Indian Palaeography c13.s5.t1.6

c13.s5.t1.6

The inscriptions from Bhattiprolu are regarded as the earliest in date, and Bühler has assigned them to the second century B.C. at the latest. This date is not borne out by critical analysis. I shall describe here only the relevant letters. The vertical of *ka* is lengthened. *Ga* is both angular and rounded. *Cha* has one peculiar triangular and another quadrangular loop. The circle of *chha* has changed into a rough oval. *Da* has also a rounded form. *Dha* is of the regular type, such as became common in the later period. *Bha* has a straight vertical. *Ma* copies in reverse a form from the Girnar R.E. of Aśoka, but this form is also present in Nanaghat I and in the Amaravati inscriptions. The *ma* on the crystal is crudely drawn with a single stroke. *Ra* is either a straight vertical or has a curve at the lower end. *La* has the cursive round form of the later period. *Va* has a long loop recalling the triangular form. The medial *o* is a single straight line, and the medial *u* in *bu* is added by prolonging the right vertical downwards. These features suggest a connexion with the development that was going on in North-west Deccan, and in no case can the Bhattiprolu inscriptions be dated earlier than those of Nanaghat. When we recall that all these Buddhists were in close contact, we may place the Bhattiprolu inscriptions in the first century A.D. This conclusion is strengthened when we turn to the main groups of the southern inscriptions known from Amaravati and the caves of South India.