Indian Palaeography c14.s7.9

c14.s7.9

In the Western Deccan the change imperceptibly set in from the time of Vāsisthīputra Śrī Puḷumāvi (Pl. IX. 3) who was a contemporary of the early rulers of the Chashṭana group. It was from his time onwards that records of the Śātavāhanas are found in the Eastern Deccan and as far south as the Bellary and Shimoga districts. But the Śātavāhanas seem to have lost for good their territories in Malwa, Northern Gujarat, and Kathiawad to the Western Kshatrapas, who were the real masters of the overseas trade, as is evidenced by their silver currency. The only exception was Gautamīputra Yajña Śrī Śātakarṇi, who managed to lay hands on the region temporarily and to issue some silver currency. The Śātavāhanas from this time onwards became predominantly a Deccan power, and the style in their inscriptions influenced the growth of the southern characters. In the inscriptions of the time of Puḷumāvi a mixed style is seen—the older Deccani style continued side by side with the new influences which possibly came from Northern Gujarat and Kathiawad. In Amaravati and other places of the Eastern Deccan the older Deccani style is seen at this time. The ornamental style developed alongside it, and by the time of Yajña Śrī Śātakarṇi this became the predominant way of writing in the Deccan. In the new style the line head-mark is occasionally seen, the curves and the notches characterize the verticals and horizontals, and ornamental flourishes are added to the medial vowels. Two special forms are the looped *ta* and the triangular *dha* with its left side curved. The subscript *ya* retains its tripartite form. Among the older forms that persisted are *kha* with its prominent upper hook, *chha* with its stem to the left of its double loop, the round-backed *ḍa*, the Deccani *ta*, the cursive angular *da* with its mouth opening to the left, the medial vowels attached to the middle of *ma*, the tripartite *ya* showing no curl or loop at the left arm, and *la* with its long vertical curved outwards. The new forms included the angular *a* with an additional hook attached to the angle of the upper left stroke, *o* in the shape of reversed 's', the notched type of the beaked *cha*, the round-backed *da* with its mouth open to the right, and *la* with its vertical curved inwards. In all these cases the older system of applying medial vowels continued, the only change being that the vowel signs were now more ornamental. In fact in the Deccan, in the period from the time of Haku Siri to that of the Nagarjunikonda inscriptions, ornamental forms in the shape of curves began to appear. They assumed standard forms in the time of Puḷumāvi and Yajña Śrī Śātakarṇi.