The manuscript remains of the Tocharian version of the Maitreyasamitināṭaka were discovered in 1974, in Xinjiang Autonomous Region of China. From a stylistic point of view, it looks exactly like a kind of narrative literature. There is no difference at all between it and the other narrative literature of ancient India. But the very name this book nāṭaka means a drama. And in fact we find some dramatic technical terms in the text. Therefore we cannot but come to the conclusion, this book is really a drama, though a special specimen of drama, different from either the European or the Chinese drama. The peculiarities of this drama consist in its way of presentation. It is a kind of picture recitation.
