Elements of South-Indian Palæography, from the Fourth to the Seventeenth Century A.D. c5.s3.27

c5.s3.27

Another remarkable feature in the Vaṭṭĕḻuttu is the system of marking the secondary vowels. This is intermediate between the systems of the Northern and the Southern Açoka alphabets, and thus connects both. I was led by this striking fact to suggest in an article on the Vaṭṭĕḻuttu¹ that the Northern alphabets had, in this respect, copied from it. At present it appears to me that it is best to consider the Açoka alphabets and the Vaṭṭĕḻuttu as independent; the evidence afforded by the few facts that are satisfactorily known in respect of these characters is too imperfect to allow of more precise conclusions being drawn. Vaṭṭĕḻuttu is the modern Malayāḷam name of this character, and means ‘round hand’ apparently to distinguish it from the Kōlĕḻuttu or ‘sceptre hand’; it appears to be the best name for this alphabet as it prevents all confusion with the modern Tamiḻ.