Indian Palaeography c16.s1.12.3

c16.s1.12.3

*Ma* has varying forms—the first is of the southern cave type with a horizontal line within bent arms, which has been called the Dravidian *ma*;³ the second is of the Nanaghat or Girnar style with two upper diagonals projecting from a circular base;¹ the third variety has its upper strokes curved; and the fourth variety, which occurs only once, has the upper curving strokes separated from the circular base by a line. *Ya* has a crescentic base with the middle vertical extended. *Ra* is either a straight or serpentine vertical line. *Va* usually has a rounded base. *Śa* has an angular peak, but its right limb is shorter than its left, and the mid-stroke is attached to the left limb. The writing in these inscriptions is clearly related to that of the Nanaghat records in Western India and that seen in the caves of the extreme south, though local tendencies in the application of the medial *i* and *o* and the peculiar forms of *śa*, *bha* and *ra* are obvious. In any case there is no reason to date these inscriptions earlier than their Indian counterparts, and according to the chronology of the Indian inscriptions already discussed² these inscriptions may also be dated about the beginning of the first century A.D.