[INDOLOGY] witchcraft info

[DIEGO LOUKOTA SANCLEMENTE]

  Dear Paolo,

  Albeit short and less descriptive than we would wish, the three 3rd-4th
Century Gāndhārī documents from Niya that mention the persecution and
summary execution of witches, numbers 58, 63, and 248, are the one instance
I can think of (you will find the texts in Boyer, A.M., E. J. Rapson, E.
Senart, and P. S. Noble, 1920–29, *Kharoṣṭhī Inscriptions Discovered by Sir
Aurel Stein in Chinese Turkestan* (Oxford: Clarendon Press), and Thomas
Burrow's English translation in his 1940 *A Translation of the Kharoṣṭhi
Documents from Chinese Turkestan* (James G. Forlong Fund. London: The Royal
Asiatic Society), available online at
https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/niyadocts.html).
  The tricky part here is to what extent one can consider Central Asian
Shanshan/Nuava to be Indic/South Asian. My own take here—but there is a
variety of opinion—is that it was a settler-colonial society in which
Gandhāran culture informed the discourse of a *mestizo* elite, à la Latin
America.
  The term *khakhorda* or *khakhorna* used for "witch" is particularly
fascinating with its presumed Iranian etymology (~Avestan *ka-xvarəδa*).
Given that the indigenous people of the kingdom were probably Iranian
speakers, it is likely that the "witchcraft" reflected indigenous
practices. I look forward to seeing if other people have more references.

  *namaskaromi*,

  Diego






On Thu, Feb 3, 2022 at 12:42 AM Paolo Eugenio Rosati via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> Dear Indologists,
>
> I am wondering if any pre-colonial written source on witchcraft/magic
> persecution in South Asia exists.
>
> Sincerely,
> Paolo
>
> --
> *Paolo E. Rosati*
>
> *PhD in Asian and African Studies*
> *https://uniroma1.academia.edu/paolo
> <https://uniroma1.academia.edu/PaoloRosati/>**er**osati/
> <https://uniroma1.academia.edu/PaoloRosati/>*
> paoloe.rosati at gmail.com
> Mobile/Whatsapp: (+39) 338 73 83 472
> Skype: paoloe.rosati
>
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