Indian Palaeography c17.s8.2

c17.s8.2

A. Pl. XXII. 1 is taken from the Vesali Bell inscription; Pl. XXII. 2 from the Sandoway stone inscription; and Pl. XXII. 3 from the Sanskrit text of the Hmawza bilingual inscription. All these belong to one school of writing, though the first two inscriptions are very badly written. The nearest comparable material comes from Bengal, but it is difficult to connect them with any particular period of writing there. The inscriptions may be compared with Pl. XI. 2, 3, which represent the writing styles of the fifth and sixth centuries in Bengal. But this date cannot hold good for the Burmese inscriptions, which, though preserving the older forms, show acquaintance with tendencies that are hardly known before the seventh century in Bengal. Hence the date of these inscriptions is to be determined by this last factor. Some of the letters, especially *ga*, *dha*, *pa*, *ma*, *ya* and *sa* (very clear in no. 3) exhibit the *kuṭila* forms, while in nos. 1 and 2 we find the left triangle in *sa* with its mouth open. No. 2 also shows a rude copy of *bha* with its triangle opening upwards. Similarly, the form of the initial *u* in nos. 2 and 3 has the curve of the horizontal extended upwards. Again the medial vowels in no. 3 are all of the seventh century. The medial *ā* is given by a *kuṭila* short vertical on the right of the letters; for the medial *o* another top slant is given over the stroke of the medial *ā*; the medial *i* is invariably a left curve extended downwards to the bottom of the letters; the medial *ī* is a right curve but not extended down; the medial *u* is also a long curve to the left, but in the case of *bhu* it is turned upwards; the medial *e* is a top slant; and the medial *ṛi* is a hook turned to the right. The vowelless consonant is shown by a mark below the letter as in *yām*. In the other two inscriptions these medial vowels are not properly given. In no. 2 the medial *i* in *pi* is a short left curve and the medial *o* is shown by two top curved strokes, as in *yo* and *ro*.