Palm leaf manuscript

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Modern palm leaf manuscript with wooden cover , Bali (around 1940)

Palm leaf manuscripts are manuscripts on palm leaves . For centuries you were the most important text carrier in South and Southeast Asia . In Sri Lanka they are known as Ola, in Indonesia as Lontar .

history

South asia

In India , leaves of the Talipot palm ( Corypha umbraculifera ) were originally used as writing material. The leaves of the Talipot palm, which is native to the extreme south of India, were probably made after the expansion of the Maurya Empire in the 3rd century BC. BC also introduced in the north of the subcontinent . In addition to the palm leaf, other writing materials were also used in ancient India, such as birch bark , which remained in use in Kashmir until the 18th century.

Illuminated palm leaf manuscript from Nepal (12th / 13th century)

The oldest palm leaf manuscripts have been preserved in regions where the climate favors conservation. In Turfan (now Xinjiang , People's Republic of China ) on the Silk Road , fragments of palm leaf manuscripts from India were found, which, based on their font, are dated to the Kuschana period (probably 2nd century AD). This is likely to be the oldest surviving Indian manuscript. In Nepal , where the climate is cooler than in India, numerous old palm leaf manuscripts have survived. The oldest Nepalese manuscript to contain a date is (depending on which era is assumed) probably from the year 811 AD, but there are also undated manuscripts that are probably several centuries older. The oldest known palm leaf manuscripts from southern India are kept in the Jaina temple of Moodabidri in Karnataka and are said to date from 1112.

In northern India and Nepal , palm leaves were replaced by paper from the 13th century under Islamic influence . However, the Indian paper manuscripts are influenced by the model of the palm leaf manuscripts. The landscape format was retained, and instead of the holes for the string that originally held the manuscript together, there are often purely ornamental circles. In western northern India, paper completely replaced the palm leaf by the 15th century. Palm leaves remained in use in the East Indies until the 17th century.

Palm leaf manuscript from Sri Lanka, 18./19. Century

In southern India and Sri Lanka , palm leaves remained the preferred writing material and only went out of use with the advent of printing presses in the 19th century. However, the Talipot palm was replaced there from the 16th century by the Palmyra palm ( Borassus flabelliformis ). The reason is likely to be the higher utility value of the palmyra palm, where the fruits can also be used. As a writing material, the leaves of the palmyra palm are inferior to those of the talipot palm because they are smaller, less flexible and do not absorb ink as well. Therefore, in South India people started to scratch the text with a stylus instead of writing on the manuscripts in ink , as was the case with the older palm leaf manuscripts .

South East Asia

Palm leaf manuscript from Thailand

From India, palm leaves spread to Southeast Asia as a writing material . In Thailand , in addition to palm leaf manuscripts, leporello manuscripts on paper made from the bark of the Khoi tree ( Streblus asper ) were common (cf. Samut Khoi ). Palm leaf was mainly used for Buddhist scriptures, while secular texts were written on Khoi paper.

Palm leaf manuscripts were also common in the Malay Archipelago . With the spread of the local version of the Arabic script ( Jawi ), which went hand in hand with the Islamization of the region from the 14th century , people switched to paper as writing material. Palm leaf manuscripts remained in use until the 19th century only in Java and Bali , where scriptures of Indian origin ( Javanese and Balinese script ) were retained. In Sumatra , however, the bark of the agar tree ( Aquilaria malaccensis ) was used for manuscripts in the Batak script (see Pustaha ).

Manufacture and preservation

Manufacturing

Palm leaf manuscript from Bali (top view of the bundle)

Before they could be labeled, palm leaves were cut to the desired size. The extreme landscape format of palm leaf manuscripts is due to the natural dimensions of the palm leaf. Usually the width is between 15 and 60 cm and the height between 3 and 12 cm. To make them flexible, the palm leaves were boiled, dried and then polished smooth. The required number of palm leaves was combined into a bundle. For this purpose, the individual sheets were equipped with one or two holes through which a string was passed to hold the bundle together. To protect the leaves, the manuscript was given a mostly wooden cover at the top and bottom. Finally the bundle was wrapped in a cloth. Sometimes there are also artistically designed palm leaf manuscripts in which the leaves are in a special shape, e.g. B. in Hindu texts into those of a linga .

labeling

Demonstration of writing on palm leaf in Orissa, East India

There were two different methods of writing: The North Indian manuscripts were written on with ink using a pen or a brush . In contrast, the text in the South Indian and Southeast Asian manuscripts was scratched with a stylus . Then the manuscript was smeared with a mixture of oil and soot and then wiped off. The oil-soot mixture stuck in the notches, so that the text stood out.

Preservation

Damaged palm leaf manuscripts, Tamil Nadu (South India)

As a natural material, palm leaf is prone to rot and - depending on the climatic conditions - is destroyed by silverfish over time . Various traditional methods exist for preserving palm leaf manuscripts. For example, the leaves can be treated with lemongrass oil, which acts as a natural insecticide. A manuscript written on a palm leaf has a limited lifespan and has to be copied onto a new palm leaf during this time. Treatment with beeswax and china wax is also possible .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jeremiah P. Losty: The Art of the Book in India. The British Library Publishing Division, 1982, ISBN 978-0-904654-78-3 , p. 5.
  2. ↑ Losty 1982, p. 8.
  3. ↑ Harry Falk: Writing in ancient India. A research report with annotations. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 1993, ISBN 978-3-8233-4271-7 , p. 313.
  4. ↑ Kengo Harimoto: In Search of the Oldest Nepalese Manuscript. In: Rivista degli studi orientali. Nuova Series, Vol. 84, Fasc. 1/4, (2011), pp. 85-106.
  5. ↑ Losty 1982, p. 6.
  6. ↑ Losty 1982, p. 5.
  7. ↑ Losty 1982, pp. 11-12.
  8. ↑ Losty 1982, p. 6.
  9. ↑ Losty 1982, pp. 6-7.
  10. ^ Volker Grabowsky: Manuscript Culture of the Thai / Manuscript Culture of the Thai. In: manuscript cultures. 4 (2011) (= catalog for the exhibition “The fascination of handwriting: 2000 years of manuscript cultures in Asia, Africa and Europe” in the Hamburg State and University Library, November 17, 2011 to January 8, 2012), pp. 145–156, here p 145.
  11. ^ E. Ulrich Kratz: Manuscript Cultures of the Malay World / Manuscript Cultures in Island Southeast Asia. In: manuscript cultures 4 (2011) (= catalog for the exhibition “The fascination of handwriting: 2000 years of manuscript cultures in Asia, Africa and Europe” in the Hamburg State and University Library, November 17, 2011 to January 8, 2012), p. 133– 144, here p. 138.
  12. ↑ D. Udaya Kumar, GV Sreekumar, UA Athvankar: Traditional writing system in Southern India - Palm leaf manuscripts. In: Design Thoughts. July 2009, pp. 2–7, here p. 3.
  13. ↑ Losty 1982, p. 8.
  14. ↑ A Method for Restoring and Preserving Palm Leaf Manuscripts (PDF, 2.39 MB), from iada-home.org, accessed on January 22, 2017.

Web links

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