Indian Palaeography from about B.C. 350 to about A.D. 1300 c8.s3.t2: B. — The middle variety
Indian Palaeography from about B.C. 350 to about A.D. 1300 c8.s3.t2
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B. — The middle variety
c8.s3.t2.1
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: —
c8.s3.t2.7
(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.
c8.s3.t2.8
(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.