[INDOLOGY] INDOLOGY Digest, Vol 33, Issue 28

[Piotr Balcerowicz]

Dear Rich,
What is trully puzzling is indeed, as you’ve pointed out, how that plated reached the area of Peshawar in pre-modern times. One possibility is that it was indeed brought to the Gandhara region by a trader from Yemen, but that being the case, the plate should have been considered of some material value by both the trader and a potential buyer. 
As we learn, "it is a votive text probably dedicated by a female person" ... "from the early centuries AD", so it is a religious item, probably of little practical or religious value for anyone in an area where Buddhism dominated. Perhaps the contents of the plate could reveal some more details. A possibility is that, if being a votive plate, perhaps it played some protective role for a traveller / trader from Yemen venturing to India? Alternatively, it could have been transported perhaps with some household goods or dowry of a bride from Yemen moving to India? Or perhaps it was once offered by a Yemeni person to an Indian trader who spend some time in Yemen and on his way back he took all his belongings along with him back to India? These are sheer speculations on my part because I don’t have any idea what function such votive copper plates fulfilled in Yemen, how they were used and circulated etc. If such votive plates were placed in a temple somewhere in Yemen "for ever" and offered to a local deity, then it is quite difficult to expain how the plate found its way to India. However, if such plates were meant to be given to someone as a kind of protective amulet, then it makes it much easier to explain. We would require some additional help from a specialist who would explain the role of such votive plates. 
All the best,
Piotr Balcerowicz
--------------------------------
www.orient.uw.edu.pl/balcerowicz

----- Original Message -----
From: Richard Salomon <rsalomon at u.washington.edu>
To: Piotr Balcerowicz <p.balcerowicz at uw.edu.pl>, indology at list.indology.info, Michael Macdonald <michael.macdonald at orinst.ox.ac.uk>, mcskin at u.washington.edu, Jason Neelis <jneelis at wlu.ca>, Robin Dushman <r-rdushman at comcast.net>, Norbert Nebes <Norbert.Nebes at uni-jena.de>
Sent: Wed, 04 Nov 2015 00:15:11 +0100 (CET)
Subject: Re: INDOLOGY Digest, Vol 33, Issue 28

Dear Piotr,

Thanks for the clarification; and also to Jonathan Silk and his 
colleagues for further confirmation and information. So now it seems 
probable that this object did somehow make its way to Pakistan in 
pre-modern times. This is surprising but not impossible. I am thinking 
of Ingo Strauch's work (Foreign Sailors on Socotra, Bremen 2012) 
documenting extensive presence of Indians on the island of Socotra.

Of course there are differences: (a) Socotra is an island off the coast 
of Yemen, while the copper plate comes from the mainland of Yemen; (b) 
the Socotra inscriptions are mostly from later centuries than the plate; 
and (c) the Socotra inscriptions are clearly and explicitly connected 
with the west coast of India (modern Gujarat), not with the 
northwestern/Gandhara area.

Despite these differences, it still seems to me that the best 
explanation is that the copper plate somehow made its way to India via 
the trade routes with the west, which were at the peak around the time 
in question. Could it, for example, have been brought to India by a 
trader from Yemen?

Rich Salomon

On 10/31/2015 9:23 AM, Piotr Balcerowicz wrote:
> Dear Colleagues,
> Thank you so much for your feedback.
> I should provide some additional explanation concerning the copper plate:
> A few days back I happened to be a witness to a transaction when a villager from the vicinity of Peshawar contacted a local antique dealer and sold him the copper plate (for approx. 20 USD). The villager did not reveal where he found the copper plate but from what I understood the place is somewhere between Peshawar and Swat.
> Being a witness and knowing that the copper plate will sooner or later circulate in the black market and may never be available to researcher, I asked them to provide me with a photograph of it. All the means that the plate couldn’t have been published anywhere before because it seems to be the new found (discovered about a month ago or so) as a result of rampant illegal excavations in the Af-Pak region. I cannot say where the copper plate is now. It is indeed quite surprising to learn that the copper plate originated from Yemen and reached the areas near Peshawar. Knowing that the villager brought the plate to the dealer, it is unlikely that it transpired in Pakistan as a result of modern illegal antique trade.
> My intention to circulate the photo via Indology List was to make it available to researchers: since we cannot have the material object any more, at least there is the photograph of it.
> Best regards,
> Piotr Balcerowicz
> --------------------------------
> www.orient.uw.edu.pl/balcerowicz
>  From : 	Richard Salomon <rsalomon at u.washington.edu>
> Subject : 	[INDOLOGY] Fwd: Re: copper plate
> To : 	indology at list.indology.info, Michael Macdonald <michael.macdonald at orinst.ox.ac.uk>, mcskin at u.washington.edu, Jason Neelis <jneelis at wlu.ca>, Robin Dushman <r-rdushman at comcast.net>, Norbert Nebes <Norbert.Nebes at uni-jena.de>
> 	
> Fri, 30 Oct, 2015 20:01
>
> Here is some authoritative information about the copper plate (reportedly) from Peshawar, provided by Professor Dr Norbert Nebes of the University of Jena, forwarded by M. Macdonald of Oxford:
>
> "As far as I am aware  the fragment of the bronze plaque is unknown and has not been published yet. It comes from the sanctuary  QDMN of Ta'lab Riyam  which is  situated in Damhan, the ancient name of the present day al-Huqqa in the northern highlands of Yemen (about 20 km in the north of Sanaa).  Without any doubt,  it is a votive text probably dedicated by a female person. The text (Middle Sabaic, from the early centuries AD) also contains two or three interesting words."
>
> [Prof. Nebes wishes it to be noted that "the information is not intended for the art market resp. for persons who are involved in this metier (in any way)."]
>
> So my previous guess about the dating was way off -- please disregard it. The correct date proposed by Prof. Nebes, i.e. "the early centuries AD," makes a little more sense, in that this is the period when Peshawar (ancient Purusapura) was something of a metropolis. But it is still very surprising that this object from such a remote location should be found there. Of course it is possible that it was brought to Pakistan in modern times, but this seems hardly likely. If this really is what it seems, it might be somehow be a by-product of the widespread international sea and land trade between India and the west in the period concerned.
>
> Rich Salomon
>
>
>
>      -------- Forwarded Message --------
>      Subject: 	[INDOLOGY] copper plate
>      Date: 	Thu, 29 Oct 2015 13:48:45 +0100 (CET)
>      From: 	Piotr Balcerowicz <p.balcerowicz at uw.edu.pl>
>      To: 	indology at list.indology.info
>
>
>      Dear Colleagues,
>      Attached is a photograph of a copper plate found near Peshawar. Exact location of the fund is unknown. I thought this might be of some interested to some of you. If anyone can say more about the contents of the copper plate and its possible date, it’ll be appreciated.
>      Regards,
>      Piotr Balcerowicz
>      --------------------------------
>      www.orient.uw.edu.pl/balcerowicz
>

-- 
----------------------

Richard Salomon
Department of Asian Languages and Literature
University of Washington, Box 353521
Seattle WA 98195-3521
USA