The lost books of Hsiung-nus and the sutras

Stone inscriptions are the first written documents belonging to Turks. These inscriptions, which have been written in Sogd and Göktürk languages, are still extant in Central Asia. A question that emerges here is this: did the Turks, who had close geographical, political, and cultural relationships with the Chinese, ever use Chinese in their writings? Chinese sources offer some clues about the use of writing by the four Hsiung-nu states founded in China in the fourth and fifth centuries. The leaders of these four states had stone inscriptions set up. More importantly, some of these states issued books on law and history. Also, the Hsiung-nus who came to China by way of India and Central Asia and accepted Buddhism as their religion played an important role in translating Buddhist sacred texts. It is highly probable that all these books and sutras - though written in Chinese - constitute the earliest examples of written Turkish literature. Reprinted by permission of Ahmet Yesevi University