Elements of South-Indian Palæography, from the Fourth to the Seventeenth Century A.D. c8.s3.t1.2

c8.s3.t1.2

There is a remarkable difference in the form of the plates used in N. and in S. India. In the North they are generally very nearly square and are much like the shape of a page of a modern book. The earlier S. Indian inscriptions are written on long strips, and the lines of writing are lengthwise. It is obvious that this difference in shape is to be attributed to the fact that the plates were fashioned like the leaves of books used in those respective countries. In the North the bhūrja was cut nearly square; in the S. the palm-leaves afforded strips only. But in the course of time the form of the plates