On the Origin of the Indian Brahma Alphabet c8.38

c8.38

No 7. Dr. Taylor alone derives *ja* (Col. III, a—b) from *Zain*, apparently relying on the similar Pehlevi letter. The form in Col. III, a, which is found repeatedly¹ in the Mansehra version and survives in the legends of the Indo-Grecian and Śaka coins, is, however, without doubt the oldest, and derived from a *Zain*, like those of the Teima inscription (Col. I, a—b) in which the upper bar has been turned into a bent stroke with a hook rising upwards at the left end. In the second *ja* (Col. III, b) the lower bar has been dropped in order to keep the foot of the sign free. The Pehlevi letter probably is an analogous development. The *Zain* of the Papyri (Col. II) is again [55] much more advanced and unfit to be considered the original of the Kharoṣṭhī sign.