Editing Burushaski (section)

=== History ===

[[Tibet]]an sources record a ''Bru zha'' language of the Gilgit valley, which appears to have been Burushaski and the script of which was one of five used also to write the extinct [[Zhangzhung language]]. Although Burushaski may once have been a significant [[literary language]], no ''Bru zha'' manuscripts are known to have survived.<ref>[[George van Driem]], ''Languages of the Himalayas,'' Brill 2001:921</ref> There is a very voluminous Buddhist tantra of the 'Ancient' (''rNying ma'') school of Tibetan Buddhism, preserved in Tibetan as the ''mDo dgongs 'dus'',<ref>Complete title: ''De bzhin gshegs pa thams cad kyi thugs gsang ba’i ye shes | don gyi snying po rdo rje bkod pa’i rgyud | rnal ’byor grub pa’i lung | kun ’dus rig pa’i mdo | theg pa chen po mngon par rtogs pa | chos kyi rnam grangs rnam par bkod pa zhes bya ba’i mdo'', in the mTshams brag edition of the rNying ma rgyud 'bum: vol. 16 (''Ma''), p. 2-617.</ref> which has been the subject of numerous Tibetological publications, including a recent monograph by Jacob P. Dalton, ''The Gathering of Intentions'',<ref>Dalton, Jacob P. 2016. Columbia University Press. {{ISBN|978-0231176002}}. This book is a state of the art history of this ''tantra'' in Tibet, but does not deal in depth with the issue of its original source and whether it was actually translated from the Burushaski.</ref> which is supposed to be translated from the Burushaski (''bru zha'i skad''). It contains words that are not Sanskrit but which have not, thus far, been demonstrated satisfactorily to be relatable either to Burushaski, or to any other language (or, for that matter, to be purely "elfic"{{definition needed|date=November 2024}}). If at least part of this text had actually been translated from Burushaski, it would make it one of the major monuments of an apparently lost literature.