Indian Palaeography c8.28

c8.28

In this quotation there are four concepts; the idea of cursive forms, the equalization of the height, the formation of the wedges, and the notion of 'serifs' at the ends of the verticals. What part these different concepts played in the creation of the forms is not explained at all. We generally hear of the cursive forms resulting from the motive of quick writing. Surely this motive of saving time alone did not result in producing the great number of writing styles in India? The writings seen in the records of the Ikshvākus, the later Pallavas, the Chālukyas, and Harshavardhana can hardly be said to be cursive forms, but rather they are florid in the highest degree. The word 'cursive' has been used loosely by the palaeographers. We must distinguish between cursive writing, which is natural in a handwritten document, and the forms of the letters, which are the result of various technical processes used in a particular tradition. The forms must conform to this tradition and all changes in them must be accepted in that tradition. The wedges or the serifs are not something new, imposed from outside, but result in the very process of creating the accepted forms. The change is due to the tool, and not to the motive of cursive writing. Once a form is created, its later development follows the rules of general art.