Indian Palaeography c14.s7.3

c14.s7.3

The next series of inscriptions belongs to the period when the Śakas and the Yavanas had already become influential in this region. From the numerous private records we select the Karle inscriptions published by M. S. Vats² and Nasik inscription no. 18.³ No head-mark is seen in the letters, but a faint trace of the tapering style can be observed in some of them. The angularity is well marked and some of the long verticals are curved. The connexion with the older style is seen in the forms of *a*, *da* with its mouth open to the left, and the crescentic form of *ya*, and in a disregard for the equalization of the verticals. But the Nasik inscription establishes the connexion between this style and that of the inscriptions of Nahapāna. These inscriptions may be dated in the last quarter of the first century A.D. and the beginning of the second century A.D. With the coming of the foreigners in this region there is a marked improvement in the style of the writing. These inscriptions have not been shown in the plates as it is hard to distinguish them from those referred to in the following paragraph.