Indian Palaeography c15.s3.t1.14

c15.s3.t1.14

(vi) Pl. XI. 6 mainly represents the Khalimpur copper plate of Dharmapāladeva and the two newly discovered Sālban Vihāra plates of Bhavadeva.¹ They have been selected to represent the typically Bengali style of the time. If we base our conclusions on the Mungir copper plate of Devapāla, we can hardly trace any difference from the contemporary writing of the Middle Ganges Valley. It was certainly due to the Pālas that many discrepancies between the styles of Bihar and Bengal were removed. The Bengali style is still preserved in the form of the initial *a*, which shows an extended curve at the left limb. The other form given in the plate is from the Mungir plate. The initial *ā* has now a vertical on the right of *a*, as is also the case in the medial *ā*. The medial *i* has two dots above and a tailed one below, but another form with a curve above two dots is also seen. The latter form is probably borrowed from Central India. *U* extends its curve upwards. The rare *au* is formed by adding an upward curve on the right to the middle of *o*, which has its base bent down and the angles rounded. *Kha* has two forms—one with an inner triangular loop, and the other with an outer triangle with its mouth open and joined to a vertical on the right by a bar. This latter form of *kha* is used in the spurious Gaya plate of Samudra Gupta.² *Ja* bends the middle arm downwards and curves the lowest arm still farther, while the top one is merged in the head-mark. *Ṭa* prolongs the right hand tick downwards, and *ṭha* has a head-mark, from which hangs the circular form. *Ḍa* has a curved back and a bent leg. *Ṇa* develops the cursive form by merging the two middle arms and reducing their length—a form already seen earlier in such conjuncts as *shṇu*. *Ta* has also two forms—one with two arms rounded, as in the older inscriptions, and the other with the left arm forming an angular hook and finally attached to the right vertical—a form seen in the proto-Nāgarī style. *Tha* is of the bulged form with its loop turned either inwards or outwards. Similarly, *pha* has its loop turned outwards. *Ra* develops a cursive variety of the tailed type and has a bent vertical on the right with a mid-bar on the left. Besides the round-topped form of *śa*, we have also the looped form as seen in the last group. In the conjuncts the form of *ñchi* is remarkable, as *ña* shows a cursive form almost identical with that of modern Bengali. The conjuncts *kshmī* and *ksha* also come closer to the modern forms. Other letters and the medial vowels are only one stage further developed than those seen in (v) above.