Script List
A viewset for viewing and editing Scripts.
GET /api/sc/scripts/?format=api&page=5
{ "count": 578, "next": "https://seshat-db.com/api/sc/scripts/?format=api&page=6", "previous": "https://seshat-db.com/api/sc/scripts/?format=api&page=4", "results": [ { "id": 201, "polity": { "id": 181, "name": "it_roman_k", "long_name": "Roman Kingdom", "start_year": -716, "end_year": -509 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Western alphabet developed c800 BCE and by 700 BCE had arrived in Italy. §REF§(Cornell 1995, 103)§REF§" }, { "id": 202, "polity": { "id": 185, "name": "it_western_roman_emp", "long_name": "Western Roman Empire - Late Antiquity", "start_year": 395, "end_year": 476 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "present", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 203, "polity": { "id": 188, "name": "it_st_peter_rep_1", "long_name": "Republic of St Peter I", "start_year": 752, "end_year": 904 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "present", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 204, "polity": { "id": 544, "name": "it_venetian_rep_3", "long_name": "Republic of Venice III", "start_year": 1204, "end_year": 1563 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "present", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 205, "polity": { "id": 545, "name": "it_venetian_rep_4", "long_name": "Republic of Venice IV", "start_year": 1564, "end_year": 1797 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "present", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 206, "polity": { "id": 149, "name": "jp_ashikaga", "long_name": "Ashikaga Shogunate", "start_year": 1336, "end_year": 1467 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "present", "comment": null, "description": "The earliest known written Japanese texts date to the eight century. Although the spoken languages have no relationship Chinese characters were borrowed to enable Japanese to be written ‘Over time the Japanese writing system developed into a complex use of Chinese characters along with two different phonetic scripts to represent the sounds of spoken Japanese. The two phonetic scripts—hiragana and katakana—represented the same sounds but were used in different contexts reflecting, among other things, class and gender.’§REF§Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.242.§REF§" }, { "id": 207, "polity": { "id": 146, "name": "jp_asuka", "long_name": "Asuka", "start_year": 538, "end_year": 710 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The earliest extant written records from Japan are the 8th century court Japanese chronicles <i>Kojiki</i> and <i>Nihon Shoki</i>§REF§G. Barnes, 1993.The rise of civilization in East Asia : the archaeology of China, Korea and Japan. New York, N.Y.: Thames and Hudson, 21.§REF§ -- these incorporated even earlier historical records. \"The earliest Japanese imperial chronicles, that is, the Kojiki and the Nihonshoki, were completed in AD 712 and 720, and included compilations of various historical records as well as ancestral legends dating back to ancient times\"§REF§(Mizoguchi 2013, 32) Mizoguchi, Koji. 2013. The Archaeology of Japan: From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge University Press.§REF§ \"To all appearances, writing as such, in the form of Chinese Classics, was introduced into Japan early in the fifth century as part of the great cultural influx from Paekche.\"§REF§(Frellesvig 2010, 11)§REF§" }, { "id": 208, "polity": { "id": 151, "name": "jp_azuchi_momoyama", "long_name": "Japan - Azuchi-Momoyama", "start_year": 1568, "end_year": 1603 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The earliest known written Japanese texts date to the eight century. Although the spoken languages have no relationship Chinese characters were borrowed to enable Japanese to be written ‘Over time the Japanese writing system developed into a complex use of Chinese characters along with two different phonetic scripts to represent the sounds of spoken Japanese. The two phonetic scripts—hiragana and katakana—represented the same sounds but were used in different contexts reflecting, among other things, class and gender.’§REF§Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.242.§REF§" }, { "id": 209, "polity": { "id": 147, "name": "jp_heian", "long_name": "Heian", "start_year": 794, "end_year": 1185 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The earliest known written Japanese texts date to the eight century. Although the spoken languages have no relationship Chinese characters were borrowed to enable Japanese to be written ‘Over time the Japanese writing system developed into a complex use of Chinese characters along with two different phonetic scripts to represent the sounds of spoken Japanese. The two phonetic scripts—hiragana and katakana—represented the same sounds but were used in different contexts reflecting, among other things, class and gender.’§REF§Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.242.§REF§" }, { "id": 210, "polity": { "id": 138, "name": "jp_jomon_1", "long_name": "Japan - Incipient Jomon", "start_year": -13600, "end_year": -9200 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " “To all appearances, writing as such, in the form of Chinese Classics, was introduced into Japan early in the fifth century as part of the great cultural influx from Paekche.” §REF§(Frellesvig 2010, 11)§REF§" }, { "id": 211, "polity": { "id": 139, "name": "jp_jomon_2", "long_name": "Japan - Initial Jomon", "start_year": -9200, "end_year": -5300 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " “To all appearances, writing as such, in the form of Chinese Classics, was introduced into Japan early in the fifth century as part of the great cultural influx from Paekche.” §REF§(Frellesvig 2010, 11)§REF§" }, { "id": 212, "polity": { "id": 140, "name": "jp_jomon_3", "long_name": "Japan - Early Jomon", "start_year": -5300, "end_year": -3500 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " “To all appearances, writing as such, in the form of Chinese Classics, was introduced into Japan early in the fifth century as part of the great cultural influx from Paekche.” §REF§(Frellesvig 2010, 11)§REF§" }, { "id": 213, "polity": { "id": 141, "name": "jp_jomon_4", "long_name": "Japan - Middle Jomon", "start_year": -3500, "end_year": -2500 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " “To all appearances, writing as such, in the form of Chinese Classics, was introduced into Japan early in the fifth century as part of the great cultural influx from Paekche.” §REF§(Frellesvig 2010, 11)§REF§" }, { "id": 214, "polity": { "id": 142, "name": "jp_jomon_5", "long_name": "Japan - Late Jomon", "start_year": -2500, "end_year": -1200 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " “To all appearances, writing as such, in the form of Chinese Classics, was introduced into Japan early in the fifth century as part of the great cultural influx from Paekche.” §REF§(Frellesvig 2010, 11)§REF§" }, { "id": 215, "polity": { "id": 143, "name": "jp_jomon_6", "long_name": "Japan - Final Jomon", "start_year": -1200, "end_year": -300 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " “To all appearances, writing as such, in the form of Chinese Classics, was introduced into Japan early in the fifth century as part of the great cultural influx from Paekche.” §REF§(Frellesvig 2010, 11)§REF§" }, { "id": 216, "polity": { "id": 148, "name": "jp_kamakura", "long_name": "Kamakura Shogunate", "start_year": 1185, "end_year": 1333 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The earliest known written Japanese texts date to the eight century. Although the spoken languages have no relationship Chinese characters were borrowed to enable Japanese to be written ‘Over time the Japanese writing system developed into a complex use of Chinese characters along with two different phonetic scripts to represent the sounds of spoken Japanese. The two phonetic scripts—hiragana and katakana—represented the same sounds but were used in different contexts reflecting, among other things, class and gender.’§REF§Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.242.§REF§" }, { "id": 217, "polity": { "id": 145, "name": "jp_kofun", "long_name": "Kansai - Kofun Period", "start_year": 250, "end_year": 537 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "present", "comment": null, "description": "\"To all appearances, writing as such, in the form of Chinese Classics, was introduced into Japan early in the fifth century as part of the great cultural influx from Paekche.\"§REF§(Frellesvig 2010, 11)§REF§ \"The earliest Japanese imperial chronicles, that is, the Kojiki and the Nihonshoki, were completed in AD 712 and 720, and included compilations of various historical records as well as ancestral legends dating back to ancient times\"§REF§(Mizoguchi 2013, 32) Mizoguchi, Koji. 2013. The Archaeology of Japan: From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge University Press.§REF§ Seeley writes that the production of continuous writing in Japan dates from about the fifth century, but notes the presence of isolated inscriptions in Chinese characters on mirrors from the first or second century CE.§REF§(Seeley 2000: 12-13) Seeley, Christopher. 2000. A History of Writing in Japan. University of Hawaiʻi Press.§REF§ These constitute \"script\" but not \"written records\"." }, { "id": 218, "polity": { "id": 263, "name": "jp_nara", "long_name": "Nara Kingdom", "start_year": 710, "end_year": 794 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The earliest known written Japanese texts date to the eight century. Although the spoken languages have no relationship Chinese characters were borrowed to enable Japanese to be written ‘Over time the Japanese writing system developed into a complex use of Chinese characters along with two different phonetic scripts to represent the sounds of spoken Japanese. The two phonetic scripts—hiragana and katakana—represented the same sounds but were used in different contexts reflecting, among other things, class and gender.’§REF§Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.242.§REF§" }, { "id": 219, "polity": { "id": 150, "name": "jp_sengoku_jidai", "long_name": "Warring States Japan", "start_year": 1467, "end_year": 1568 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "present", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 220, "polity": { "id": 152, "name": "jp_tokugawa_shogunate", "long_name": "Tokugawa Shogunate", "start_year": 1603, "end_year": 1868 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The earliest known written Japanese texts date to the eight century. Although the spoken languages have no relationship Chinese characters were borrowed to enable Japanese to be written ‘Over time the Japanese writing system developed into a complex use of Chinese characters along with two different phonetic scripts to represent the sounds of spoken Japanese. The two phonetic scripts—hiragana and katakana—represented the same sounds but were used in different contexts reflecting, among other things, class and gender.’§REF§Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.242.§REF§" }, { "id": 221, "polity": { "id": 144, "name": "jp_yayoi", "long_name": "Kansai - Yayoi Period", "start_year": -300, "end_year": 250 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "present", "comment": null, "description": " \"To all appearances, writing as such, in the form of Chinese Classics, was introduced into Japan early in the fifth century as part of the great cultural influx from Paekche.\"§REF§(Frellesvig 2010, 11)§REF§ However, 'now and then Chinese characters appeared on Yayoi pottery, showing a degree of literacy among craftsmen.' §REF§Kidder Jr., J. Edward, 2007. Himiko and Japan's Elusive Kingdom of Yamatai Honolulu: Hawaii University Press. p. 113§REF§" }, { "id": 222, "polity": { "id": 289, "name": "kg_kara_khanid_dyn", "long_name": "Kara-Khanids", "start_year": 950, "end_year": 1212 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Turkic.§REF§(Starr 2013) Starr, S. Frederick. 2013. Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia's Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane. Princeton University Press. Princeton.§REF§ Arabic." }, { "id": 223, "polity": { "id": 282, "name": "kg_western_turk_khaganate", "long_name": "Western Turk Khaganate", "start_year": 582, "end_year": 630 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "present", "comment": null, "description": " c582 CE: \"The First Turkic Khaganate officially split into the Western and the Eastern Turkic Khaganate. In the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, the Sogdian language and script was used for chancellery purposes and inscriptions.\"§REF§(Hosszú 2012, 285) Hosszú, G. 2012. Heritage of Scribes: The Relation of Rovas Scripts to Eurasian Writing Systems. Rovas Foundation.§REF§" }, { "id": 224, "polity": { "id": 41, "name": "kh_angkor_2", "long_name": "Classical Angkor", "start_year": 1100, "end_year": 1220 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "present", "comment": null, "description": " 'From the mid first millennium AD onward, Khmers constructed brick, stone, and laterite monuments with dedicatory stelae bearing Khmer, Sanskrit, or Khmer and Sanskrit inscriptions; these constitute the primary indigenous documentary source.'§REF§(Stark, Miriam 2010, p. 144)§REF§ 'The first dated Khmer-language inscription from Cambodia was incised in 611, and the earliest Sanskrit inscription was carved two years later.§REF§(Chandler 2008, p. 27)§REF§ 'No one knows for certain how long people have lived in what is now Cambodia, where they came from, or what languages they spoke before writing was introduced, using an Indian-style alphabet, around the third century CE.'§REF§(Chandler 2008, p. 13)§REF§ 'This ascendance has important implications when considering the inscriptions of Southeast Asia. The earli- est of these, from VO CANH in southern coastal Vietnam, was written in Sanskrit, as were those of the coastal state of FUNAN. Indeed, Sanskrit was the preferred language of all the major inscriptions of CHENLA and the kingdom of ANGKOR, in Cambodia, although Old KHMER was also used in subsidiary texts on many occasions. The quality of the Sanskrit employed was admirable, as seen in the long dedicatory inscriptions of the temples of the PRE RUP, PREAH KHAN, and TA PROHM at Angkor.'§REF§(Higham 2004, p. 294)§REF§" }, { "id": 225, "polity": { "id": 40, "name": "kh_angkor_1", "long_name": "Early Angkor", "start_year": 802, "end_year": 1100 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "present", "comment": null, "description": " 'From the mid first millennium AD onward, Khmers constructed brick, stone, and laterite monuments with dedicatory stelae bearing Khmer, Sanskrit, or Khmer and Sanskrit inscriptions; these constitute the primary indigenous documentary source.'§REF§(Stark, Miriam 2010, p. 144)§REF§ 'The first dated Khmer-language inscription from Cambodia was incised in 611, and the earliest Sanskrit inscription was carved two years later.§REF§(Chandler 2008, p. 27)§REF§ 'No one knows for certain how long people have lived in what is now Cambodia, where they came from, or what languages they spoke before writing was introduced, using an Indian-style alphabet, around the third century CE.'§REF§(Chandler 2008, p. 13)§REF§ 'The Pre-Angkorian Sanskrit texts were generally short ‘literary gestures’ (ibid., 219), but by the Angkorian period, they used very sophisticated poetry, employing polished orthography and grammar, as in India. These display knowledge of Indian intellectual and political thought and of literature including the metrics of poetry (Majumdar 1953: xvii-iii; Bhattacharya 1991: 2-4; Pollock 1996: 218-220; Dagens 2003: 217). Yet, although Indian Brahmins were occasionally brought in (Wolters 1982: 91), Sanskrit culture was generally indigenised, with local inflections present from the beginning. Khmer Brahmins are said to be the authors of major Sanskrit works such as the Ta Prohm and Prah Khan inscriptions (Pollock 1996: 220; 222). In Jacques’ (1986: 328) view, the elite that knew Sanskrit was very small and since the texts are found only on temple sites, this may suggest that the only audience for the Sanskrit inscriptions was the gods. Whereas the use of Sanskrit in public writing died out quickly in Burma and Java, it lasted up to the late 13th century in Cambodia (Footnote 47). Its decline is linked with the spread of Theravada Buddhism (Houben 1996:11).'§REF§(Lustig 2009, pp. 107-108)§REF§ 'This ascendance has important implications when considering the inscriptions of Southeast Asia. The earli- est of these, from VO CANH in southern coastal Vietnam, was written in Sanskrit, as were those of the coastal state of FUNAN. Indeed, Sanskrit was the preferred language of all the major inscriptions of CHENLA and the kingdom of ANGKOR, in Cambodia, although Old KHMER was also used in subsidiary texts on many occasions. The quality of the Sanskrit employed was admirable, as seen in the long dedicatory inscriptions of the temples of the PRE RUP, PREAH KHAN, and TA PROHM at Angkor.'§REF§(Higham 2004, p. 294)§REF§" }, { "id": 226, "polity": { "id": 42, "name": "kh_angkor_3", "long_name": "Late Angkor", "start_year": 1220, "end_year": 1432 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “The people of Angkorreplaced Sanskrit with Pali, another India-based language used by the Theravada Buddhists. Pali inscriptions began to appear in Angkor around 1309,33 a date marking the twilight period of Hinduism in Cambodia.\" §REF§(Dutt 1996, 225)§REF§" }, { "id": 227, "polity": { "id": 43, "name": "kh_khmer_k", "long_name": "Khmer Kingdom", "start_year": 1432, "end_year": 1594 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "present", "comment": null, "description": " 'Here are the most salient traits of the Post-Classic: [...] Theravada Buddhism as the state religion, with Pali rather than Sanskrit as its language.'§REF§(Coe 2003, p. 195)§REF§" }, { "id": 228, "polity": { "id": 39, "name": "kh_chenla", "long_name": "Chenla", "start_year": 550, "end_year": 825 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "present", "comment": null, "description": " 'No one knows for certain how long people have lived in what is now Cambodia, where they came from, or what languages they spoke before writing was introduced, using an Indian-style alphabet, around the third century CE.'§REF§(Chandler 2008, 13)§REF§ 'From the middle of the first millennium C.E., more early historical states are known (for example, Chenla, Dvaravati, Champa, Kedah, and ̋rivijaya). These states exhibit a shared in- corporation of Indian legal, political, and reli- gious ideas and institutions, including the use of Sanskrit names by rulers, as seen in stone inscriptions (first in South Indian and then in indigenous scripts) and in the layout and styles of religious architecture and carvings.'§REF§(Bacus 2004, 619)§REF§ 'Thus Michael Vickery has summarized the many refer- ences in the inscriptions to local gods worshiped in Chenla temples. The local matrilineal descent system continued, and the Khmer language took its place along- side SANSKRIT in the inscriptions. Vickery prefers the notion of an Indic veneer, wherein the elites in society selectively adopted those Indian traits that suited their objectives. These included the SANSKRIT language for per- sonal and place names, the Indian script, and architec- tural styles. These elements contributed to the increasingly strong divisions in society that signal the for- mation of states, but the essential characteristics of the Chenla kingdoms were Khmer.'§REF§(Higham 2004, 74)§REF§ 'This ascendance has important implications when considering the inscriptions of Southeast Asia. The earli- est of these, from VO CANH in southern coastal Vietnam, was written in Sanskrit, as were those of the coastal state of FUNAN. Indeed, Sanskrit was the preferred language of all the major inscriptions of CHENLA and the kingdom of ANGKOR, in Cambodia, although Old KHMER was also used in subsidiary texts on many occasions. The quality of the Sanskrit employed was admirable, as seen in the long dedicatory inscriptions of the temples of the PRE RUP, PREAH KHAN, and TA PROHM at Angkor.'§REF§(Higham 2004, 294)§REF§ 'The archaeological hardware of these vital centuries is provided by the surviving temples, reservoirs and rice fields, but the social software has to be teased out of the surviving inscriptions. Carved onto stone stelae, these were inscribed in Sanskrit and old Khmer languages. Nearly all relate to the foundation and administration of a temple. They regularly refer to a ruler or the title and name of a local grandee associated with the temple foundation and its maintenance. The Khmer text includes information on rice fields, their boundaries, donations of surplus products to the temple, and the number and duties of individuals assigned to its support.'§REF§(Higham 2014, 830)§REF§" }, { "id": 229, "polity": { "id": 37, "name": "kh_funan_1", "long_name": "Funan I", "start_year": 225, "end_year": 540 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "present", "comment": null, "description": " 'Archaeological research at Oc Eco in Vietnam and Angkor Borei in Cambodia, two walled and moated urban centres linked by a canal system, have revealed the adoption of Sanskrit names for kings, use of the Bhrahmi script, worship of Hindu gods, and adherence to the teachings of the Buddha, wooden statues of whom have been uncovered, containing pits for cremated human remains. Grave offerings found in these pits include gold plaques embellished with sacred Buddhist inscriptions and images of Hindu deities.'§REF§(Higham 2013, p.586)§REF§ 'The Chinese envoy Kang Tai reports that Funan had walled vil- lages, palaces, and houses. His report that “they like to engrave ornaments and to chisel” is borne out by the discovery of many artifacts related to metalworking, including gold, silver, tin, and copper at Oc Eo. He also mentions that they had books and archives and used an Indic script to write.'§REF§(Miksic 2007, p. 123)§REF§ 'The earliest extant Sanskrit texts, from Cambodia’s Funan period, are undated records from the 5th century: undated Khmer inscriptions appear about a century later. Dated inscriptions in Sanskrit and Old Khmer start from the early 7th century. The Pre-Angkorian Sanskrit texts were generally short ‘literary gestures’ (ibid., 219), but by the Angkorian period, they used very sophisticated poetry, employing polished orthography and grammar, as in India. These display knowledge of Indian intellectual and political thought and of literature including the metrics of poetry (Majumdar 1953: xvii-iii; Bhattacharya 1991: 2-4; Pollock 1996: 218-220; Dagens 2003: 217).'§REF§(Lustig 2009, p. 107)§REF§ 'There are also SEALS bearing brief texts in the Indian BRAHMI script and an abundance of evidence for trade involving Rome, India, and China.'§REF§(Higham 2004, p. 113-114)§REF§ 'This ascendance has important implications when considering the inscriptions of Southeast Asia. The earliest of these, from VO CANH in southern coastal Vietnam, was written in Sanskrit, as were those of the coastal state of FUNAN. Indeed, Sanskrit was the preferred language of all the major inscriptions of CHENLA and the kingdom of ANGKOR, in Cambodia, although Old KHMER was also used in subsidiary texts on many occasions. The quality of the Sanskrit employed was admirable, as seen in the long dedicatory inscriptions of the temples of the PRE RUP, PREAH KHAN, and TA PROHM at Angkor.'§REF§(Higham 2004, p. 294)§REF§" }, { "id": 230, "polity": { "id": 38, "name": "kh_funan_2", "long_name": "Funan II", "start_year": 540, "end_year": 640 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "present", "comment": null, "description": " 'Archaeological research at Oc Eco in Vietnam and Angkor Borei in Cambodia, two walled and moated urban centres linked by a canal system, have revealed the adoption of Sanskrit names for kings, use of the Bhrahmi script, worship of Hindu gods, and adherence to the teachings of the Buddha, wooden statues of whom have been uncovered, containing pits for cremated human remains. Grave offerings found in these pits include gold plaques embellished with sacred Buddhist inscriptions and images of Hindu deities.'§REF§(Higham 2013, p.586)§REF§ 'There was a taxation system involving payment in gold, silver, perfumes, and pearls, and a script which originated in India.'§REF§(Higham 2012b, p. 590)§REF§ 'Funan seems to have originated in the Mekong delta area, and around 200 AD under Fanzhan's uncle, Fanshiman, through successive campaigns along the Gulf of Siam, it occupied belts of land of varying length which allowed goods to be transported by road or porterage to the ports on the Indian Ocean side of the peninsula.'§REF§(Jacques and Lafond 2007, p. 47)§REF§ 'The Chinese envoy Kang Tai reports that Funan had walled vil- lages, palaces, and houses. His report that “they like to engrave ornaments and to chisel” is borne out by the discovery of many artifacts related to metalworking, including gold, silver, tin, and copper at Oc Eo. He also mentions that they had books and archives and used an Indic script to write.'§REF§(Miksic 2007, p. 123)§REF§ 'There are also SEALS bearing brief texts in the Indian BRAHMI script and an abundance of evidence for trade involving Rome, India, and China.'§REF§(Higham 2004, p. 113-114)§REF§ 'This ascendance has important implications when considering the inscriptions of Southeast Asia. The earli- est of these, from VO CANH in southern coastal Vietnam, was written in Sanskrit, as were those of the coastal state of FUNAN. Indeed, Sanskrit was the preferred language of all the major inscriptions of CHENLA and the kingdom of ANGKOR, in Cambodia, although Old KHMER was also used in subsidiary texts on many occasions. The quality of the Sanskrit employed was admirable, as seen in the long dedicatory inscriptions of the temples of the PRE RUP, PREAH KHAN, and TA PROHM at Angkor.'§REF§(Higham 2004, p. 294)§REF§ 'Probably a form of the Mon-Khmer language family using the Sanskrit writing system'§REF§(West 2009, p. 222)§REF§" }, { "id": 231, "polity": { "id": 463, "name": "kz_andronovo", "long_name": "Andronovo", "start_year": -1800, "end_year": -1200 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " \"The Achaemenids brought writing to Sogdiana, and the written language long remained the Aramaic of the Achaemenid Empire.\" §REF§(De la Vaissière 2005, 17)§REF§" }, { "id": 232, "polity": { "id": 104, "name": "lb_phoenician_emp", "long_name": "Phoenician Empire", "start_year": -1200, "end_year": -332 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "present", "comment": null, "description": " \"The first Phoenician writing appeared perhaps as early as the 12th century BCE, and the Punic dialect of Phoenician (written in the Phoenician alphabet) was in use until the 6th century CE.\"§REF§Dixon (2013:31).§REF§" }, { "id": 233, "polity": { "id": 432, "name": "ma_saadi_sultanate", "long_name": "Saadi Sultanate", "start_year": 1554, "end_year": 1659 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "present", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 234, "polity": { "id": 434, "name": "ml_bamana_k", "long_name": "Bamana kingdom", "start_year": 1712, "end_year": 1861 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 235, "polity": { "id": 427, "name": "ml_jenne_jeno_1", "long_name": "Jenne-jeno I", "start_year": -250, "end_year": 49 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " \"There are no written records of any description to throw light on the history of West Africa before 900 A.D.\" §REF§(Bovill 1958, 51) Bovill, E W. 1958/1995. The Golden Trade of the Moors. Oxford University Press. Oxford.§REF§ \"The West Africans who laid the foundations of their medieval empires during the centuries before 900 C.E. did not develop a written language they could use to record historical events.\"§REF§(Conrad 2010, 13) Conrad, D. C. 2010. Empires of Medieval West Africa. Revised Edition. Chelsea House Publishers. New York.§REF§ Oldest example of writing in West Africa c1100 CE tomb inscription at Gao.§REF§(Davidson 1998, 44) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London.§REF§" }, { "id": 236, "polity": { "id": 428, "name": "ml_jenne_jeno_2", "long_name": "Jenne-jeno II", "start_year": 50, "end_year": 399 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " \"There are no written records of any description to throw light on the history of West Africa before 900 A.D.\" §REF§(Bovill 1958, 51) Bovill, E W. 1958/1995. The Golden Trade of the Moors. Oxford University Press. Oxford.§REF§ \"The West Africans who laid the foundations of their medieval empires during the centuries before 900 C.E. did not develop a written language they could use to record historical events.\"§REF§(Conrad 2010, 13) Conrad, D. C. 2010. Empires of Medieval West Africa. Revised Edition. Chelsea House Publishers. New York.§REF§ Oldest example of writing in West Africa c1100 CE tomb inscription at Gao.§REF§(Davidson 1998, 44) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London.§REF§" }, { "id": 237, "polity": { "id": 430, "name": "ml_jenne_jeno_3", "long_name": "Jenne-jeno III", "start_year": 400, "end_year": 899 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " \"There are no written records of any description to throw light on the history of West Africa before 900 A.D.\" §REF§(Bovill 1958, 51) Bovill, E W. 1958/1995. The Golden Trade of the Moors. Oxford University Press. Oxford.§REF§ \"The West Africans who laid the foundations of their medieval empires during the centuries before 900 C.E. did not develop a written language they could use to record historical events.\"§REF§(Conrad 2010, 13) Conrad, D. C. 2010. Empires of Medieval West Africa. Revised Edition. Chelsea House Publishers. New York.§REF§ Oldest example of writing in West Africa c1100 CE tomb inscription at Gao.§REF§(Davidson 1998, 44) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London.§REF§" }, { "id": 238, "polity": { "id": 431, "name": "ml_jenne_jeno_4", "long_name": "Jenne-jeno IV", "start_year": 900, "end_year": 1300 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " \"There are no written records of any description to throw light on the history of West Africa before 900 A.D.\" §REF§(Bovill 1958, 51) Bovill, E W. 1958/1995. The Golden Trade of the Moors. Oxford University Press. Oxford.§REF§ \"The West Africans who laid the foundations of their medieval empires during the centuries before 900 C.E. did not develop a written language they could use to record historical events.\"§REF§(Conrad 2010, 13) Conrad, D. C. 2010. Empires of Medieval West Africa. Revised Edition. Chelsea House Publishers. New York.§REF§ Oldest example of writing in West Africa c1100 CE tomb inscription at Gao.§REF§(Davidson 1998, 44) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London.§REF§" }, { "id": 239, "polity": { "id": 229, "name": "ml_mali_emp", "long_name": "Mali Empire", "start_year": 1230, "end_year": 1410 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "present", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 240, "polity": { "id": 433, "name": "ml_segou_k", "long_name": "Segou Kingdom", "start_year": 1650, "end_year": 1712 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Scholars use oral tradition to help reconstruct life in the Segou kingdom.§REF§(Monroe and Ogundiran 2012) J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa. J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. eds. 2012. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa: Archaeological Perspectives.Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.§REF§ The polity may not have used written documents but there were written documents in the semi-autonomous, Islamic 'marka' towns, populated by Soninke and other Mande-speakers." }, { "id": 241, "polity": { "id": 242, "name": "ml_songhai_2", "long_name": "Songhai Empire - Askiya Dynasty", "start_year": 1493, "end_year": 1591 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Written language was culture of an urban élite, that did not absorb surrounding cultures and languages §REF§(Cissoko 1984, 2010)§REF§ Oldest example of writing in West Africa c1100 CE tomb inscription at Gao.§REF§(Davidson 1998, 44) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London.§REF§" }, { "id": 242, "polity": { "id": 283, "name": "mn_turk_khaganate_1", "long_name": "Eastern Turk Khaganate", "start_year": 583, "end_year": 630 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "present", "comment": null, "description": " \"The inscriptions of the Orkhon, written in Turk in rune-type characters, contain a number of words not common to Turkic but with parallels in Samoyed or Ugric languages from which, directly or indirectly, they had to be borrowed.\" §REF§(Sinor 1990, 291)§REF§ \"The First Turkic Khaganate officially split into the Western and the Eastern Turkic Khaganate. In the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, the Sogdian language and script was used for chancellery purposes and inscriptions.\"§REF§(Hosszú 2012, 285) Hosszú, G. 2012. Heritage of Scribes: The Relation of Rovas Scripts to Eurasian Writing Systems. Rovas Foundation.§REF§" }, { "id": 243, "polity": { "id": 288, "name": "mn_khitan_1", "long_name": "Khitan I", "start_year": 907, "end_year": 1125 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "present", "comment": null, "description": " \"The Khitan too developed a writing system on the Chinese model, though it was little used.\" §REF§(Beckwith 2009, 180)§REF§ \"In 920 the first Khitan script (the \"large script,\" an adaptation of the Chinese script to the very different, highly inflected Khitan language) was presented, and by the end of A-pao-chi's reign this script was widely used. In 925, when Uighur envoys visited the court, the emperor's younger brother Tieh-la (whom A-pao-chi recognized as the most clever member of his family) was entrusted with their reception and, after learning their script (which was alphabetic), devised a second \"small script\" for Khitan.\" §REF§(Twitchett 1994, 67)§REF§" }, { "id": 244, "polity": { "id": 267, "name": "mn_mongol_emp", "long_name": "Mongol Empire", "start_year": 1206, "end_year": 1270 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The Mongolian script. Chingiz Khan had a Mongolian script “adapted from the Uighur variety of Turkish” §REF§Morgan, David. The Mongols. 2nd ed. The Peoples of Europe. Malden, MA ; Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2007, p.9.§REF§" }, { "id": 245, "polity": { "id": 442, "name": "mn_mongol_early", "long_name": "Early Mongols", "start_year": 1000, "end_year": 1206 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "present", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 246, "polity": { "id": 443, "name": "mn_mongol_late", "long_name": "Late Mongols", "start_year": 1368, "end_year": 1690 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Late 16th century: “Tümen Jasaghtu Khan tried to unify the country administratively and so included in his government not only Abtai, Altan and Khutughtai Sechen, but also other influential nobles from all the tümens and from the Oirat regions. He compiled a new code that was supposed to be based on Chinggis Khan’s Great Ya ̄sa ̄ or Jasaq (see Volume IV, Part One). Subsequently, Altan Khan, Abtai Khan and, most likely, several others followed his example and adopted their own laws and codes in their respective tümens. But only some of these have been preserved, whether wholly or partially. They were written in the old Mongol script, which had been borrowed from the Uighur, and adopted under Chinggis Khan as the official script of the Mongols. » §REF§(Ishjamts 2003, 214)§REF§" }, { "id": 247, "polity": { "id": 278, "name": "mn_rouran_khaganate", "long_name": "Rouran Khaganate", "start_year": 300, "end_year": 555 }, "year_from": 300, "year_to": 499, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " \"Historical sources report that by A.D. 500 the Jujan were actively adopting a variety of Chinese influences, including the use of written Chinese for official records. \" §REF§(Rogers 2012, 224)§REF§ \"the early steppe peoples would not have been a promising vehicle for the diffusion of complicated, textually based knowledge; according to the Northern Wei dynastic history, the Rouran were illiterates whose leaders at first kept records of their troop numbers by piling up sheep turds as counters but eventually graduated to scratching simple marks onto pieces of wood. Not surprisingly, there is no evidence of the transmission of Chinese military theories and texts to the West by way of the Avars, other steppe nomads, Silk Road caravans, or any other channel prior to the activities of the Jesuit missionaries in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.\"§REF§(Graff 2016, 146) David A Graff. 2016. The Eurasian Way of War. Military practice in seventh-century China and Byzantium. Routledge. Abingdon.§REF§" }, { "id": 248, "polity": { "id": 278, "name": "mn_rouran_khaganate", "long_name": "Rouran Khaganate", "start_year": 300, "end_year": 555 }, "year_from": 500, "year_to": 555, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "present", "comment": null, "description": " \"Historical sources report that by A.D. 500 the Jujan were actively adopting a variety of Chinese influences, including the use of written Chinese for official records. \" §REF§(Rogers 2012, 224)§REF§ \"the early steppe peoples would not have been a promising vehicle for the diffusion of complicated, textually based knowledge; according to the Northern Wei dynastic history, the Rouran were illiterates whose leaders at first kept records of their troop numbers by piling up sheep turds as counters but eventually graduated to scratching simple marks onto pieces of wood. Not surprisingly, there is no evidence of the transmission of Chinese military theories and texts to the West by way of the Avars, other steppe nomads, Silk Road caravans, or any other channel prior to the activities of the Jesuit missionaries in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.\"§REF§(Graff 2016, 146) David A Graff. 2016. The Eurasian Way of War. Military practice in seventh-century China and Byzantium. Routledge. Abingdon.§REF§" }, { "id": 249, "polity": { "id": 440, "name": "mn_turk_khaganate_2", "long_name": "Second Turk Khaganate", "start_year": 682, "end_year": 744 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "present", "comment": null, "description": " \"There are several major inscriptions in the Turkic runic script from Khoshoo Tsaidam but also from the Tuul, Ongi, and Selenge River basins.\" §REF§(Rogers 2012, 226)§REF§ \"Further inscriptions of this kind are known to us; these historical and biographical texts are memorials or eulogies for the living, and they tell of the deeds of Türk kaghans and their retainers. They combine descriptions of events that involved the hero of the inscription (or his ancestors) with an exposition of the political beliefs and ideas of the author of the text; they may be seen as ‘declarations of intent’ and to some extent were used as propaganda (Figs. 3 and 4). Even more common were memorial inscriptions on rock faces, some of which proclaimed the author’s right to use the adjacent pasture or site (Figs. 5 and 6).9\" §REF§(Klyashtorny 1996, 340-341)§REF§" }, { "id": 250, "polity": { "id": 286, "name": "mn_uygur_khaganate", "long_name": "Uigur Khaganate", "start_year": 745, "end_year": 840 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Script", "script": "present", "comment": null, "description": " \"While their own spoken dialect may have differed somewhat, the Uighurs adopted the written form of Old Turkish used in the Türk empires. Uighur inscriptions found in Mongolia show the primary use of the Türks’ Runic script alongside a cursive adaption of Sogdian for Uighur, which after the fall of the empire became the Uighurs’ main script.\" §REF§(Atwood 2004, 561)§REF§" } ] }