Indian Palaeography c15.s4.13

c15.s4.13

The initial vowels *i*, *e*, and *o* are of the same forms as the Middle Ganges Valley, but *a* has two regional varieties—one, seen in the Kumāra Gupta inscriptions and ultimately traceable from the Kushāṇa form of this region, was termed in the last chapter the 'angular' type.⁴ The Gupta form shows a development in curving the upper end of the left limb outwards, placing a head-mark over the right vertical, and thickening the left bottom angle into a triangular knot. This form will be henceforward called the angular form with a knot. The other variety of *a* is seen in the Indor plate and the Kura inscription. Here the left limb makes a double curve, outwards at the upper end and inwards at the lower. This is the regional variation of the Gupta form influenced by the first variety. The vowel *ū* in the Kura inscription has a fully developed curved base. The medial vowels follow both the Kushāṇa and the eastern system, as is seen in the forms of *ā* and *e*, but the medial *o* and *au* are given always in the Kushāṇa style. The right hook for the medial *ā*, as seen in Bengal and Nepal, is not found here at all. The medial *i* has its curve to the left, and in some cases is extended to the bottom of the letters, and the medial *ī* has its curve turned to the right. The medial *ṛi* follows the North Indian fashion of a hook turned to the right.