On the Origin of the Indian Brahma Alphabet c5.21

c5.21

Before I proceed to this comparison, it will be desirable to call attention to some passages in Indian literature, recently made accessible, and to some peculiarities in the oldest forms of the Brāhma alphabet, revealed by the new facsimiles and by a tabular arrangement of the signs, which I have lately undertaken for my „Grundriss der indischen Palaeographie“.¹ Both the passages in the literary works and the characteristics of the oldest alphabet point to the conclusion that the Hindus extensively used the art of writing at least about three centuries before the time of Aśoka their having been preserved by a purely oral tradition. From the heterodox literature he was only able to adduce a passage of the Lalitavistara which describes the first visit of prince Siddhārtha, the future Buddha, to the writing school, and from non-Indian sources the seemingly conflicting utterances of Nearchos and of Megasthenes, one of the most careless reporters on Indian subjects. Professor Max Müller's final conclusion was, therefore, that the art of writing became known in India about 400 B. C. in the middle of his Sūtra-period and that, then and even later, it was not applied to literary purposes.