Indian Palaeography c15.s6.2

c15.s6.2

(*a*) Pl. XIV. 1 is taken from the Junagadh rock inscription of Skanda Gupta, dated in the (Gupta) years 136, 137 and 138. This inscription does not copy the Gupta forms of other regions, but is completely in the local style. It establishes a link between the writing of the Western Kshatrapas and that which later developed in this region and further provides a source from which the Malwa style of the fifth century was derived. In this as well as all the subsequent inscriptions of this region the head-mark is a simple line. No foot-mark is traceable in any of these inscriptions. In the Junagadh inscription new developments in the medial vowels are seen. These are entirely different from those used in the north. The medial *i* has a circle-stroke, and an additional tick within it makes it a sign for the medial *ī*. The medial *o* in *lo* is cursively drawn by turning the top of the right arm into a tailed loop.