Indian Palaeography c17.s3.5

c17.s3.5

On the basis of these mixed features it is difficult to connect the script with any particular style of writing in India. The absence of curves at the lower ends of the verticals would point to North India, but this feature was also known in Malwa (Pl. XIII. 1, 2; Pl. IX. 6, 7). The equal arms of *ga*, the broad type of *bha*, the looped base of *ma*, the curved bases of *ṇa* and *na*, the left curved stroke of the medial *ṛi*, and the cursive form of the medial *o* in *lo* would connect this with the southern scripts, but all these features were also known in Central India in the fourth to fifth century A.D. The form of *ya* used here is known only from Malwa at this time. When we know that the writings of Malwa and Gujarat were connected in the fourth century A.D., because of the rule of the Western Kshatrapas, it is reasonable to suggest that the style of writing originating from this region affected the Vo-Canh inscription. The cursive form of *lo* suggests that the dating must be between the latter half of the fourth and the first half of the fifth century A.D. The use of the Sanskrit language in this inscription is well explained by contact with Gujarat.