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TheInscription of Hüis Tolgoi (HT) is a monolingual inscription in aMongolian language[1] found inBulgan Province, Mongolia in 1975 by D. Navaan. The 11-line text is written in verticalBrahmi script running right to left with horizontal marks separating words. The language of the inscription was unknown until the joint expedition ofAlexander Vovin,Étienne de la Vaissière,Dieter Maue and Mehmet Ölmez toMongolia in 2014 for closer imaging of the stele. Due to certain morphological peculiarities the language of the inscription was hypothesized to be Mongolic rather than Turkic. The language, "which can be conditionally termed as a variety of Para-Mongolic," is "much closer to the mainstream Mongolic languages, such asMiddle Mongolian and modern extantMongolic languages than toSerbi-Khitan,"[2] and is beyond reasonable doubt some form of Mongolic, close to the mainstream Mongolic language.[2][1]
Dieter Maue, a specialist in Sanskrit and Brahmi, deciphered the Brahmi script of the inscription.[3] It was subsequently analyzed by linguist Alexander Vovin who remarked on the similarity of the HT language to mainstream Mongolic (Middle Mongolian) as opposed to the more southernKhitan language. Mehmet Ölmez elaborated on the details of the expedition while Étienne de la Vaissière provided a historian's perspective. The inscription can be safely dated to between the 5th and 7th centuries, that is in theRouran andearly Turkic period.[1] The text mentions an Anagui (Ańakay, though it's unlikely that this isYujiulü Anagui, a Rouran khagan), and a Niri qaghan, likelyQaghan Niri since this is the only Qaghan with that name that we know of—though it's unlikely that the inscription was made for him or ordered by him.[1] If the Niri Qaghan mentioned in the inscription corresponds to the only khagan with that name that we know of, the inscription could be dated to the time of his reign (579-603/604). A Bodhi-Sattva is also mentioned, together with the titlekhagan. This was a BuddhistBodhisattva, or possibly a Turkicqaɣan from theFirst Turkic Khaganate.[2] There was an Uighur chief at the time reportedly entitled Bodhisattva (藥羅葛菩薩;pinyin:Yaoluoge Pusa) who, however, never has the title ofkhagan in Chinese sources, but ofxielifa.[1] Further, thelingua franca at the time wasSogdian,[1] and "probably the only trait that distinguished the Uighurs,"whose khaganate was established in 744 and like their neighbors were a seminomadic people, "from theXiongnu,Xianbei andMongols, was their language," a Turkic one,[4] as opposed to the Mongolic language of the inscription.[2] The text might be historical, but with Buddhist overtones,[2] a religion that was quite important to the Rouran elites[1] and other steppe people.
Alexander Vovin's tentative translation:[5]
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Dieter Maue's transliteration:[6]
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