Indian Palaeography c16.s1.23

c16.s1.23

C. Pl. XIX. 5 is taken from the Palu Makichava rock, Thuparama slab, and Viharegala rock inscriptions of Gāmini Abhaya, and from another Viharegala rock inscription of Saba. The writing in these inscriptions is of the Sātavāhana type, dealt with in B above, but the fundamental difference is that here for the first time we see line head-marks over the verticals, possibly an influence from the Western Kshatrapa style. Some new forms are also introduced from the late Sātavāhana records: the initial *u* has its vertical shortened; the initial *o* has its angles rounded; *cha* optionally loses its upper stem; *ta* is of the looped type; *la* has a tall straight vertical on the right; and *va* has a circular loop below a stem. In spite of these new influences the writing is somewhat retrogressive. The older forms persist in *a*, *ka*, *ṇa*, *na*, *ba*, *ya* and *ra*. These inscriptions may be placed in the first half of the third century A.D.