Elements of South-Indian Palæography, from the Fourth to the Seventeenth Century A.D. c8.s1.24

c8.s1.24

The oldest Indian mss. known at present are on palm-(talipat-)leaves, but with the writing in ink. One of these discovered by Profr. Bühler is *d. saṃv.* 1189 or A. D. 1132, and is the oldest Indian ms. known. It is a ms. of the Jain Āvaçyakasūtra[^1). About this there need be no doubt. The next which is dated 1151 or 1229 A. D. is so well preserved that it seems difficult to believe that it is not a copy of an older ms. with the date of the original left unchanged, as is often the case[^2). The oldest palm-leaf ms. that I know of the first class is of A. D. 1428 from which I have taken the alphabet in Pl. x. It is a Canarese ms.