How were the ancient Buddhist manuscripts found in Gilgit, and why did Nehru take possession of them?

Author: Fakhr-e-Alam

Translation: Ahmed Nayyar

These were the days when war broke out between the newly formed countries of Pakistan and India over the issue of Kashmir in 1948. Meanwhile, a special plane took off from Delhi and landed in Srinagar, Kashmir. Some boxes composed of ancient relics, parchments, and fragments from Shri Partab Singh Museum were loaded on the plane and taken back to Delhi.  

Seemingly, these ancient fragments were of high importance. That is why even during wartime, Indian Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru had to make the decision to shift these antiquities to ensure the protection of cultural properties. He eagerly motivated the then leader of Emergency Government in Jammu and Kashmir, Sheikh Abdullah take measures in this regard. In the heels of end of ward, the government of Sheikh Abdullah also ended. However, the Indian government did not return these manuscripts to the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Subsequently, after assuming the office of Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir in 1975, Sheikh Abdullah wrote a letter to the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Ghandi, daughter of Nehru, to remind her of her father’s promises of returning those manuscripts to Kashmir, but the Indian government did not pay any attention.

Where did they found these manuscripts?

This was the year 1931, when some shepherds, while grazing their cattle, stumbled upon a wooden pillar in the ruins of a deserted area in Naupura, Gilgit (located amidst the Karakoram Mountains at an altitude of about 1500 m, in what is now Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan).  Interestingly, there were four small boxes inside the large one. After inspecting, the shepherds found birch bark parchments (Bhojputra) inside the boxes, which appear to be written in an unknown language. It must be noted that Bhojputra or birch bark fragments were used to write in ancient times before the invention of paper. The boxes and parchments were of no use to the shepherds. However, the shepherds knew that these were ancient relics. Therefore, they might have sold these boxes to the minister placed in the Gilgit Agency. It is important to note that at that time Wazarat of Gilgit was under the direct control of Maharaja of Kashmir, and an official representative was stationed there.        

Coincidentally, before the minister sent these artifacts to Maharaja in Kashmir, famous Hungarian archeologist and researcher, Sir Marc Aurel Stein, appeared in Gilgit while returning from an expedition in Central Asia. During his previous travel in 1900, Stein saw a huge Buddha relief on a rock at Kargah Nala near Naupura.

The Kargah Buddha appears to have been regarded by the local people as demon and witch-like figure. The local people were unaware that it had been worshipped by their forefathers for centuries. Locals were of the opinion that a saint has impaled the evil witch into the cliff.

At that time, though Stein did not know that the place hides important artifacts beneath its ancient ruins. To seek attention from the archeologists, he carried out an initial enquiry of these parchments and wrote articles about the new discoveries in newspapers London’s Times and ‘Statesman’ in Calcutta. These artifacts were named as “Gilgit Manuscripts”. Similarly, Stein sent some of these parchments to British museum where they are stored. 

Excavation

When these artifacts reached Srinagar, the then Maharaja of Kashmir Hari Singh took keen interest in them and ordered to kept them in Shri Partab Singh Museum. In 1938, the archeologist and expert in Sanskrit Madhusudan Kual Shastri, visited Gilgit and led a systematic excavation at Naupura with the prior permission of the Maharaja of Kashmir. Previously, the shepherds had dig only one portion of the ruins. Shastri and his team discovered another larger chamber at the base of structure. The chamber contained another set of Gilgit Manuscripts along with ancient coins, miniature stupas, clay images, pottery, jewelry, seals, amulets and clay plates. Shastri claimed that the origins of these artifacts was between seventh to ninth century CE. Similarly, he suggested that the ruins of Naupura reveals an ancient site of Buddhist Khanqah and Stupa. Moreover, along with the Bhojaputra parchments, Shastri also discovered a piece of paper that appears to have been transported from China via Silk Road, symbolizing the religious and cultural exchanges of that period.

Afterwards, Giuseppe Tucci, an Italian scholar, secured a group of the manuscripts from the possession of Agha Muhammad Shah, Captain, Northern Command, Pakistan Signals, Rawalpindi. Shah took these manuscripts with him when they were transported from house of the Wazir-i-Wazarat in Gilgit to Bunji garrison during the first excavation. Tucci later donated these manuscripts to the Karachi Museum, where they are preserved today.

What is written in the “Gilgit Manuscripts”?

The manuscripts discovered in Gilgit constitute a corpus of Buddhist texts encompassing a wide range of religious and non-religious materials that reflect various aspects of Buddhist civilization. They include Buddhist beliefs, ritual practices, philosophical concepts, artistic traditions, folk narratives, systems of local governance, accounts of the life of the Buddha, and elements of Ayurvedic medicine. Furthermore, they contain important and fundamental texts such as ‘Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra’ (Lotus Sūtra) and the ‘Saṃghāṭasūtra’ which incorporate the teachings of the Buddha. These texts were written in a mixture of ancient Sanskrit and Prakrit languages, commonly known as 'Buddhist Sanskrit'.

According to Kaul Shastri, one of the parchments contain the names of Emperor Sahanusahi Navasurendra Vikramaditya Nandideva and Queen Anangadevi who he believes were likely the rulers of Gilgit. Likewise, one version of the Lotus Sutra records forty-three benevolent names of male and female devotees who may have contributed to the production of these scriptures or in whose honor the text may have been dedicated. An examination of these names suggests that some of the individuals were already deceased. Additionally, some individuals are identified through their mothers’ names, which indicates the significant role of women in the society of Gilgit during that period. Certain names were derived from Burushaski, indicating that these manuscripts were not transported from outside the region but produced locally. This highlights the integration of Buddhism with local cultures and languages. These manuscripts not only provide insights into Buddhist civilization but also shed light on the evolution of languages. In addition, the text also conveys a vague idea of the political situation in this part of Little Balor.

Search for the original “Buddhist Sanskrit” texts

Theravada and Mahayana are two main branches of Buddhism. The former emerged in the plains of Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and Myanmar, while Mahayana developed and spread in China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam. The Buddhist practices in Ladakh, Tibet and Nepal are also part of the Mahayana branch to which the Gilgit Manuscripts appear to belong.  

In earlier periods, the teachings of the Buddha in India were not systematically written down but were transmitted orally and memorized by monks. Over time, this practice changed, and the teachings began to be recorded on birch bark and palm leaves. The doctrines of the Mahayana tradition were composed in Buddhist Sanskrit, whereas those of the Theravada tradition were written in Pali.

Over the course of time, the influence of Buddhism in India diminished for various reasons, along with the practice of recording its teachings in Sanskrit. Prior to this decline, Buddhist pilgrims from China and Central Asia carried Buddhist Sanskrit texts from India and translated them in their own languages. In recent times, the fundamental Buddhist scriptures have largely been preserved in the form of translations; however, they are no longer available in their original Buddhist Sanskrit script.

Among several factors contributing to the unavailability of the original Sanskrit manuscripts, climatic conditions were likely significant. The Buddhist Sanskrit texts produced in India during this period were written on birch bark and palm leaves, which could not survive in the hot and humid environment of the plains. By contrast, manuscripts taken outside of India to regions such as Tibet, Nepal, Afghanistan, Central Asia, and China appear to have survived due to colder and drier climatic conditions. Many of these texts came into possession of scholars during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Buddhism in Gilgit-Baltistan

Buddhism was formally introduced in Gilgit-Baltistan after the first century CE, during the reign of the Kushan Empire. It is likely that the region interacted with Buddhism prior to the reign of Ashoka. According to Ahmad Hassan Dani, Gilgit formed part of Kushan dynasty during the reign of Uvimma Kadhatphrisa. This ruler is mentioned on the rock carvings found in Chilas and Hunza. During the reign of his son, Kanishka, Buddhism spread to China via Silk Road, with Gilgit serving as an important stopover along this road. At this time, the Kushan rulers extended patronage to multiple religious traditions including Hinduism, Buddhism and Zoroastrianism. 

Between the sixth and eighth centuries CE, a local polity known as the Palola Shahis was established in Gilgit, whose rulers were adherents of Buddhism. The name of one of these rulers is recorded in the Gilgit Manuscripts. In fact, the Gilgit Manuscripts were produced under the patronage of the Palola Shahi rulers and local nobility, as the commissioning of sacred Buddhist texts was a common form of religious offering among devotees during that period.

Karl Jettmar, a German archaeologist, advanced a hypothesis grounded in an examination of these manuscripts within their broader political context. He argues that Tibetan forces conquered Gilgit and its surrounding regions in the mid-eighth century CE, leading to the disintegration of the Palola Sahi principality. At that time, Gilgit was referred to as Balor, subsequently became a center of political crisis. During the same period, the forces of the Abbasid Caliph al-Ma’mun launched military campaigns against Kabul, Chitral, Balor, and the Tibetan Empire.

Jettmar posits that by the mid-ninth century, the Tibetan Empire weakened, allowing the Darada Sahi empire of Kashmir to extend their influence over Balor. Although, these ruling powers adhered to Buddhism, Jettmar contends that the local population of Gilgit did not fully endorse the authority of the Darada Sahis, the Tibetan empire and Palola Sahis. He claims that Buddhism was perceived by the local populace as a religion associated with foreign elites and was therefore regarded as a politically imposed tradition.

On the other hand, Shamanism had a profound influence on the local population and constituted their religious tradition prior to the introduction of Buddhism. It is possible that the population adopted Buddhism while blending it with their old shamanistic belief system, thus giving a distinct local character to the new religious tradition. Jettmar further asserts that after the region came under Tibetan control, the local population resisted state-sponsored Buddhism during periods of political turmoil and revived their indigenous beliefs. He suggests that evidence can be observed in the engraved rock images at Chilas, where Shamanistic symbols appear in abundance alongside Buddhist motifs. 

Even though, the revival of Buddhism once again occurred in tenth century under the state patronage of Darda Sahi’s, by that time the manuscripts had become irrelevant and incomprehensible, having lost much of their original significance due to linguistic and political changes. Nevertheless, a sense of sanctity continued to be associated with these manuscripts. Thus, the rulers appear to have regarded their preservation as relics as the most appropriate course of action. It is therefore likely that the manuscripts were permanently sealed within dark, windowless stupas, where they remained for nearly a thousand years until their eventual rediscovery by shepherd.

Modi’s Interest

On 12 September 2025, the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi inaugurated a major initiative in Delhi aimed at the digitization and preservation of ancient Indian manuscripts. In his address at the opening ceremony, he referred to the Gilgit manuscripts and viewed their exhibition. He emphasized that these manuscripts offer valuable insights into the historical narrative of Kashmir. During his approximately thirty-minute extemporaneous speech on rare manuscripts, the Indian Prime Minister expressed a commitment to locating such manuscripts worldwide and ensuring their digital preservation in India.

The interest of Indian leadership in Gilgit Manuscripts, extending from Jawaharlal Nehru to Narendra Modi, has thus continued over time. This sustained engagement raises an important question: to what extent are our leadership aware of their own historical heritage, much of which remains preserved in the repositories of the National Archives in Dehli?

References

Kudo, N. (2019) “On and around the Gilgit Manuscripts in the National Archives of India”. The Journal of Oriental Studies, vol. 29, 2019, 168-181.

Jettmar, K. (1990). Pakistan Archeology editor Khan, A.N. “THE GILGIT MANUSCRIPTS AND THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF GILGIT”. The Department of Archeology and Museums. Karachi.

Hinüber, O. V. (2012). The Saddharmapundarikasutra at Gilgit Manuscripts, Worshippers, and Artists. The Journal of Oriental Studies, Vol. 2, pp. 52-67.

Dani, A. H. (1991). History of Northern Areas of Pakistan. Islamabad

Dutt, N. (1939). Gilgit Manuscripts. Vol. I. Editors. Dutt, N, Bhattacharaya, D. M., Sharma, V. S. N.Srinagar.

Shastri, M.S.K. (1939). “REPORT ON THE GILGIT EXCAVATION IN 1938”. The Quarterly Journal of the Mythic Society. Vol. XXX, No. 1.

The Civil and Military Gazette, July 25, 1931

Photo Credits: M. S Kaul Shastri

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