The Book of Zambasta

The nature of Old Khotanese metre has been a matter of controversy for more than a century. Nicholas Sims-Williams presents a new metrical analysis of the Book of Zambasta, the longest surviving Khotanese poem, arguing that the metre is based on the quantitative (moraic) principle, but with an obligatory ictus in the cadences which leads to the systematic lightening of certain unstressed syllables. The results shed light on the equally controversial issue of Khotanese accentuation and many other aspects of the language and its history. The book includes the complete text of the poem with interlinear scansion.

„Ehsan Yarshater Book Award for Pre-Islamic Iran“ of the Persian Heritage Foundation (2023).