| # | Polity | Coded Value | Tags | Year(s) | Edit | Desc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
"The main sources on Xianbei history are three Chinese chronicles: the Hou Han shu, chapter 90; the Wei shu [History of the Wei Dynasty, hereafter WS], chapter 30; and the Sanguo zhi [Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms]. These texts have been translated into Russian (Bichurin 1950 [1851]: 149-159; Taskin 1984: 70-86) and others European (Schreiber 1947; Mullie 1969) languages. For a long time, archaeological sites of Xianbei were not known. It is only recently that cemeteries of Xianbei culture have been excavated in China and the Eastern Baikal area (Su Bai 1977; Gan Chigeng and Sun Suzcng 1982; Mi Wenping 1994; Yu Suhua 2002; Yaremcuk 2004; 2005 etc.)."
[1]
"According to the Sanguo zhi [Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms], because Kebineng’s lands were near the Chinese border, many Chinese people (Zhongguo ren 中國人) fled the warlord depredations of late Han and Three Kingdoms China to join Kebineng, teaching the Xianbei how to make Chinese-style arms and armor, and even introducing some literacy."
[2]
Kebineng’s reign started in 230 CE. "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."
[3]
[1]: (Kradin 2014, 131) [2]: (Holcombe 2013, 7-8) [3]: (Graff 2016, 146) David A Graff. 2016. The Eurasian Way of War. Military practice in seventh-century China and Byzantium. Routledge. Abingdon. |
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"The main sources on Xianbei history are three Chinese chronicles: the Hou Han shu, chapter 90; the Wei shu [History of the Wei Dynasty, hereafter WS], chapter 30; and the Sanguo zhi [Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms]. These texts have been translated into Russian (Bichurin 1950 [1851]: 149-159; Taskin 1984: 70-86) and others European (Schreiber 1947; Mullie 1969) languages. For a long time, archaeological sites of Xianbei were not known. It is only recently that cemeteries of Xianbei culture have been excavated in China and the Eastern Baikal area (Su Bai 1977; Gan Chigeng and Sun Suzcng 1982; Mi Wenping 1994; Yu Suhua 2002; Yaremcuk 2004; 2005 etc.)."
[1]
"According to the Sanguo zhi [Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms], because Kebineng’s lands were near the Chinese border, many Chinese people (Zhongguo ren 中國人) fled the warlord depredations of late Han and Three Kingdoms China to join Kebineng, teaching the Xianbei how to make Chinese-style arms and armor, and even introducing some literacy."
[2]
Kebineng’s reign started in 230 CE. "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."
[3]
[1]: (Kradin 2014, 131) [2]: (Holcombe 2013, 7-8) [3]: (Graff 2016, 146) David A Graff. 2016. The Eurasian Way of War. Military practice in seventh-century China and Byzantium. Routledge. Abingdon. |
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|
"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."
[1]
"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"
[2]
[1]: (Frellesvig 2010, 11) [2]: (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. |
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|
"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. "
[1]
c500 CE and after: "It may be assumed that by then some of the Juan-juan already lived a settled life and practised agriculture. The original sources repeatedly mention that their khagans obtained ‘seed millet’ from China (some 10,000 shi each time). This shows that the Juan-juan society and state had gradually developed from nomadic herding to a settled agricultural way of life, from yurts to the building of houses and monumental architecture, from the nomadic district to towns. They had invented their own system of writing and developed their own local culture and Buddhist learning flourished."
[2]
"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."
[3]
[1]: (Rogers 2012, 224) [2]: (Kyzlasov 1996, 317) [3]: (Graff 2016, 146) David A Graff. 2016. The Eurasian Way of War. Military practice in seventh-century China and Byzantium. Routledge. Abingdon. |
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|
"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."
[1]
"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"
[2]
[1]: (Frellesvig 2010, 11) [2]: (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. |
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|
"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."
[1]
"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"
[2]
[1]: (Frellesvig 2010, 11) [2]: (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. |
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|
"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. "
[1]
c500 CE and after: "It may be assumed that by then some of the Juan-juan already lived a settled life and practised agriculture. The original sources repeatedly mention that their khagans obtained ‘seed millet’ from China (some 10,000 shi each time). This shows that the Juan-juan society and state had gradually developed from nomadic herding to a settled agricultural way of life, from yurts to the building of houses and monumental architecture, from the nomadic district to towns. They had invented their own system of writing and developed their own local culture and Buddhist learning flourished."
[2]
"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."
[3]
[1]: (Rogers 2012, 224) [2]: (Kyzlasov 1996, 317) [3]: (Graff 2016, 146) David A Graff. 2016. The Eurasian Way of War. Military practice in seventh-century China and Byzantium. Routledge. Abingdon. |
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|
Literacy existed before latinization, but was associated with social authority and written records are sparse: ’It is usually forgotten that literacy had existed in Norse culture, of which Icelandic culture was a late offshoot, long before the year 1000. Actually, literacy was introduced with the runic alphabet as early as the second or third century A.D. Literacy seems, however, to have been the prerogative of the aristocratic class. It seems that the secrets were jealously guarded by the leading social stratum. Runic inscriptions are generally short, and mainly commemorate family relationships. The Tune stone runic inscription from Østfold in eastern Norway (from around A.D. 200) may serve as an example. Although there is some disagreement regarding interpretation, it is commonly believed that the inscription relates a number of inheritors to an ancestor (Grønvik 1981), and that it was connected to the inheritors’ claims to exclusive rights to property. Runes were shrouded in magic and sorcery, imbuing the text with sacrality. Writing constituted authority. That writing of runes was associated with people of authority is also manifested in Norse mythology. In the poem Rígsþula, written in Iceland in the thirteenth century, but commonly [Page 126] believed to belong to the Viking period, the god Heimdallr teaches the prince Jarl (Earl) to write runes. In some of the stanzas of Hávamál the high god Óðinn sacrifices himself in order to obtain the powerful knowledge of the runes (138-141). Óðinn was above all the god of the aristocratic warriors. In these and similar cases the basic message is that rune writing was an exclusive right of the aristocratic class.’
[1]
The introduction of the Latin alphabet expanded the spectrum of written genres beyond the badly preserved Runic tradition: ’At the time of settlement, the Icelanders spoke Old Norse (a Germanic language, in the large Indo-European group of languages), which was then common throughout Scandinavia. By the beginning of the twelfth century linguistic conservatism on the remote island society had introduced significant differences between Icelandic and its Scandinavian neighbors resulting in a distinct Icelandic. Prior to the conversion to Christianity in 1000 A.D., Old Norse was written in a runic alphabet. Runes had a restricted use and few runic inscriptions have survived from Iceland. With Christianity came the Roman alphabet and the expansion of written genres, which thrived in Iceland.’
[2]
We have selected 1100ce as a potential date of transition following expert advice. Early Icelanders then developed a rich literary tradition: ’One of the remarkable legacies of early Iceland is its wealth of literary production. Icelandic literary production encompassed continental chivalrous, hagiographic, and historical traditions, in addition to the autochthonous development of the saga. Among other topics, Icelandic sagas depict events from the early years of Icelandic society, the colonization of Greenland and the discovery of North America, and the civil wars that characterized the twelfth and thirteenth centuries in Iceland. The medieval manuscripts also preserve an artistic tradition in illumination. The literary levels achieved in Iceland, to some degree, developed from strong oral traditions of poetry and narrative. Much of the material culture of early Iceland has not been preserved but a strong tradition in artistic woodcarving is evident.’
[2]
The introduction of Christianity was an important factor in this process: ’By the end of the 10th century, the Norwegians were forced by their king, Olaf I Tryggvason, to accept Christianity. The king also sent missionaries to Iceland who, according to 12th-century sources, were highly successful in converting the Icelanders. In 999 or 1000 the Althing made a peaceful decision that all Icelanders should become Christians. In spite of this decision, the godar retained their political role, and many of them probably built their own churches. Some were ordained, and as a group they seem to have closely controlled the organization of the new religion. Two bishoprics were established, one at Skálholt in 1056 and the other at Hólar in 1106. Literate Christian culture also transformed lay life. Codification of the law was begun in 1117-18. Later the Icelanders began to write sagas, which were to reach their pinnacle of literary achievement in the next century.’
[3]
’While literacy became widespread in Iceland during the two centuries prior to the writing of the sagas, the evidence suggests that writing continued to be connected to chieftains and landowners. As literacy was taught by the Church, most chieftains had clerical training, and many of them were ordained priests (Sveinsson 1953). Although the international outlook of Christianity was inimical to the kin-based and locally-based Icelandic civilization, at that time it was probably not regarded as too radical. Actually, when Christianity was first introduced to Iceland, it was probably considered to be a resource which the chieftains could exploit [Page 127] to their own benefit, and literacy was part of it. At the turn of the twelfth and the thirteenth centuries, when they began to write sagas, relations between the lay and Church authorities became strained. The literature of the twelfth century is half-secular, half-ecclesiastic (Sveinsson 1953:103). The tension between the Church and the chieftains created an independent secular literature in Iceland in the thirteenth century (Lönnroth 1991). Increasingly, people turned to the oral literature which existed in the secular social environment. The context of literacy continued to be closely associated to the dominant social class.’
[4]
The Roman alphabet was adapted to the Norse vernacular: ’When they started writing, Icelanders wrote about secular as well as religious matters. They adapted the Roman alphabet to their own tongue and wrote in the vernacular because they had something to write for one another. This process of writing started just about a hundred years after seasonal labor became available, when landowners could expand their holdings and the distribution of wealth, land, and power began to shift in a continuous process of revaluing the social and political variables.’
[5]
[1]: Odner, Knut 1992. “Þógunna’S Testament: A Myth For Moral Contemplation And Social Apathy”, 125 [2]: Bolender, Douglas James and Beierle, John: eHRAF Cultural Summary for Early Icelanders [3]: http://www.britannica.com/place/Iceland/Government-and-society#toc10088 [4]: Odner, Knut 1992. “Þógunna’S Testament: A Myth For Moral Contemplation And Social Apathy”, 126 [5]: Durrenberger, E. Paul 1992. “Dynamics Of Medieval Iceland: Political Economy And Literature”, 106 |
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|
Literacy existed before latinization, but was associated with social authority and written records are sparse: ’It is usually forgotten that literacy had existed in Norse culture, of which Icelandic culture was a late offshoot, long before the year 1000. Actually, literacy was introduced with the runic alphabet as early as the second or third century A.D. Literacy seems, however, to have been the prerogative of the aristocratic class. It seems that the secrets were jealously guarded by the leading social stratum. Runic inscriptions are generally short, and mainly commemorate family relationships. The Tune stone runic inscription from Østfold in eastern Norway (from around A.D. 200) may serve as an example. Although there is some disagreement regarding interpretation, it is commonly believed that the inscription relates a number of inheritors to an ancestor (Grønvik 1981), and that it was connected to the inheritors’ claims to exclusive rights to property. Runes were shrouded in magic and sorcery, imbuing the text with sacrality. Writing constituted authority. That writing of runes was associated with people of authority is also manifested in Norse mythology. In the poem Rígsþula, written in Iceland in the thirteenth century, but commonly [Page 126] believed to belong to the Viking period, the god Heimdallr teaches the prince Jarl (Earl) to write runes. In some of the stanzas of Hávamál the high god Óðinn sacrifices himself in order to obtain the powerful knowledge of the runes (138-141). Óðinn was above all the god of the aristocratic warriors. In these and similar cases the basic message is that rune writing was an exclusive right of the aristocratic class.’
[1]
The introduction of the Latin alphabet expanded the spectrum of written genres beyond the badly preserved Runic tradition: ’At the time of settlement, the Icelanders spoke Old Norse (a Germanic language, in the large Indo-European group of languages), which was then common throughout Scandinavia. By the beginning of the twelfth century linguistic conservatism on the remote island society had introduced significant differences between Icelandic and its Scandinavian neighbors resulting in a distinct Icelandic. Prior to the conversion to Christianity in 1000 A.D., Old Norse was written in a runic alphabet. Runes had a restricted use and few runic inscriptions have survived from Iceland. With Christianity came the Roman alphabet and the expansion of written genres, which thrived in Iceland.’
[2]
We have selected 1100ce as a potential date of transition following expert advice. Early Icelanders then developed a rich literary tradition: ’One of the remarkable legacies of early Iceland is its wealth of literary production. Icelandic literary production encompassed continental chivalrous, hagiographic, and historical traditions, in addition to the autochthonous development of the saga. Among other topics, Icelandic sagas depict events from the early years of Icelandic society, the colonization of Greenland and the discovery of North America, and the civil wars that characterized the twelfth and thirteenth centuries in Iceland. The medieval manuscripts also preserve an artistic tradition in illumination. The literary levels achieved in Iceland, to some degree, developed from strong oral traditions of poetry and narrative. Much of the material culture of early Iceland has not been preserved but a strong tradition in artistic woodcarving is evident.’
[2]
The introduction of Christianity was an important factor in this process: ’By the end of the 10th century, the Norwegians were forced by their king, Olaf I Tryggvason, to accept Christianity. The king also sent missionaries to Iceland who, according to 12th-century sources, were highly successful in converting the Icelanders. In 999 or 1000 the Althing made a peaceful decision that all Icelanders should become Christians. In spite of this decision, the godar retained their political role, and many of them probably built their own churches. Some were ordained, and as a group they seem to have closely controlled the organization of the new religion. Two bishoprics were established, one at Skálholt in 1056 and the other at Hólar in 1106. Literate Christian culture also transformed lay life. Codification of the law was begun in 1117-18. Later the Icelanders began to write sagas, which were to reach their pinnacle of literary achievement in the next century.’
[3]
’While literacy became widespread in Iceland during the two centuries prior to the writing of the sagas, the evidence suggests that writing continued to be connected to chieftains and landowners. As literacy was taught by the Church, most chieftains had clerical training, and many of them were ordained priests (Sveinsson 1953). Although the international outlook of Christianity was inimical to the kin-based and locally-based Icelandic civilization, at that time it was probably not regarded as too radical. Actually, when Christianity was first introduced to Iceland, it was probably considered to be a resource which the chieftains could exploit [Page 127] to their own benefit, and literacy was part of it. At the turn of the twelfth and the thirteenth centuries, when they began to write sagas, relations between the lay and Church authorities became strained. The literature of the twelfth century is half-secular, half-ecclesiastic (Sveinsson 1953:103). The tension between the Church and the chieftains created an independent secular literature in Iceland in the thirteenth century (Lönnroth 1991). Increasingly, people turned to the oral literature which existed in the secular social environment. The context of literacy continued to be closely associated to the dominant social class.’
[4]
The Roman alphabet was adapted to the Norse vernacular: ’When they started writing, Icelanders wrote about secular as well as religious matters. They adapted the Roman alphabet to their own tongue and wrote in the vernacular because they had something to write for one another. This process of writing started just about a hundred years after seasonal labor became available, when landowners could expand their holdings and the distribution of wealth, land, and power began to shift in a continuous process of revaluing the social and political variables.’
[5]
[1]: Odner, Knut 1992. “Þógunna’S Testament: A Myth For Moral Contemplation And Social Apathy”, 125 [2]: Bolender, Douglas James and Beierle, John: eHRAF Cultural Summary for Early Icelanders [3]: http://www.britannica.com/place/Iceland/Government-and-society#toc10088 [4]: Odner, Knut 1992. “Þógunna’S Testament: A Myth For Moral Contemplation And Social Apathy”, 126 [5]: Durrenberger, E. Paul 1992. “Dynamics Of Medieval Iceland: Political Economy And Literature”, 106 |
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This quote refers to a 16th century inscription on a feast house. “In one of the oldest feast houses in Kafa, at Baha, Cardinal Massaja found a tabot with an inscription dedicated to ‘St. George, Our Lady Mary and God’ and signed by ‘Dengel’ (possibly referring to Sarsa Dengel of the sixteenth century).”
[1]
[1]: (Orent 1970, 272) Orent, Amnon. 1970. ‘Refocusing on the History of Kafa Prior to 1897: A Discussion of Political Processes’. African Historical Studies. Vol. 3:2. Pp 263-293. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/2A389XGK/collection |
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This quote refers to a 16th century inscription on a feast house. “In one of the oldest feast houses in Kafa, at Baha, Cardinal Massaja found a tabot with an inscription dedicated to ‘St. George, Our Lady Mary and God’ and signed by ‘Dengel’ (possibly referring to Sarsa Dengel of the sixteenth century).”
[1]
[1]: (Orent 1970, 272) Orent, Amnon. 1970. ‘Refocusing on the History of Kafa Prior to 1897: A Discussion of Political Processes’. African Historical Studies. Vol. 3:2. Pp 263-293. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/2A389XGK/collection |
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The following quote refers to ‘state documents’ only; it seems reasonable to assume that non-governmental written records existed before the eighteenth century, given the time period and the fact that Islam is a religion of the book. “Only in the eighteenth century did state documents appear in Arabic.”
[1]
[1]: (Lapidus 2002, 429) Lapidus, Ira M. 2002. A History of Islamic Societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/QW9XHCIW/collection |
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The following quote suggests that Ajami script (see second quote) was used by a high-ranking minority. "In southern Senegambia, where non-Manding populations predominated, Manding was a prestigious language of the pagan aristocracy and, on the other hand, the language of the Muslim merchant network of Jakhanke. The existence of Manding Ajami in that area was already attested in the first half of the 18th century (Labat 1728; cited by Giesing & Costa-Dias 2007: 63), long before the pagan rule of the ñàncoo elite of the Kaabu was definitely smashed by Muslim Fulbe troops from Fuuta Jalon. In any case, the emergence of Ajami is not related to the establishment of a Muslim political power in this area: the main holders of Islamic writing in the area, the Jakhanke merchants, were for centuries integrated into the social system of the Kaabu confederation and often served as advisers and intermediates for the political elites."
[1]
"A number of terms have been used in this volume to refer to the usage of Arabic script for languages other than Arabic. Crosslinguistically, such writing systems are often termed ‘Arabic literature’, ‘Islamic literature’ or ‘Islamic writings’, and locally they are known by a large number of names, such as Wolofal, or Kiarabu. The term Ajami in particular (or variations, such as Äjam, Ajamiya, etc.), derived from the Arabic word ʿaǧam ‘non-Arab; Persian’, has gained some degree of popularity in academic literature and is also encountered as a self-denomination for these writing systems in some languages, such as Hausa."
[2]
[1]: (Vydrin 2014: 201-202) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/E8Z57DNC/collection. [2]: (Mumin and Verstegh 2014: 1) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/PVIK4HGV/collection. |
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Distant ancestors of the Sakha may have been familiar with writing, but lost that knowledge during past migrations: ’Spindle whorls were made of a kind of hard stone coal (slate?). Of particular interest was one spindle, found in Kurumchinakh, which was covered with writing (letters). In comparing these characters with those of various alphabets, it may readily be observed that many of them are similar, as far as they can be deciphered, to the characters of the Orkhon alphabet. There were thirty-seven symbols of which twenty-one are letters and sixteen indistinct, effaced signs, including perhaps mere scratches. The twenty-one letters appear to be an exact reproduction of the Yenisei-Orkhon characters. There are eighteen consonants and three vowels. Some of the characters are repeated and in all there are ten different symbols. The discovery of these writings so far to the north is of great interest. The ancestors of the Yakut, who, in remote times, emigrated from northern Mongolia, undoubtedly knew the Orkhon alphabet and this may explain the Yakut traditions as to the loss of their writings on the way to Yakutsk Province.’
[1]
The first recent script for the Yakut language was developed by 19th century Russian missionaries: ’The Yakut speak Yakut, a Northeast Turkic language of the Altaic Language Family. It is one of the most divergent of the Turkic languages, closely related to Dolgan (a mixture of Evenk and Yakut sometimes described as a Yakut dialect). The Yakut, over 90 percent of whom speak Yakut as their mother tongue, call their language "Sakha-tyla." Their current written language, developed in the 1930s, is a modified Cyrillic script. Before this, they had several written forms, including a Latin script developed in the 1920s and a Cyrillic script introduced by missionaries in the nineteenth century. Yakut lore includes legends of a written language lost after they traveled north to the Lena valley.’
[2]
’Such was the culture of the Yakut people up to the October Revolution. Particularly important was the cultural assistance which the Yakuts obtained from the fraternal Russian people during the prerevolutionary years. In the 19th century it was mainly the political exiles, beginning with the Decembrists, who spread culture through Yakutiya. There were also other progressive Russian people who diffused the beginnings of a cultivated way of life among the Yakuts. In particular, they laid the foundations of the Yakut written language.’
[3]
Russian administrators communicated in writing and composed clerical documents: ’The people became rapidly impoverished, and the order of the voivode to the clerk Evdokim Kurdiukov in 1685 already mentions the arrears in the treasury and orders the yassak gatherers to treat the people in arrears in the following way: from them who have no cattle take, because of their povetry and extreme need one cherno-cherevyya and one sivodushatyya fox from each, and for a sable, two red foxes from each. This same document orders him to make a census of the people, and their goods and cattle: collect the taxes for the current year, 193 (1685) in full, and collect the arrears for the past years, from each as much as possible. Similar censuses were taken earlier also, and their character may be judged by the census of Grishka Krivogornitsyn in 170 (1671) “for the Meginsk volosts” There we find mentioned not only the taxes and the amounts in arrears, but also the houses, wives, number of workers in the family. There is information about those who have died and those who have run away. Moreover the name and clan of every person is given. The personal and clan nicknames, of course are very much corrupted in these notes, and changed to conform with the Russian style, but it is not hard to determine what they actually are. The yassak books and these censuses were the materials out of which was later created the present system of Yakut self-government.’
[4]
But Yakuts probably had little to no access to these. Illiteracy was widespread: ’In 1942 Yakutiya celebrated the end of illiteracy among the adult population. Over the years of the Soviet regime more than 155,000 illiterate people have been taught to read and write. Work continues with those who are only partially literate in the network of adult schools.’
[5]
We have selected 1800 as a provisional date of transition.
[1]: Jochelson, Waldemar 1933. “Yakut”, 62 [2]: Balzer, Marjorie Mandelstam and Skoggard, Ian: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Yakut [3]: Tokarev, S. A., and Gurvich I. S. 1964. “Yakuts”, 283 [4]: Sieroszewski, Wacław 1993. “Yakut: An Experiment In Ethnographic Research”, 780 [5]: Tokarev, S. A., and Gurvich I. S. 1964. “Yakuts”, 298 |
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The following quote implies that indigenous writing emerged in the region in the 19th century. "The first documented autochthonous, Mande script to appear in West Africa was the one created by Duala Bukere from Grand Cape Mount County in Liberia who created a Vai syllabary in 1833, which has been standardized to 212 characters (Dalby, 1967: 14-18). [...] Appearing first in the region, the Vai syllabary became the prototype for other writing systems that were created in the inter-wars among indigenous peoples in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Speakers of southern Mande languages such as the Mende (1921) and the Kpelle (1935), and speakers of the Kru languages such as the Bassa (1920-25) have based their writing systems on the syllabary (Dalby, 1967: 2-4)."
[1]
[1]: (Oyler 2001: 75) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/X7HQWWH9/collection. |
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The following quote refers to ‘state documents’ only; it seems reasonable to assume that non-governmental written records existed before the eighteenth century, given the time period and the fact that Islam is a religion of the book. “Only in the eighteenth century did state documents appear in Arabic.”
[1]
[1]: (Lapidus 2002, 429) Lapidus, Ira M. 2002. A History of Islamic Societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/QW9XHCIW/collection |
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"Literacy entered Uganda for the first time with the introduction of Islam in the late 1860’s and for nearly a decade instruction in Islam was progressing and flourishing at the royal court. When literacy was introduced into the kingdom of Buganda, it was confined to speakers of Arabic and Kiswahili. "
[1]
[1]: (Pawliková-Vilhanová 2014: 145) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/T7IMKZJJ. |
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The following quote suggests that Ajami script (see second quote) was used by a high-ranking minority. "In southern Senegambia, where non-Manding populations predominated, Manding was a prestigious language of the pagan aristocracy and, on the other hand, the language of the Muslim merchant network of Jakhanke. The existence of Manding Ajami in that area was already attested in the first half of the 18th century (Labat 1728; cited by Giesing & Costa-Dias 2007: 63), long before the pagan rule of the ñàncoo elite of the Kaabu was definitely smashed by Muslim Fulbe troops from Fuuta Jalon. In any case, the emergence of Ajami is not related to the establishment of a Muslim political power in this area: the main holders of Islamic writing in the area, the Jakhanke merchants, were for centuries integrated into the social system of the Kaabu confederation and often served as advisers and intermediates for the political elites."
[1]
"A number of terms have been used in this volume to refer to the usage of Arabic script for languages other than Arabic. Crosslinguistically, such writing systems are often termed ‘Arabic literature’, ‘Islamic literature’ or ‘Islamic writings’, and locally they are known by a large number of names, such as Wolofal, or Kiarabu. The term Ajami in particular (or variations, such as Äjam, Ajamiya, etc.), derived from the Arabic word ʿaǧam ‘non-Arab; Persian’, has gained some degree of popularity in academic literature and is also encountered as a self-denomination for these writing systems in some languages, such as Hausa."
[2]
[1]: (Vydrin 2014: 201-202) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/E8Z57DNC/collection. [2]: (Mumin and Verstegh 2014: 1) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/PVIK4HGV/collection. |
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The Iroquois initially relied on wampum records: ’The laws explained at different stages of the ceremonial, were repeated from strings of wampum, into which they “had been talked” at the time of their enactment. In the Indian method of expressing the idea, the string, or the belt can tell, by means of an interpreter, the exact law or transaction of which it was made, at the time, the sole evidence. It operates upon the principle of association, and thus seeks to give fidelity to the memory. These strings and belts were the only visible records of the Iroquois; and were of no use except by the aid of those special personages who could draw forth the secret records locked up in their remembrance.’
[1]
The Handsome Lake Code was canonized in the 19th century, around two decades after the end date of our data sheet: ’The present form of the Gai[unknown] wiio` was determined by a council of its preachers some fifty years ago. They met at Cold Spring, the old home of Handsome Lake, and compared their versions. Several differences were found and each preacher thought his version the correct one. At length Chief John Jacket, a Cattaraugus Seneca, and a man well versed in the lore of his people, was chosen to settle forever the words and the form of the Gai[unknown] wiio`. This he did by writing it out in the Seneca language by the method taught by Rev. Asher Wright, the Presbyterian missionary. The preachers assembled again, this time, according to Cornplanter, at Cattaraugus where they memorized the parts in which they were faulty. The original text was written on letter paper and now is entirely destroyed. [Page 8] Chief Jacket gave it to Henry Stevens and Chief Stevens passed it on to Chief Cornplanter who after he had memorized the teachings became careless and lost the papers sheet by sheet. Fearing that the true form might become lost Chief Cornplanter in 1903 began to rewrite the Gai[unknown] wiio` in an old minute book of the Seneca Lacrosse Club. He had finished the historical introduction when the writer discovered what he had done. He was implored to finish it and give it to the State of New York for preservation. He was at first reluctant, fearing criticism, but after a council with the leading men he consented to do so. He became greatly interested in the progress of the translation and is eager for the time to arrive when all white men may have the privilege of reading the “wonderful message” of the great prophet.’
[2]
Christian missionaries translated parts of the Bible into Iroquois languages and also published newspapers: ’At the time, those Whites having business with Indians needed interpreters, and the missionaries and teachers in the mission schools were no exception. Nevertheless, with the help of interpreters, a few of them did translate hymns and parts of the Bible into Seneca. This work of translation was greatly expanded by the most noted missionary to the Senecas, Asher Wright. His translations included those of the four Gospels into Seneca. He also established a press to publish materials such as a newspaper, The Mental Elevator, in both Seneca and English (Pilling1888:175-178). Wright went to the Buffalo Creek reservationas a missionary in 1831 and spent the next 15 years there. When this reservation was sold, he and his wife moved to Cattaraugus where Wright died.’
[3]
We have assumed 1831 as a provisional date of transition. Expert feedback is needed on the spread of literacy among the Iroquois.
[1]: Morgan, Lewis Henry, and Herbert M. Lloyd 1901. “League Of The Ho-De’-No-Sau-Nee Or Iroquois. Vol. I”, 114 [2]: Parker, Arthur C. 1913. “Code Of Handsome Lake, The Seneca Prophet”, 7 [3]: Abler, Thomas S., and Elisabeth Tooker 1978. “Seneca”, 510 |
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Writing was widespread. Royal and government documents, literature, letter writing, books, newspapers, periodicals etc. “The English traveller Joseph Townsend found the professional letter-writer busy at his trade in the 1780s: ‘When the market square is not taken over by the preachers, the scribes take up their positions with their tables, near which they sit with ink, quill and paper to draw up and read out letters of all kinds.’”(Casey 2002: 194) Casey, James. 2002. Early Modern Spain: A Social History. New York: Routledge. https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/2SNTRSWT “A critical periodical press made its appearance in this era. The weekly El Pensador in the 1760’s was typical of the nev/ Journalism, which attacked the foibles of the nobility and the ignorance of the clergy. In the 1780’s the government’s own Imprenta Real published a Correo Literario de Europa to keep the reading public abreast of the latest developments in science and letters. Despite frequent cases of censorship, on balance the government gave its approval to a huge volume of publications, including many key works of the foreign Enlightenment.”(Bergamini 1974: 93) Bergamini, John D. 1974. The Spanish Bourbons: The History of a Tenacious Dynasty. New York: G. P Putnam’s Sons. https://archive.org/details/spanishbourbons00john. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/5A2HNKTF
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"Literacy entered Uganda for the first time with the introduction of Islam in the late 1860’s and for nearly a decade instruction in Islam was progressing and flourishing at the royal court. When literacy was introduced into the kingdom of Buganda, it was confined to speakers of Arabic and Kiswahili. "
[1]
Based on the literature consulted, it remains unclear whether literacy spread from Buganda to Nkore at this time.
[1]: (Pawliková-Vilhanová 2014: 145) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/T7IMKZJJ. |
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Distant ancestors of the Sakha may have been familiar with writing, but lost that knowledge during past migrations: ’Spindle whorls were made of a kind of hard stone coal (slate?). Of particular interest was one spindle, found in Kurumchinakh, which was covered with writing (letters). In comparing these characters with those of various alphabets, it may readily be observed that many of them are similar, as far as they can be deciphered, to the characters of the Orkhon alphabet. There were thirty-seven symbols of which twenty-one are letters and sixteen indistinct, effaced signs, including perhaps mere scratches. The twenty-one letters appear to be an exact reproduction of the Yenisei-Orkhon characters. There are eighteen consonants and three vowels. Some of the characters are repeated and in all there are ten different symbols. The discovery of these writings so far to the north is of great interest. The ancestors of the Yakut, who, in remote times, emigrated from northern Mongolia, undoubtedly knew the Orkhon alphabet and this may explain the Yakut traditions as to the loss of their writings on the way to Yakutsk Province.’
[1]
The first recent script for the Yakut language was developed by 19th century Russian missionaries: ’The Yakut speak Yakut, a Northeast Turkic language of the Altaic Language Family. It is one of the most divergent of the Turkic languages, closely related to Dolgan (a mixture of Evenk and Yakut sometimes described as a Yakut dialect). The Yakut, over 90 percent of whom speak Yakut as their mother tongue, call their language "Sakha-tyla." Their current written language, developed in the 1930s, is a modified Cyrillic script. Before this, they had several written forms, including a Latin script developed in the 1920s and a Cyrillic script introduced by missionaries in the nineteenth century. Yakut lore includes legends of a written language lost after they traveled north to the Lena valley.’
[2]
’Such was the culture of the Yakut people up to the October Revolution. Particularly important was the cultural assistance which the Yakuts obtained from the fraternal Russian people during the prerevolutionary years. In the 19th century it was mainly the political exiles, beginning with the Decembrists, who spread culture through Yakutiya. There were also other progressive Russian people who diffused the beginnings of a cultivated way of life among the Yakuts. In particular, they laid the foundations of the Yakut written language.’
[3]
Russian administrators communicated in writing and composed clerical documents: ’The people became rapidly impoverished, and the order of the voivode to the clerk Evdokim Kurdiukov in 1685 already mentions the arrears in the treasury and orders the yassak gatherers to treat the people in arrears in the following way: from them who have no cattle take, because of their povetry and extreme need one cherno-cherevyya and one sivodushatyya fox from each, and for a sable, two red foxes from each. This same document orders him to make a census of the people, and their goods and cattle: collect the taxes for the current year, 193 (1685) in full, and collect the arrears for the past years, from each as much as possible. Similar censuses were taken earlier also, and their character may be judged by the census of Grishka Krivogornitsyn in 170 (1671) “for the Meginsk volosts” There we find mentioned not only the taxes and the amounts in arrears, but also the houses, wives, number of workers in the family. There is information about those who have died and those who have run away. Moreover the name and clan of every person is given. The personal and clan nicknames, of course are very much corrupted in these notes, and changed to conform with the Russian style, but it is not hard to determine what they actually are. The yassak books and these censuses were the materials out of which was later created the present system of Yakut self-government.’
[4]
But Yakuts probably had little to no access to these. Illiteracy was widespread: ’In 1942 Yakutiya celebrated the end of illiteracy among the adult population. Over the years of the Soviet regime more than 155,000 illiterate people have been taught to read and write. Work continues with those who are only partially literate in the network of adult schools.’
[5]
We have selected 1800 as a provisional date of transition.
[1]: Jochelson, Waldemar 1933. “Yakut”, 62 [2]: Balzer, Marjorie Mandelstam and Skoggard, Ian: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Yakut [3]: Tokarev, S. A., and Gurvich I. S. 1964. “Yakuts”, 283 [4]: Sieroszewski, Wacław 1993. “Yakut: An Experiment In Ethnographic Research”, 780 [5]: Tokarev, S. A., and Gurvich I. S. 1964. “Yakuts”, 298 |
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The Iroquois initially relied on wampum records: ’The laws explained at different stages of the ceremonial, were repeated from strings of wampum, into which they “had been talked” at the time of their enactment. In the Indian method of expressing the idea, the string, or the belt can tell, by means of an interpreter, the exact law or transaction of which it was made, at the time, the sole evidence. It operates upon the principle of association, and thus seeks to give fidelity to the memory. These strings and belts were the only visible records of the Iroquois; and were of no use except by the aid of those special personages who could draw forth the secret records locked up in their remembrance.’
[1]
The Handsome Lake Code was canonized in the 19th century, around two decades after the end date of our data sheet: ’The present form of the Gai[unknown] wiio` was determined by a council of its preachers some fifty years ago. They met at Cold Spring, the old home of Handsome Lake, and compared their versions. Several differences were found and each preacher thought his version the correct one. At length Chief John Jacket, a Cattaraugus Seneca, and a man well versed in the lore of his people, was chosen to settle forever the words and the form of the Gai[unknown] wiio`. This he did by writing it out in the Seneca language by the method taught by Rev. Asher Wright, the Presbyterian missionary. The preachers assembled again, this time, according to Cornplanter, at Cattaraugus where they memorized the parts in which they were faulty. The original text was written on letter paper and now is entirely destroyed. [Page 8] Chief Jacket gave it to Henry Stevens and Chief Stevens passed it on to Chief Cornplanter who after he had memorized the teachings became careless and lost the papers sheet by sheet. Fearing that the true form might become lost Chief Cornplanter in 1903 began to rewrite the Gai[unknown] wiio` in an old minute book of the Seneca Lacrosse Club. He had finished the historical introduction when the writer discovered what he had done. He was implored to finish it and give it to the State of New York for preservation. He was at first reluctant, fearing criticism, but after a council with the leading men he consented to do so. He became greatly interested in the progress of the translation and is eager for the time to arrive when all white men may have the privilege of reading the “wonderful message” of the great prophet.’
[2]
Christian missionaries translated parts of the Bible into Iroquois languages and also published newspapers: ’At the time, those Whites having business with Indians needed interpreters, and the missionaries and teachers in the mission schools were no exception. Nevertheless, with the help of interpreters, a few of them did translate hymns and parts of the Bible into Seneca. This work of translation was greatly expanded by the most noted missionary to the Senecas, Asher Wright. His translations included those of the four Gospels into Seneca. He also established a press to publish materials such as a newspaper, The Mental Elevator, in both Seneca and English (Pilling1888:175-178). Wright went to the Buffalo Creek reservationas a missionary in 1831 and spent the next 15 years there. When this reservation was sold, he and his wife moved to Cattaraugus where Wright died.’
[3]
We have assumed 1831 as a provisional date of transition. Expert feedback is needed on the spread of literacy among the Iroquois.
[1]: Morgan, Lewis Henry, and Herbert M. Lloyd 1901. “League Of The Ho-De’-No-Sau-Nee Or Iroquois. Vol. I”, 114 [2]: Parker, Arthur C. 1913. “Code Of Handsome Lake, The Seneca Prophet”, 7 [3]: Abler, Thomas S., and Elisabeth Tooker 1978. “Seneca”, 510 |
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The following quote implies that indigenous writing emerged in the region in the 19th century. "The first documented autochthonous, Mande script to appear in West Africa was the one created by Duala Bukere from Grand Cape Mount County in Liberia who created a Vai syllabary in 1833, which has been standardized to 212 characters (Dalby, 1967: 14-18). [...] Appearing first in the region, the Vai syllabary became the prototype for other writing systems that were created in the inter-wars among indigenous peoples in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Speakers of southern Mande languages such as the Mende (1921) and the Kpelle (1935), and speakers of the Kru languages such as the Bassa (1920-25) have based their writing systems on the syllabary (Dalby, 1967: 2-4)."
[1]
[1]: (Oyler 2001: 75) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/X7HQWWH9/collection. |
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SCCS variable 149 ’Writing and Records’ lists no mnemonic devices or nonwritten records or ’True writing, no writing’ Christian missionaries introduced Latinized characters: ’The Malays before their conversion to Mahomedanism may be presumed to have had no letters of their own. What they have now are made up out of the Arabic alphabet. To suit the tone of their language the letters are named accordingly. With reference to the Sea Dyaks, since the gospel of Christ has been preached to them, letters of the Roman character are used and pronounced accordingly to suit the tones of their pronunciation.’
[1]
The first true mission schools were established in the 1920s (see above). In the 1950s, Freeman claimed no written calendars for the ’pre-literate’ Iban: ’The Iban still attach great importance to their stellar lore. Tungku, a tuai rumah of the Mujong headwaters, put it in these words:“If there were no stars we Iban would be lost, not knowing when to plant; we live by the stars.”(“ Enti nadai bintang tesat ati kami Iban, enda nemu maia nugal; kami idup ari bintang. ”) It must not be thought however that there is any dogma that rituals, etc. should be held on the exact dates given. The Iban are a pre-literate people without a calendar, and the movements of the Pleiades, Orion and Sirius are taken as no more than general indications of the time when the major operations of felling and planting should be embarked upon.’
[2]
Komanyi claims written calendars following the European pattern and literacy in the 1970s: ’Since most people now have western calendars, they know during which month the sowing, weeding or harvesting is to be done. Their “new year” begins after the harvest is completed, which may be some time in May or June. However, June 1st is “Dayak Day,” proclaimed by the government as the official Dayak New Year’s Day.’
[3]
These figures are entirely contradictory. We have chosen to go with the 1921 figure as it is coherent with the establishment of mission schools, but expert feedback is absolutely essential on this matter. Regional variation may explain the difference, but this is in need of confirmation.
[1]: Howell, William 1908-1910. “Sea Dyak”, 3 [2]: Freeman, Derek 1955. “Iban Agriculture: A Report On The Shifting Cultivation Of Hill Rice By The Iban Of Sarawak”, 40 [3]: Komanyi, Margit Ilona 1973. “Real And Ideal Participation In Decision-Making Of Iban Women: A Study Of A Longhouse Community In Sarawak, East Malaysia”, 15 |
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"Literacy entered Uganda for the first time with the introduction of Islam in the late 1860’s and for nearly a decade instruction in Islam was progressing and flourishing at the royal court. When literacy was introduced into the kingdom of Buganda, it was confined to speakers of Arabic and Kiswahili. "
[1]
[1]: (Pawliková-Vilhanová 2014: 145) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/T7IMKZJJ. |
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"Literacy entered Uganda for the first time with the introduction of Islam in the late 1860’s and for nearly a decade instruction in Islam was progressing and flourishing at the royal court. When literacy was introduced into the kingdom of Buganda, it was confined to speakers of Arabic and Kiswahili. "
[1]
Based on the literature consulted, it remains unclear whether literacy spread from Buganda to Nkore at this time.
[1]: (Pawliková-Vilhanová 2014: 145) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/T7IMKZJJ. |
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SCCS variable 149 ’Writing and Records’ lists no mnemonic devices or nonwritten records or ’True writing, no writing’ Christian missionaries introduced Latinized characters: ’The Malays before their conversion to Mahomedanism may be presumed to have had no letters of their own. What they have now are made up out of the Arabic alphabet. To suit the tone of their language the letters are named accordingly. With reference to the Sea Dyaks, since the gospel of Christ has been preached to them, letters of the Roman character are used and pronounced accordingly to suit the tones of their pronunciation.’
[1]
The first true mission schools were established in the 1920s (see above). In the 1950s, Freeman claimed no written calendars for the ’pre-literate’ Iban: ’The Iban still attach great importance to their stellar lore. Tungku, a tuai rumah of the Mujong headwaters, put it in these words:“If there were no stars we Iban would be lost, not knowing when to plant; we live by the stars.”(“ Enti nadai bintang tesat ati kami Iban, enda nemu maia nugal; kami idup ari bintang. ”) It must not be thought however that there is any dogma that rituals, etc. should be held on the exact dates given. The Iban are a pre-literate people without a calendar, and the movements of the Pleiades, Orion and Sirius are taken as no more than general indications of the time when the major operations of felling and planting should be embarked upon.’
[2]
Komanyi claims written calendars following the European pattern and literacy in the 1970s: ’Since most people now have western calendars, they know during which month the sowing, weeding or harvesting is to be done. Their “new year” begins after the harvest is completed, which may be some time in May or June. However, June 1st is “Dayak Day,” proclaimed by the government as the official Dayak New Year’s Day.’
[3]
These figures are entirely contradictory. We have chosen to go with the 1921 figure as it is coherent with the establishment of mission schools, but expert feedback is absolutely essential on this matter. Regional variation may explain the difference, but this is in need of confirmation.
[1]: Howell, William 1908-1910. “Sea Dyak”, 3 [2]: Freeman, Derek 1955. “Iban Agriculture: A Report On The Shifting Cultivation Of Hill Rice By The Iban Of Sarawak”, 40 [3]: Komanyi, Margit Ilona 1973. “Real And Ideal Participation In Decision-Making Of Iban Women: A Study Of A Longhouse Community In Sarawak, East Malaysia”, 15 |
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"The Gurjara Pratiharas have long been recognised as the leading royal house of northern India during the ninth and tenth centuries. A considerable number of copper plate and inscriptions have survived from Pratihara times and these have provided the requisitie data for a reconstruction of the dynasty’s political and social history."
[1]
[1]: (Willis 1995, 351) Willis, M. D. 1995. Some Notes on the Palaces of the Imperial Gurjara Pratīhāras. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , Nov., 1995, Third Series, Vol. 5, No. 3 (Nov., 1995), pp. 351-360. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/willis/titleCreatorYear/items/S55RV7NG/item-list |
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Census in 766 CE. Written history
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Norman England produced a wide variety of written records: royal charters, legal documents, administrative records, and historical chronicles. [Chibnall 1996]
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Examples in Kinds of Written Documents.
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Icelandic scholars copied and translated manuscripts, but fictional literature was present as well: ’But whatever advantages the union with Norway might bring, it produced no new era of development. Intellectual life continuted to flourish, and numerous literary works were written, but but a distinct decline in the quality of literary production becomes noticeable, especially towards the close of the thirteenth century. The old vigor and originality was dwindling, as the growing Christian medieval-time spirit, which was only strengthened throught a closer relation with Norway, was fostering a love for legends and chivalric romances which encouraged copying and translation rather than creative production and original scholarship.’
[1]
Legal codes and royal letters also became an important tool in the exercise of government, as evidenced in the conflicts between laity and clergy and the associated involvement of the Norwegian crown: ’Upon his return to Iceland Bishop Arni, assisted by Bishop Jörund of Hólar, summoned the people of his diocese to a general council at Skálholt, where he proposed several measures of reform, among others that the churches should be made ecclesiastical property under the control of the bishops. As nearly all churches in Iceland were privately owned, this would involve a change in property rights to which the people would not readily consent. [...] the king’s assistance could be invoked. [...] With threats of ban and excommunication he so intimidated the lesser landowners that they suffered to let the smaller churches to pass under ecclesiastical control. But the chieftains who owned the larger churches resolutely resisted. This was especially the case with the churches of Oddi and Hitardal, two of the largest in Iceland. Their owners refused to surrender them; but the bishop caused a decree of transfer to be promulgated at the Althing, threatening the owners with the ban if they resisted. [...] In 1273 King Magnus summoned a council to meet in Bergen to consider a new code of church laws to be proposed by Archbishop Jon of Nidaros, and to deal with other questions touching the relation between church and state. At this council, Bishop Arni, Hrafn Oddsson and the Icelandic chieftains also appeared. In the trial of their case the king as inclined to favor the chieftains, but the archbishop rendered a decision in Arni’s favor. His victory was so complete that upon his return home he began to prepare a new code of church laws for Iceland, based on principles suggested to him by Archbishop Jon. The code was adopted at the Althing in 1275 with the understanding that it was later to be ratified by the king and the archbishop.’
[2]
[1]: Gjerset, Knut [1924]. "History of Iceland", 208p [2]: Gjerset, Knut [1924]. "History of Iceland", 217p |
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[1]
However, Spring and Autumn polities wrote on perishable materials such as silk
[2]
, which means that texts are less likely to be preserved.
[1]: (Hsu 1999, 569) [2]: (Cook and Major 1999, viii) Cook, Constance A. Major, John S. eds. 1999. Defining Chu: Image and Reality in Ancient China. University of Hawai’i Press. Honolulu. |
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SCCS variable 149 ’Writing and Records’ is coded as ‘1’ or ‘None’, not ‘Mnemonic devices’, or ‘Nonwritten records’, or ’True writing, no records’, or ‘True writing; records’.
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No information found in sources so far.
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For example, the Memoires of Saint-Simon (1675-1755 CE).
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Anything written by the era’s literati.
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Anything written by the era’s literati.
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Anything written by the era’s literati.
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Both the "square script" (also called ashurit, "Assyrian") and the older Phoenician-style scripts of Hebrew.
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SCCS variable 149 ’Writing and Records’ lists no mnemonic devices or nonwritten records or ’True writing, no writing’ A Latinized script was introduced by Christian missionaries: ‘Some of the Garos are of the opinion that they had their own alphabetic system of writing their language in some hoary past but this is not proved till now; it is really doubtful if the Garos had their own alphabet ever. Before the district of the Garo Hills was taken over by the British, the people living in the areas bordering Goalpara and Kamrup used to write in Assamese character while those living in the borders of the Mymensing and the Sylhet districts used to write in Bengali character; the Garos of the interior hills were mostly illiterate who are even now mostly illiterate. After the district came under the administration of the British the foreign missionaries introduced Roman characters of writing and this facilitated them to translate the holy Bible into Garo and preach christianity there. The Garos now write in Roman characters but even then all the letters of the English alphabet are not necessary to write the language.’
[1]
’In the Garo Hills the percentage of literacy was only 0.85 percent in 1901. It went upto 2.65 percent in 1931. Prior to Independence, the literacy was only 7.31 percent (1951 census). Between 1951 and 1961 there was a spectacular increase. In 1991 the literacy percentage in the Garo Hills was recorded as 37.04 percent, much below the national average as well as the overall state average of 48.26 percent. In the Garo Hills there is a positive cor-relation between the level of literacy and the extent of participation in the active economic life.’
[2]
‘Before Independence, the growth rate of literacy was low. In the post Independence period, the growth rate is high, though Garo Hills is lagging behind other districts of Meghalaya and the national literacy. People are living in nearly 2,400 villages which are mostly small and scattered. The traditional system of shifting cultivation is still in vogue in many villages. Hence, there is serious problem of availability of school facilities, dearth of qualified teachers, motivation of parents and pupils and poor socio-economic conditions that stand in the way of spreading literacy.’
[3]
‘Most of the writings before 1940 had religious intonation though secular form of literature began in 1924. Before this, there were only two journals in Garo language-one was the A’chikni Ripeng or “Friend of the Garos”, a powerful organ of the American Baptist Mission started in 1879. Since the journal was meant for propagation of plans and policies of the American Baptist Mission, articles dealing with one’s freedom of thought and expression were not accepted and published in it. The other journal, which was brought out in October, 1912 by three local leaders, namely Jobang D. Marak, Modhunath G. Momin and Alexander Macdonald Bassamoit, was Phringphrang or “Morning Star”. This journal, which was supposed to be secular in nature, was not very much different from the A’chikni Ripeng as most of the articles there, were connected with religion. The journal had its last publication in December, 1914 after which there were no more secular journals.’
[4]
[1]: Choudhury, Bhupendranath 1958. “Some Cultural And Linguistic Aspects Of The Garos”, 50 [2]: Pandey, M. C. 1995. “Demographic Profile Of The Garo Hills”, 27 [3]: George, Mathew 1995. “Development Of Education In Garo Hills: Continuity And Change”, 194 [4]: Shira, Lindrid D. 1995. “Renaissance In Garo Literature”, 176 |
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The Arthashastra, religious writings.
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"Frequent records of the construction or restoration of city walls reflect the instability of the times and the need for constant defense."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 84) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. |
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There are no evidences suggesting that the writing system has been already invented.
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"The great organisations of the first phase of urbanisation rose to prominence without writing. The latter developed relatively quickly as a response to these institutions’ needs."
[1]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 73) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London. |
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"The great organisations of the first phase of urbanisation rose to prominence without writing. The latter developed relatively quickly as a response to these institutions’ needs."
[1]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 73) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London. |
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inferred continuity with earlier and later periods
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Written records began being kept from the seventh century.
[1]
[2]
[1]: (Yorke 1990: 20) York, Barbara. 1990. Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203447307. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/YXTNCWJNs [2]: (Hills 1990: 47) Hills, Catherine. ‘Roman Britain to Anglo-Saxon England’, History Today, 1 October 1990, https://www.proquest.com/docview/1299029206/abstract/974AE2C925154DEBPQ/1. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/9P2MJSYJ |
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"The great organisations of the first phase of urbanisation rose to prominence without writing. The latter developed relatively quickly as a response to these institutions’ needs."
[1]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 73) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London. |
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Annals of Fulda – Historical records of East Francia from the mid-9th century onward. [Reuter 2012]
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Inferred from the fact that "most [Italian peoples before the Romans] were not even literate"
[1]
, although some writing has been found in association with elite graves
[2]
.
[1]: T.J. Cornell, The Beginnings of Rome (1995), p. 37 [2]: G. Forsythe, A Critical History of Early Rome (2006), pp. 53-58 |
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"In the Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum mentioned above, of the 6058 Phoenician inscriptions listed, only about one hundred of these had been found in the Phoenician Levantine homeland."
[1]
"The Phoenician alphabetic script was easy to write on papyrus or parchment sheets, and the use of these materials explains why virtually no Phoenician writings - no history, no trading records - have come down to us. In their cities by the sea, the air and soil were damp, and papyrus and leather moldered and rotted away. Thus disappeared the literature of the people who taught a large portion of the earth’s population to write."
[2]
[1]: Dixon (2013:32). [2]: Lipiński (1995:1321-1322) |
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e.g ’Manghal un Niuca Tobca’an (The Secret History of the Mongols). A Chinese version the Sheng-wu ch’in-chneg lu was also produced.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Leeming, David. "Secret History of the Mongols." In The Oxford Companion to World Mythology. Oxford University Press, 2005 [2]: Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2007, P.11. |
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There could be diplomatic letters perhaps with the Uyghurs. There could be individuals who knew Chinese writing.
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