Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal; 34. 1 On some Siamese inscriptions

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CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

Cornell University Library

CN

1220.B32

On some Siamese

Inscriptions.

3 1924 022 989 325

B f

The tine

Cornell University Library

original of

tliis

book

is in

Cornell University Library.

There are no known copyright

restrictions in

the United States on the use of the

text.

http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924022989325

B

ON SOME SIAMESE INSCRIPTIONS. By Dr.

A. Bastian.

•/ll

On

some Siamese Inscriptions. [Received

12fch

—By Dr. A.

May, 1864.— Head

BASTiAif.

1st Jane, 1864.]

Of the Indo-Cliinese alphabets, the most interesting one

The

Siamese.

others, as those of the

the Talein, &c., are characters,

all

and the vernacular Singhalese. from the Sanscrit and whereas there a great

more or

derived,

which connect them with the

many

is

is

that of the

Camhodian, the Lao, the Shan, directly, fi-om the Pali

less

circular alphabets

The Siamese

flows

ofSouth India

more immediately

has, for instance, preserved the three sibilants,

only one in the Pali and

of those terms,

which

all

cognate languages.

its

For

the Buddhistic literatures of

eastern India have purloined from the Pali, the Siamese possesses

two

forms, one taken from the original Sanscrit, and the other modified its

passage through the

books letters, call

medium

of the Trai-Pidak, the

of the Pali.

by

In writing the sacred

Siamese do not employ their vernacular

but have borrowed the Pali ones from the Cambodians, and

them

therefore

Akson (Aklcara)

Khom

or

Khamen

Birmese use only one alphabet, (with the single exception characters),

letters.

The

of the square

whereas the Laos and Cambodians have varied a

little

the

On some Siamese

4 I

Inscriptions.

c

forms of their Pali alphabet for profane uses, but have never employed

two

been the case in Siam.

distinct alphabets, as has

of the Pali alphabet in Ultra-India, is

Brahmin

arrival of Biiddhaghosa, the

of

to translate^ the Atthakatha, but the

alphabet

In the Phongsavadan it

is

lands, like the

his rule, the

(Peguan

Mdang

Raja

of

Xieng

letters),

visited

to their favourite

is a great point of controversy

carried

Dewaju), invented

king Phra-

amongst them.

for the

by his kite to foreign nations, subjected to

thai (Siamese strokes or letters), the

khom (Cambodian

the Xieng

Ceylon

nua, or the history of the northern towns,

Phaya Huang, (who was

said, that

Maghada, who

invention of their vernacular

by the Siamese

ascribed

is

Ruang, whose exact date

The introduction

connected everywhere with the

letters),

Xieng mon

and the now

unusual employment of the word Xieng (inclined or oblique) seems £o have reference to the straight and angular shape of the Siamese letters,

(recdling the ancient alphabets of the Bugis and Battas in the

Eastern Archipelago), in contradistinction to the circular one of the Pali.

But without going

farther into the claims of

Phaya Ruang

to

the invention of the alphabet, a subject which would require a dissertation

by

itself,

inscription,

I shall lay before you the translation of an old stone-

found at Sukhothai, (the ancient capital of Siam during the

reign of Phaya

Ruang and

palace of Bangkok,

before him,) and placed at present in the

by the order

that the king mentioned in

it

of the reigning king.

You

will see

under the name of Ramkhamheng,

assigns to himself the honour of having invented the written character,

which he, (a very interesting circumstance,) calls Lai-su. The present word for

books in the Siamese language

whim and

against

all

rules of

is l^fangsd,

pronounced by a fanciful

Siamese grammar, as Nong-sH.

Nang-sti

means verbally the writing on skins (nang), and thus illustrates in a striking way, the old traditions of the Lawa, Karen, &c., regarding the former of parchment books, and it appears that the Siamese a people of quite recent growth, as they could not understand the reason

existence

for the appellation,

gave intentionally a different pronunciation,

though they retained the which could be language.

original spelling,

illustrated

by many

The other term

analogy,

mean

Chinese

officer

a

manner

similar examples in the Siamese

Lai-sH, " would,

according to the same

writing in (various) colours, or writing in stripes."

who

visited

al-

of proceeding,

Cambodia

A

in the year 1295, says of the

JounrtAs 3oc: Bengal.

NM. STONE

H'^.2

Vol.XXXlVFtl.PlW

INSCRIPTION

ANOTHER

FROM

.CAMBODIA.

>^

KIND.

3LA

Nok

lx>ph

ANOTHER

N" 3

^^

lorth

lj)A?p

sat.

KIND.

^

Ththatrcn^a

NP

ANOTHER

4-

KIND.

3p ^G^Cfy^ N» 5

STONE

INSCRIPTION,

IN

THE PAGODA PATHOMMa'-CHEDI

AN ANTIQUATED IN *SiAM

PALI

CHARACTER

FROM

CONTAINING THE BUDDHISTICAL CREED.

Te dhfljmmAi Jutvppaj hha^)w Ytsnnijhetum taffiMldiato lihxi nirodhp mariu Te- ?orga' yo Cithi'

N-e STONE

6pri2

I

maha samanoti

INSCRIPTION

FROM LIGOR^^^

2L oc=» 2/ 2y ^ 03-^ \'

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