Indian Palaeography c13.s2.1

c13.s2.1

Bühler vaguely hinted at a regional script for North-west India, in which he included the Kalasi R.E. of Aśoka and the coin legends of the Indo-Greek rulers. Though some of the letter-forms of Kalasi persisted in the later inscriptions, it is hard to maintain that a regional script existed as early as the time of Aśoka. The Aśokan P.E.s, now at Delhi, go against any such assumption. The regional script of North-west India started much later, when its letter-forms began to be influenced by the palaeography of the coins, especially of the foreign intruders. This change was natural, as much of the region was within the orbit of the foreign rulers, and we have good evidence for contact and mutual exchange.