Indian Palaeography c12.s5: The Consonants in Aśokan Brāhmī
Indian Palaeography c12.s5
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The Consonants in Aśokan Brāhmī
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Thirty-three consonants, including the rare North Indian *ḍa*, were used in Aśokan Brāhmī. Their formations are described below:
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(i) The letter *ka* consists of a simple cross. Occasionally the vertical line is lengthened, as in the Mysore inscriptions, Erragudi R.E., and Rummindei M.P.I. But in these cases, except at Erragudi, all the letters have longer verticals. At Siddhapur alone the horizontal line is inclined on the left. Bühler's 'dagger-shaped *ka*' is not traceable. That was the result of a new technique (see Chapter 5).
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(ii) The letter *kha* resembles a fish-hook upside down, with a dot or a circle at the end of the longer arm, but the primary form is the latter, as shown in the last chapter (Fig. 4. V). This dot or circle is very rarely missing (Delhi-Topra P.E., Pl. III*a*). The long arm is bent in some cases, thus making a cursive form (Delhi Topra P.E. VII). In the Mysore inscriptions the dot is thickened, recalling the circle. *Kha* with a circle is confined to North Indian inscriptions but is found in the Dhauli and Jaugad S.E., while *kha* with a dot is common to all the inscriptions except the Kalasi R.E. *Kha* with a triangle in place of a circle, noticed by Bühler at Kalasi, is hardly observable. The triangle is really a cursive circle, as shown in Pl. III*a* (Kalasi R.E.).
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(iii) The letter *ga* is formed by two straight lines meeting at an acute angle which opens downwards. Sometimes the apex of the angle is rounded off as in the Barabar cave inscriptions (Pl. IV*a*).
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(iv) The letter *gha* is formed from the rounded form of *ga* turned upside down, but its left arm is extended upwards and a vertical stroke is added in the middle (Fig. 4. VI). This round form is very common, but in the Kalasi R.E. (XI–XIV) and rarely in the Dhauli and Jaugad R.E.s (Pl. IV*a*) it has a flattened bottom. The S.E. has no angular form as noted wrongly by Bühler.
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(v) The letter *cha* has three main varieties: the first is formed by drawing a semi-circle to the bottom left of a vertical line. In this case the vertical line was probably drawn later (Pl. III*a*, Delhi Topra P.E. VII). In the second variety the vertical line is drawn first and then the semi-circle is made. As a result it is always less than the arc of a semi-circle. This second variety, when written cursively, produces the angular *cha*. It was probably formed in a single action beginning from the vertical (Fig. 4. VII). The second variety is most common, while the third is an optional form.
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(vi) The letter *chha* is formed from *cha* by duplicating the semi-circle on the right, and thus completing the circle. Usually the circle was drawn first and then the vertical. In the reverse process, i.e. when the vertical was made first, the circle took the form of an oval; e.g. the Delhi-Topra P.E. (I–VI), and Sanchi M.P.I. Sometimes this resulted in two circles (Pl. III*a*, Kalasi R.E. I–X). The *chha* with a notched head-mark, ☿, shown in Bühler’s chart, from the Kalasi R.E., is a mistaken reading. This is a much later development (see Chapter 5).
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(vii) The letter *ja* has two basic forms, the angular with three arms and the round with double curves; the latter is most common, and the first is optional in many inscriptions. The round form has several sub-varieties, depending on the formation of the middle arm (Fig. 4. VIII). Of these (*b*) is not the only type in the southern inscriptions, as is maintained by Bühler, though it is confined to the Girnar and Mysore inscriptions. (*c*) and (*d*) are present in the northern inscriptions along with others.
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(viii and ix) The letter *jha* has only the angular form made by adding on the right an angular hook to the middle of the vertical so that the mouth opens upwards. Variations are seen in the shortening of the hook as in Pl. III*a* (Delhi-Topra P.E. VII), or in the angle between the hook and the vertical (Fig. 4. IX). *Ña* is this form of *jha* upside down with a stroke added to the top left.
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(x) The letter *ṭa* has only one main form, a semi-circle open to the right, but more often it is not a full semi-circle (Erragudi R.E., Pl. IV*a*). Sometimes the angular form is cursively drawn by flattening the upper and lower arms (Pl. IV*a*, Gujarra and Rupnath M.R.I.; and Pl. III*a*, Delhi-Mirath, and Sarnath inscriptions). The process is given in Fig. 5. I.
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(xi) The letter *ṭha* is a full circle.
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(xii) *Ḍa* is formed by adding a vertical stroke to the top of *ṭa*, but the semi-circle of *ṭa* is straightened, and it looks like a step. It is drawn from the top downward in one action. It has only the angular
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FIG. 5
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variety. The round *ḍa* found in the Kauśāmbī M.P.I. (Pl. III*a*) and optionally in the Kalasi R.E. (XI–XIV) is an exception.
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(xiii) *Ḍha* seems to have been originally formed by adding a loop on the right to the bottom of *ḍa*, as is seen at Siddhapur. But this angular variety is rarely seen (Delhi-Topra P.E. VII). The round form is very common. It is also drawn from the top downwards.
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(xiv and xv) The letters *na* and *ṇa* should be taken together. *Na* is formed by drawing a perpendicular line on a horizontal base; while in the case of *ṇa* an additional horizontal line is given at the top of the vertical and at the same time both the horizontals are shortened in relation to the vertical line (Fig. 1). In some examples from the Mysore inscriptions the vertical is exceptionally prolonged.
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(xvi) The letter *ta* is formed in several ways. The simplest is formed from an inclined straight line from the middle of which another short stroke is given at an angle either on the right or on the left as the case may be; e.g. 人 or 入. The curving of the additional stroke makes other varieties: 𑀢 or λ. A different formation is obtained by appending an angle just below the vertical: 人, and this last also makes a variation when the angle is cursively drawn into a curve: 𑀢. Two or three forms are found in the same inscription and hence no regional classification can be made.
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(xvii) The letter *tha* has a dot in the centre of *ṭha*, i.e. a full circle (Fig. 1).
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(xviii) The letter *da* has two main varieties, the angular and the round. The primary form is made up of a semi-circle, open on the left, with the addition of short verticals at either end; e.g. כ → 𑀤. In the other variety the semi-circle gives place to an angular form; e.g. 𑀤. The lower vertical is sometimes cursively drawn, suggesting that the letter was usually formed in a single action beginning from the top, e.g. 𑀤. The Kauśāmbi M.P.I. and Sarnath M.P.I. have very cursive forms.
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(xix) The letter *dha* has two main varieties. The first resembles the Roman capital letter ‘D’, and the second is its exact reverse. The first is very common. Bühler is right in deriving it from *da*. In this case the verticals meet at the centre of the semi-circle instead of going farther away from it as in *da* (Fig. 1).
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(xx) The letter *pa* resembles a fish-hook drawn to the right. Very rarely the angular form is seen (Pl. III*b*, Kalasi R.E. XI–XIV).
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(xxi) *Pha* is formed by adding a loop to the hook of *Pa* (Fig. 1). Sometimes we find very cursive forms, when the vertical is inclined (Pl. IV*b*, Girnar R.E.; Pl. III*b*, Delhi-Topra P.E. VII).
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(xxii) *Ba* makes two varieties, a square or a rectangle. The first is very common.
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(xxiii) *Bha* is a sign similar to *jha* but turned upside down (Pl. IV*b*, Rupnath M.R.I.). Usually there is a notch between the vertical and the angular hook. But actually this letter is formed from *ba* (Fig. 5. II).
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(xxiv) The letter *ma* has several varieties. The basic form is the bottom loop or circle with two additional strokes above. When the letter is drawn in a single action from the top stroke with one sweep, the result will be the *ma* of the Girnar R.E. (Fig. 5. III*a*). If in this action the line bends slightly at the beginning, the result will be something like Fig. 5. III*b*; if the line bends again at the end, we get another form (Fig. 5. III*c*)—a variety which is seen in many inscriptions. But the engraver has not followed the writer's principle. We can see him at Siddhapur (Pl. IV*b*) first drawing the circle and then supplying the upper strokes separately (Fig. 5. III*d*); in the Erragudi M.R.I. (Pl. IV*b*) the upper strokes are drawn straight at an incline.
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(xxv) The letter *ya* has two basic forms, the crescentic and the segmented. The first is made by drawing a vertical in the middle of the arc of a circle; while the second is formed by dividing this arc into two halves. Both have angular varieties. The process is shown in Fig. 5. IV.
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(xxvi) The letter *ra* is not found in all the inscriptions. It has two varieties: (*a*) the straight vertical, and (*b*) the serpentine vertical.
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(xxvii and xxviii) Both the letters *la* and *ha* are formed in the same way, with the only difference that the one is the exact reverse of the other (Fig. 5. V). Cursive forms of *la* can be seen in the Kalasi R.E., and of *ha* in the Delhi-Topra P.E. VII. The tick sometimes makes a little hook (see Dhauli and Jaugad R.E., Pl. IV*b* for *la*, and Erragudi R.E., Pl. IV*b* for *ha*). At Sarnath this tick is formed by a twist as shown in Fig. 5. V*b*.
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(xxix) The main variety of *va* is a circle appended to a vertical. But the circle becomes longish when the letter is drawn in a single action, and more often it appears like a loop on the right bottom of the vertical (Fig. 5. VI).
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(xxx–xxxii) All the three sibilants are found in Aśokan Brāhmī, but the commonest is the dental *sa*, occurring in all the inscriptions. The other two are present in the Kalasi R.E. (XI–XIV), while palatal *śa* is found also at Kalasi (I–IX), at Maski, in the Mysore inscriptions and in a conjunct with *va* at Bairat. The cerebral *sha* has also been read by Hultzsch and others at Sarnath and in the Kauśāmbi M.P.I., but this reading is mistaken. As the forms of *sa* and *sha* do not differ much, there was often confusion on the parts of the writer, the engraver, and the reader. The same confusion prevails in the Mahasthan Brāhmī inscription.¹ All the three sibilants are found in Aśokan Kharoshṭhī, and the fact that the North-western Chapaḍa uses them in the Mysore inscriptions suggests that their occurrence is due to the hand of a person coming from the north-west.
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¹ See below, p. 56.
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The palatal *śa* resembles the form of *ga* with an additional stroke appended in its inner side (Fig. 5. VII). Both the angular and round forms are known. In the angular form the inner stroke is attached to the left arm almost parallel to the right arm, and in the round form the stroke falls from the apex.
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The dental *sa* has an additional hook in the same direction attached to the long arm of the form of *pa* (Fig. 5. VIII). This hook is sometimes angular as in the Erragudi inscriptions (Pl. IV*b*), and is sometimes lengthened (Pl. III*b*, Kalasi R.E. I–IX); in some cases this hook starts just where the long arm of *pa* ends, and in rare cases it drops from the curve of *pa* (Pl. III*b*, Kalasi R.E. XI–XIV). In this last variety it is often confused with *sha*. In rare cases, e.g. at Girnar (probably owing to the engraver's mistake), the long arm is extended and the curve is added later, e.g. [Figure:] (Pl. IV*b*). At Sarnath the cursive form is also seen, in which case the long arm is bent inwards.
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In cerebral *sha* the curve is doubled and the separate hook is dropped. The main point to note is that the lower curve in *sha* is the primary one and it never takes the form of a hook, while the upper one is secondary, answering to the hook. This distinction is clear when we take into consideration the addition of the medial vowel *u*, which is always added to the primary curve (Fig. 5. VIII).
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(xxxiii) In the pillar edicts one more letter, *ḍa*, is observed. It is used optionally only with three words: *eḍaka*, *duḍi*, and *paṁnaḍasa*—the first two being the names of animals. It is formed by adding a dot at the bottom of the line of *ḍa*. This is the parent of the modern North Indian *ḍa*, in which case also a dot is placed below the form of *ḍa*.