Indian Palaeography c15.s7.9.2

c15.s7.9.2

The solid square may be a regional variety of the solid triangle so much in fashion in the inscriptions of North India. But the idea that this is a regional variation should not be unduly stressed. The letter-forms of the Vākāṭaka inscriptions are entirely different from those of the north. In them we see a development of the style of writing known in the late Sātavāhana records. The hand shows a mixed tendency to both angular and round shapes. The angular shapes are marked in the forms of *a*, *ka*, *kha* (optionally), *ga*, *gha*, *ṭa*, *ḍa*, *ta*, *da*, *dha*, *pa*, *ba*, *ya*, *ra*, *la* (optionally), *va*, *sa* and *ha*. The remainder prefer round shapes. The verticals of *a*, *i*, *ka*, *ra* and the vertical-type of the medial *u* curve their lower ends, while *la* has its right vertical curled to the left. *A* maintains its hook on the left. *I* is of the roof-type. *Ī* has a dot on either side of the vertical. The lower end of the vertical of *u* bends in a broad curve to the right. *E* has a quadrangular body attached to a stem on the right. The medial vowels are all given in the southern style, though sometimes, as in *ai* and *o*, the top slants are also seen. Both medial *i* and *ī* curve to the left, but the latter has an additional upright. The medial *ā* in *mā* and *lā* and the medial *e* in *me* are applied to the middle of the letters, but the medial *e* in *khe* is a top left slant.