Dear Diego, thanks for pointing out this reference.
Best, Paolo Il giorno ven 4 feb 2022 alle ore 14:26 DIEGO LOUKOTA SANCLEMENTE < [email protected]> ha scritto: > > 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 < > [email protected]> 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/>* >> [email protected] >> Mobile/Whatsapp: (+39) 338 73 83 472 >> Skype: paoloe.rosati >> >> _______________________________________________ >> INDOLOGY mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology >> > -- *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/>* [email protected] Mobile/Whatsapp: (+39) 338 73 83 472 Skype: paoloe.rosati
_______________________________________________ INDOLOGY mailing list [email protected] https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
