Indian Palaeography from about B.C. 350 to about A.D. 1300 c3.2

c3.2

| | PAGE |
| § 1 ... The Indian tradition . . . . . | 1 |
| § 2 ... Literary evidence for the use of writing: — | |
| A. — Brahmanical literature . . . . . | 3 |
| B. — Buddhistic literature . . . . . | 4 |
| C. — Foreign works . . . . . | 6 |
| § 3 ... Paleographic evidence . . . . . | 6 |
| § 4 ... The origin of the Brāhma alphabet . . . . . | 9 |
| A. — Borrowed signs . . . . . | 12 |
| B. — Derivative consonants and initial vowels . . . . . | 13 |
| C. — Medial vowels and absence of vowel in ligatures: — | |
| (1) — The system of the Brāhmī . . . . . | 14 |
| (2) — The system of the Drāviḍī . . . . . | 15 |
| § 5 ... The time and the manner of the borrowing of the Semitic alphabet ... ... | 15 |