Indian Palaeography from about B.C. 350 to about A.D. 1300 c6.s3.26

c6.s3.26

Secondly, DR. TAYLOR'S view regarding the origin of the Kharosthī has become more and more probable, and it must now be admitted that this alphabet was developed out of the later Aramaic characters after the conquest of the Pañjāb by Darius, which happened about B. C. 500.³ And it becomes more and more difficult to refuse credence to the conjecture of A. WEBER, E. THOMAS and A. CUNNINGHAM, according to which the principles ruling the already developed Brāhmī have been utilised in the formation of the Kharosthī.⁴ According to our present information, the Kharosthī is the only alphabet, besides the Brāhmī, to which the Buddhists possibly could refer. But as it was only a secondary script even in Gandhāra, and as it was developed only in the fifth century, the possibility suggested becomes improbable, and the Brāhmī alone has a claim to be considered as the alphabet known to the authors of the Ceylonese canon.