Indian Palaeography from about B.C. 350 to about A.D. 1300 c7.s19.t3.4

c7.s19.t3.4

(3) *Ra*, being the first part of a compound consonant, usually stands above the line and is expressed by a wedge, or by an angle or a curve open to the right. But in *rma* the left side of *ma* is shortened, and the top of the wedge, which is placed on this shortened line, does not protrude above the upper line (plate VI, 49, VI). Similar depressions of the superscripted *ra* are found in connection with other consonants in the Aphsaḍ inscription,⁴ on Harṣa's copperplates, and in some MSS. (plate VI, 51, XIII, XIV). Until the 9th century, *rya* is often expressed by a full *ra* with a subscribed *ya* (see, *e. g.*, plate IV, 44, XVIII; 45, VII; and compare EI, 3, 103).