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Indian Palaeography from about B.C. 350 to about A.D. 1300 c7.s21: § 26. — Eastern varieties of the Nāgarī alphabet and the arrow-head script

Indian Palaeography from about B.C. 350 to about A.D. 1300 c7.s21

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§ 26. — Eastern varieties of the Nāgarī alphabet and the arrow-head script

A. — Proto-Bengālī; Plates V. and VI

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Towards the end of the 11th century, the Nāgarī inscriptions of Eastern India shew such distinct traces of changes leading up to the modern Bengālī writing, and these changes become so numerous in the 12th century, that it is possible to class their alphabets as Proto-Bengālī. An approximate idea of the development of the Proto-Bengālī may be obtained by comparing the characters of the following documents, represented in our plates: — (1) of the Deopārā Praśasti¹ of about A. D. 1080-90 (plate V, col. XVIII), which includes the Bengālī *E*, *kha*, *ña*, *ta*, *tha*, *ma*, *ra*, *la*, and *sa*; (2) of Vaidyadeva's land-grant² of A. D. 1142 (plate V, col. XIX), with the Bengālī *R*, *E*, *AI*, *kha*, *ga*, *ña*, *ta*, *thu*, *dha*, *ra*, and *va*; and (3) of the Cambridge MSS. No. 1699, 1, 2,³ of A. D. 1198-99 (plate VI, col. X), which offers the Bengālī *A*, *Ā*, *Ū*, *Ṛ*, *Ṝ*, *Ḷ*, *Ḹ*, *E*, *AI*, *AU*, *ka*, *kha*, *ga*, *ta*, *tha*, *na*, *ma*, *ya*, *ra*, *va* and *sa*, as well as transitional forms of *gha*, *ña*, *ṇa* and *śa*.

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¹ EI. 1, 305 f.

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² EI. 2, 347.

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³ Compare BENDALL, who slightly differs in Cat. Sanskr. Buddhist MSS. from Nepāl, XXXVI, and letter-press of Pal. Soc., Or. Series, pl. 81.

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Only a few among the Proto-Bengālī letters are new local formations. The great majority occurs already in other older scripts, be it in exactly the same or in similar shape. [58] Thus, its *Ṛ*, *Ṝ*, *Ḷ* and *Ḹ* agree closely with the corresponding characters of the Horiuzi MS. (plate VI, 7—10, V), its *Ū* with that of the oldest MS. from Nepāl (plate VI, 6, VII; compare also the Sāradā, VI, 6, IX), and its *AU* with that of the Bower MS. (plate VI, 14, I, II). Its signs for *A*, *Ā*, *ka*, *na*, *ma*, *ya*, *va*, *ṣa*, and *sa* occur repeatedly in various alphabets of the 8th—10th centuries, given in plates IV, V. Its *kha*, opened on the right, finds an analogy in that of the Bower MS. (plate VI, 16, I), and its *tha*, likewise opened on the right, somewhat resembles that of plate V, 26, IX. Finally, the *ga* and *ṇa* with the verticals, rising on the right above the line, have precursors in the letters of the 9th and 10th centuries with horn-like protuberances (plate V, 12, 24, II—IV, VI; compare also above, § 24, A, 1). Even the *ra*, resembling *va* (plate V, 36, XIX; VI, 41, 49, X), may easily be recognised as due to a slightly abnormal development of the wedge at the end of the letter, for which, forms from Western and Central India in plate V, 36, XIII, XIV, offer more or less close analogies. Only the *E* and *AI*, open on the left, and the peculiar *ña* in *ñca* (plate V, 19, XVIII) and in *jñā* (plate VI, 24, X), appear to be purely local new formations. And this may be true also of the *ta* (plate V, 25, XVIII, XIX; VI, 30, X), which, however, does not differ much from the Sāradā sign and from the final *t* of some other alphabets.

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The most striking and important among the peculiarities of the Proto-Bengālī, discarded in the modern Bengālī script, are the small triangles with the rounded lower side and the "Nepalese hooks," which are attached to the left of the tops of various letters. The triangle is found in *kṣi* (plate V, 47, XVIII) and in very many letters of plate V, col. XIX; while the hook occurs in the *ka* and *ta* of plate V, 25 and 43, XVIII.⁴ If further we compare the Tarpan-Dīghī inscription of Lakṣmaṇasena,⁵ where the triangles and hooks frequently appear alternately in connection with the same letters, it becomes evident that the "Nepalese hook"

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⁴ Both the triangle and the hook are found in the Gayā inscription, IA. 10, 342.

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⁵ J.ASB. 41, pl. 1, 2.

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is a cursive substitute for the triangle. The triangle itself is a modification of the top-stroke with a semi-circle below, occasionally met with in ornamental inscriptions from Northern and Central India, as, *e. g.*, in Vināyakapāla's plate (letters with this peculiarity have not been given in plate IV, col. XXIII) and in the Cāndella inscription in CUNNINGHAM'S Archæological Reports, Vol. 10, plate 33, No. 3. This last-mentioned form again is connected with, and gives the outlines of, the thick top-strokes, rounded off at both ends, which are not rare in ornamental MSS. like that figured by BENDALL, Catalogue of Sanskrit Buddhist MSS. from Nepāl, plate 2, Nos. 1, 2, and in the alphabet of plate VI, col. XIV (see particularly lines 5, 7, 15, 30, 34, 37, 49).

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Among the abnormal single signs, not received into the modern Bengālī, the following deserve special remarks:—

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(1) The forms of *I* in plate V, 3, XVIII, and VI, 3, X, are cursive developments of the ancient *I* in plate IV, 3, IX, &c. But the *I* and *Ī* of plate V, 3, 4, XIX, appear to be southern forms; compare plate VII, 3, IV—VI.

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(2) The curious *ṭa* of plate V, 20, XIX, seems to have been produced by an abnormally strong development of a "Nepalese hook" with a Serif at the end, placed above the ancient round *ṭa*, which is represented by the second lower curve on the left; compare the *ṭa* of col. XVIII, and that of the Cambridge MS. No. 1693 (BENDALL, *op. cit.* plate 4).

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(3) The *na* of plate V, 29, XIX, without a connecting stroke between the loop and the vertical, is due to the strongly developed predilection for cursive forms, which is visible also in other letters of Vaidyadeva's inscription, such as *A*, *Ā*, *śa* and the ligature *tkṛ* (plate V, 47, XIX).

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(4) The triangular medial *u*, for instance of *ku* (plate V, 10, XIX), which appears also in Lakṣmaṇasena's Tarpan-Dighī grant and other eastern inscriptions, gives the outline of the older wedge-shaped form, found, *e. g.*, in *thu* (plate V, 26, XVIII) and in *ṣu* (plate VI, 45, II).

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(5) The Anusvāra of *vaṁ* (plate V, 38, XIX) and of *kaṁ* (plate VI, 15, X) has been placed on the line, as in the Old-Kanarese (see below, § 29, C, 5) and the modern Grantha, and a Virāma stands below it.

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(6) In the *Om* of plate V, 9, XVIII, we have the oldest example of the occurrence of the modern Anunāsika. In this case, it shows a little circle instead of the more usual dot, which is found in the *Om* of plate VI, 13, XI. Both forms are rather frequent in the eastern inscriptions of the 12th century,¹ whereas in the west² they are more rare and are confined to the word *Om*. The Anunāsika, which I have not found in any Indian inscription older than the 11th century, probably is an intentional modification of the Anusvāra, invented because in Vedic MSS. the Anunāsika must be substituted for an Anusvāra followed by liquid consonants, sibilants and *ha*.

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¹ Compare the Gayā inscriptions in C.ASR. 3, pl. 37, No. 12; pl. 38, No. 13.

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² See the Mahoba inscription, C.ASR. 21, pl. 21.

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(7) [**59**] The Visarga of *vaḥ* (plate V, 38, XVIII) carries a wedge at the top, which addition appears also in other ornamental scripts (see, *e. g.*, plate VI, 30, XIV); in the *ḥ* of plate VI, 51, X (compare also VI, 41, XI, and the Gayā inscription), it has been changed cursively into a form resembling our figure 8. In the Gayā inscription (IA, 10, 342), as well as in MSS. of this period,³ it receives also a small tail (compare *tāḥ*, plate VI, 30, XIV).

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³ Compare the facsimiles of Bengālī MSS. in Pal. Soc., Or. Series, pl. 38, 82, 69; RAJENDRALĀL MITRA, Notices of Sanskrit MSS., Vol. 3, pl. 5, 6; Vols. 5 and 6; and the Proto-Bengālī inscription, J.ASB. 43, 318, pl. 18.

B. — The Nepalese hooked characters; Plate VI

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According to Bendall's careful examination of the MSS. from Nepāl,¹ the hooked characters first occur in the 12th century and disappear towards the end of the 15th. The facts, stated above, which prove the occurrence of the "Nepalese hooks" in Bengal inscriptions of the 12th century and explain their origin, leave no doubt that the introduction of this modification of the top-strokes is due to the influence of Bengal, which, as Bendall has recognised,² makes itself felt also in other points.

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¹ Bendall, Cat. Sankr. Buddhist MSS. from Nepāl, XXII ff.

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² Op. cit. XXXV, XXXVII.

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The first of the two specimens of this character in plate VI, col. XI, which is derived from the Cambridge MS. No. 1691, of A. D. 1179,³ shows in the majority of the letters the forms of the Horiuzi palm-leaves and of the Cambridge MS. No. 1049 (cols. V—VII), with a few small modifications, such as might be expected in a much later document. Irrespective of the hooks, special Bengālī peculiarities are observable only in *I*, *Ī*, *E* and *AI*. Generally speaking, these remarks hold good also for the second specimen in plate VI, col. XII, from the British Museum MS., Oriental No. 1439, of A. D. 1286.⁴ But in this script the Bengālī influence is visible in *E*, *ṇa*, *dha* and *śa* (compare the transitional forms of V, 39, XVIII, XIX), while its *I* is very archaic.⁵

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³ Op. cit. pl. 3, 4; Berlin Oriental Congress, Indian Section, pl. 2, 1.

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⁴ Pal. Soc., Or. Ser., pl. 32; Berlin Oriental Congress, Indian Section, pl. 2, 2, 3.

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⁵ For facsimiles of MSS. with Nepalese "hooked characters," see Bendall, Cat. Sanskr. Buddhist MSS. from Nepāl, pl. 3; Pal. Soc., Or. Series, pl. 43, 57; Cowell and Eggeling, Cat. Buddhist MSS. of the Royal Asiatic Society, J.RAS. 1876, 1, ff.; for the alphabet, see Bendall, op. cit. pl. 4; J. Klatt, de CCC Cāṇakyae sententiis, pl.

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Nepāl and Tibet seem to have preserved a number of other, mostly ornamental, alphabets of Eastern India,⁶ hand-drawn tables of which have been given by B. Hodgson (Asiatic Researches, Vol. 16) and by Sarat Candradās (J.ASB., Vol. 57, plates 1 to 7). But up to the present time no reliable materials are available, on which a paleographical examination of these scripts could be based.

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⁶ Compare also Fleet's remarks on ornamental characters, IA. 15, 334.

C. — The arrow-head alphabet; Plate VI

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The arrow-head alphabet, plate VI, cols. XVIII, XIX, which C. Bendall, its discoverer,⁷ is inclined to identify with Berūnī's *bhaikṣukī lipi*, appears to be confined to Eastern India. It, of course, has no connection with the Nāgarī, but, as Bendall points out in his very careful description, is the immediate offspring of an ancient form of the Brāhmī. It would seem that the *A*, *Ā*, *ka*, *ña*, *ra* and perhaps also the *jha* of the present alphabet have curves at the lower end. This peculiarity, as well as the peculiar *E*, noted by Bendall (compare plate VIII, 8, VIII) and the absence of a difference between *r* and *ra*, seem to indicate that the present alphabet belonged to the southern scripts, for which these points are characteristic (compare plate III, cols. X—XX, and plates VII, VIII). Its pointed *kha*, *ga*, and *śa* likewise occur in southern alphabets (see plate III, 8, VII; VII, 9, XI, XIV; VII, 11, XVII; 36, IV, XVI, XX). And the forms of *ṇa*, *ta*, and *na* perhaps point rather to the south-west than to the south (compare plate VII, cols. I, II, *&c.*). Only in the case of the looped *sa* it is possible to think of northern (Gupta) influence; but the possibility that it is an independent new formation is not excluded. An inscription in the same alphabet, and shewing wedges instead of arrow-heads at the top of the letters, has been discussed by Bendall in IA. 19, 77 f.

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⁷ Seventh Oriental Congress, Aryan Section, 111 ff.; and Tenth Oriental Congress, Part II, 151 ff.

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