Indian Palaeography c15.s9.t3.22

c15.s9.t3.22

(*f*) To the same century belongs the style of writing seen in the inscriptions of Siṁhavarman: (i) Pl. XVIII. 6 is derived from the Magdur and Pikira plates of this ruler, and (ii) Pl. XV. 10 is taken mainly from his Vilavati plates, but his Uruvupalli grant has also been consulted. Both these groups of inscriptions come after (*e*) above, and we shall see some links between the forms of these groups and those of (*e*). But there is one fundamental difference between (*e*) and (*f*): while the forms of (*e*) are derivable from those of the early Chālukyan records, those of (*f*) can be traced to the inscriptions of the Madharas which have been assigned above to the fifth century a.d.; but these Pallava inscriptions are later developments from those of the Madharas, as many new tendencies suggest. However, in general the forms are connected with those seen in the Andhra region, though here the local features are much more clear. These local features mark a gradual development through the British Museum plate, the Darsi record, and the inscriptions of the present group. There is one more distinction between (*e*) and (*f*): the former has very faint traces of thick headlines, but in the latter the head-marks are very prominent. (i) has thick head-lines, and (ii) has square head-marks—both solid and hollow varieties indiscriminately used. There is a stylistic difference between (i) and (ii), the former having rounded curves, and the latter preferring angular features, the lines being almost doubled in *a*, *ka*, *ra*, and the vertical-type of the medial *u*. It seems that the square shape of the head-marks had an important influence on the angular forms of the letters, and the result was the development of a distinct local variety, as is clearly evident from the writing in the Vilavati plates. These angular features are not the same as those observed in the later Vākāṭaka records or in the inscriptions of the Śarabhapura kings.¹ It is this angular variety which becomes distinctive of the area, and is easily distinguishable from the broad curves of the proto-Kannadi script or those of the Andhra region. This variety persists in the stone inscriptions and the later copper plates.