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ABSTRACT: The paper investigates the title tärim known from Old Uigur sources. In light of new data, Paul Pelliot's theories on the origin and use of that title as expounded in his paper "Tängrim>tärim" (1944) are discussed and evaluated.
KEYWORDS: Old Uigur sources, titles of the Royal House, tänrim and its derivations
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Paul Pelliot was one of the rare genius scholars in Oriental studies. The famous photography of 1908 showing him as a young man sitting in ... Mogao's room 17 engaged in reading and sorting documents of that newly discovered cave housing one of the world's most important scripture treasures is today a symbol of scholarship. By spending enormous efforts to reveal the manuscripts and prints as well as banners and other art objects found and kept there Pelliot opened new horizons in many Oriental fields. Each of his papers highlights one important item worth of further research, and his larger projects, to mention here only the study on the 781 foundation stele of the Church of the East in Tang China, Marco Polo's travels, the history of Eastern Christianity, although mostly published after his death, gave great impulses to on-going research. It is impossible to compare this scholar with others, he was simply unique. His "Carnets de route 1906 - 1908" recently edited1 show interesting features of this researcher's aims and ideas.
Thanks to Hartmut Walravens who published a full inventory of Pelliot's works2 one can quickly get an overview of Pelliot's writings. In the end, Walravens also enumerates the studies about Pelliot and his research. D. Sinor, who was one of Pelliot's few pupils presented in his notes (Walravens 2001, pp. XXV-XXXV) some personal memories of the scholar.
Predominantly, Pelliot was a Sinologist. Turkish studies were not the major subject of his scholarship, but as shown already earlier, his contributions had an important input into some minor or greater themes. I had the opportunity to give a survey on Paul Pelliot and Turkish studies in 2008, when Jean-Pierre Drege and some other scholars organised a large congress on Pelliot from history to legend at the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres (Palais de L'Institut) in Paris. The volume published thereafter by J.-P. Drege and...