Indian Palaeography c15.s4.t1.8

c15.s4.t1.8

The initial vowels of section (A) are exclusively derived from Rajasthan. The vowels of section (B) also appear to have come from the same source, but other traditions are also observable. The most important is the vowel *a* in this second section, which shows a development of the type which I have called the angular form with knot.² This knot assumes the form of a solid triangle, and in parts V and VI the triangle opens its mouth. In this section the initial *i* consists of three dots, two above and one below.³ This form is seen in the Mathura region as well as in Malwa in the Mandasor inscription of Yaśodharman.⁴ This was the standard system of the three-dot *i*, probably evolved in Rajasthan. It is from this that the tailed *i* of the later times developed. The initial *e*, except in part IV which follows the other tradition, also differs from the form appearing in section (A). Here an upper stem projects from the triangular form and the left end of the triangle is slightly curved. In section (A) the upper stem disappears, but it leaves its trace by emphasizing the right arm of the triangle, which is generally bent. This *e* with a stem is again derived from Rajasthan. In section (A) the initial *a* is of the curved type with its two arms projecting beyond the left vertical, and the initial *i* has two dots above and a tailed one below. Both these forms first appeared in Rajasthan and Malwa, and later in the sixth century a.d. they were adopted elsewhere, probably with the migration of scribes after the Hūṇa invasion. No doubt the tail in the lower dot of *i* is the result of a general tendency in cursive writing. The initial *ī* maintains the Gupta form—a dot on either side of a vertical. The initial *u* curves its base downwards, and in part IV it is extended beyond the head-mark. The initial *ū* is formed by adding another curve going upwards in section (B) and downwards in section (A). The initial *ṛi* is a development from the cross form, as has been shown already.¹ *Ai* is formed by adding a horizontal stroke to the top left of *e*. *O* is a cursive form with its base curved down, and *au* has an additional upward curve attached to the form of *o*. In section (B) the Kushāṇa style of top strokes for the medials *e*, *ai*, *o*, and *au* is adopted, while the medial *i* has its curve extended downwards around the bottom of the letters. But in section (A) the eastern styles of the medial *e*, *ai*, *o*, and *au* are generally seen, while the medial *i* is not extended so far as to cover the bottom of the letters. But there is another type of the medial *i* used in section (B), the circle type which must have been derived from Rajasthan.² The consonants that show forms fundamentally different from the Gupta³ forms are *ka*, *bha*, *ya*, *śa*, and *sa*. In both the sections we have the looped type of *ka* used side by side with the cross-bar type, as is seen in inscriptions of the sixth century a.d. In both the sections the triangular foot-mark at the left limb of *bha* grows in prominence and the right limb curves downwards, and in section (B) it appears to have an open mouth in some cases. *Ya* has three varieties—the tripartite form with a loop, which is preserved in Malwa till the sixth century a.d., the tripartite form with an outward curl at the left arm, which appears in the sixth century a.d. in Bengal, Nepal, Bihar, and Rajasthan, and the bipartite *ya*, which also appears in the sixth century a.d. Here the right limb of *ya* shows the *kuṭila* form. Two forms of *śa* are seen. One has a curl at the upper end of the vertical, joined by a slanting bar to the right vertical, a form which developed in the sixth century a.d. This is seen in section (A). In the other section we have a flat-topped variety with its left limb ending in an upward curl, again a late tendency. The dental *sa* either has a triangular loop or opens the mouth of its triangle, both features appearing in the post-Gupta period.