Indian Palaeography from about B.C. 350 to about A.D. 1300 c7.s6: § 11. — The archaic variety

Indian Palaeography from about B.C. 350 to about A.D. 1300 c7.s6

Language: English

c7.s6.t1 A. — The radical signs — 8 parts
c7.s6.t2 B. — Medial vowels and Anusvāra — 5 parts
c7.s6.t3 C. — Ligatures — 6 parts

§ 11. — The archaic variety

A. — The radical signs

(1) [**26**] A small stroke, rising upwards at an acute angle, may be added at the foot of every letter ending with a straight or slanting line, in order to mark its end (plate I, 1, II; 6, II, V; 7, II; 8, II; &c). If a letter ends with two slanting lines, like *ya* and *śa* (34, II), the upstroke may be added to the left. In the Aśoka edicts of Mansehra, *ḍa* receives instead occasionally a straight base-stroke (18, V).

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(2) *Ca* has three varieties, (*a*) head with obtuse angle (10, I, II, IV); (*b*) head with curve (10, V); (*c*) head with curve, connected by a vertical with the lower part (10, III). — (3) The head of *cha* is likewise sometimes angular (11, I, IV) and sometimes round (11, II), and loses occasionally the cross-bar below the head, as in the later types. — (4) The full form of *ja* occurs at least once in Shāhbāzgarhī (12, I, V) and oftener in Mansehra, where once (edict V, l. 24) the bar stands to the left of the foot. The left side-stroke of *ja* is often curved (12, III). — (5) In *ña*, the second shortened *na* (see above, § 9, B, 3) is sometimes added on the right (14, I, V) and sometimes on the left (14, III, IV). Occasionally, the right side of the letter is converted cursively into a vertical, as in the later inscriptions (14, IX).

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(6) The normal form of *ṭa* is that of 15, I, II; but the bar on the left stands occasionally lower than that on the right (15, V; 38, II), or both bars stand on the left (38, VI), or the bar on the right is omitted (commonly in Mansehra) (15, III).

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(7) *Ta* (20) is mostly shorter and broader than *ra* (31), and either its two lines are of equal length, or the vertical one is shorter. Forms like 20, V, are rare. — (8) *Di* (22, II) shows twice, in Shāhbāzgarhī edict IV, l. 8, and Mansehra edict VII, l. 33 (where the transcript in ZDMG. has erroneously *dri*), a curve to the right of the foot, which is probably nothing but an attempt to clearly distinguish *da* from *na*. — (9) *Dha* with the left end turned upwards (23, V) is rare and a secondary development (see above, § 9, B, 1). In the abnormal *dha* of 38, VIII (*dhra*), from Mansehra, the second bar is a substitute for a very sharp bend to the left (23, V). — (10) The *na* with the bent head (24, III) occurs not rarely in the syllable *ne*.

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(11) The greatly mutilated *ma* (29, I) is more common than the forms with remnants of the old pendant (compare above, § 9, A, No. 12). It appears invariably in connection with vowel signs and owes its existence to such combinations.

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(12) *La* with a curve on the left, as in the later inscriptions (32, VIII), is rare in the Aśoka edicts, but occurs in Mansehra edict VI, l. 29.

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(13) The cursively rounded *śa* of 34, III, is rare; but once, in Shāhbāzgarhī edict XIII, l. 1, appears a *śa* hardly distinguishable from *ya*. — (14) The *sa* with a triangular head (36, II), and that with a rounded head (36, I, III, IV), are cursive developments from the old polygonal form (36, V). The vertical stroke of *sa* is occasionally omitted, as in Mansehra [27] edict VI, l. 27.

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(15) The common forms of *ha* with a curve (37, I, IV) or a short hook (37, III, V) at the foot, are cursive developments of the *ha* of 37, II; see above, § 9, A, No. 5.

B. — Medial vowels and Anusvāra

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(1) The *i*-stroke goes regularly across the left side of the horizontal strokes of the consonants (6, III; 7, III; 15, II, III; &c.); in letters with two horizontal or slanting top-strokes, it passes through both (14, III; 16, III; 38, III, VI; &c.), likewise through both the top-strokes of *ṇa* (19, X). In *I* (2, I), *di* (22, II), and *ni*, it stands just below the head, and in *yi* (30, II) it hangs in the left side.

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(2) The *e*-stroke corresponds in form and position to the upper half of the *i*-stroke (4, I; 6, IV; 12, II; 19, III; &c.); in *E* (4, II) it may also stand straight above the head of *A*.

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(3) The *o*-stroke mostly corresponds in its position to the lower half of the *i*-stroke (5, I; 12, IV; 14, IV; &c.), but it stands further to the right in the angle, formed by the upper part of the letters, in *go*, *gho* (9, II) and *so* (36, IV).

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(4) The *u*-stroke stands regularly at the left lower end of the consonant (3, I; 8, III; 10, IV; 12, III; &c.), but a little higher up if the foot of the consonant is curved to the left (*U*, 3, II), or to the right (*du*, 22, IV), or has a hook on the right (*pru*, 25, V; *hu*, 37, IV). In *mu* it stands to the left of the top of *ma* (see *mru*, 29, V).

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(5) The Anusvāra has the full form of *ma* (see above, § 9, B, 4) only occasionally in *maṁ* (29, IV). More commonly it is represented cursively by a straight stroke as in *maṁ* (38, XI), or by two hooks at the sides of *ma* as in *maṁ* (38, X). In combination with other consonants ending in a single slanting or vertical line, the Anusvāra is marked by an angle, opening upwards, which the foot of the consonant bisects (8, IV; 11, IV; 17, V; 19, V; &c.), or, rarely in Shāhbāzgarhī, oftener in Mansehra, by a straight line, a substitute for the curve of *ma*, as in *thaṁ* (21, V). If the foot of the consonant has some other appendage, the Anusvāra is attached higher up to the vertical, as in *ñaṁ* (14, V); *ḍaṁ* (18, V); *vraṁ* (33, V); *haṁ* (37, V). The angular Anusvāra is always divided in *yaṁ* (30, V) and in *śaṁ*, and the one half is added to the right end of the *mātṛkā*, and the other to the left. This may also be done in *kaṁ* and in *bhaṁ* (28, IV).

C. — Ligatures

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(1) *Bhye* (38, IX), *mma* (38, XII) and *mya* (38, XII, *b*) show no changes or only very slight ones in the combined letters. In other cases, one or the other is usually mutilated.

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(2) For *ra*, which must be pronounced sometimes before and sometimes after its *mātṛkā* (exception in *rṭa* in Mansehra edict V, l. 24), appears, besides slightly mutilated forms (in *rṭi*, 38, IV, and *rva*, 39, I), (a) a slanting line, with or without a bend, which goes through the middle of the vertical of the combined consonant (as in *gra*, 38, I; *rṭa*, 38, II; *rṭi*, 38, III); (b) also a curved or straight stroke at the foot of the combined sign (*rti*, 38, V; *kra*, 6, V; *gra*, 8, V; *tra*, 20, V; *dhra*, 23, V; 38, VIII; *pru*, 25, V; *bra*, 27, V; *vram*, 33, V; *śru*, 34, V; *stri*, 39, VIII, IX). In combination with *ma*, the *ra*-stroke stands invariably at the right top, as in *mru* (29, V), and in *kra* and *bhra* (28, V), occasionally at the right end of the hooks of those letters. Sometimes, especially in Mansehra, a curve open above, as in *thra* (21, IV), is substituted for the straight stroke. The stroke and the curves, of course, are cursive substitutes for a full *ra*, attached to the foot of the combined consonants.

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(3) In *vru* (39, II) the two consonants have been pushed the one into the other, so that the vertical does duty both for the *va* and the *ra*. The same principle is followed in the formation of the ligature *sta* (which consists only in Shāhbāzgarhī edict I, l. 2, *srestamati*, of *sa* with a *ta* hooked into the vertical, 39, IV). At the same time *sa* is mutilated, the middle of its top remaining open and the hook on the left being omitted. This is clearly visible in *sti* (39, V) and *stri* (39, IX), while *sta* (39, III), *sti* (39, VI), *stu* (39, VII), and *stri* (39, VIII) are made more negligently. The ligature of *sa* and *pa* is formed according to [28] the same principles, but the *sa* is mutilated still more and merely indicated by a little hook at the top of the vertical of *pa* in *spa* (39, X) and *spi* (39, XII).¹ In *spa* (39, XI) the hook stands on the side-limb of *pa*.

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¹ O. Franke, Nachr. Gött. Ges. d. Wiss., 1895, 540, and ZDMG. 50, 603, proposes to read *fa* and *fi* for the signs which I read *spa* and *spi*.

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(4) The ligature in 38, VII, seems to have two different meanings. In Shāhbāzgarhī edict X, l. 21, the sign appears in the representative of the Sanskrit *tadātvāya*, which in the dialect of the Aśoka edicts might be either *tadatvaye* or *tadattaye*, and in Mansehra it occurs frequently in the representative of the Sanskrit *ātman*. As the Kuṣana inscriptions offer a similar sign (31, XIII) in the representative of the Sanskrit *satvānām*, we have probably to read *tva* in Shāhbāzgarhī edict X, l. 21, and to assume that the curve at the foot of *ta* represents a *va*, just as it stands in *thra* (21, IV) for the similar *ra*. This explanation is confirmed by the ligatures 30, XIII, and 37, XIII, which most probably are equivalent to *śva* (*iśvara*) and *sva* (*visharasvamini*). In Mansehra (especially edict XII) the sign 38, VII, has to be read *tma*.²

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² The MS. of the Dhammapada shews this same sign both in the terminations of the absolutives in *tva* (*tvā*) and in atma (*ātman*), and thus further confirms the explanation proposed.