230 wilkens
from Tibetan dkon mchog.172 This ruler and his family are mentioned in several
colophons,173 and Könčök even appears as the patron who commissioned the
texts.174 Even the name of his father, Kirašiz, derives from Tibetan bkra shis.175
Furthermore, Tibetan monastic names appear in Uyghur colophons.176 All this
points to the strong dominance of Tibetan Buddhism in the Uyghur cultural
sphere.
Mongol dominion over Turfan, Hami177 and Gansu178 and Mongol–Yuan–
Chagatay patronage of Tantric Buddhism are certainly important factors in
this development. Pilgrimage between Buddhist hubs179 was facilitated under
Yuan and Eastern Chagataid rule.180
2.5.1 The Yulin (椾林) Caves
Important religious sources are Old Uyghur inscriptions in the Yulin Caves
(椾林, located ca. 100 km East of the Mogao Caves).181 Most of them can be
172 Zieme, Buddhistische Stabreimdichtungen, note to no. 40.30. According to Oda,
“Uighuristan,” 24, this ruler was a vassal of the Yuan and not, as it is sometimes claimed,
of the Chagataids.
173 Zieme, Religion und Gesellschaft, 52. All colophons referring to Könčök and his family
were republished in Nakamura, Kentarō 中村健太郎, “14 seiki zenhan no uigurugo
insatsu butten no okugaki ni arawareru Könčög Idukkut ōke wo megutte 14 世紀前半の
ウイグル語印刷仏典の奥書に現れる『Könčög イドウククト王家』をめぐっ
て [Könčög Ïduq Qut Family as Seen in the Colophons of Buddhist Uigur Texts Unearthed
in Turfan],” 内陸アジア言語の研究 Nairiku ajia gengo no kenkyū/Studies on the Inner
Asian Languages 24 (2009): 131–171.
174 Zieme, Religion und Gesellschaft, 80–81, 83.
175 Zieme, Religion und Gesellschaft, 52.
176 E.g. Kasai, Kolophone, 216 [text no. 116], 217 [text no. 117].
177 The translator of the manuscript Or. 8212 (109), Ārya Ācārya, came from Hami, the scribe,
Sarıg Tutuŋ, from Üč Lükčüŋ (Turfan oasis).
178 On the connection of Tibetan-influenced Buddhism in Gansu with Uyghur Buddhism
in Hami see Matsui, “Mongolian Decree,” 170. In the 15th century, the Uyghur population of
Hami was comprised of Buddhists and Muslims. See Oda, “Uighuristan,” 23.
179 Especially between Hami, Napčik (= Lapčuk, West of Hami) and Gansu. On further
toponyms in the Yulin and Mogao inscriptions see Matsui, “Revising the Uighur
Inscriptions,” 27.
180 According to Oda, “Uighuristan,” 24, the Turfan district was dominated by the Eastern
Chagataids in the period 1417–1432.
181 19 inscriptions were edited by Hamilton, James, Niu Ru-Ji, “Inscriptions ouïgoures des
grottes bouddhiques de Yulin,” Journal Asiatique 286.1 (1998): 127–210. The numbering
of the inscriptions mentioned below follows this edition. Some inscriptions have been
recently revised in Matsui, “Revising the Uighur Inscriptions”. He also authored a study
of wall inscriptions from Dunhuang. See Matsui, “Tonkō shosekkutsu”. An important
survey of pilgrim inscriptions (monolingual and bilingual) of Uyghur Buddhists in