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Hamilton Bower

Essays

When the Bower Manuscript Opened the Doors to an Extensive Hindu Civilisational Imprint in China

When the Bower Manuscript Opened the Doors to an Extensive Hindu Civilisational Imprint in China

The decipherment of the Bower Manuscript led to a spurt of excavations in East Turkistan and paved the way to the discovery of the Kuqa and Kizil Caves in China.

By Sandeep Balakrishna
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A Turkic Muslim Treasure-Hunter Sells an Ancient Sanskrit Manuscript to a Colonial British Colonel in China

A Turkic Muslim Treasure-Hunter Sells an Ancient Sanskrit Manuscript to a Colonial British Colonel in China

At Kucha, now in Xinjiang, Colonel Hamilton Bower buys an ancient Sanskrit Manuscript from a Turkic Muslim treasure-hunter for a paltry sum and then brings it back to India.

By Sandeep Balakrishna
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A Murder that Unearthed a Second-Century Sanskrit Manuscript: Episode 1

A Murder that Unearthed a Second-Century Sanskrit Manuscript: Episode 1

How the brutal murder of a 19th century British trader led to the unlikely discovery of a valuable 2nd century Sanskrit Manuscript.

By Sandeep Balakrishna
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