Indian Palaeography c15.s1.19

c15.s1.19

D IX. *South India.* Not much evidence is available from the extreme south. The early inscriptions of the Pallavas show the long verticals of the Ikshvāku style and also give evidence of a technical tradition seen earlier in the Bhattiprolu inscriptions. The Sanskrit records are again divisible into two styles, one mainly found in inscriptions from the northern part of the region, showing influence from the Vākāṭaka and Chālukyan records, and the other occurring in southern inscriptions from Kāñchī, Trichinopoly, Annamalai, Mamallapuram, &c., which are all very late, and which display a new and special style showing great draftsmanship in the formation of the letters. This is the Grantha style of the seventh century a.d., but so far its earlier counterpart has not been found. In a few letters the influence of the north is traceable and in others we can discern the influence of the Deccani style. But the Grantha style must have had its precursor in this very region. It cannot be wholly derived from the north or the Deccan.