On the Origin of the Indian Brahma Alphabet c6.21

c6.21

The table shows that the later signs for sixteen letters occur already in the third century B. C. Four of these forms, the dagger-shaped *ka* (common in Kālsī and occurring in most other versions except in Girnār), the angular *gha* (Kālsī) and *ha* (No 21, in various versions) as well as the curved *ḍa* (Kālsī) are in reality archaic,¹ while the corresponding common signs of the Edicts are advanced developments, which like the peculiar *va* (No 18, Girnār, Sohgaurā), and *sa* (No 20, Kālsī, Jaugaḍa), have left no trace in the later writing. The remaining ones are really cursive or derived from cursive forms. No 1, the initial *A*, has been discussed above, its counterpart in line *B* occurs in the Kuṣana inscriptions from Mathurā. No 3, the *kha* with a loop to the right (Kālsī) is a cursive form for the *kha* with the circle at the foot,¹ and itself the parent of No 4 [40] (Delhi-Sivalik) which preserves the twist in the down stroke caused by the loop, but substitutes a dot for the latter.² No 5, the *kha* with the triangle (once in Mathia) is a fanciful variant for the oldest form, its counterpart has been taken from the archaic Mathurā inscriptions. No 6, the *ga* with the round top³ is a cursive form of the pointed letter, the corresponding form is from Hathigumphā, but found in all inscriptions of the second century B. C. No 8, the *cha* with two loops⁴ is a tertiary development, immediately derived from the form with the bisected circle, which again is merely cursive.⁵ The same remark applies to No 9, the *ja* with three bars. It is derived from the notched Girnār form, which itself is a cursive development from the Bhaṭṭiprolu form.⁶ Nos 11 and 19, the stunted *ti* and *vi*,⁷ give examples of the triangulation of the lower portion of *va* and of the reduction of the vertical strokes so characteristic of the alphabets of the next centuries, which appears already with great regularity in the Nāgārjunī cave inscriptions of Aśoka's grandson. No 12, the *da* with a shallow curve and the tail twisted towards the right (Jaugaḍa, Girnār, etc.) is a transitional form, corresponding to those in the Nāgārjunī cave, the archaic Mathurā and the Pabhosa inscriptions (*B*), and leading up to the *da* of the first [41] and second centuries A. D. Nos 13, 14 and 16 give examples of the introduction of angles in the lower limb [42] To an earlier stage than the writing of the Edicts belongs the inscription on Sir A. Cunningham's Eraṇ coin, which runs