[INDOLOGY] Request

[Marco Franceschini]

Dear Johannes,

although it’s very far from Tibet, it appears that in Kerala a particular letter-numeral systems was used as a ‘cryptographic code’ through which only the initiated in the system were able to reorder the intentionally jumbled folios of a manuscript. On this, see Renou/Filliozat, L’Inde classique, p. 708.

Best wishes,

Marco Franceschini
———————————
Fixed-term Researcher
University of Bologna
Department of History and Cultures
via Zamboni 33 - 40126 Bologna - Italy
marco.franceschini3 at unibo.it
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Il giorno 29/apr/2016, alle ore 18:51, Johannes Bronkhorst <Johannes.Bronkhorst at unil.ch> ha scritto:

> Dear friends and colleagues,
> A friend asked me to post the following question:
> 
> From Amy Heller (tibetologist):  I am currently studying a 408 page
> 11th-12th century Tibetan Prajnaparamita from Tholing whose page numbering
> does not conform to the specifics of W Tibetan manuscripts - there are many
> "small" aberrant details , although the numbering is on the whole legible. A
> colleague suggested to me that this is a reflection, perhaps,  of an Indian
> tradition to conceal accurate numbering from the eyes of infidels,
> presumably in vigor in N India, ca 10th-12th c (in Hindu and Buddhist
> circles) to conceal from potential Muslim eyes??  I asked an Indian friend
> (curator in an art museum) who  did not know of this tradition at all, nor
> was I aware of it. Is this spurious or genuine? Feedback would be most
> appreciated, thanks!
> 
> Johannes Bronkhorst
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