Indian Palaeography c17.s3.8

c17.s3.8

(iii) In this group is included the earliest Cham inscription from Dong-Yen-Chau (Pl. XX. 5). It is connected with the second group by its square head-marks and the use of similar medial vowels, except the medial *o*, which here has horizontal strokes, but the medial *au* in *tau* is of the northern variety of three distinct strokes. The letters also are of the same forms with one fundamental difference, that here the lower ends of the verticals are curved. As this style was known in Gujarat and Malwa, there is no reason to look for another source for it. The inscription may be dated to the latter half of the fifth century A.D.