Script: In Khamti Shan script. Decoration: First leaf with a full-page illustration of King Kapphinna rendered in the folk style of the Tai people. A tall figure clad in kingly regalia looks on in a state of meditative contemplation. Decoration: His fingers join to form the gyan mudra or “gesture of cognizance”. The tall crown atop his tilted head and the lush curves, thin lines, and rich floral patterns on his clothing are typically used to depict royalty in regional iconography. Binding: Whirlwind binding, sewn in a fabric wrapper comprised of layers of finely woven white, and coarsely woven brown and plaid cloth, with a white/blue braided cotton string. Roll measures 46cm wide when closed. First line of text on frontispiece illustration page reads "Khun Ho Kham Kap Ping Na." The first line of the second leaf is the Namo Tassa, a Buddhist salutation. Second line of second leaf begins: "Pin nang miu nan ca ma thiung miung sa wa thi" [Once upon a time, would come to the country of Savatthi]. Colophon on final leaf identifies: "phu tem lik pap ho nai cham" [the person who wrote this book] "sang te wa ta ha ham". Manuscript on "silk paper" (bamboo shoot paper), scrolled (pap ken), containing a Jātaka tale of King Kapphinna of Kukkatavatī. Prior to becoming one of the most eminent disciples of the Buddha, King Kapphinna ruled a frontier Himalayan kingdom in northern India. The manuscript narrates the tale of Kapphinna’s attainment of monkhood and ascent into the highest degree of spiritual enlightenment. Title leaf written on one side only is followed by a blank double leaf, 19 double leaves written on front and back, and two final blank double leaves. "Probably a Jataka story translated into Tai Khamti or one of the related varieties, from Northern Burma or Northeast India. A lovely example of the 'thick black dots' type of lettering that was common in the 19th century." --from a communication with Dr. Stephen Morey, 2019.
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