Indian Palaeography from about B.C. 350 to about A.D. 1300 c8.s3.t3.4

c8.s3.t3.4

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.