Rabatak inscription

The Rabatak inscription is an inscription written on a rock in the Bactrian language and the Greek script, which was found in 1993 at the site of Rabatak, near Surkh Kotal in Afghanistan. The inscription relates to the rule of the Kushan emperor Kanishka, and gives remarkable clues on the genealogy of the Kushan dynasty.

The Rabatak inscription was found near the top of an artificial hill (actually a Kushan site) along the main Kabul-Mazar highway, to the southeast of the Rabatak pass which is currently the border between Baghlan and Samangan provinces. It was found by Afghan mujahideen digging a trench at the top of the site, along with several other stone sculptural elements such as the paws of a giant stone lion, which have disappeared since. An English relief worker of the Halo Trust demining organization working in this province reported the discovery and photographed the inscription. This photograph was sent to the British Museum, where its significance as an official document of the Kushan kings, naming four of these kings, was recognised by Joe Cribb. He determined it was a probably an inscription similar to the famous one found at Surkh Kotal by the Delegation Archeologique Francaise en Afghanistan in the 1950s. He shared the photograph with one of the few people able to read the Bactrian language, Professor Nicholas Sims-Williams from the School of Oriental and African Studies. More photographs arrived from the charity workers of the Halo Trust and a first translation was made and published by Cribb and Sims-Williams in 1996.

(Translation by Nicholas Sims-Williams) [1] . . . of the great salvation, Kanishka the Kushan, the righteous, the just, the autocrat, the god [2]

[4] In the year one it has been proclaimed unto India, unto the *whole of the realm of the *kshatriyas, that (as for) [5] them - both the (city of) . . . and the (city of) Saketa, and the (city of) Kausambi, and the (city of) Pataliputra, as far as the (city of) Sri-Campa [6] - whatever rulers and other *important persons (they might have) he had submitted to (his) will, and he had submitted all [7] India to (his) will. Then King Kanishka gave orders to Shafar the karalrang [8] *at this . . . to make the sanctuary which is called B . . . ab, in the *plain of Ka . . ., for these [9] gods, (of) whom the . . . *glorious Umma leads the *service here, (namely:) the *lady Nana and the [10] lady Umma, Aurmuzd, the gracious one, Sroshard, Narasa, (and) Mihr. [interlinear text: . . . and he is called Maaseno, and he is called Bizago] And he likewise [11] gave orders to make images of these gods who are written above, and [12] he gave orders to make (them) for these kings: for King Kujula Kadphises (his) great [13] grandfather, and for King Vima Taktu, (his) grandfather, and for King Vima Kadphises [14] (his) father, and *also for himself, King Kanishka. Then, as the king of kings, the devaputra [15] . . . had given orders to do, Shafar the karalrang made this sanctuary. [16] [Then . . .] the karalrang, and Shafar the karalrang, and Nukunzuk [led] the worship [17] [according to] the (king's) command. (As for) *these gods who are written here - may they [keep] the [18] king of kings, Kanishka the Kushan, for ever healthy, *secure, (and) victorious. [19] And [when] the devaputra, the *ruler of all India from the year one to the year *one *thousand, [20] had *founded the sanctuary in the year one, then *also to the . . . year. . . [21] according to the king's command . . . (and) it was given also to the . . ., (and) it was given also to the . . ., (and) also to [22] . . . the king gave an *endowment to the gods, and . . . (1996)

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