Fragments of the Tocharian A Maitreyasamiti-Nāṭaka of the Xinjiang Museum, China

In the winter of 1974, in the Yanki district of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region in China, close to a 1000-Buddha Temple, forest workers accidentally discovered 44 leaves of the manuscript remains of a Tocharian A (an extinct Indo-European language) version of the Maitreyasamiti-Nataka, one of the most important works of Buddhist literature from Central Asia. This volume presents the complete text of the 44 leaves, i.e., 88 pages which are now kept at Urumqi. Although they are far from complete, they are the longest manuscript remains of the text discovered till now. The original manuscripts are written in Central Asian slanting Brahmi. The volume comprises a facsimile of the fragments, the transliterated and partly restored texts, translations, and notes, together with indices and a full glossary, thus making the work accessible for experts and students. The book will serve as a major research tool for specialists in Buddhist and Tocharian studies as well as for Indo-Europeanists and Turkologists.