedic literature shows that it can be understood as “habitat... more Analysis of the term árma as used in Vedic literature shows that it can be understood as “habitation hill”. The geographical position on the Indus and Sarasvati seems to presuppose a visit to locations once held by the Indus Valley Culture, the term anarṇas displays knowledge of the reason why the sites were deserted.

Ārogyadakṣiṇā and two periods of epidemics in ancient India

Annual Report of The International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology at Soka University for the Academic Year 2022, 2023

The bacteria Yersinia pestis produces the terrible plague, known as the "Black Death". Its origin... more The bacteria Yersinia pestis produces the terrible plague, known as the "Black Death". Its origins seem to go back to rodents inhabiting Central Asia. It spread from there to eastern and southern Europe, attested from 3000 BC onward (Rasmussen e.a. 2016: fig. 1). A particular strain, documented down to its full DNA, was responsible for the socalled Justinian plague active in the Roman world AD 541-44. This strain somehow disappeared, while another one was responsible for the pandemic that depopulated Europe in AD 1347-51. This second strain is alive and active even today. Both strains show that Y. pestis can change its DNA, but it can also live on unchanged for centuries. India was said to have been free of the plague up to the 19 th century. It has been clear for decades that the spread west in historical times was connected with the Silk Road and the fur trade both of which originated in Central Asia. Some branches of the Silk road also took a turn from Bactria south into India, becoming intensively frequented under the Kushan kings, with Kujula Kadphises as the pioneer in the first century AD. This paper adduces arguments to show that an epigraphical phrase and some descriptions of epidemics in the Indian literature of the time might be used to show that two phases of epidemics can be pinned down to the ends of the first and second century AD. Both phases, which predate the Justinian outbreak, are contemporary with epidemics in the Roman world and are connected with the Emperor Domitian and the Antoninian set of three Emperors. An early influx of Y. pestis from Central Asia to India, predating the Justinian plague, 1 would thus be possible in terms of time and circumstance.

Maitreya the healer

Śāntamatiḥ Manuscripts for Life — Essays in Memory of Seishi KARASHIMA, 2023

Two stūpa sites in Gandhara, Zar Ḍherī in Hazara and another site in Buner, preserve stone panels... more Two stūpa sites in Gandhara, Zar Ḍherī in Hazara and another site in Buner, preserve stone panels that show that Maitreya was regarded as present in the time of construction, that is in the first century AD, and not removed to the future as later constructions would have it. The flask is Maitreyaʼs hallmark. In Gandharan art it resembles the kamaṇḍalu carried by Brahma and the young brahmins called snātaka after their study period. However, the vessel of Maitreya is more than a vessel with purifying waters and rather compares to what the Pali vinaya calls tumbaka or añjanī, where the Buddha allows to fill the vessels with medicinal ointments. If this use is applicable to Maitreya he would appear as a healer, a physician. Confirming this impression, we find the same concern of Maitreya for the sick expressed verbally in an inscription from Mathura from the time of Huviṣka, which so far was not adequately edited. Gandharan art links Maitreya to a particular type of hollow stele, where incinerated bones of the defunct were disposed of. We regard this stele as one of several funerary monument types called eḍūka in the literature of the time. Sickness, medical treatment and funerals could be the elements to understand a certain enlargement of Buddhist tenets in those days.

A Maitreya panel from the Neumann collection

Annual Report of The International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology at Soka University for the Academic Year 2022, 2023

Reading of a dated inscription in 2 nd cent. Brāhmī on a panel in Mathura stone from the socle of... more

Wema Takhtu, the graveyard near Almosi, and the end of an "Unknown" script

ARIRIAB, 2023

A newly discovered sacred compound in the Hissar Range close to Dushanbe in Tajikistan provided o... more A newly discovered sacred compound in the Hissar Range close to Dushanbe in Tajikistan provided one inscription in the Bactrian script which mentions Wema Takhtu. In addition, there were found three inscriptions in one of the scripts met with in Gandhara labeled "unknown" or "undeciphered". The script in question is already wellknown from Dasht-e Nāwur. The paper shows that it is possible to read parts of the text with confidence since it runs parallel to the Bactrian inscription. The language appears to be Bactrian as well. A crucial term is Skt. eḍūka or elūka, denoting a stone construction for human remains. This turns the mountain site into a sort of graveyard, possibly with Wema Takhtu as an occupant.

Indian Gold Crossing the Indian Ocean Through the Millennia

Crossing the Indian Ocean Through the Millennia. Federico De Romanis and Marco Maiuro (eds.), Across the Ocean: Nine Essays on Indo-Mediterranean Trade. Leiden/Boston: 97-113., 2015

Indian gold sources in classical literature; beqa weight in Egypt and a corresponding weight in t... more

Double entendre in a stanza of Bhartṛhari

Double entendre in a stanza of Bhartṛhari. Esposito, Anna Aurelia, Heike Oberlin, Viveka Rai & Karin Juliana Steiner (eds.), "In ihrer rechten Hand hielt sie ein silbernes Messer mit Glöckchen ..." / "In her right hand she held a silver knife with small bells …" pp. 51-55, 2015

Modified translation of the keśāḥ saṃyaminaḥ° stanza from the Srngarasataka.

The Pramnai Ascetics of Strabo 15.1.70

Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, 2022

When dealing with ascetics in India, Strabo speaks of pramnai and about gar manes. Both terms hav... more When dealing with ascetics in India, Strabo speaks of pramnai and about gar manes. Both terms have no phonetical counterpart in Indian languages. While 0. STEIN traced back garmanes to a misread Greek form rendering framai:za, the term pramnai so far lacked a plausible explanation. A survey of the techniques to express Indic /s/ in Greek script shows that pramnai can be explained by forms which started in the mid-first cen tury BC with Greek rho and ended about a century later with the thorn-like Bactrian sa in the days of Verna Takhtu. This sa in turn was unknown in Greece and mistaken for pi. The character of the pramnai in Strabo can be linked to one of the social groups (mere) of the Indian state as mentioned by Megasthenes and is further proof for the veracity of his observations.

The tidal waves of Indian history - with appendix: The State

The Routledge Handbook of the State in Premodern India, 2022

The State: Some classical authors report about the structure of the Indian state, being divided i... more The State: Some classical authors report about the structure of the Indian state, being divided into tax-payers, payment receivers, and self-supporting groups. Among the payment receivers we find the soldiers. According to Megasthenes, the soldiers at war keep away from the peasants. Asoka reports about atrocities committed by the army in Kalinga, where the peasants certainly suffered from the slave-grabbing common in Western armies. The “tidal waves” can be used to understand the difference between Megasthenes and Asoka, on the basis of Western armies offering their services to Asoka who had no idea what such an import implied.

The Bajaur and Split Collections of Kharoṣṭhī Manuscripts within the Context of Buddhist Gāndhārī Literature

From Birch Bark to Digital Data: Recent Advances in Buddhist Manuscript Research

Avadāna Episodes - Texts from the Split Collection 5

by Harry Falk and Elisabeth Steinbrückner

Annual Report of the International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology at Soka University, 2022

A severely fragmented sheet of birch-bark from Gandhara was found inscribed with eleven stories o... more A severely fragmented sheet of birch-bark from Gandhara was found inscribed with eleven stories of the avadāna type, which means that they center around episodes involving laypeople and monks, but do not have the Buddha as a protagonist. The stories deal with ascetics of other communities, and they discuss the value of luxury or present a ghost as the cause of illness. The first story appears to be a long adaptation of the Aṅgulimāla episode. Of particular interest for the history of Buddhism is the second story concerning the self-immolation of a layman, which constitutes the earliest mention of such an act in an Indian Buddhist context.

Some rulers in Vidarbha between the end of the Mauryas and the beginning of the Western Caves: A Farewell to king Kuṭapāda

Annual Report of the International Research Instititute for Advanced Buddhology at Soka University, 2022

After the Mauryas had to withdraw from the Vidarbha region a series of petty kings took to power.... more After the Mauryas had to withdraw from the Vidarbha region a series of petty kings took to power. Our knowledge about them has increased considerably since 2007 when a deposit was found at Pusad at a riverside. New names came to the fore, some with legends read as kuṭapāda, kukuṭakhāda, along with Viga, all related to the already known Sebaka. 1 This paper argues that kuṭapāda is a misreading for kaṭahādi, a name which is already known from the facade of cave 10 at Ajanta. In addition it is shown that kaṭahādi is the descriptive name of a dynasty of which four rulers can be distinguished, so that the first can be dated close to the end of the Mauryas while the last one, with Buddhist traits, could be the one who was active at Ajanta, together spanning the period from ca. 180 to 140 BC.

Revision of Kharoṣṭhī inscriptions in the light of new material

Bulletin of the Asia Institute , 2022

Old and new Buddhist inscriptions from Gandhara, in part revised. A new inscription of the Parata... more

IndoSkript − eine erweiterbare elektronische Paläographie für alphabetische Schriften

by Harry Falk and Oliver Hellwig

Inschriften edieren und kommentieren. , 2021

Im neuen Jahrtausend haben Arbeiten an epigraphischem Material zumindest in der Indologie einen u... more Im neuen Jahrtausend haben Arbeiten an epigraphischem Material zumindest in der Indologie einen ungeahnten Aufschwung genommen. Nach der Erarbeitung grundlegender Corpora zu Beginn des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts hatten nach dem zweiten Weltkrieg eher literarische und religionshistorische Themen im Vordergrund gestanden. Und dies trotz einer völlig veränderten Verkehrslage: Wo die wissenschaftlichen Vorfahren noch von Abrieben auf Papier oder von Fotografien arbeiten mussten, hätte es doch der moderne Tourismus mit seinen unbegrenzten und auch noch erschwinglich gewordenen Fernflügen erleichtert, sich die Inschriften im Original anzusehen. Dabei kommen Inschriften inhaltlich zeitgenössischer Fragestellung entgegen, enthalten sie doch häufig Aussagen zur Politik und Gesellschaft, die den Produzenten der ‚schönen' Künste kaum eine Erwähnung wert waren. Gerade, wo es um modische Themen wie ‚subaltern', ‚the other' oder ‚equity' geht, können epigraphischen Texten wertvolle Aussagen abgewonnen werden. Eine korrekte Lesung setzt natürlich zweierlei voraus, a) absolute Sicherheit über den Wortlaut des Materials, das heißt Lesekenntnis, und b) die eigene Fähigkeit, diesen Wortlaut auch zu verstehen, vulgo Sprachkenntnis. Wenn man den Inhalt verstanden hat, kann man ihn interpretieren. Dazu bedarf es einer Methodik, das heißt einer Palette von Fragestellungen und ihrer Werkzeuge. Zu den Fragestellungen gehören Äußerlichkeiten: a) Wann wurde ein Text verfasst, von wem, für wen? und b) Warum wurde der Text da angebracht, wo wir ihn im Original vorfinden, bzw. wo war er, bevor er versetzt wurde. Die zweite Fragestellung führte zu einem DFG-Projekt, das es dem ersten Autor erlaubte, ab 1992 zehn Jahre lang in Indien, Pakistan und Nepal die Edikte des Maurya-Herrschers Aśokas aus dem 3. Jh. v. Chr. aufzusuchen und im Bild zu dokumentieren, um sagen zu können, warum Felsen und Säulen dort beschrieben wurden, wo wir sie vorfinden. Das Ergebnis ist eine Bestandsaufnahme, 1 die aus der Gesamtsicht aber auch Antworten erlaubte zu den Umständen einer ersten ‚öffentlichen' Schrift im Reich der Mauryas, die ab etwa 250 v. Chr. verwendet wurde. 2 Hier galt

Liako Kusulako and the Era of Maues

Susmita Basu Majumdar (ed.), Transcending Boundaries – Premodern Cultural Transactions Across Asia – Essays in Honour of Osmund Bopearachchi. Calcutta (Primus Books): 49-57, 2024

The Taxila silver plate is believed to refer to a certain Liako Kusulako. It is suggested that li... more The Taxila silver plate is believed to refer to a certain Liako Kusulako. It is suggested that liako is not part of a composite name, but an official title for Scythian (and Bactrian) diplomats. A reconsideration of the arguments for the era of Maues leads to a reconfirmation of the current period of his reign, starting in ca. 85 or 80 BC. A seemingly contradictory reference found on the Mathura Lion Capital receives a new interpretation.

Von Götterfiguren und menschlichen Göttern

Festschrift Klaus Bruhn, 1994

On the use of deva for humans, the introduction of statues representing deities, and the role of ... more

A silver-plate from northern India relating to the accession of Skandagupta

Annual Report of The International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology at Soka University, 2024

When Kumāraguptaʼs reign came to its end, around AD 450, a decade of internal struggle followed b... more When Kumāraguptaʼs reign came to its end, around AD 450, a decade of internal struggle followed before Skandagupta could ascend the throne unimpeded. Who was his adversary? Earlier research was inclined to think of Pūrugupta while a more recent theory builds on a severely truncated inscription from the Kevala Narasiṃha Temple at Ramtek. This theory maintains that the opponent was Ghaṭotkacagupta, a paternal uncle of both Skandagupta and Pūrugupta. The pictorial decoration of a silver plate is interpreted as referring to the situation. Two male figures are taken for Ghaṭotkaca and Skandagupta, a son and a grandson of Candragupta II, the first shown in the act of crowning the younger one. The paper attempts at rehabilitating Ghaṭotkaca, who instead of trying to usurp the throne, rather acted as a helper for Skandagupta in his fight against Pūrugupta. This attempt requires to show that the currently preferred deductions drawn from the Temple inscription need revision. Further literary evidence is adduced, supported by new numismatic insights.

The Patagaṇḍigūḍem copper-plate grant of the Ikṣvāku king Ehavala Cāntamūla

Silk Road Art and Archaeology 6, 1999

Edition, translation, and interpretation of a donation grant from the third century AD found in 1... more

Die westlichste Kharoṣṭhī-Inschrift – Ein Elfenbeingriff aus Wels – mit einem Anhang zu fernöstlichen Funden des 1. bis 2. Jahrhunderts n.Chr. im Römischen Reich

by Harry Falk, Stefan Pfahl, and Renate Miglbauer

Archäologisches Korrespondenzblatt, 2023

An ivory handle of a tool was found more than a hundred years ago in a Roman settlement, today th... more An ivory handle of a tool was found more than a hundred years ago in a Roman settlement, today the city of Wels, near Salzburg in Austria. The handle was inscribed. The paper shows that the script is Kharoṣṭhī, otherwise mainly found in Gandhara and northern Afghanistan. Some particular forms allow one to trace the home of the scribe to a place in the western part of the Taklamakan, Xinjiang, China. The find constitutes, thus, the westernmost place where this script was found.

Faxian and Early Successors on Their Route from Dunhuang to Peshawar: In Search of the “Suspended Crossing”

Bulletin of the Asia Institute, 2023

Early pilgrims from Dunhuang to India kept improving their itineraries, circumventing politically... more Early pilgrims from Dunhuang to India kept improving their itineraries, circumventing politically unstable and geographically difficult passages. It is shown that the supposed trail through the lower Indus Valley never took place. Faxian, as one of the first travelers, seems to have followed a relatively simple path that led through the Yasin Valley and across the Dadarili pass. The Yasin valley, until about a century ago, led to a small path high in the cliff above the Gilgit River. The path ended at the bridge across that river at Khalti.
Several more recent itineraries are analyzed with regard to well-visited pilgrim sites in Gandhara. In addition, the impact of the book scouts on the production and contents of more, new, and enlarged books may add a new viewpoint to the discussions on the development of Mahayana.

Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft 131, 1981

Analysis of the term árma as used in Vedic literature shows that it can be understood as “habitat... more Analysis of the term árma as used in Vedic literature shows that it can be understood as “habitation hill”. The geographical position on the Indus and Sarasvati seems to presuppose a visit to locations once held by the Indus Valley Culture, the term anarṇas displays knowledge of the reason why the sites were deserted.

Ārogyadakṣiṇā and two periods of epidemics in ancient India

Annual Report of The International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology at Soka University for the Academic Year 2022, 2023

The bacteria Yersinia pestis produces the terrible plague, known as the "Black Death". Its origin... more The bacteria Yersinia pestis produces the terrible plague, known as the "Black Death". Its origins seem to go back to rodents inhabiting Central Asia. It spread from there to eastern and southern Europe, attested from 3000 BC onward (Rasmussen e.a. 2016: fig. 1). A particular strain, documented down to its full DNA, was responsible for the socalled Justinian plague active in the Roman world AD 541-44. This strain somehow disappeared, while another one was responsible for the pandemic that depopulated Europe in AD 1347-51. This second strain is alive and active even today. Both strains show that Y. pestis can change its DNA, but it can also live on unchanged for centuries. India was said to have been free of the plague up to the 19 th century. It has been clear for decades that the spread west in historical times was connected with the Silk Road and the fur trade both of which originated in Central Asia. Some branches of the Silk road also took a turn from Bactria south into India, becoming intensively frequented under the Kushan kings, with Kujula Kadphises as the pioneer in the first century AD. This paper adduces arguments to show that an epigraphical phrase and some descriptions of epidemics in the Indian literature of the time might be used to show that two phases of epidemics can be pinned down to the ends of the first and second century AD. Both phases, which predate the Justinian outbreak, are contemporary with epidemics in the Roman world and are connected with the Emperor Domitian and the Antoninian set of three Emperors. An early influx of Y. pestis from Central Asia to India, predating the Justinian plague, 1 would thus be possible in terms of time and circumstance.

Maitreya the healer

Śāntamatiḥ Manuscripts for Life — Essays in Memory of Seishi KARASHIMA, 2023

Two stūpa sites in Gandhara, Zar Ḍherī in Hazara and another site in Buner, preserve stone panels... more Two stūpa sites in Gandhara, Zar Ḍherī in Hazara and another site in Buner, preserve stone panels that show that Maitreya was regarded as present in the time of construction, that is in the first century AD, and not removed to the future as later constructions would have it. The flask is Maitreyaʼs hallmark. In Gandharan art it resembles the kamaṇḍalu carried by Brahma and the young brahmins called snātaka after their study period. However, the vessel of Maitreya is more than a vessel with purifying waters and rather compares to what the Pali vinaya calls tumbaka or añjanī, where the Buddha allows to fill the vessels with medicinal ointments. If this use is applicable to Maitreya he would appear as a healer, a physician. Confirming this impression, we find the same concern of Maitreya for the sick expressed verbally in an inscription from Mathura from the time of Huviṣka, which so far was not adequately edited. Gandharan art links Maitreya to a particular type of hollow stele, where incinerated bones of the defunct were disposed of. We regard this stele as one of several funerary monument types called eḍūka in the literature of the time. Sickness, medical treatment and funerals could be the elements to understand a certain enlargement of Buddhist tenets in those days.

A Maitreya panel from the Neumann collection

Annual Report of The International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology at Soka University for the Academic Year 2022, 2023

Reading of a dated inscription in 2 nd cent. Brāhmī on a panel in Mathura stone from the socle of... more

Wema Takhtu, the graveyard near Almosi, and the end of an "Unknown" script

ARIRIAB, 2023

A newly discovered sacred compound in the Hissar Range close to Dushanbe in Tajikistan provided o... more A newly discovered sacred compound in the Hissar Range close to Dushanbe in Tajikistan provided one inscription in the Bactrian script which mentions Wema Takhtu. In addition, there were found three inscriptions in one of the scripts met with in Gandhara labeled "unknown" or "undeciphered". The script in question is already wellknown from Dasht-e Nāwur. The paper shows that it is possible to read parts of the text with confidence since it runs parallel to the Bactrian inscription. The language appears to be Bactrian as well. A crucial term is Skt. eḍūka or elūka, denoting a stone construction for human remains. This turns the mountain site into a sort of graveyard, possibly with Wema Takhtu as an occupant.

Indian Gold Crossing the Indian Ocean Through the Millennia

Crossing the Indian Ocean Through the Millennia. Federico De Romanis and Marco Maiuro (eds.), Across the Ocean: Nine Essays on Indo-Mediterranean Trade. Leiden/Boston: 97-113., 2015

Indian gold sources in classical literature; beqa weight in Egypt and a corresponding weight in t... more

Double entendre in a stanza of Bhartṛhari

Double entendre in a stanza of Bhartṛhari. Esposito, Anna Aurelia, Heike Oberlin, Viveka Rai & Karin Juliana Steiner (eds.), "In ihrer rechten Hand hielt sie ein silbernes Messer mit Glöckchen ..." / "In her right hand she held a silver knife with small bells …" pp. 51-55, 2015

Modified translation of the keśāḥ saṃyaminaḥ° stanza from the Srngarasataka.

The Pramnai Ascetics of Strabo 15.1.70

Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, 2022

When dealing with ascetics in India, Strabo speaks of pramnai and about gar manes. Both terms hav... more When dealing with ascetics in India, Strabo speaks of pramnai and about gar manes. Both terms have no phonetical counterpart in Indian languages. While 0. STEIN traced back garmanes to a misread Greek form rendering framai:za, the term pramnai so far lacked a plausible explanation. A survey of the techniques to express Indic /s/ in Greek script shows that pramnai can be explained by forms which started in the mid-first cen tury BC with Greek rho and ended about a century later with the thorn-like Bactrian sa in the days of Verna Takhtu. This sa in turn was unknown in Greece and mistaken for pi. The character of the pramnai in Strabo can be linked to one of the social groups (mere) of the Indian state as mentioned by Megasthenes and is further proof for the veracity of his observations.

The tidal waves of Indian history - with appendix: The State

The Routledge Handbook of the State in Premodern India, 2022

The State: Some classical authors report about the structure of the Indian state, being divided i... more The State: Some classical authors report about the structure of the Indian state, being divided into tax-payers, payment receivers, and self-supporting groups. Among the payment receivers we find the soldiers. According to Megasthenes, the soldiers at war keep away from the peasants. Asoka reports about atrocities committed by the army in Kalinga, where the peasants certainly suffered from the slave-grabbing common in Western armies. The “tidal waves” can be used to understand the difference between Megasthenes and Asoka, on the basis of Western armies offering their services to Asoka who had no idea what such an import implied.

The Bajaur and Split Collections of Kharoṣṭhī Manuscripts within the Context of Buddhist Gāndhārī Literature

From Birch Bark to Digital Data: Recent Advances in Buddhist Manuscript Research

Avadāna Episodes - Texts from the Split Collection 5

by Harry Falk and Elisabeth Steinbrückner

Annual Report of the International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology at Soka University, 2022

A severely fragmented sheet of birch-bark from Gandhara was found inscribed with eleven stories o... more A severely fragmented sheet of birch-bark from Gandhara was found inscribed with eleven stories of the avadāna type, which means that they center around episodes involving laypeople and monks, but do not have the Buddha as a protagonist. The stories deal with ascetics of other communities, and they discuss the value of luxury or present a ghost as the cause of illness. The first story appears to be a long adaptation of the Aṅgulimāla episode. Of particular interest for the history of Buddhism is the second story concerning the self-immolation of a layman, which constitutes the earliest mention of such an act in an Indian Buddhist context.

Some rulers in Vidarbha between the end of the Mauryas and the beginning of the Western Caves: A Farewell to king Kuṭapāda

Annual Report of the International Research Instititute for Advanced Buddhology at Soka University, 2022

After the Mauryas had to withdraw from the Vidarbha region a series of petty kings took to power.... more After the Mauryas had to withdraw from the Vidarbha region a series of petty kings took to power. Our knowledge about them has increased considerably since 2007 when a deposit was found at Pusad at a riverside. New names came to the fore, some with legends read as kuṭapāda, kukuṭakhāda, along with Viga, all related to the already known Sebaka. 1 This paper argues that kuṭapāda is a misreading for kaṭahādi, a name which is already known from the facade of cave 10 at Ajanta. In addition it is shown that kaṭahādi is the descriptive name of a dynasty of which four rulers can be distinguished, so that the first can be dated close to the end of the Mauryas while the last one, with Buddhist traits, could be the one who was active at Ajanta, together spanning the period from ca. 180 to 140 BC.

Revision of Kharoṣṭhī inscriptions in the light of new material

Bulletin of the Asia Institute , 2022

Old and new Buddhist inscriptions from Gandhara, in part revised. A new inscription of the Parata... more

IndoSkript − eine erweiterbare elektronische Paläographie für alphabetische Schriften

by Harry Falk and Oliver Hellwig

Inschriften edieren und kommentieren. , 2021

Im neuen Jahrtausend haben Arbeiten an epigraphischem Material zumindest in der Indologie einen u... more Im neuen Jahrtausend haben Arbeiten an epigraphischem Material zumindest in der Indologie einen ungeahnten Aufschwung genommen. Nach der Erarbeitung grundlegender Corpora zu Beginn des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts hatten nach dem zweiten Weltkrieg eher literarische und religionshistorische Themen im Vordergrund gestanden. Und dies trotz einer völlig veränderten Verkehrslage: Wo die wissenschaftlichen Vorfahren noch von Abrieben auf Papier oder von Fotografien arbeiten mussten, hätte es doch der moderne Tourismus mit seinen unbegrenzten und auch noch erschwinglich gewordenen Fernflügen erleichtert, sich die Inschriften im Original anzusehen. Dabei kommen Inschriften inhaltlich zeitgenössischer Fragestellung entgegen, enthalten sie doch häufig Aussagen zur Politik und Gesellschaft, die den Produzenten der ‚schönen' Künste kaum eine Erwähnung wert waren. Gerade, wo es um modische Themen wie ‚subaltern', ‚the other' oder ‚equity' geht, können epigraphischen Texten wertvolle Aussagen abgewonnen werden. Eine korrekte Lesung setzt natürlich zweierlei voraus, a) absolute Sicherheit über den Wortlaut des Materials, das heißt Lesekenntnis, und b) die eigene Fähigkeit, diesen Wortlaut auch zu verstehen, vulgo Sprachkenntnis. Wenn man den Inhalt verstanden hat, kann man ihn interpretieren. Dazu bedarf es einer Methodik, das heißt einer Palette von Fragestellungen und ihrer Werkzeuge. Zu den Fragestellungen gehören Äußerlichkeiten: a) Wann wurde ein Text verfasst, von wem, für wen? und b) Warum wurde der Text da angebracht, wo wir ihn im Original vorfinden, bzw. wo war er, bevor er versetzt wurde. Die zweite Fragestellung führte zu einem DFG-Projekt, das es dem ersten Autor erlaubte, ab 1992 zehn Jahre lang in Indien, Pakistan und Nepal die Edikte des Maurya-Herrschers Aśokas aus dem 3. Jh. v. Chr. aufzusuchen und im Bild zu dokumentieren, um sagen zu können, warum Felsen und Säulen dort beschrieben wurden, wo wir sie vorfinden. Das Ergebnis ist eine Bestandsaufnahme, 1 die aus der Gesamtsicht aber auch Antworten erlaubte zu den Umständen einer ersten ‚öffentlichen' Schrift im Reich der Mauryas, die ab etwa 250 v. Chr. verwendet wurde. 2 Hier galt

Bruderschaft und Würfelspiel

Bruderschaft und Würfelspiel, 1986

Research into the early history of the Vedic sacrifice with a focus on parallels in related Indo-... more Research into the early history of the Vedic sacrifice with a focus on parallels in related Indo-European cultures, particularly into the role of sodalities and their function as mediators between the sphere of the gods and the settled pastoral society. Attempts at understanding crucial institutions like sabhā, vrātya and the game of dice.

Schrift im alten Indien

Schrift im alten Indien, 1993

Survey of research on a number of aspects of writing in ancient India, with bibliography (up to 1... more

2018 : The Interactions of Ancient Astral Science - contents

by David Brown, Alexandra von Lieven, Harry Falk, and Jonathan Ben-Dov

Why and when did ancient scholars make the enormous effort to understand the principles and maste... more Why and when did ancient scholars make the enormous effort to understand the principles and master the mathematics of foreign astral sciences? This work provides a detailed analysis of the invention, development and transmission of astronomy, astrology, astral religion, magic and medicine, cosmology and cosmography, astral mapping, geography and calendrics and their related mathematics and instrumentation in and between Mesopotamia, Egypt, the West Semitic areas, Greece and Rome, Iran, India and China. It considers the available textual evidence from the most ancient times to the seventh century CE. The author has worked the contributions of eight internationally renowned scholars into what amounts to a new history of the oldest sciences. The result is a challenging read for the layperson and a resource for the expert and includes an extensive index to the entire volume. It provides a new typology of cultural interactions and, by describing their socio-political backdrop, offers a cultural history of the region. In particular, astral science in the Hellenistic period west of the Tigris is completely re-evaluated and a new model of the interactions of Western and Indian and Iranian astral sciences is provided.

(2018): 佛陀之遗骨 = The ashes of the Buddha

Chinese translation of The Ashes of the Buddha, BAI 27, 2013 = 2017, by YE Shaoyong.