All the Sanskrit translations were again collected, in the form of compilations, in two large and voluminous works, which contain irrespectively the sacred and the profane publications of different periods. These compilations bear the titles of Kanjur, "translation of the commandments (of the Buddha)," and Tanjur, "translation of the doctrine." The Kanjur consists of one hundred and eight large volumes, which are classed under the following seven principal divisions:

1. Dulva, or "discipline."

2. Sherchin, or "transcendental wisdom."

3. Palchen, or "association of Buddhas."

4. Kontseg, or "jewel peak."

5. Do, Sūtras, or "aphorims."

6. Myangdas, treating on the doctrine of "deliverance from emancipation from existence."

7. Gyut, "Tantra," treating on mysticism.

Each of these divisions is composed of a greater or smaller number of treatises. The Kanjur is reputed to contain the "word of the Buddha," its principal contents being the moral and religious doctrines originally taught by Sakyamuni and his disciples. The Tanjur comprises 225 volumes, which are divided into two great classes: Gyut and Do, Its content is of a more miscellaneous character; there are also treatises on the different philosophical schools, besides various works on logic, rhetoric, and Sanskrit grammar. In several volumes the subject

is the same as in the Kanjur.

The principal works in these collections were translated about in the ninth century, and other articles,

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especially those in the Gyut division, even much later. For instance, the Kala Chakra, or Dus kyi khorlo, which is contained in the latter, was not introduced into Tíbet previous to the eleventh century; also the translation of the Do class of the Tanjur occupied no doubt a longer period on account of the greater variety of its

contents.

Although it still remains impossible to determine exactly the time when these two collections were first compiled yet it is very likely, that the present arrangement of the volumes is not previous to the beginning of the last century; similar compilations may have existed in earlier times, but it is not very probable that they were exactly the same. We owe an abstract of the contents of the Kanjur and Tanjur to Csoma de Körös, whose analysis has been abridged by Wilson. An Index to the Kanjur was edited by the Imperial Russian Academy of St. Petersburgh in the year 1845, with a preface by I. J. Schmidt; a memoir by Schiefner treats of the logical and grammatical works embodied in the Tanjur.1

These collections were printed by order of Mivang, regent of Lhássa, in the years 1728-46; the first edition being prepared at Nárthang, a town near Tashilhúnpo, still celebrated for its typographical productions. At the present day they are printed in many of the monasteries;

1 See about these collections H. H. Wilson, "Note on the literature of Tibet;" Gleanings in science, Vol. III., p. 243. Journ. As. Soc. Beng., Vol. I. Csoma, "Analysis," As. Res., Vol. XX. A. Schiefner, Bull. hist. phil. de St. Pet., Vol. IV., No. 18. Wassiljew, "Notices sur les ouvrages en langue de l'Asie orientale." Bullet. Vol. XIII. Nos. 13. 14.

but the paper as well as the impressions of those copies at least which are sold at Pekin, are for the greater part so bad, and the text is so full of errors, that altogether they are scarcely legible.

For printing Tibetan only capital letters (Tib. Vuchan) are used, as far as I know; for manuscripts small letters (Vumed) are frequently employed, which, for the requirements of running-hand, are often somewhat modified. When Indian letters are employed for Sanskrit sentences, the Ranja alphabet, called by the Tibetans Lantsa, is used in which also most of the ancient Sanskrit works discovered in Népal are written; this Ranjā, or Lantsa, alphabet is a variety of the Devanagari alphabet, and is particularly employed for writing the mystical Sanskrit sentences, the Dharanīs, which must be written without any alteration in order to the preservation of their efficacy; and though the Tibetan letters have been adapted to their exact transliteration, yet we see the Ranja alphabet preferred in many instances.'

Tibetan books are spread all over Central Asia, owing to the great reputation enjoyed by everything that has its origin in Tíbet, the chosen land of Padmapāni. The art of printing, long-known to the Tibetans, and for which they employ engraved wooden blocks, must also have greatly favoured their dissemination. There is no Buddhist monastery which does not contain a series of works in the Tibetan language, and the sums which the Buriats and Kalmuks occasionally pay for the most

1 Compare: Hodgson, "Illustrations," p. 171; Schmidt, Mém. de l'Acad. des Sciences, Tom. I., p. 41.-Concerning the Tibetan mode of printing, and the technical terms for printing, printers' ink, &c., see Hodgson, As. Res., Vol. XVI., p. 421; Cunningham, "Ladak," p. 393.

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sacred of them, as e. g. the Kanjur and Tanjur, have amounted in some cases to nearly £2,000.

A great many Tibetan books, as well original as translations from the Sanskrit, have reached Europe and Calcutta through the zealous exertions of Csoma, Schilling von Cannstadt, Hodgson, some English gentlemen residing at the Hill Stations, and the members of the Russian embassy at Pekin. The library and the museum of the India Office, so richly supplied in every branch of scientific and practical objects referring to oriental life, possesses also a great number of important Tibetan works, of which, however, till now no catalogue has been published. The whole of the Kanjur and Tanjur are to be found there. Another copy of the two collections exist in the library of St. Petersburgh, which has, besides, obtained the greatest number of important works on Buddhism written in Tibetan, Mongolian and Chinese. The Imp. library at Paris has the Kanjur only. The Asiatic Society of Bengal has likewise a complete copy of the Kanjur; its copy of the Tanjur is incomplete, or at least was so in 1831. An index of the Tibetan books in the Asiatic Museum of the Imperial Academy at St. Petersburgh, including the works it contained up to the year 1847, was published by I. J. Schmidt and O. Boehtlingk; an appendix by Schiefner registers also the later works. sent from Pekin.' A new and detailed catalogue is now in progress of publication, and will, no doubt, furnish

1 Bulletin hist.-phil. de St. Petersb., Vol. IV.; IX.-Concerning the astonishing number of important works so liberally presented by B. H. Hodgson to London and Paris, see Wilson, "Buddha and Buddhism." R. As. Soc., Vol. XVI., p. 234.

many interesting facts connected with Buddhism, and greatly enlarge our knowledge of Tibetan literature in general. Of the Tibetan books contained in the library of the Asiatic Society of Bengal Csoma de Körös had begun to compile a detailed catalogue, when the undertaking was stopped by his death, and has not, I believe, been continued.

The Tibetan language has become known in Europe only of late years, the claims to a detailed and scientific acquaintance put forward by Fourmont, Müller, and Georgi being very exaggerated. The first inquirer who placed the Tibetan language within the reach of European students, was Csoma de Körös, a zealous and indefatigable Hungarian from Transylvania, who had made it the principal object of his long and laborious researches to discover the original seats of the Hungarians (in German Hunen), whose native land he expected to find in Asia. Having failed in his attempts in Western Asia, he retired, in 1827, for some months to the monasteries of Zankhar, where he devoted himself to the study of Tibetan literature, and succeeded in nearly completing though he had to undergo many hardships—a dictionary and grammar of the Tibetan language, which were published (in English) at Calcutta in the year 1832.1 Later, in 1839 and 1841, I. J. Schmidt published another

1 See some interesting remarks on his opinions, and an account of his death in the Journ. of the As. Soc. of Bengal, Vol. XI., p. 303; Vol. XIV., p. 323, by Dr. Campbell.-There are two tribes in the mountains who have preserved the designation of "Huns;" the one residing in Gnári Khórsum, who call themselves "Hunia;" the other being the Limbu in Nepál and Sikkim, a large division of whom goes by the name of the "Hungs." Comp. Campbell, Journ. As. Soc. Beng., Vol. IX., p. 599.