New Volga Bulgarian inscriptions · Articles

Among the tomb inscriptions copied in Bolgari in 1722, on the order of Peter the Great, there exists a text with number 23., where mention is made of the geneology of several hojas. [1] I. Lepehin gave the following Russian translation: "On Gospod Bog živyj, tak i bezsmertny. Vse živye, krome ego Boga polučat smert. Milostivaja ruka i blagodatnyj Sjuver Al' Hodža, Ali Hodži syn, Atrjač Xodži syn, Abubekir Hodži syn, Alep Hodža, umre v fevrale mesjace leta 623; i togo tomu kamnju 511 let, a postavlen on byl nad onymi umeršimi".[2] J. Klaproth was dissatisfied with the reading and the translation, and in 1831 edited it in Arabic script and with a French translation.[3] Some other authors used these publications and suggested some other forms for the names or a stylistical improvement in the translation (F. I. Erdman, P. V. Kalačev, I. Berezin and E. P. Turnerelli etc.).[4] In the meantime, the grave-stone was used for the building of the Uspenie Church in Bolgari and it was removed from the foundation only at the beginning of the seventies of this century. Though the stone was broken into two pieces, the inscription remained in good condition (Fig. 1). The text and its translation is as follows. 01. Äl-hökmü li-l-lahi! 02. Huwä-l-häjji-l-läzi lä jamutu 03. wä küllü häjjin siwahü säjamutu! 04. Golämasämnä säwan, mäsjidsämnä 05. gämarät tonan äkile xäjratlü, 06. älüwi bäräkatlü mün suwar jali 07. ... Gali xoja oulï Aträč 08. xoǰa oulï Abübäker xoǰa 09. oulï Alïp xoǰa belükü. 10. Donjaran kočrü: tarixa ǰé- 11. ti ǰür säkir ǰaol, ǰomadi-l-u- 12. lä ajxï, ǰijirem äkešï kön äsi. Translation 01. The judgment of Allah! 02. He is the living one, who does not die 03. and all living ones, with exception of Him, die! 04. Who loved the scholars, built 05. mosques, who was gracious, 06. benefactor, from the clan of Mün-Suvar 07. ... son of Ali-hoǰa, son of Atrač 08. hoǰa, son of Abubekir hoǰa 09. Alp hoǰa's tomb monument. 10. He departed from the world according to the date: se- 11. ven hundred eight year, the month of ǰu- 12. mada I, the day the twenty second it was. Accordingly, the tomb-stone was erected in 1308. There is nothing unusual in its paleography or style, many similar monuments can be found on the former Volga Bulgarian territory. In this paper no attempt is made to analyze the lexical material[5] though some of the words and grammatical forms are to be met for the first time here. For comparison it is convenient to give here the text of another inscription which was found in Bolšie Tarhani (Tetjuši Rayon, Tatar Autonomous Soviet Republic)[6] (Fig. 2.). 01. Huwa-l-häjji-l-läzi lä jamutu, 02. wä küllü häjjin siwah säjamutu! 03. Galimläirqa tärbijjä qïlqan häm 04. alarni sewgän, mäsǰedlär 05. gïjmarät qïlqa[n], üküš xäjr 06. sahibe, meskenlärnen ... 07. sewgän Xoǰa oγlï 08. Gosman oγlï tamγačï Ib- 09. rahim äs-Suwari wafat bo- 10. lγan. Bu tarix jeti jüz on 11. törtenčndä ǰomada äl-äwwä- 12. li ajinïn on altïnč 13. küne erdi. Translation 01. He is the living one who does not die 02. and all living ones, with exception of Him, die. 03. Who gave education to scholars 04. and loved them, who erected 05. mosques and who carried out 06. good deeds, the poor's ... 07. loved, the son of Hoǰa, 08. son of Osman, tax-collector Ib- 09. rahim of Suwar died. 10. According to the date: the seven hundred four- 11. teenth, the ǰumada I 12. month, the sixteenth 13. day it was. Compare further lines 2—4 of the 1333 inscription from Bulgari "arabic-text-follows" "the beauty of the youth, the core of the heart ... scholars ... supporting them with sympathy”, or lines 2—4 of the 1317 inscription also from Bulgari:[8] "arbic-text-follows". "The beauty of the youth, the core of the heart, who respected the scholars, who fed the lonelies, the widows and the orphans". In 1983 some tomb-stones were found in the cemetry of Čistopol which also pertain to the same period.[9] On one of them there is a bilingual text carved with kufi letters. The part of praise resembles the texts above. The text and translation is the following: (Fig. 3.) 01. Huwä-l-häjji-l-läzi lä jamutu 02. wä küllü häjjin siwahü säjamutu! 03. Galimlärqa tärbijjät qilqan, 04. zahidlärga sewgän, mäsǰid- 05. lärni gimärät qilqan, üküš 06. xajratlïγ Maǰar qazïj oγlï 07. Ismagil xijjaräte bu, Rähmätü- 08. -l-lahi gälajhi rähmätän wasigätän! 09. Wafat boltu: tarix ǰe- 10. ti ǰür uon bir ǰaol, räǰap 11. ajxï ǰijirem äkeši kön äti 12. Al-mäütü babun, 13. wä küllü-n-na- 14. si dahilühu! Translation 01. He is the living one, who does not die 02. and all living ones, with exception of Him, die! 03. Who gave education to the scholars, 04. who loved the pious, who erected 05. mosques, who fulfilled 06. a great many good deeds, son of Maǰar-kadi 07. Isma'il's place of burial is this. The mercy 08. of Allah be upon him with abundant mercy. 09. Deceased: according to the date: sev— 10. en hundred eleven year, raǰab 11. month, twenty second day it was. 13. Death is a gate 14. and all people 15. are entering it! This tomb-stone was erected, as can be seen, in 1311. Postscriptum In the late summer of 1985 the author had the opportunity to visit again the inscription of Čistopol and to make better photos. Some details can be now rectified. In line 4. in the word "arabic-text" the "arabic-text" is not in the inscription, thus the correct; reading is: "arabic-text", and zahidlä[r]qa has to be transcribed. In line 5., in the word "arabic-text" the trace of the aliph is visible, accordingly the text has to be changed into: "arabic-text". On the other hand in line 6. the word which the author read earlier as "arabic-text" i.e. qazij seems to be uncertain, though no other reading offers itself as evident. For the time being it has to be read with a question mark.