A Sogdian letter from 313 AD

27 avril 2024
A Sogdian letter from 313 AD

A Sogdian (ancient Iranian people) letter from 313 AD, written by a Sogdian merchant in China to his employer reporting the collapse of the Western Jin dynasty due to a Xiongnu rebellion and invasion, known in Chinese historiography as the Yongjia disaster.
 
The letter was written immediately after the 311 AD [Disaster of Yongjia], in which the Western Jin dynasty was defeated and its capital sacked by the Han Zhao empire led by a Xiongnu named Liu Cong. The first part of the letter deals with the invasion, the second part deals with the bank account of an orphan. Notably this letter was not actually delivered. It was found in a mail bag outside an abandoned Chinese military outpost. Why it was left there is debated. It could have been confiscated, stolen, or forgotten. Whether the sender was able to send another is unknown. Here is the letter:
 
Address: This letter should be sent and brought to Samarkand. And noble Master Varzak \[...\] should receive it in a complete form. This letter was sent by his servant Nanaivandak.
To Master, Lord Varzak, the son of Nanaithvar from the family of Kanak, a thousand and ten thousand times blessing and kneeling obeisance, the way the gods receive it. Sent by his servant Nanaivandak. And, o Masters, the day would be splendid for one who could see you happy, without illnesses. And, o Masters, if the news about your good health were heard by me, I would consider myself happy. And, o Masters, Armatsach in Jiuquan is without scathe and safe. And Arsach in Guzang is without scathe and safe. And, o Masters, three years have passed since a Sogdian came from inside China. And I sent Gotamsach there, he is without scathe and safe. He went to Kureng \[...\] and now no one comes from there so I could write you about those Sogdians that went inside China, what happened to them and what lands they reached. And, o Masters, the last Emperor — as people say — fled Luoyang because of famine, and the fire ran through his whole palace and city, and the palace was burnt, and the city was destroyed. There is no more Luoyang, no more Ye! And also the Xiongnu, and they captured Chang'an, they captured this town and lands up to Nainaich and Ye — the same Xiongnu, who only yesterday were the subjects of the Chinese Emperor. And, o Masters, we do not know whether the Chinese who remained alive will be able to drive the Xiongnu from Chang'an, from China, or the Xiongnu will capture other lands. And in \[...\] there are a hundred noble men from Samarkand \[...\] and in Driyan there are forty men. And, o Masters, \[...\] three years have passed since \[...\] came from inside China \[...\], unmanufactured fabric. And from Dunhuang up to Jincheng it is possible to sell, linen fabric is sold well. And if somebody has unmanufactured linen fabric or coarse woolen fabric, which is not yet brought to market, are yet not taken, he can sell them all \[...\] And, o Masters, as for us, those, who are in the land from Jincheng to Dunhuang, we are barely alive, and while \[...\] is alive. We both are without families, we are both old and are on the fringe of death. If it were not like this, I would not have been ready to write you about how we are doing. And, o Masters, if I were to write you about everything that has happened now with China, it would have been beyond all grief. There is no use for you to know about that. And, o Masters, it has been already eight years since I sent Sagrak and Farnagat inside China and three years since I received an answer from there. They were safe \[...\], but now, when the last disaster happened, I did not receive an answer from there about what happened to them. And it has been also already four years since I sent another man named Artikhuvandak. When a coffle left Guzang, a Sogdian named Vakhushak \[...\] was there, and when they reached Luoyang, both they, the Indians and the Sogdians there all died of famine. And I sent Nasyan to Dunhuang, and he came outside of China and entered Dunhuang, but now he left without my permission, and great punishment afflicted him — he was beaten and killed in Krach.
O Master Varzak, my greatest hope is in your Greatness. Pesak, the son of Druvaspavandak, has 5\[...\]4 staters of silver from me, and he deposited them in safe custody, it is not allowed to hand them over, and you should keep them sealed from this moment on, so without my permission \[...\] Druvaspavandak \[...\]
O Master Nanaithvar, you should remind Varzak, that he should take this deposited sum, and you both should count it, and if in the future one of you will keep it, you should add interest to this sum and write it down in the handover document. And you, Nanaithvar, should give this document to Varzak. And if you both decide that one of you will no longer keep this sum, you should take it and give it to the person, whom you think fit, so that this sum of silver could grow. And, you should know, that there is an orphan \[...\], whose life depends on the income on this sum. And if he lives and reaches adulthood, and he has no other support except this money, then, Nanaithvar, if it becomes known that Takut departed to the gods, let the gods and the soul of my father become a support for you. And when the orphan Takhsichvandak grows up, give him a wife, and don’t send him away from you. A posthumous reward has left us, \[...\], for day after day we expect murder and robbery. And if you need ready money, you, Nanaithvar, take a thousand staters of silver from this money or two thousand. And Vanrazmak sent for me to Dunhuang 32 packs of musk that belong to Takut, so he can send it to you. When they will be handed to you, divide them into five parts, and Takhsichvandak should take three parts out of them, and Pesak should take one part, and you should take one part.
This letter was written, in the thirteenth year of the reign of Lord Chirdsvan, in the month of Tokhmich.