_______________________________________________To George's references we can add Turner, CDIAL, 7692, paṭa- 'woven cloth', cf. 2paṭṭa- 'cloth, woven silk', with many cognates with related meanings in other Indian languages.
Many inscriptions make it clear that the decree or grant contained in them were written first on perishable material (e.g., palm leaf), transmitted in that form, and only secondarily copied onto durable material -- a process sometimes self-consciously reflected upon in the inscription itself. This is clearly the case even with Aśoka's edicts (including reflection on the purpose of making permanent, public versions). So why not cloth? We know of its use in Tibet and China.
Tim
From: George Thompson <gthomgt@gmail.com>
Date: Thursday, October 31, 2013 5:32 PM
Cc: "indology@list.indology.info" <indology@list.indology.info>
Subject: Re: [INDOLOGY] Meaning of Paṭa?
Dear List,I apologize for accidentally sending my note before it was finished. The last paragraph should read:The proposed etymologies of these words are all difficult, but their meanings are more or less clear, and probably related.Hope this helps,George
On Thu, Oct 31, 2013 at 5:20 PM, George Thompson <gthomgt@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello Don,This also may be relevant to your question.Mayrhofer in his KEWA [sv: paTaH (sorry, Dominik, we are philologists here, for the most part, and we have an incorrigible habit of displaying our knowledge of Latin rhetorical short-hand); none of us talk like this, of course!]:Mayrhofer there, glossing paTa as "woven cloth, garment, blanket," refers also to three neuter nouns: paTalam: 1 = cover, veil; 2 = heap, mass; 3 = basket.He also cites a masculine noun paTalaH = section of a book.The propetymology of these words are difficult
On Thu, Oct 31, 2013 at 2:34 PM, Richard Salomon <rsalomon@u.washington.edu> wrote:
Don,
Have a look at D.C. Sircar's Indian Epigraphy, pp. 66-67; also my Indian Epigraphy p. 132, for further references. It has been suggested (I don't remember exactly where -- this may go all the way back to Buehler's Indische Palaeographie) that archival copies of land grants were kept on cloth.
Rich
Rich Salomon
On 10/31/2013 8:41 AM, Donald R Davis wrote:
Dear Colleagues,
I am working on the /Smṛticandrikā/ of Devaṇṇabhaṭṭa and its discussion
of documents. Several passages in the sub-section on /rājaśāsana/
enjoin a king to inscribe a land grant “/paṭe vā tāmrapaṭṭe vā/.”rendered /paṭa/ here as “cloth,” which makes no sense to me, as I have
Yājñavalkya (1.319) is the first, I think. Most translators have
non-durable material for an important inscription. So, /Amarakośa/ (and
never seen a cloth inscription of this sort and it seems an unusually
Can anyone help me identify /paṭa/ here more certainly? I don’t know
MW lists this, too) gives several synonyms, all of which point to the
chirauli/chironji nut (Buchanania Latifolia) or, I suppose, its bark.
_______________________________________________
the first thing about trees and this appears to be a common enough tree
in India and other parts of Asia, but is the bark of this tree meant
here? Thanks for any help or leads you may have.
Best,
Don Davis
Dept. of Asian Studies
University of Texas at Austin
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Richard Salomon
Department of Asian Languages and Literature
University of Washington, Box 353521
Seattle WA 98195-3521
USA
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