The Wisdom of Balahvar

David Marshall Lang was appointed Acting British Vice-Consul in Tabriz in 1945. In 1946 he became a fellow of St John’s College, Cambridge and lecturing in Georgian at SOAS London from 1949-52. From 1952-1953 he was senior fellow at the Russian Institute of Columbia University in New York. In 1958 he was appointed Reader in Caucasian Studies at SOAS. Visiting Professor of Caucasian Studies at UCLA from 1964-5, in 1965 he became Professor of Caucasian Studies at London University. He was Honorary Secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society from 1962-64 and held an Honorary Doctorate from Tbilisi University.

Part 1: From Bodhisattva to Saint Josaphat: The Metamorphosis of a Legend 1. The Indian Background 2. The Manichaean Evidence 3. The Arabic Versions 4. The Georgian Versions 5. St. Euthymius the Georgian and the Greek Barlaam Romance. Pedigree of Barlaam and Josaphat. Part 2: The Wisdom of Balahvar Translated from the Old Georgian Version. The Fables. Further Fables of Balahvar, Translated from the Jerusalem Georgian Text. Dogs and Carrion. Physician and the Patient. The Sun of Wisdom. Postscript: Mr. Graves, Mr. Podro and the Kashmir Shrine.