Tocharian

alternative abbreviation Toch. · alternative Tokharian

1. original senseOf or relating to the Tochari (people of Bactria).

   Hyrcanian and Tocharian independence, b 613–4, b 619

   1890, D. O. Kellogg, editor, The Encyclopædia Britannica, Index, Philadelphia: J. M. Stoddart Co., page 689

   1 more example

   We have now come to one of the great names in ancient Indian history, that of the Indo-Scythian prince Kanishka, whose conversion to the faith of Sâkya Muni gave a sudden impulse to the propagation of Buddhism, which rapidly spread its doctrines to the utmost bounds of the Tocharian dominion.

   1871, Alexander Cunningham, Archæological Survey of India, volume 2, Shimla, page 67

2. [from 20th c.] Of or pertaining to the Tocharian languages or the Tocharians of the Tarim Basin.

plural Tocharians · alternative abbreviation Toch. · alternative Tokharian

1. original senseAny member of the Tochari, a people who inhabited Bactria.

   The Moon presides over: […] Tocharians, […]

   1871, H. Kern, “The Bṛhat-Saṅhitâ; or, Complete System of Natural Astrology of Varâha-mihira.”, in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, page 232

   2 more examples

   Beyond the Attaci or Attacores, the Thyrians and Tocharians do inhabit; yea, and the Caſirians, who now by this time belong to the Indians, & are a part of them.

   1634, C. Plinius Secundus, The Historie of the World, volume 1, page 124

   Meanwhile Bactria submitted to the Tochari of Western writers (Sanskrit, Tukhāra). They have been sometimes supposed to have been a branch of the Turkish tribes, while the Hiung-nu have been seen as Mongols, the forerunners of the Hūnas and Chionites. It was a section of the Tocharians who later followed the Greeks across the Hindu-kush and created the great Kushan empire in North India.

   1957, Osbert Guy Stanhope Crawford, editor, Antiquity, volumes 31–32, page 137

   Synonyms: Tokhar, Tukhar, Tukhara

2. [from 20th c.] Any member of a people who inhabited the Tarim Basin and spoke the so-called Tocharian languages.

alternative abbreviation Toch. · alternative Tokharian

1. human sciencesAn extinct branch of the Indo-European language family, consisting of two languages, Tocharian A and Tocharian B, written in an abugida derived from Brahmi.