Indian Palaeography c15.s6.1

c15.s6.1

This is the region where the Western Kshatrapas formerly held sway. Often they were at war with the Sātavāhanas. The style of writing which developed in this region was the result of the mutual influence exerted by both of them—the Sātavāhanas introducing southern influences and the Western Kshatrapas trying to maintain their northern tradition. The legacy left behind by them is seen in the inscriptions of the Traikūṭakas, the Gurjaras and the Maitrakas. The tendency revealed here is gradually to abandon the southern features and to evolve a simplified style of their own and thus pave the way for Gujarātī. The simplified nature of the style may be due to the copper plates from which the writing is known to us today. But one important fact is remarkable, that no influence of ornamental writing either from the north or from the south is traceable in the style as developed here. The inscriptions are studied in the following groups: