Discovery of Sogdian Texts
The finding of manuscript fragments of the Sogdian language in China's Xinjiang region sparked the study of the Sogdian language. Robert Gauthiot, (the first Buddhist Sogdian scholar) and Paul Pelliot, (who while exploring in Dunhuang, retrieved Sogdian material) began investigating the Sogdian material that Pelliot had discovered. Gauthiot published many articles based on his work with Pelliot's material, but died during the First World War. One of Gauthiot's most impressive articles was a glossary to the Sogdian text, which he was in the process of completing when he died. This work was continued by Emile Benveniste after Gauthiot's death.
Various Sogdian pieces have been found in the Turpan text corpus, by the German Turpan expeditions. These expeditions were controlled by the Museum fur Völkerkunde, in Berlin. These pieces consist almost entirely of religious works by Manichaean and Christian writers. Most of the Sogdian religious works are from the 9th and 10th centuries.
The Tun-huang and the Turpan were the two most plentiful sites of Manichean, Buddhist, and Christian Sogdian texts. Sogdiana itself actually contained a much smaller collection of texts. These texts were business related, belonging to a minor Sogdian king, Dewashtich. These business texts dated back to the time of the Arab conquest, about 700.
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