IV. Script and Spelling

A. Type of Script:

The type of script used for Sanskrit is syllabic.

B. Name of the script/scripts:

Sanskrit is written in Dēvanāgari script. The main reason for adopting this script to Sanskrit is its suitability to the language and the royal support that it received during Kadamba, Gupta and Vijayanagara kingdoms. This Dēvanāgari script was developed from the Brāhmi script. Madhav.M.Despande says that Sanskrit has 'Alpha-Syllabic script'.

The design of the Brāhmi script reflects the characteristic syllabic structure of middle Indo-Aryan, with its prevalence of open V or CV syllables. Sanskrit has however many closed CVC or CCVC Syllables in order to accommodate the resulting sequences of two (or rarely three) consonants.

Dēvanāgari script which is used for writing Sanskrit is also referred to as ‘Nāgari script’ and 'Bālabōdha lipi'. Mādhav.M.Deshpānde says, "In course of its history, Sanskrit was written in many different scripts. Yet the tradition of indigenous phonetics and grammar predates the appearance of writing and analyzes the oral language. The script currently most used for Sanskrit is 'Dēvanāgari' which is also used for some modern Indo-Aryan language i.e. Hindi. It is an 'Alpha-Syllabic' form of writing in which a consonant sign forms the core of the written syllable. Vowels pronounced after the consonant are indicated by attached symbols, with the exception of 'a' which is inherent in the consonant sign. Vowels are indicated with independent characters only when word initial. The organization of Sanskrit writing shows a highly sophisticated level of phonetic analysis dating back to the middle of the Ist century B.C.E."

1. Geographic Distribution of scripts:

In addition to Dēvanāgari, Sanskrit is also written in many regional scripts of India. In South, Sanskrit is not only written in Dēvanāgari but also in other major scripts of the Dravidian languages, viz: Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu. It is also written in the Roman script with certain diacritical marks.

2. Domain wise distribution:

Sanskrit was written primarily in Nāgari script. It was also used to write Dravidian languages like Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu by the respective speakers of those languages. Those speakers were primarily Brāhmins who were well versed in Sanskrit and had no formal schooling. They used to write Sanskrit in Nāgari script and their mother tongues also in the Nāgari script.

3. Name of the officially recognized script:

Officially recognized script for Sanskrit is Dēvanāgari. Officially recognized script for Hindi is also Dēvanāgani.

This Dēvanāgari script is also developed to write other Indian languages both Aryan and Dravidian by making suitable changes in the Nāgari script by the addition of additional signs and diacritical marks. Such a revised Nāgari script is called 'parivardhita Dēvanāgari script'. This is used to write the Dravidian and Tibeto-Burman languages also.

C. Introduction to Graphemes:

Sanskrit has 14 vowels including aṁ (anuswāra) aḥ (Visarga) and 33 basic consonants. They are as follows:

Vowels:

अ              आ	इ	ई	उ	ऊ	ऋ	ए	ऐ	ओ	 
a	aa	i	ii	u	uu	ṛṛū	ee	ai	oo

औ	अं	अः     
au 	aṁ	aḥ 

Consonants:

 
	क	ख	ग	घ	ङ
	Ka	Kha 	ga	gha	ṅa

	 च	छ	ज	झ	ञ
	Ca	Cha	ja	jha	ña

	ट	ठ	ड	ढ	ण
	ṭa	ṭha	ḍa	ḍha	ṇa

	 त	थ	द	ध	न 
	ta	tha	da	dha	na

	प	फ	ब	भ	म
	pa	pha	ba	bha	ma

	य	र	ल	व	श	ष	स	ह
	ya 	ra 	la	va	śa	ṣa	sa 	ha      and also

	क्ष	त्र	ज्ञ
	kṣha	tra	ñjna. 

Consonants in Sanskrit are classified on the basic of their points and manner of articulation as follows:

1. Number of Graphemes:

As said earlier, Sanskrit has 14 vowels 33 consonants and 3 conjunct letters. Vowels have a distinction of short and long. Vowels also have the secondary symbols called Mātras: They are as follows:

a)	Vowels and Diphthongs:

Basic Vowel			Mātra			Example

अ				-			क् + अ = क

आ				ा			क् + आ = का

इ							क् + इ = कि

ई				ी			क् + ई = की

उ				ु			क् + उ = कु

ऊ				ू			क् + ऊ = कू

ऋ				ृ			क् + ऋ = कृ

ए				े			क् + ए = के

ऐ				ै			क् + ऐ = कै

ओ				ो			क् + ओ = को

औ				ौ			क् + औ = कौ

अं				ं			क् + अं = कं

अः				ः			क् + अः = कः

2. Consonant Graphemes and their allograph:

Sanskrit has 33 consonant graphemes and 3 conjunct letters. Graphemes along with their allograph are shown herewith.

3. Distribution of Allograph:

Above noted allographs of different consonants do not occur in the same environment but they occur at different places of the respective consonants, sometimes below the consonant, by the side of the consonant or above the consonant. These allographs can occur in different combinations and form different forms of clusters as shown below.

4. Rules for combination of Mātras:

	क + क    =	क्क 		Kka

	क + त    =	क्त		Kta

	क + य   =	क्य		Kya

	क + र    =	क्र		kra

	क + ल   =	क्ल		kla

	क + ष    =	क्ष		kṣa

	ख + ख   =	ख्ख		khkha

	ख + य    =	ख्य		khya

	ग + ग     =	ग्ग		gga

	ग + द    =	ग्द		gda

	ग + य   =	ग्य		gya

	ग + र    =	ग्र		gra

	ग + ल   =	ग्ल		gla

	घ + घ    =	घ्घ		ghagha

	घ + य    =	घ्य		ghyā

	घ + र    =	घ्र		ghra

	ड + म   =	ड्म		ḍma

	च + च   =	च्च		cca

	च + य   =	च्य		cya

	छ + व   =	छ्व		chava

	ज + ज   =	ज्ज		jja

	ज + य   =	ज्य		jya

	ज + र   =	ज्र		jra

	ज + व   =	ज्व		jva

	ब + च   =	ब्च		bhca

	ट + ट   =	ट्ट		ṭṭa

	ट + र   =	ट्र		ṭra

	ट + य  =	ट्य		ṭya

	ट + ठ  =	ट्ठ		ṭṭha

	ट + य  =	ट्य		ṭhya

	ड + ड   =	ड्ड		ḍḍa

	ड + य   =	ड्य		ḍya

	ड + र   =	ड्र		ḍra

	ण + ट   =	ण्ट		ṇṭa

	ण + य   =	ण्य		ṇya

	त + प   =	त्प		tpa
	
	त + व   =	त्व		tva

	थ + थ   =	थ्थ		ththa

	थ + र   =	थ्र		thra

	द + म   =	द्म		dṁa

	द + य   =	द्य		dya

	द + र   =	द्र		dra

	द + व   =	द्व		dva

	ध + व   =	ध्व		dhva

	न + त   =	न्त		nta

	न + य   =	न्य		nya

	न + व   =	न्व		nva

	न + र   =	न्र		nra

	प + त   =	प्त		pta

	प + र   =	प्र		pra

	प + य   =	प्य		pya

	फ + र   =	फ्र		phra

	ब + ज   =	ब्ज		bja

	ब + र   =	ब्र		bra

	म + ब   =	म्ब		amb

	म + र   =	म्र		mra

	म + ल   =	म्ल		mla

	र + य   =	र्य		rya

	र + भ   =	र्भ		rbha

	ल + य   =	ल्य		lya

	व + र   =	व्र		vra

	श + श   =	श्श		śśa

	श + म   =	श्म		śma  

	श + र   =	श्र		śra

	ष + प   =	ष्प		ṣpa

	स + म   =	स्म		sma

	स + व   =	स्व		sva

	स + र   =	स्र		sra

	ह + र   =	ह्र		hra

	ह + य   =	ह्य		hya

In the above combinations, one can notice that sometimes the first consonant becomes allographic, in some cases the second one.

	Ex.:  (Second one)   म + र   = म्र

     	         (First one)      ड + म   = ड्म

5. Phonemic - graphemic fit:

The phonemic – graphemic equivalents are as follows:

Certain consonants do not occur in the geminated form. For Ex.: छ + छ, झ + झ, ढ + ढ, ञ + ञ, ङ + ङ.

However, these consonants can occur with other dissimilar consonants and they have been listed earlier.

6. Directions for writing each grapheme:

Dēvānagari letters as said earlier are written from left to right. For effective teaching purpose, all the alphabets of Sanskrit can be classified on the basis of their shape similarity. Before knowing the directions for writing, it is necessary to group them on the basis of shape similarity. Hence, vowels and consonants are grouped as follows:

Vowels:

उ	ऊ	अ	अं	अः	आ	ओ	औ	ए	ऐ	
u	uu	a	am	aḥ	aa	o	au	ee	ai

Consonants:-

(1)   	ट	ठ	ढ	द	ड	ह	ङ	इ	ई	झ
	ṭa	ṭha	ḍha	da	ḍa	ha	ṅa	I	ii	jha

(2)	व	ब	क
	va	ba	ka

(3) 	र	स	ख
	ra	sa	kha

(4)	य	थ	श
	ya	tha	śa

(5)	प	फ	ष	म	भ
	pa	pha	ṣa	ma	bha

(6)	ध	घ	छ
	dha	gha	cha

(7)	च	ज	ञ	न
	ca 	ja	ña	na

(8)	 ग	ण
	ga	ṇa

(9)	त	ल
	ta	la

(10)	ऋ	ऋ
	ṛ	ṛṛ

Thus, these two groups of vowels and ten groups of consonants are classified on the basis of their shape similarity. This type of grouping will help the learner in learning the script quickly. After the grouping of the letters, it is necessary for a beginner to know the direction of writing. This will help the learner for the correct hand movement for getting the correct shape of the letter. Learners should observe carefully the directions shown. Directions are shown in two ways (1) by Arrow mark (2) by shape mark. First directions by arrow marks are given, then by shape marks. Directions by arrow mark are taken from the book intensive course in Sanskrit by N.D.Krishnamurthy, U.P. Upadhyaya and others.

	अ	आ	इ	ई
	A	aȧ	I	ii

	उ	ऊ	ऋ	ऋ	
	U	uu	ṛ	ṛṛ

	ए	ऐ	ओ	
	Ee	ai	oo

	क	च	ट	त
	Ka	ca	ta	ta

	ख	छ	ठ	भ
	Kha	cha	ṭha	tha

	ग	ज	ड	द
	Ga	ja	ḍa	da

	घ	झ	ढ	ध
	ghạ	jha	ḍha	dha

	ङ	ञ	ण	न
	ṇa	ña	ṇa	na

	प	य	ष	फ	र	स	ब
	pa	ya	ṣa	pha	ra	sa	ba

Note: Arrow marks may be given to show direction of writing.

	ल	ह	भ	व	ळ	म	श	क्ष
	la	ha	bha	va	la	ma	śa	kṣa  

Directions for shape writings are taken from the book - देवनागरी लिपि तथा हिंदी वर्तनीका मानकी करण published by केंद्रीय हिंदी निदेशालयस शिक्षा विभाग, मानव संसाधन विकास मंत्रालय, भारत सरकार are as follows:

(Chart missing)

Combinations of vowels and consonants are given first and then different consonants are written along with the different vowel matras. These are taken from the book “Intensive course in Sanskrit” by N.D.Krishnamurthi, U.P. Upadhyaya and others. They are enclosed herewith.

Combination of Vowels and Consonants

	क् 	ख्	ग्	घ्
	K	kh	g	gh

अ  	्   	क् +  अ  = क  _ _  _ _

आ  	ा  	क् +  आ  = का  _ _ _ _ _  

इ 		क् +  इ  = कि   _ _ _ _ _  

ई   	ी	 क् +  ई  = की   _ _ __ __ 

उ  	ु   	क् +  उ  = कु   _ _ _ _ _  

ऊ   	ू 	क् +  ऊ  = कू _  __ _ __   

 ऋ   	ृ 	क् +  ऋ  = कृ   _ _ _ _ _  

ए    	े	क् +  ए  = के    _ __ _ __   
 
ऐ    	ै 	क् +  ऐ  = कै  _ _ _ _ _  

ओ    	ो 	क् +  ओ = को  _ _ __ _ _  

औ    	ौ 	क् +  औ  = कौ  _ _ _ _ _  

अं     	ं 	क् +  अं  = कं  __ _ __ _  

अः             ः             क् +  अः  = कः   _ _ _ _ _  _

             	a	aa	I	ii	u	uu	ṛ	e	ai	o        ou

k          	क	का	कि	की	कु	कू	कृ	के	कै	को       कौ

kh	ख	खा	खि	खी	खु	खू	खृ	के	खै	खो       खौ

g	ग	गा	गि	गी	गु	गू	गृ	गे	गै	गो        गौ

gh	घ	घा	घि	घी	घु	घू	घृ	घे	घै	घो        घौ

c	च	चा	चि	ची	चु	चू	चृ	चे	चै	चो        चौ

ch	छ	छा	छि	छी	छु	छू	छृ	छे	छै	छो        छौ

j	ज	जा	जि	जी	जु	जू	जृ	जे	जै	जो        जौ

jh	झ	झा	झि	झी	झु	झू	झृ	जे	झै	झो        झौ

ṭ	ट	टा	टि	टी	टु	टू	टृ	टे	टै	टो         टौ

ṭh	ठ	ठा	ठि	ठी	ठु	ठू	ठृ	ठे	ठै	ठो         ठौ

ḍ	द	दा	दि	दी	दु	दू	दृ	दे	दै	दो         दौ	

ḍh	ध	धा	धि	धी	धु	धू	धृ	धे	धै	धो        धौ

ṇ	ण	णा	णि	णी	णु	णू	णृ	णे	णै	णो        णौ

t	त	ता	ति	ती	तु	तू	तृ	ते	तै	तो        तौ

th	थ	था	थि	थी	थु	थू	थृ	थे	थै	थो        थौ

d	द	दा	दि	दी	दु	दू	दृ	दे	दै	दो        दौ

dh	ध	धा	धि	धी	धु	धू	धृ	धे	धै              धो       धौ

n	न	ना	नि	नी	नु	नू	नृ	ने	नै	नो        नौ

p	प	पा	पि	पी	पु	पू	पृ	पे	पै	पो        पौ

ph	फ	फा	फि	फी	फु	फू	फृ	फे	फै	फो       फौ

b	ब	बा	बि	बी	बु	बू	बृ	बे	बै	बो       बौ

bh	भ	भा	भि	भी	भु	भू	भृ	भे	भै	भो       भौ

m	म	मा	मि	मी	मु	मू	मृ	मे	मै	मो       मौ

y	य	या	यि	यी	यु	यू	यृ	ये	यै	यो       यौ

r	र	रा	रि	री	रु	रू	रृ	रे	रै	रो        रौ

l	ल	ला	लि	ली	लु	लू	लृ	ले	लै	लो       लौ

ś	श	शा	शि	शी	शु	शू	शृ	शे	शै	शो       शौ

ṣ	ष	षा	षि	षी	षु	षू	षृ	षे	षै	षो       षौ

s	स	सा	सि	सी	सु	सू	सृ	से 	सै	सो       सौ

ḥ	ह	हा	हि	ही	हु	हू	हृ	हे	है	हो       हौ

D. History of Script: (Origin, Comparison with other scripts)

Introduction:

Writing is a graphic representation of the spoken language or speech. Any language can be reduced to writing. For this purpose, the concerned language has to be analyzed into constituent elements. Hence, every writing system presupposes the Linguistic analysis of that language. The writing system evolved in course of time has different units of functioning, viz: words, morphemes, syllables, phonemes or phonetic units. They are characterized ideally by the level on which they operate, viz: Lexical, Morphemic, Phonemic or Phonetic.

According to schmandt-Besserat (1978), "writing was created as a visual code for recording and communicating information by means of more or less iconic signs, with physical objects as their referents. The connection of this code with language was the second step in its development". The most obvious connection between the visual and the Linguistic codes is the word which designates the same referent.

Harris (1986) says that "writing was not invented as a means of faithfully representing speech; rather it evolved as a mnemonic code, which was linked to speech in the course of its development as a matter of economy". Vachek (1973), Sampson (1985), De Francis (1989) are of the opinion that whether writing should be considered autonomous from speech, or to what extent, is therefore a matter of continuing debate, and one which is to be answered differently for different writing systems and different languages.

a) Origin of writing:

Cohen (1958) says that the invention of writing happened only a few times - possibly only once. Some scholars like Cohen consider monogenetic theory of writing. Whereas others like Friedrich (1966) consider several independent developments of script. The Advocates of monogenetic theory claim that writing proper was originated less then ten thousand years ago in Mesopotamia, whence it spread by cultural diffusion to other parts of the world. Advocates of hetrogenetic theory like Friedrich advocate seven independent developments in scripts by the following cultures, they are:

	(1)  Sumer, end of 4th millennium BCE
	(2)  Egypt, end of 4th millennium BCE  
	(3)  The Aegean, including Hittite and Cretan, both early in the 2nd millennium BCE,
	(4)  China, 2nd millennium BCE,
	(5)  Elam, ca.3000 BCE,
	(6)  The Indus Valley ca. 2200 BCE,
	(7)  The Mayan Empire 1st cen. BCE.

Gelb (1963) says that the last three mentioned above are still partly or entirely undeciphered. All other developments must be considered derived at least in so far as they borrowed the notion of writing.

B) Semitic Languages and scripts:

The term 'Semitic' derived from the Hebrew name Shem in 1781 (Genesis) 10; 21-31: 11; 10-26) originally applied by A.L.Schlozer to Arabic, Aramaic and Hebrew now also includes several other languages. Among the two dozen or so languages or dialects which can be identified as Semitic are Akkadian, Amharic, Arabic, Aramaic, Assyrian, Babylonian, Eblaic, Epigraphic south Arabian, Ethiopic, Geez, Hebrew, Maltese Mandaic, Nabataean, Palmyrene, Phonecian, Punic, Syriac, Ugaritic and Yaudic.

The area covered by the Semitic languages includes Mesopotamia (Modern Iraq, parts of Turkey, Syria and the Levani, the Arabian Peninsula as well as coastlands and Islands of the Mediterranean.

There are two main branches of Semitic, viz: East Semitic (i.e. Akkadian from about 3000 BCE) and west Semitic (2000 BCE), they are further subdivided into north-west (Ugaritic, Hebrew, Aramaic) and south-west (Arabic and south Arabic and Ethiopic).

Semitic languages surviving among speakers in the 1990s are Amharic, Tigre etc in Ethiopia, Arabic in the Arabic speaking world, Modern western Aramaic dialects in Syria, Central Aramaic in Turkey and Eastern Aramaic dialects in the mountains of Kurdistan, the shores of lake Urmia and elsewhere, Neo-Mandaic in Iran and Modern Hebrew in Israel. Syriac is still in liturgical use.

Semitic scripts:

It is said that all "contemporary writing systems, with the exception of those based on the Chinese script can be traced back to Semitic proto types which developed in the near Middle-East between 1800-1500 BCE. In the course of time, Semitic scripts became the most powerful instruments for the storage and dissemination of knowledge, stimulating the development and growth of a large number of new and highly effective writing systems in Europe and Asia.

Regarding the origin of Semitic script, it is debated that whether it was an independent, unique invention of the Semitic people or an adopted borrowing from one of the prevailing scripts of antiquity, viz: Egyptian Cuneiform, Cretan, Cypriote or Hittite or did it originate in Crete from a set of prehistoric geometric sign (Evans 1909). It is also debated on who invented the Semitic script? One single inventor (Scmitt 1938) which has generally more credence has again been answered differently by different scholars. One theory naming the Hyskos, a Semitic pastoral people who used a Canaanite language (Sethe 1917) and conquered Lower Egypt in about 1670 B.C; Another possibility is that of a series of parallel development in the Syro-Palestinian area which does however not exclude variations of mutual influence" (Jenson 1958).

"Semitic scripts are consonantal in character; this means that words are primarily represented by their consonants which carry the root meaning. One of the advantages of Semitic scripts over previous systems (Egyptian Hieroglyphs) is the small number of signs required which in turn promotes greater flexibility when adopted for the use of Non-Semitic languages. Semitic scripts developed into alphabets in Europe and into syllabic scripts in south and south-east Asia with variants along the old trade routes, which connected Central Asia and China to the west". (A.Gaur Semitic scripts).

North Semitic scripts are generally thought to have emerged from the proto-Sinaitic/proto-Semitic or proto-Canaanite. They are divided into various branches. The two most important ones which are directly or indirectly responsible for the development of most contemporary forms of writing are (1) Phoenician (2) Aramaic.

(1) Phoenician Script: Phoenician script which became stabilized in 1050 BCE can claim the distinction of being the direct ancestor of the Greek Alphabet. It seems to have evolved in a direct line of descent from early North Semitic consonantal script forms. During the long period of its existence (thirteenth/eleventh-third centuries BCE) it remained remarkably consistent. It contained twenty-two letters and was written from right to left.

(2) Aramaic Script: The most vigorous offshoot of the Phoenician script was Aramaic which came into existence around the eleventh/tenth century BCE. Whereas the Phoenician script, despite its wide use among trading communities, had basically been a national script. Aramaic soon acquired a truly international character. In the seventh century BCE after the Aramaic city-states had lost their independence to the Assyrians, the Aramaic language written in the Aramaic script became the Lingua Franca of the Assyrian empire. In the period of Persian Empire (i.e. 550-323 BCE) Aramaic was the official language and the principal script of diplomats and traders between Egypt and Northern India. Its introduction to India had far reaching consequence and led to the development of a large number of scripts in south and south-East Asia. After the collapse of the Persian Empire, the Aramaic language and the Aramaic script both upto then fairly homogenous split into several local dialects and corresponding scripts. The main variants being Jewish (Square Hebrew), Palmynene, Nabataean (Arabic) and Syrias.

At first, the Hebrews used the Phoenician script without any change. But at the 9th century B.C, a distinct script form appeared in an inscription found in the Moab. This early paleo-Hebrew script was however a purely national form of writing more or less restricted to the people of Judea. In course of time, it was also favoured by certain Jewish sects such as the Samaritans who retained it for their hand written literature.

After the sixth century BCE, this script was abandoned in favour of Aramaic. To give legitimacy to the new convention, its introduction was ascribed to Ezra who is supposed to have brought it back from the Babylonian exile and by the second century BCE, a somewhat modified form of Aramaic was used by most Jewish communities. This script which came to be known as Square Hebrew, spread eventually throughout the Jewish Diaspora and is still the standard Jewish Book hand.

Syriac, another offshoot of Aramaic, developed in Edessa in the first century A.D. In its early stage, it showed a strong resemblance to palmyrene. An important event which encouraged the maturing of the Syriac script was the fact that Edessa became the focus for the spread of Christianity to Semitic speaking countries, when in the third century the Bible was translated from Greek into Syriac (the local Aramaic Dialect) the difficulty of transcribing Greek words written in the Alphabet into Semitic consonant script encouraged moves toward a reasonably consistent and effective vocalization. The three main systems eventually used were (1) Estrangela (the earliest extant manuscript is dated 411 CE), (2) Nestorian and (3) Jacobite. Nestorian and Jacobite scripts developed due to the split between Syrian Christians. As the Nestorian church grew in importance, Nestorian missionary monks traveled westward along the old trading routes and brought ht knowledge of this script to central Asia and India.

Arabic, the final offshoot from Aramaic, is today the most prominent Semitic script, and after the Latin alphabet, more widely used than any other form of writing. It is generally accepted that it originated in the fourth/fifth century /CE from the script of the Nabataents - the people of the first well defined (northern) Arab kingdom around Petra (now Jordan). The Nabataeans employed two script variations, one monumental for inscriptions and another more cursive, which developed into a cursive forerunner of modern Arabic. Before the coming of the Islam in the seventh century, the Arabs relied to a large extent on oral traditions for the transmission of their rich Literature, but the revelation of the Qurān created the need for more widespread literacy.

Already in the early Islamic period, two distinct styles of writing existed: (1) Kufic, a bold monumental script which became the favoured script for the writhing of the Qurān. (2) Naskhi, a more rounded and cursive form which served as model for a number of different styles that developed at the courts of non-Arab rulers – it is also the parent of the modern Arabic script.

Around 1000 BCE, the Greeks came into contact with the Phoenician form of writing and by using some of the Semitic consonant signs to represent vowels, they adapted it successfully to the use of their own (Indo-European) language. In the eighth century, Greek settlers took the Greek alphabet to Italy where it was used, first by the Etruscans, and from around seventh and sixth century B.C by the Romans.

Semitic traders and Christian (Manichaean and Nestorian) missionaries brought writing to Iran and Central Asia. The scripts which consequently evolved to serve, with varying degrees of success, a large number of local languages go directly or indirectly (via Syriac) back to Aramaic. Decisive for the development of writing in central Asia was the script used from 500 A.D for Sogdian (A middle Iranian language). It was basically consonantal script, consisting seventeen letters plus two special signs. In the eighth century, the Uighur script evolved from a later form of Sogdian among the Buddhists in Turkestan. It was not a good instrument for writing Turkish, especially when the dots meant to distinguish, certain letters were omitted. In 1206, Genghis Khan chose the Uighur Script (and Language) for the Mongol Chancellery. Efforts to use the Mongolian Vernacular as the official language led to a remodeling of Uighur. In 1272, the so called Passepa script, an adaptation of the Tibetan seal script added some (Indian) syllabic elements; a hybrid and still cumbersome script called KALIKA developed to become the forerunner of modern Mongolian.

The Indian subcontinent

Around the seventh century BCE, Semitic traders and Persian administrators brought Aramaic script to the north-western part of India, out of which two scripts developed, viz:(1) Kharoshthi (third century BCE- seventh century CE), a short lived and historically less important cursive business script (2) Brāhmi, the first documented in the inscriptions of the Emperor Asoka (272-31 BCE); both of them syllabic. Since the correct pronunciation of the Vedic hymns had always been an essential aspect of ceremonial Hinduism, an orally transmitted knowledge of phonetics existed prior to the use of writing, and Brāhmi was perfectly adapted to the sounds of Indian Languages. All contemporary Indian scripts, including those used in the Himalayan countries and in Sri Lanka, can be traced back to Brāhmi. They consist basically of about 48 to 54 signs with vowels written in their full form only if used on their own or in an initial position; in conjunction with a consonant they are abbreviated to auxiliary signs before, after, below or above the consonant sign.

During the first Christian Millennium, Indian traders, colonists, military adventures, and Buddhist missionaries brought their scripts (mostly a south Indian grantha variation of Brāhmi) to south-East Asia. Designated to fit the Linguistic peculiarities of Indian Languages, they now had to accommodate four entirely different language groups: Sino-Tibetan, Malayo-Polynesian, Austro-Asiatic and Thai. This was achieved by making number of compromises (A. Gaur, Semitic scripts).

C. History of writing in India:

History of writing in India commences from the Indus script. The Indus Valley Civilization or Harappa culture was not known to the scholars till the early twenties of this century. The excavations at Mohenjodaro in Sind and at Harappa in Punjab (now in Pakistan) and the discovery of numerous steatite seals found in Kālibangan in Rajasthan and Lothal in Gujarat take the history of writing to third millennium before Christ.

Many attempts were made by the scholars both Indian and foreign to decipher the Indus script. Among the foreign scholars, the Russian team consisting of Knorozov, Volcok and Gurov made an attempt to decipher this script with the help of the computers and came to the conclusion that it belonged to the Dravidian family. The Finnish team of scholars led by Asko parpola also said the same. Among the Indian scholars, I.Mahadevan relates this script to Dravidian while S.R.Rao considers it as pre-Vedic. B.B.Lal has expressed his difficulties in accepting the views of Rao and Mahadevan. Even today, Indus script has not yet been deciphered to the satisfaction of the world scholars.

After the Indus script which covers the history of writing in India from about 2500 B.C to 1500 B.C and before the period of Mauryan king Asoka (272 B.C. to 232 B.C), edicts written on stone are available and have been deciphered. Diringer (1968) says "As a consequence of the primacy of oral transmission in the Hindu tradition, the details of script development are less clearly attested in India than in the middle East or Europe". Diringer argues that Vedic Literature does not refer to the existence of writing as they were transmitted orally from generation to generation. Secondly, amongst ancient Indians, while there is a goddess called Saraswati who represents goddess of learning or knowledge but there is no god or goddess for writing. This view has not been accepted by other scholars.

Writing during and after the Vedic period:

It is believed that art of writing was known to the Vedic people. The Ṛigveda mentions the names of several meters like Gāyatri, Anushṭubh, Bṛihiti, Jagati etc. The Vājasaneyi samihita and the Atharva Veda also refer the names of these meters and the technical terms regarding their composition involving rules of prosody pre suppose the existence of the writing. Again, the references in Vedic literature to the numerical figures like daśa (ten), śata (hundred), saharsra (thousand), niyuta (hundred-thousand) etc., show that calculation of high figures would have been made possible only with written figures which shows the existence of the knowledge of writing. Such numerical figures and other calculations are found in the Brāhmana literature.

There are also references to aksharas (indelible) and Vaṛṇas (coloured or painted) meaning written letters in the Upanishads. References to the words patra (leaf) and paṭṭa (a slab or tablet) indicate the practice of writing or engraving letters in ink and on hard objects. The discussion on Sandhi or joining of letters and the composition of the sacred akshara ōṁ as a combination of the letters a, au and m in Brāhmaṇas also suggest the existence of writing. Thus, many technical terms on grammar, etymology and prosody found in Vedic and later literature like the Upanishads, Āraṇyakas and the Brāhmaṇas suggest the existence of writing during that period.

The Ashṭādhyāyi of Pāṇini(4th century B.C) contains the words Lipi 'writing' or 'script' and 'Lipikāra' 'writer or scribe', yavanāni 'Greek script' and grantha 'book' showing thereby that the knowledge of writing was known to Indians during that period. The Vēdangas and the sūtra Literature (8th century or 3rd century B.C) also contain references to writing. The vāsishtha Darmasūtra refers to the written documents.

Kautilya’s Arthasāstra (4th century B.C, i.e. pre-Asokan period) states as follows:

	(1) The student should learn after his tonsure ceremony, the alphabet and writing. 
	(2) The king should correspond with his ministers (patra saṁprēṣhana). 
	(3) The king should send his spies with signs and writings. 
	(4) The writer should be an able person in reading documents, prompt in composing and elegant in writing. 

The two epics, Rāmāyaṇa and Mahabhāratha, though assigned to the pre-Mauryan period (i.e. 5th century B.C) belong in their present form, to the Gupta period i.e. about the 4th century A.D. They mention terms like Likh, lēkha, lēkhana and lēkhaka which testifies to the existence of the art of writing during the epic age also.

The early Jaina and Buddhist literature also contain references to writing. The jaina works Samavāyāyṅga-sūtra (about 300 B.C) and paṇṇavaṇā-sūtra (about 168 B.C) mention 18 types of scripts which were in use at that time. The expression 'namō bhaṁbhīya liviye' salutation to the Brāhmi 'script' appears in the Bhagavatīsūtra. The Buddhist works Mahāvastu and Lalitavistara (3rd century A.D) also refer to the writing. While the former work mentions the names of thirty scripts prevalent at that time, the latter one state that Buddha as a boy went to the Lipi-śāla a school where writing was taught. The jātakās refer to 'phalaka' 'wooden writing board' and 'Varṇaka' 'wooden pen' as instruments for writing. The 'Vinayapitaka' commend the art of writing (lēkhanā) to the monks. Expressions like lēkha lēkhana, Likhati, Lēkhaka, akkhara, paṇṇō (leaves), Suvaṇnạ paṭṭa etc., occur in early Buddhist literature.

Some foreigners who visited India during mauryan and later periods have made references to the writing in India. The earliest historical contact with India is that of Greeks in the wake of the invasion of Alexander the Great. His general Nearchus states that the people of Punjab knew the art of preparing paper out of cotton and tattered clothes for writing purposes. Curtius, another Greek writer, refers to the tender bark of certain trees, probably of Bhūrjapatra which was used for writing. Megasthenes, the Greek Ambassador to the court of the Maurya king Chandragupta writes that mile stones were fixed on the roads for the convenience of the travelers.(Gai, G.S.)

It becomes clear form the above illustration that writing existed in the Vedic period as well as in the post-Vedic period before the Mauryan king Asoka. But material evidence like inscriptions, copper plates etc, are not available to know the nature of writing. Hence, until material evidence is discovered one can say that the earliest datable epigraphs discovered and deciphered so far in India are the famous Rock edicts of the Mauryan king Asoka. In the words of G.S. Gai, the history of decipherable epigraphy in India commences from the time of Asoka (272 to 232 B.C.). The script used by Asoka was called Mauryan Brāhmī or Asokan Brāhmī script by the scholars. Hence, Brāhmī script is the mother of all the alphabets of the Sanskritic (i.e. Indo-Aryan) and Dravidian Languages which are spoken today in different parts of India. Brāhmī is also the origin of many alphabets of South-East Asia including Tibetan, Ceylonese, Burmese and Javanese. Dani (1963) calls it as a classical Indian Brāhmī script used to write the Prakrits of the Asokan inscriptions of the third century B.C.

d) Origin of the Brāhmī script:

As said earlier, Brāhmī script was used by the king Asoka for the propagation of the principles of Buddhism. Hence, it was also referred as Asokan Brāhmī. However, Asoka had used other scripts such as Kharōshtri, Aramaic and Greek scripts in addition to Brāhmī. Aramaic and Greek were used in the edicts found in Afghanistan. One edict found in Taxila (now in Pakistan) is supposed to be in Aramaic script.

Regarding the origin of Brāhmī script, there are different views by different scholars. Asoka himself does not refer anywhere that he had used Brāhmī script for engraving his records. Different views are given about its origin. Some are as follows:

(1) In the Chinese encyclopedia Fa-wan-shu-Lin (7th century A.D) it is said that the Brāhmī script written from left to right was invented by Fan i.e. Brahma (T.P Verma).

(2) According to the Arab Writer Alberuni (10th century A.D) the Hindus had once forgotten the art of writing. Through a divine inspiration it was re-discovered by Vyāsa, the son of parāsara. This must have been a popular belief prevalent then and recorded by Alberuni.

(3) Raj Bali pande suggests that the name Brāhmī indicates that it was invented for preserving Brahma i.e. Vēda by the Aryans and that it was mainly used by the Brāhmaṇas whose duty was to preserve the Vedic literature and to prepare the copies of this Literature for the future generations.

Asoka used the Brāhmī script for writing the prākrat language and not Sanskrit. For centuries, Buddhists and Jains have used this script for writing prākrit. Later on Brāhmin’s must have adopted it for their use for writing Sanskrit. Hence, Visarga, jihvāmūliya and Upadhmānīya etc. were not used in prakrit and are later editions of Sanskrit in the Brāhmī script. Asokan Brāhmī is also called as Mauryan Brāhmī script to distinguish it from the later Brāhmī of the early kshatrapa, Kushāna and śātavāhana periods and also from the Southern Brāhmī used for writing the Dravidian languages.

(4) James prinsep, Otfried Mueller, E. Senart and others were of the opinion that Brāhmī script had its origin in the Greek Alphabet when the Greeks came into contact with the Indians in the wake of Alexander’s invasion of India.

(5) Scholars like William Jones, A Weber, A.C Burnell, Isaac Taylor and George Buhler held the view that the Brāhmī script could be derived from the Phoenician (Aramaic), South and North-Semitic scripts.

(6) Buhler, a great expert on Indian Epigraphy and Paleography, stated that twenty two letters of the Brāhmī script were derived from North-Semitic script and some of them were found in early Phoenician records. To the objection that while Brāhmī script is written from left to right while the Semitic one was written from right to left, he maintained that originally Brāhmī was also written, like the Semitic script from right to left only. To support his view Buhler quoted the example of the Eran coin legend written in the reversed style of the Asokan Brāhmī letters dha, o and ta which are also written in the reverse way. Some scholars later on who wanted to support Buhler’s view of Semitic origin of the Brāhmī script and its original direction of writing from right to left quoted the instance of the yerraguḍi (Andhra Pradesh) rock edicts of Asoka where some lines are written in boustrophedon style and the Duvegala (Sri Lankā) inscription which is written in the reverse fashion. But scholars like G.S. Gai say that these examples of the Eran coin, Yerragudi rock edicts and the Duvegala record are stray cases and are due to the mistake or whim of the individual scribe and do not help to determine the direction of writing. Dr.Gai further says that as shown by the large majority of the Asokan edicts in Brāhmī script, the direction of writing is only from left to right which is also the case in regard to all the scripts of India derived from this Brāhmī script.

(7) Some scholars trace the origin of the Brāhmī script to the Indus or Harappa script which was prevalent from about 2500 B.C to 1500 B.C. Dr. Gai does not accept this view. He says that "it is difficult to connect the two scripts in view of the wide gap of over one thousand two hundred years between two scripts and also in view of the fact that the Indus script has not yet been finally and successfully deciphered. Moreover the consensus of scholars agrees that Indus script was written from right to left".

(8) General Cunningham was of the view that the Brāhmī script is of Indian origin, though he thought that the plan of the system was borrowed from the Greeks.

(9) R.Shaamsastri connected the origin of the Brāhmī script with some Sanskrit Tantric texts which contained signs and symbols which represented the Dēvas and Dēvanagara. John Dowson, Jayaswal, G.H. Ojha and R.B.Pande also advocate the indigenous origin of the Brāhmī script.

(10) Edward Thomas traced the origin of Brāhmī to the Dravidian races of South India. T.N.Subrahmanyam also supported this view. Dr. Gai remarks that no script of the Dravidian languages earlier than the Asokan Brāhmī script has been discovered so far and hence it is difficult to accept the theory of Dravidian origin of the Brāhmī script.

(11) T.P.Verma has suggested a fresh approach to the problem of the origin of the Asokan Brāhmī script. He says that the birth of the Brāhmī script should be considered in the light of the culture renaissance that preceded the period of Asoka, i.e from the time of Gautama Buddha. During this period, India particularly north India, witnessed great cultural movements which had far reaching impact on the social, religious, artistic, Literary and Linguistic history of the country. Many anti-Vedic preachers, viz: Parivrājaka teachers came into existence, particularly in the eastern part of the country. Popular religions like Buddhism and Jainism which embraced all common people without distinction of caste or sex were introduced and the Vedic religion which addressed only to a select community received a set back. Sanskrit, which was the language of this select community and their monopoly, was not accessible to the bulk of the society. So, the new religious teachers adopted the use of the Prakrit language which gradually spread throughout the country and even outside and thus secured an honoured place like Sanskrit, under the influence of this strong cultural movement. A simple and precise script was created for the use of this popular language. The credit of using this script and propagating it throughout the length and breadth of India goes to the missionary zeal of Asoka who wanted to record his edicts on permanent material, viz: stone by using a standard script. Thus, Asokan Brāhmī script was the creation of the Buddhist monks for the propagation of the teaching of Buddha in the Prakrit language for the benefit of the common people. The Indian alphabet or varṇamālā was the creation of the Sanskrit grammarians and was in existence long before the period of Asoka. The Brāhmī was based on this existing Varṇamālā of the Sanskrit grammarians but contained fewer signs to suit the needs of the Prakrit language. Based on these arguments Dr. G.S.Gai comes to the conclusion that it is not correct to say as stated by many European and Indian scholars, that Brāhmī script was perfected by Sanskrit grammarians. Regarding the decipherment of the Asokan Brāhmī script Dr.G.S.Gai gives an interesting story which is as follows:

"The decipherment of the Asokan Brāhmī script has an interesting story; it was long forgotten by the Indians. Firoz shah Tughlak (1351-1388 A.D) shifted two pillars containing Asokan edicts from Topra and Meerat in Uttar Pradesh to Delhi in 1356 A.D and invited a number of Sanskrit pundits to read the writings on the pillars. But nobody could decipher the script on them. A similar attempt was made by the Mughal emperor Akbar (1556-1605A.D) but without success. Only after the advent of the British rule in India, scientific efforts were made to decipher early writings when the Asiatic society of Bengal was founded by William Jones in 1784. Though some of the later inscriptions including the Gupta records were deciphered earlier, it goes to the credit of James Prinsep to find out the key to the decipherment of the Asokan Brāhmī script with the help of the short inscriptions from sānchī. With great patience and perseverance he worked at it quite a few years and wistfully gazed at the unknown script which concealed the mystery of India’s thought and culture and at last, in 1837, found the key to it and successfully deciphered the entire script".

Characteristics of Asokan Brāhmī script:

(1) Asokan Brāhmī script consists of seven vowels including nasal aṁ and thirty-three consonants including semi vowels. The special feature of this script is that vowel a is inherent in each consonant letter while other vowels are indicated by separate strokes attached to it. On this account some scholars are inclined to describe this script as syllabic-cum-alphabetic. There is no pure consonant as such which later on was indicated by a diminutive form of the 'required consonant letter only.

(2) Another characteristic of this Brāhmī script is that it is written from left to right and this is adopted by all the derivative scripts also.

(3) Asokan Brāhmī inscriptions are found engraved on rocks, pillars, caves and in one case on a slab. The pillars are well polished in accordance with the high standard of mauryan art and hence the records engraved on them are beautiful and well preserved.

(4) The Letter of Asokan Brāhmī is straight and angular in general appearance, though some letters are round and cursive. The lines run parallel to each other from left to right and some sort of punctuation was observed by leaving some space between two words.

(5) Upasak postulates basic and derivative forms of letters in the Asokan Brāhmī script. Thus, amongst the vowels while a, i and u are basic ā, e, o are evolved once. This distinction between the basic and evolved letters is more pronounced in regard to the vowels than the consonants.

(6) As regards the method of producing the letters, the writer used the simplest of the tools, viz: a longish piece of chalk, charcoal so that the lines drawn are uniform in width, which can be noticed in the Asokan Brāhmī edicts. The actual shape of the letters depended on the writer’s method of producing the letters. Two stages are involved in this writing. First, the writer called Lipikāra in the edicts of Asoka who writes the inscriptions on the stone by chalk, Charcoal or haematite and then the letters are cut or engraved by the stonecutter. While the writer was a literate person, the engraver was probably an illiterate person.

Development of scripts during the post-Asokan period:

The Asokan Brāhmī script did not have any regional varieties hence it was called an imperial script. This standard script prevailed throughout the vast empire of Asoka upto Karnataka region in the south. A few records engraved soon after the period of Asoka, though retaining the features of the script of his edicts are not so well executed. These are the Nagarjuni cave inscriptions of Daśaratha, grand son of Asoka, the Mahāstān (now in Bangladesh) inscriptions, the piprahva and sohgura records. To this period may be assigned the script of the Bhaṭṭiprolu (Andhra Pradesh) casket inscriptions. The peculiarity of this script is that while kā of Asokan Brāhmī script forms ka here, kā is formed by adding another vertical stroke. Some scholars connect the Brāhmī script of the Tamil cave inscriptions with this script. These records represent the post-Asokan script. Some scholars consider the script of Bhatṭiprolu inscriptions as the origin of the Southern Brāhmī inscriptions.

The script of the inscriptions found in the caves of Tamil Nadu in the districts of Tirunelveli, Madurai, Ramanathapuram, Tiruchirapalli and Coimbatore has to be considered. There is also one inscriptions found in a cave in the Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, these are the earliest inscriptions of south India discovered so far during the last seventy five years or so. Some of the records recovered from Arikamedu near Pondicherry and from Uraiyur near Tiruchirapalli belong to the period varying from 3rd century B.C to 1st century A.D and are written in Brāhmī script. One notable feature of the post-Asokan period is that Asokan Brāhmī did not remain as one imperial script, even common people also started engraving on the rocks. With the advent of the śaka kshatrapas and the Kushāṇas as political powers in India, the writing system assumed a definite change. T.P.Verma thinks that the script of the Kṣatrapa inscriptions of Mathura, Pabhosa cave inscriptions, Bharhut Gateway inscriptions, Ayodhya inscriptions of Dhanadeva and Hathigumpha inscriptions of Kharavela as belonging to the 1st half of the 1st century A.D.

During the rule of Kuṣhāṇas, script was further developed. The number of private and individual records increased as compared to the official records. T.P.Verma broadly classifies two main varieties of the script of this period, viz: the latter half of the 1st century A.D till the end of 2nd century A.D. He calls them as western variety found in the inscriptions of mathura and its surrounding region including sānchī while Eastern Variety was found in the inscriptions of the kausāmbi region. Many changes were noticed in the script due to the art of writing by the local writers.

The Gupta script:

The next stage in the development of the script of the inscriptions from North India is noticed in the records of the king of the Gupta dynasty and their contemporaries who belonged to the period 4th to 6th century A.D. Hence, this script is called Gupta script. D.C.Sircar prefers to call this script as Brāhmī. Dani, however, considers the script of this period as proto-regional script. The Gupta script is considered to be the successor of the Kushāṇa script in North India.

The Gupta script is divided into two main varieties, viz: Northern and Southern. The Northern variety is further divided into North-Eastern variety, and North-western variety. Southern variety is divided into western variety and central variety. The chief characteristics of the North-Eastern variety are the looped form of sa; cursive ha and la, box types of ma, etc, while the older forms of these letters are found in the North-western variety. In the southern variety, the letters like a, i, ka and ra develop hook at the bottom, has a tailed la, rectangular form of cha, etc. In the central variety, the characteristic feature is the box head in the place of top strokes. The North-Eastern variety is met with in the Allahabad pillar inscriptions of Samudragupta, gadhwa inscriptions of Kumargupta and the Kahaum inscriptions of skandagupta while the North-Eastern variety is found in the Mathura pillar inscriptions of Chandragupta II and Udayagiri cave inscriptions of kumāragupta I. The western variety of the southern variety is noticed in the Sanchi inscriptions and the Junāgadh inscriptions of Skandagupta while the Central variety is met with in the Eṛan stone inscriptions of Samudragupta.

Dani considers that Allahabad inscriptions of Samudragupta and the Udayagiri cave inscriptions of Chandragupta II follow the Kausāmbī style of writing because the so called features of looped sa and box type ma found in them were already noticed in the Magha inscriptions of the rulers of Kausambi. Hence, he calls it as Kausambi style of writing. Inscriptions from this period onwards show a tendency to develop regional styles of writing. Thus, some inscriptions at Udayagiri were following Malwa style while others at Mathura were following Mathura style of writing. Similarly, the style of writing found in the Allahabad inscriptions of Samudragupta is not found throughout North-India. Hence, according to him, these styles of writing were getting localized and getting affiliated to various cultural regions. Hence, he studies the scripts of this and the following periods under the title 'proto-regional scripts'.

Scripts belonging to post Gupta period:

From the 6th to about the 10th century A.D, the inscriptions in North-India were written in the script which was called by different names. Since, the letters begin to incline from right to left resulting in the formation of acute angle on the right-end of some letters; this script was called acute-angled script by Buhler while Fleet names it as Kuṭila. This acute-angle is noticed in letters like pa, ma, ya and sa. The head-mark of the letters looked like a nail and hence the script was also called nail-headed script.

According to Dani, this formation of nail-head is due to the use of the pen as a writing material. The same script is also named as Siddhamātrikā a term used by Al-Biruni in the 11th century A.D. It is also called ‘Early Nāgari’ because it was the origin of the later Nāgari and Dēvanāgari script. This acute angled script is found in the Bodh-Gayā inscriptions of Mahānāman dated 588-89 A.D. Some seals of themaukhari rulers, Madhuban and Baushkera plates of harsha and the aphsad inscriptions of Adityasēna belong to the 6th-7th century A.D.

Some of the characteristics of this script are: The vowel length in the initial a is invariably denoted by a curved stroke at the bottom; besides the old form of initial i indicated by three dots, two new forms are found, one in which a curved stroke is drawn in place of the lower dot and the other in which two dots are placed below a horizontal bar; a new shape of ka is developed in which the end of the vertical line shoots up to the left side and meets the cross-bar; and tripartite ya is found in most of the earlier records, while the bi-partite form is met within the later records.

The Siddhamātrikā or the early Nāgarī script was introduced in the western parts of the Deccan (Maharashtra) in about 8th century A.D replacing the southern or Telugu-Kannada script which was prevalent there. It is found further south, used in a few inscriptions like the paṭṭadakal (Karnataka) inscriptions of the same dynasty and the sāḷuvakuppam (Tamil nādu) inscriptions of pallavas, all belonging to the 8th century A.D.)

From 8th century A.D, the Siddhamātrika script developed into sārada script in Kāshmir and Punjab, the proto-Bengali or GaudI in Bengal and Orissa.

The Gaudi or proto-Bengali script:

The Gauḍi or proto-Bengali script which is derived from Siddhamātrika was prevalent in Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Orissa and Nepal between the 10th and 14th century A.D. In Bihar and Nepal, this script was later on replaced by Nāgari script while in Bengal, it developed into Bengali script which was also used in Assam. In Orissa, the Oriya script fully replaced the Gauḍi script around the 14th century A.D, though the influence of Oriya script is found in earlier period. Some records from Ganjam and Srikakulam region exhibit the influence of Siddha Mātrikā, Gaudi and Telugu-Kannada script during the period 7th to 11th century A.D. These records belong to the Eastern Ganga Dynasty and this admixture of the scripts is called Kalinga or later Kalinga script.

Nāgarī or Dēvanāgarī script:

The siddhamātrikā or early Nāgarī script gave rise to the Eastern Nāgarī script in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh from10th century A.D onwards while the western Nāgari script was developed in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Mahārashtra. The name Dēvanāgari is now used for writing Hindi all over India and also Sanskrit. But this name Dēvanāgari appears to have come into vogue during the last two or three hundred years only. The word Nāgara, however, is used for a script in Malwa region by Albīrūni in the 11th century A.D. According to some scholars, the name Nāgarī for the script is to be derived from the word Nagara which stood for pātāliputra, the capital of Magadha country in ancient period. We cannot however, be certain about the origin of the words Nāgarī and Dēvanāgarī.

From the 10th century A.D onwards, Nāgarī script was used widely in Northern India and it gave rise to many local scripts during medieval and modern periods. The śārada script, which was prevalent in the Kāshmir valley from the 8th century A.D onwards, was replaced by Nāgarī script in the late medieval period. By the 11th century A.D, Nāgarī was used in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh in the inscription of the śilāhārs, Chalukyās, paramars and pratihars. The earliest use of the Nāgarī script is found in the Kanheri (Maharashtra) inscriptions of śilahara pullasakti dated 851 A.D. In North India, it appears for the first time in the copper plate grant of Vināyakapāla. The Nāgarī script is also found in the copper Plate grants of Rāṣtrakutas, the chālukyas of Kalyāṇa, in the stone inscriptions and copper plate grants of the yādavas of dēvanagari, the śilāhāras and the Vijayanagara kings who ruled in Karnataka from the 8th century to the middle of the 16th century A.D while some of the early copper plates of Rāstrakūta kings are in proto-Nāgarī or early Nāgarī script, the later copper-plates are in regular Nāgarī script.

The main characteristic of this Nāgarī script is the substitution of the straight top-strokes for the wedges or head-marks. By about 12th century A.D, the Nāgarī has developed the Letter, which are not much different from the modern script. Though the general pattern of the Nāgarī script is common, there are slight variations in different regions where it developed. Thus, there are two types of a, ja, jha etc, as found in the inscriptions. Similarly, the Nāgarī script used in the Jaina manuscripts would differ from the script found in the epigraphs. The Nāgarī script used in the records of the chālukyās of Kalyāna and the Vijayanagar kings in Karnataka is called Nandi-Nāgarī. The Nāgarī script of the North India only is generally classified into Nāgarī of (1) Central India (2) Gujarat (3) Rajasthan (4) Ganges Valley. But there is over lapping of the special features of one region in the script of the other region. The use of Nandināgarī is mostly confined to the Karnataka region. According to some scholars, its name Nandi Nāgara is to be derived from Nandi Nāgarī, a place identified with modern Nanded in Marathwada region of Maharashtra. But according to others, the name of the script is due to the Jaina teachers whose names end in nandi, like Simhanadi, Guṇanandi, Jātanandi, Māghanandi etc, who introduced this script in Karnataka when they came from the north. It is also heard that of a sangha called Nandisangha in Karnataka. The Nandi Nāgarī script consists of special Nāgarīletters of a, jh, ṇa etc. But they are no longer used in Karnataka after the introduction of printing.

While coming to the south, particularly in Tamil inscriptions, three varieties of script are used, viz: (1) The Grantha script (2) The Tamil script (3) The Vaṭṭeluṭṭu script. The Grantha script is used in writing the Sanskrit records and also the Sanskrit portion in Tamil records, Tamil script is noticed in the Tamil inscriptions found in the Northern part of Tamil Nadu, the Vaṭṭeluṭṭu script was prevalent in the southern portion of the Tamil Nadu and also in Kerala. Some scholars consider that all the three scripts i.e the Grantha script. The Tamil script and Vaṭṭeluṭṭu script are derived from Brāhmī script. In the Malayalam region, the Vaṭṭveluṭṭu script developed into a more cursive script called Kōleluttu during the period of 14th and 15 centuries. At the same time, the modern Malayalam script developed out of the Grantha script.

Telugu-Kannada script:

The early form of Telugu Kannada script is found in the inscriptions of the early Kadambas of Banavasi and the early chalukyas of Badami in the west and the śālankāyana and the early Eastern Chālukyās in the east of the Kannada and Telugu speaking areas during the period 4th to the 7th century A.D. During the period 7th to 10th Century A.D, further developments of this script are noticed in the inscriptions of the Chālukyās of Bādami and the Imperial Rāshtrakutas in the west and in the records of the Eastern Chalukyas in the eastern part. A characteristic feature of this script is the tendency to make the letters round so that the letters like ka and ra are closed on the left and the matras are occasionally attached below the consonants. This script continued to be used in the Kannada and Telugu speaking areas. Since, the same script was used in the Kannada and Telugu region; it was called Telugu-Kannada script. It was only after the 15th century A.D; the modern characteristics of Kannada and Telugu scripts are noticed.

It can be said from the above discussions that all the scripts which were prevalent in North India as well as south India were derived from the common script, viz: the Asokan Brāhmi script of the 3rd century B.C. They have developed different characteristics in different parts of the country during several centuries of its history.

The Brāhmi script is also the origin of the scripts found in Sri Lanka, Burma, South-Eastern Asian countries like Jāvā, Sumātra, Cambodia. The present alphabets of Burma, Thailand, Indonesia, Laos, Annam, Cambodia etc are all derived from Brāhmi script. The inscriptions in the areas of Jāva, Sumātrā and Cambodia found during the period 4th to 6th century A.D closely resemble that of the records of the Kadambas and the early Chalukyas of Bādāmi, it is suggested that the script traveled to those parts from the west coast of Karnataka.

2. Development of the script:

Dēvanagāri script is developed from Brāhmi script of king Asoka. It was developed and modified in different periods.

During the rule of Kṣhatrapas, Kushāṇās etc Dēvanāgari was developed. However, during the Gupta period it was further modified and developed. It had different varieties like Northern, Southern. Northern variety was further developed into North-Eastern, North-western varieties. Southern variety was divided into western and central variety.

Again in Dēvanagāri script different styles developed, such as Kausāmbi style, Mālwa style, Mathura style. It also further developed into acute angle as the letters begin from right to left forming acute angle on the right end of the letters. This script was called Acute-angled script. The head mark of the letters looked like a nail and hence the script was also called ‘Nail headed script’.

Nāgari script was further developed during chālukya kings of Kalyaṇa and Vijayanagara kings of Karnataka and was called Nandi Nāgari. It was mostly confined to the Karnataka region.

a) and b) Deletion and Addition:

These developments in the Nāgari script was made due to the deletion, addition and modification of the existing Nāgari script.

Dēvanāgari script used for writing Hindi was further modified and standardized to suit all Indian languages. This was called 'Parivardhita Nāgari'. This is developed by the addition of special diacritical marks to the existing Dēvanāgari symbols.

3. Script Reforms/Revival:

After the introduction of technology, Dēvanāgari script was reformed to script typewriters, computers and also in printing.

Early nasal sounds were represented by their respective allograph but now they are replaced by Anuswāra (aṁ) such as:

	Old style:	कम्पन 	'Kampan'
	New style:	कंपन 	'Kampan'

Anunāsika is represented as ँ which is called Chandrabindu. Visarga is represented by two dots like: by the side of the letters.

Dēvanāgari script was modified to suit the sounds of the regional languages. For example, 'ळ' ( ḷ) was added in Marathi to accommodate the sound. Similarly, in Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu languages also attempts were made to use the special sounds of these languages in the Nāgari script by providing special diacritical marks to the existing Dēvanāgari symbols.

C. Shakle says "In no modern country are so many parallel writing systems in use as in India, where since the nineteenth century, scripts have become very powerful cultural symbols of religions and regional Linguistic identity. This is graphically exemplified by the use of the right to left perso-Arabic script to write those modern Indo-Aryan languages predominantly spoken by Muslims, notably, Urdu and Kashmiri as well as other languages of Pākistan. It is still more remarkably to be seen in the continuing and full contemporary vitality of no less than five visually distinctive scripts of the indigenous North Indian group, written from left to right. The most widely diffused is the Nāgarī script, historically and culturally closely associated with Sanskrit and in the twentieth century used to write two national languages, Hindi and Nepali and also Marathi. North-Eastern India and Bangladesh are dominated by the Bengali script also used to write Assamese. Oriya has its own script as does Gujarati, while the sacred associations to Sikhism of the Gurumukhi script underlie its use to write Punjabi in India. The extraordinary variety of the North-Indian group becomes still more apparent if account is taken of a comparable number of barely obsolete numbers, in addition to these five modern standard scripts with the partial exception of abbreviated commercial short hands, the accuracy and economy of the North-Indian scripts in indicating such typical features as retroflex articulation and consonantal aspiration superior as writing media for Indo-Aryan languages to both Perso-Arabic and Roman scripts."

E. Punctuations:

According to Hartmann and Stork (P. 189) Punctuation is a collection of auxiliary graphic signs used in addition to the signs of a → writing system to denote features of speech such as special emphasis, pauses, astonishment, etc. e.g. "No!" He said, "can’t you….?". In scripts based on the Latin alphabet, punctuation marks usually include the following:

 
Symbol

Full-stop or period 		➔		.

Comma  	   	  	➔		,

Semi-colon		➔		;	

Colon			➔		:

Quotation marks or  		➔		" " , ' '	
Inverted Commas			

Exclamation mark		➔		!

Question mark or 		➔		?
Interrogation point

Dash			➔		__ 

Hyphen			➔		- 

Parentheses		➔		(     )

Brackets			➔		[    ] 

These punctuation marks and other diacritical marks may also be used in an alphabetic notations and Phonetic transcriptions.

In Sanskrit, the punctuation marks that are used are as follows:

(1)	Full Stop:  Every completed sentence ends in full stop.  The symbol for the full stop is. 

	Ex.:  	 कल्पसूत्रकर्ता आपस्तम्ब इति बहूनामभिप्रायः| 
       		 पुरा अयोध्यानगरे दशारथ नान्मा राजा आसीत् |

 
(2)	Comma:  Comma is used to include different items under one sentence. The Symbol is  , 

	Ex:  	श्रौतभाष्याणि, शिलालेखाः, दर्शनानि, साहित्यशास्त्रं,
		नाथ्थशास्त्रं, रूपकाणि, महाकाव्यानि, लघुकाव्यानि,
		चम्पूग्रन्थाः, गद्यानि, व्याख्याग्रन्थाः, स्तोत्राणि,
		संगीतशास्त्र ग्रंथाः, इत्यादिवाङ्मयशाखासु ग्रन्ान्
		रचितवन्तः प्रौढाः संस्कृतविद्वांसः आन्न्धा अपि
		शताधिकाः सन्ति।

  
 (3)  Inverted Comma:  It is used when some word is quoted in a sentence.  The symbol is '     '

	Ex:  	शतकीयः शाकल्यमल्लः उदारराघवं चकार 

(4)  Quotation mark:   It is used when some sentence is quoted within a sentence.    This is marked by "     "

	Ex:  	आत्मा वा।़रे द्रष्टव्यः, श्रोतव्यो मन्तव्यो निधि ध्यसि
		त्वयो मैत्रेयि इत्येष याज्ञवल्वयस्योपदेशः व्यावहारिक तत्व
		ज्ञानस्य जाज्वल्यमानमुदाहरणं बृहदारण्यकीयाध्यात्म शिक्षया
		मूलाधारच्चा।  

 
(5) Exclamation mark:  This is used when one expresses surprise on some matters. This is marked by the symbol!  

	Ex: 	अहो! बत महत्पापं कर्तुं व्यवसिता वयम्।    

  
(6)  Interrogation point:  This is used to ask a question or clarification. This is marked by?  

	Ex:   	 किं तव नामधेयं? 

(7)	 Dash: This is used to indicate that the Sandhi has not taken place between words. This is marked by  __  

	Ex:  	वेलूरु ग्रामवासी आलूरु - सूर्यनारायण कविः दिनस्यैकं प्रबंधं कृतवानास्त |

Such punctuations are used to make clarity of the meaning to the reader. They convey whether the meaning in a sentence is complete or not. Whether the meaning conveyed in the sentence is direct or indirect. This punctuation also helps in reading the text. They help us where to stop and proceed and also tell us to read the sentences properly without distorting the meaning of the sentence. Such punctuation marks are useful for the Reader and also the writer.

F. Numerals: Symbols:

Numerals are adjectives as they qualify the noun. Sanskrit numerals are as follows from one to ten.

	एक - 1,  द्वि - 2, त्रि - 3,  चतुर् - 4, पंचम् - 5, षष् - 6,  
	सप्तन् - 7, अष्टन् - 8, नवन् - 9,  दशन् - 10,  

From 11 onwards it is counted 10+1 = 11, 10+2 =12 etc. 
	 
	विंशति - 20,  त्रिंशति - 30, चत्कारिंशत् - 40, पंचाशात् - 50,  षष्टि - 60
	सप्तति - 70, अशीति - 80, नवति - 90, शतम् - 100.  

G. Written & Printed scripts:

Written scripts in Dēvanāgari varies from person to person depending upon his handwriting. Some write very clearly and others write in such a way it takes time to read. Writing is also an art and requires practice.

Printed script is clear for reading. It does not have cursive writing as in handwriting. It is easy to read printed script as they follow punctuation marks clearly. Printed scripts can be in bold types with suitable paragraphs. Printed script is a general thing whereas the written material is a personal document.

H. Calligraphy:

It refers to the aesthetic qualities of writing, particularly highly developed in Chinese, Arabic and Indian Languages. In earlier days, when inscriptions were written on rock edicts it was the specialized art of Calligraphy. Such inscriptions are available in Sanskrit.

I. Diaspora and script: As said earlier, the Diaspora of the script is well documented. The Dēvanāgari script which is used for writing Sanskrit is developed from Brāhmi. It has Northern, Southern Varieties. Northern variety was further divided into North-Eastern and North-Western varieties. Southern variety has divided into western and central variety.

Again in Dēvanāgari script different styles developed such as Kausāmai style, Mālwa style, Mathura style etc.

Nāgarī script was further developed during Chālukya kings of kalyana and Vijayanagara kings of Karnataka and was called ‘Nandi Nāgarī’. It was mostly confined to Karnataka region.

In Northern India, Dēvanāgari script was further developed into acute angle the letters begin from right to left forming acute angle on the right end of the letters. This script was called Acute-Angled script. The head mark of the letters looked like a nail hence the script was also called ‘Nail headed script’.

J. Research on Script/Orthography:

1. Script in general:

As science and technology developed attempts were made to modernize the script of Sanskrit to suit typewriters and computers.

2. Script of Language under study:

Dēvanāgari script used for Sanskrit has also changed due to the modern technological development. Now in printing secondary symbols of nasal consonants are dropped and Anusvāra is used.

K. Script and Technology:

Encoding of Scripts, Fonts, Graphs, Encoding:

Due to the development in computer technology and Software development many improvements are made in the Dēvanāgari script and Orthography. This type of Change is suitable for machine translation and simultaneous translations.

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Acknowledgement:

While writing this chapter particularly on the history of the Dēvanāgari script, I have referred and quoted Dr.G.S.Gai’s Book "Introduction to Indian Epigraphy (with special reference to the development of the scripts and Languages” and concise Encyclopedia of Language and Religion” and “Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics".