204 wilkens
cult of the future Buddha Maitreya among the Uyghurs at the turn of the first
millennium.68 This is corroborated by literary sources such as the Maitrisimit,
a translation from Tocharian A [= Agnean], and by colophons etc.
2.3 The Transfer of Buddhism to the Uyghurs
The stake inscriptions bear witness to a longer process of a gradual spread of
Buddhism among the Uyghur population. Buddhism obviously was the unify-
ing factor on a religious level in view of to the otherwise motley and highly
complex local cultures in ancient Central Asia.69 Access to other hubs in order
to exchange goods and knowledge was facilitated after the Uyghurs became
Buddhists. As Manichaeans they were perceived as a separate religious group.
And a predominantly Buddhist population in the West Uyghur Kingdom may
have harboured feelings of reserve and mistrust with regard to a ruling elite
which followed a different religious tradition. One of the leading historians
of the West Uyghur Kingdom, Takao Moriyasu, thinks that only in the second
half of the 10th century Uyghur Buddhism began to spread significantly, a view
that seems to be confirmed by the extant manuscripts. Buddhists active in
the West Uyghur Kingdom in the previous period were—according to him—
Tocharians and Chinese.70 He is “strongly opposed” to what he calls the “old
theory”, the so-called “Sogdian Hypothesis”, that it was the Sogdians who prop-
agated Buddhism among the Türks, Western Türks, Türgeš, Karluk and Eastern
Uyghurs in Mongolia and made converts.71 I agree with him in many respects
but Sogdian Buddhism72 certainly contributed to a certain degree to the devel-
opment of Uyghur Buddhism in the West Uyghur Kingdom and very likely in
Gansu as well.73 To what extent still has to be explored more thoroughly.
In the early period during the development of Uyghur Buddhist culture, the
Indo-European impact is most significant.74 Tocharian Buddhist culture made
68 Maitreya is mentioned in the ancient text in three languages referred to above (IOL Toch
81). See Maue, “Three Languages”.
69 On Buddhism as a unifying factor in Eastern Central Asia see also the article by Sam van
Schaik in this volume.
70 Moriyasu, “Chronology,” 193.
71 Moriyasu, “Chronology,” 193.
72 A survey of Sogdian Buddhism and its literature is found in Walter, Mariko Namba,
Sogdians and Buddhism (Philadelphia: Department of East Asian Languages and
Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania, 2006).
73 A similar view is expressed in Zieme, Religion und Gesellschaft, 19.
74 Annemarie von Gabain assumes an influence of (Khotanese) Saka on Uyghur Buddhism
but this view does not find any supporters today. Cf. von Gabain, “Buddhistische
Türkenmission,” 171.