Indian Palaeography from about B.C. 350 to about A.D. 1300 c8.s3: § 29. — The Kanarese and Telugu alphabet; Plates VII. and VIII

Indian Palaeography from about B.C. 350 to about A.D. 1300 c8.s3

Language: English

c8.s3.t1 A. — The archaic variety — 20 parts
c8.s3.t2 B. — The middle variety — 18 parts
c8.s3.t3 C. — The Old-Kanarese alphabet — 14 parts

§ 29. — The Kanarese and Telugu alphabet; Plates VII. and VIII

A. — The archaic variety

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[64] The archaic variety of this script is found: — (*a*) In the west, in the inscriptions of the Kadambas of Vaijayantī or Banavāsi (plate VII, cols. XII, XIII), and of the early Calukyas of Vātāpi or Bādāmi, *e.g.* of Kīrtivarman I. and Maṅgaleśa (plate VII, col. XIV), Pulakeśin II., and Vikramāditya I. (sometimes). (*b*) In the east, on the Sālaṅkāyana plates, and on those of the first two Calukyas of Veṅgī, Viṣṇuvardhana I. and Jayasiṁha I. (plate VII, col. XVII).³ The date of the Sālaṅkāyana plates, which used to be assigned to the 4th century,⁴ is uncertain.⁵ The Kadamba grants probably belong partly to the 5th and partly to the 6th centuries; for, Kākusthavarman, who issued the oldest known record, was the contemporary of one of the Imperial Guptas, probably of Samudragupta,⁶ and his descendants all ruled before the overthrow of the Kadamba kingdom by Kīrtivarman I., between A. D. 566-67 and 596-97. The archaic Calukya inscriptions fall between A. D. 578 and about 660.⁷

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³ Compare facsimiles of Sālaṅkāyana inscriptions at B.ESIP. plate 24; IA. 5, 176; EI. 4, 144; of Kadamba inscriptions at IA. 6, 23 ff.; 7, 33 ff.; J.BBRAS. 12, 300; of Western Calukya inscriptions at IA. 6, 72, 75; 8, 44, 237; 9, 100; 10, 58; 19, 58; and of Eastern Calukya inscriptions at B.ESIP. pl. 27.

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⁴ B.ESIP. 16, pl. 1.

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⁵ Fleet, IA. 20, 94.

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⁶ Academy, 1895, 229.

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⁷ See Fleet's dates of the Calukyas, EI. 3, table at p. 2; IA. 20, 95 ff.

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During this period, the characters of the western and eastern documents do not differ much. The alphabet of the Sālaṅkāyana plates⁸ agrees very closely with that of plate VII, col. XIII; and in the first half of the 7th century the letters of the Calukya inscriptions from Vātāpi and from Veṅgi show an almost perfect resemblance.¹ But the more considerable differences between cols. XII. and XIII, which both are derived from grants of the Kadamba Mṛgeśavarman issued within a period of only five years, have to be explained by the assumption that the letters of col. XIII, with which nearly all the other Kadamba inscriptions agree, imitate writing with ink, and those of col. XII. writing with the *stilus*. This explanation is suggested by the thinness of the signs of col. XII, and by the much greater thickness of those in col. XIII, and by the wedges and solid squares at their heads (compare above, § 28, B).

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⁸ B.ESIP. pl. 1.

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¹ Compare also the facsimile at IA. 6, 72, and B.ESI P. pl. 27.

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The letters of the older documents of this period remain very similar to those of the Andhra inscriptions of plate III, the so-called "cave-characters." In the Śālaṅkāyana grant, and in those of the Kadambas Kākusthavarman, Śāntivarman, Mṛgeśavarman and Ravivarman, we find only few, and by no means constant, traces of the development of the later characteristic round forms. Thus, col. XII. no doubt offers rather far advanced signs for *A* and *ra*, but at the same time a more archaic *A*, and the facsimile frequently shows even an angular *ra* with a not very long upward stroke. In the grants of the last Kadamba king Harivarman and in those of the Calukyas between A. D. 578 and 660, the *A*, *Ā*, *ka* and *ra*, characteristic of the next stage of development, occur not rarely, but never constantly. Thus col. XIV, derived from the Bādāmi inscription of Kīrtivarman I. and Maṅgaleśa, has the *ka* closed on the left. But this form is the only one used there, and it never appears on Maṅgaleśa's copper-plate, nor on the Haidarābād plates of his successor Pulakeśin II.² Further, this *ka*, as well as the closed *ra* of 33, col. XV, occur on the Nerūr plates of Pulakeśin II.³ Finally, the Aihoḷe stone inscription, of the time of Pulakeśin II.,⁴ has exclusively the older *ka* and *ra*, but occasionally the later *A* of col. XV. This vacillation indicates that between A. D. 578 and 660, and perhaps even earlier, the round-hand forms of the middle Kanarese alphabet existed, but that they either had not completely displaced the older ones, or that they were not yet considered as really suitable for inscriptions, though the clerks occasionally introduced them by mistake into the official documents (compare above, § 3, page 8).

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² IA. 6, 72.

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³ IA. 8, 44.

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⁴ See the plates at IA. 8, 241; EI. 6, 6.

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Among the other signs, the following may be noted especially:—

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(1) The *ṇa* (plate VII, 21, XII—XIV, XVII) which is never looped, but looks as if it were cursively developed from a looped form similar to that of col. I, ff.

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(2) The *ta*, which keeps the old form of the western inscriptions without a loop in 22, XIII, but shows in cols. XII, XIV, XVII, a cursive development from the looped *ta* of cols. XX—XXIII, which likewise is not rare in Kadamba and Calukya inscriptions of this period.

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(3) The tailed *ḍa* (24, XIV, XVII) agreeing exactly with the western form [65] of *ḍa* (19, IV—IX).

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(4) The *na*, which sometimes has the looped form (26, XIII), and more frequently that without the loop (26, XII, XIV—XVII); the latter being, however, apparently derived from the looped one.

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(5) The very exceptionally looped *ya* (in *yō*, 45, XIV), which thus is identical with the much older northern form.

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(6) The medial vowels: — (*a*) *ū* in *pū* (27, XIII), a cursive substitute for the *ū* of *yū* (32, VI), *cū* (13, IV), &c.; (*b*) the subscript *ṛ* of *kṛ* (8, XII, XVII; 41, XIV), somewhat resembling a northern *ṛ* (which latter actually occurs once on the seal figured in IA. 6, 24, in *Mṛgeśa*), but probably independently derived from a not uncommon *ṛ* in the shape of an unconnected semicircle before *ka*; (*c*) the exceedingly rare *ḷ* of *kḷ* (42, XIV), which, differing from the northern subscript *ḷ* (plate VI, 35, XVII), but agreeing with the northern initial sign of the Cambridge MS., consists merely of a cursive *la*; (*d*) the Mātrā of *e* (in *ṇe*, 21, XII), of *ai* (in *vai*, 13, XII; and *vai*, 35, XIII), and of *o* and *au* (in *thau*, 23, XII), which, except in connection with *le* (see *le*, 34, XII, and *lo*, 34, XIII, XVII), frequently stands at the foot of the consonant; (*e*) the *au* (in *pau*, 27, XII, XIV), the right-hand portion of which invariably and in all southern alphabets consists of a hook, formed by a cursive combination of the second Mātrā with the *ā*-stroke (compare *yau*, plate III, 31, VI).

B. — The middle variety

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This second variety is found from about A. D. 650 to about A. D. 950: — (*a*) In the west, in the inscriptions of the Calukyas of Vātāpi or Bādāmi, of their successors the Rāṣṭrakūṭas of Mānyakheṭa (in cases when they did not use the Nāgarī, see above, page 51), of the Gaṅgas of Maisūr, and of some smaller dynasties; (*b*) in the east, on the copper-plates of the Calukyas of Veṅgī and of their vassals. During this period, some marked differences are observable in the *ductus* between the several classes of documents. The copper-plates of the Western Calukyas (plate VII, col. XVI)¹ mostly show carelessly drawn cursive signs sloping towards the right, and their stone inscriptions (plate VII, col. XV) upright, carefully made, letters, which especially in the ligatures are abnormally large. With the characters of the latter agree those of the inscriptions of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas (plate VIII, cols II, III),² with the exception of the sign-manual on the Baroda copper-plate of Dhruva II.³ In this royal signature and in the inscriptions of the Calukyas of Veṅgī (plate VIII, cols. IV, V), the letters are broader and shorter, and in this respect resemble very closely the Old-Kanarese.⁴

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¹ Compare the facsimiles at IA. 6, 86, 88; 7, 300; J.BBRAS. 16, 223 ff.

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² Compare the facsimiles at IA. 10, 61 ff., 104, 166, 170; 11, 126; 20, 70; Ep. Carn. 3, 80, 87, 92 (for the last of these see also EI. 6, 54).

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³ See the facsimile at IA. 14, 200.

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⁴ Compare the facsimiles at IA. 12, 92; 13, 214, 248; EI. 3, 104.

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In addition to the above-mentioned rounded forms of *A*, *Ā*, *ka* and *ra*, which become constant during this period, the following letters deserve special remarks: —

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(1) The very rare *Ṛ* (plate VII, 5, XVI; compare also the earlier letter in the facsimile at IA. 6, 23, end), which seems to be a modification of the northern form of plate VI, 7, I, II.

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(2) The strongly cursive *kha* (plate VIII, 12, III—V), which is identical with the Old-Kanarese letter, and which according to FLEET⁵ never occurs before about A. D. 800, but actually appears in the cognate Pallava inscriptions (plate VII, 9, XXIII; compare below, § 31, B, 4) already since the 7th century.

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⁵ EI. 3, 162 f.

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(3) The *ca*, which from the 9th century begins to open in *ñca* (plate VII, 41, XIX; plate VIII, 19, III, IV).

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(4) The *da* (plate VIII, 27, II, IV, V) the tail of which begins to turn upwards since the 9th century.

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(5) The *ba*, opened above (plate VIII, 32, V), which according to FLEET⁶ first occurs about A. D. 850.

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⁶ EI. 3, 163.

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(6) The *ma* (plate VII, 31, XVII; VIII, 34, II—V), the upper part of which is drawn towards the right and placed nearly on the same level as the lower one, and which thus becomes the precursor of the Old-Kanarese *ma*.

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(7) The abnormal cursive *la* (plate VII, 34, XVI), which elsewhere appears only as the second part of ligatures (as in *ślo*, plate VII, 44, XVIII).

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(8) The Mātrās, which occasionally stand below the consonant (as in *dhe*, plate VIII, 28, V).

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(9) The vertical Virāma, above final *m* (plate VII, 41, XVIII; plate VIII, 46, V) and final *n* (plate VIII, 45, V).

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(10) The Dravidian *ṟa* (plate VII, 45, XV, XVIII; 46, XVI; plate VIII, 47, II, III) [66] and *ḻa* (plate VII, 46, XV, XVIII; plate VIII, 49, II, V), which first appear in the 7th century. The first of them, *ṟa*, may possibly represent two round *ra*, and *ḻa* may be a modification of a *la* like that in plate VII, 40, XIV, XVI. The occurrence of these signs proves that the Kanarese language had a literature already in the 7th century.

C. — The Old-Kanarese alphabet

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The third and last variety of the Kanarese-Telugu alphabet, which BURNELL calls “the transitional” and FLEET more appropriately “Old-Kanarese,” does not differ much from the modern Kanarese and Telugu scripts. In the east, it first appears in the Veṅgi inscriptions of the 11th century; in the west, a little earlier, in a Gaṅga inscription of A. D. 978 and in a not much later Calukya inscription.¹ Some of its characteristics, like the opening of the loop of *ma* and of the head of *va*, appear however in the sign-manual of Dhruva II. on the Baroda plates, mentioned above under B. The specimens of this script² in plate VIII, among which cols. VI. and VII. date from the 11th century, col. VIII. from the 12th, and col. IX (according to HULTZSCH, Telugu) from the 14th, show the gradual progress very distinctly.

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¹ BURGESS and FLEET, Pāli, Saṁskṛit, and Old-Canarese inscriptions, Nos. 271, 214; see also, for the Gaṅga record, IA. 6, 102.

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² Compare also the facsimiles at IA. 9, 74; 14, 56; EI. 3, 26, 88, 194, 228; Ep. Carn. 3, 116, 121; B.ASWI. No. 10, 100; and J.RAS. 1891, 135 (the original of PRINSEP’s, Kistna alphabet, which is archaic and retrogracd *A*, *ka*, *ra*, *la*).

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One of the most characteristic marks of the Old-Kanarese consists in the angles over all Mātṛkās which do not bear superscripted vowel-signs. These angles, which in col. VI. resemble those of the modern Telugu and in cols. VII, VIII, those of the modern Kanarese, probably are cursive representatives of wedges, and have been invented because the latter did not suit the writing with the *stilus*. Since the 6th century, they occur more or less frequently in single inscriptions from other districts, such as Guhasena’s grant of A. D. 559-60 (plate VII, col. IV) and Ravikīrti’s Aihoḷe Praśasti,³ sometimes together with wedges. But it is only in this alphabet that they become a constant distinctive feature.

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³ IA 8, 241; EI. 6, 6.

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The most important among the changes in the several signs are:—

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(1) The opening of the heads of *E* (plate VIII, 8, VI, VIII), of *ca* (16, VI—IX), of *bha* (33, VI—IX, which in col. IX. becomes identical with *ba* by the connection of the two base-strokes), and of *va* (38, VII—IX), as well as of the loop of *ma* (34, VI, VIII) and of the right limb of *cha* (17, VI—IX; compare also col. V).

Linked texts (1)

Badami inscription (No. 350) — Kannada