© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2018 | doi 10.1163/24685623-12340028
EURASIAN Studies 15/1 (2017) 125-141
brill.com/eurs
Note about the Persian Word Ḫargāh (Trellis Tent)
in a Turko-Sogdian Context
David Durand-Guédy
independent scholar
david_durandguedy@yahoo.com
Abstract
This article discusses the origin of the Persian word ḫargāh, which is used by medieval
authors to speak of the trellis tent (yurt). It argues that the word xrγ’xh found in the
Sogdian text P.3 written in pre-Samanid Central Asia refer to the same object. It also
builds a case for a local origin of the word, and a probable link with kërëkü, the Turkic
word referring to the same type of tent.
Keywords
tent – yurt – Sogdian – Central Asia – lexicography
Among the several Sogdian texts found by Paul Pelliot in Turfan, one (known
as P.3) deals with weather magic. The word xrγ’xh is mentioned in it nine times
as the setting of rituals aimed to provoke and control rain. The meaning of
this xrγ’xh has been variously interpreted in the abundant literature dedi-
cated to P.3.1 In 1928 Hans Reichelt, its first translator, failed to understand it
* I would like to thank here Peter Andrews, Etienne de la Vaissière, Peter Golden, Nicholas
Sims-Williams, Dai Matsui as well as the anonymous reviewers for their comments on a pre-
vious version of this text. Needless to say, I am solely responsible for mistakes in the analysis.
1 See the up-to-date translation and bibliography on P.3 in Azarnouche, Samra and Grenet,
Frantz, “Thaumaturgie sogdienne, nouvelle édition et commentaire du texte P.3”, StIr,
XXXIX (2010): pp. 27-77. An updated English version can be found in Grenet, Frantz [with
Azarnouche, Samra], “Where Are the Sogdian Magi?”, Bulletin of the Asia Institute, XXI (2012):
pp. 159-79, but none of the corrections proposed by Lurie and Yoshida in the same volume