Elements of South-Indian Palæography, from the Fourth to the Seventeenth Century A.D. c7.s2.4

c7.s2.4

Palæographically, the notation of the Vedic accents is a subject almost devoid of interest. The different methods used for the different Vedas are all of very recent origin, comparatively; and have arisen in different parts of India much about the same time, and in consequence of the decay of the old way of learning the Vedas by heart. In S. India there is no pretence of a complete or even uniform system, and ᴍss. with accents do not appear to occur before the middle of the sixteenth century. The multitude of treatises on Vedic phonetics still existing in S. India must always have made the want of accented ᴍss. but little felt, and all the old Vedic Brahmans that I have met with, never attached the least value to them.