Indian Palaeography from about B.C. 350 to about A.D. 1300 c7.s19.t1.20

c7.s19.t1.20

(13) The right limb of the independent *ña* of the Horiuzi palm-leaves (VI, 24, V) is turned upwards, and the same form occurs occasionally in ligatures. But in the latter the sign is usually laid on its side, its angles are converted into curves and the right limb is attached to the end of the greatly shortened vertical. Hence it often looks like *ṇa* (see plate IV, 16, XI, &c.; V, 19, IV, V, &c.). In the Nāgarī of the 11th and later centuries, the subscript *ña* is attached to the left limb of *ja* (plate V, 19, XII—XIV; VI, 24, XVI), and the cursive *jña* of the modern Devanāgarī, which the Hindus now consider to be a Mātṛkā, is due to a simplification of this form.