Indian Palaeography c8.9

c8.9

From the efforts of these early scholars we have inherited a knowledge of two main writing systems in India. The first was written from left to right, as are all the modern Indian scripts, except Arabic which was later introduced by the Muslims; and the second was written from right to left and was confined mainly to the north-western regions of India for a limited period, roughly from the third century b.c. to the third to fourth century a.d., though in Central Asia it continued to be used till about the eighth century a.d. The term ‘Brāhmī’ has been applied to the first script, as all creation, according to the Indian conception, is from Brahmā, and the second script has been called ‘Kharoshṭhī’ mainly on the evidence of the Chinese sources, but the meaning of this last term is by no means definite. Whether it is connected with *khara-oshṭha* (ass-lip), *khar-post* (Persian, meaning hide of the ass), *khar-ustar* (Persian, meaning ass and camel, implying a caravan of merchants), or the possible Aramaic word *harūtthā* (engraving or writing), is difficult to say. It is certain, however, that the name was associated with the script from a very early time. Not satisfied with the real meanings of these terms, already in the first stage scholars began to speculate on the origin of these scripts. Kharoshṭhī was easily connected with the Semitic group because of the direction of writing, but Brāhmī raised an insoluble problem. The early writers, including James Prinsep, were inclined to derive it from the Greek, as this was written from left to right and offered the easiest comparable material.¹ On the basis of the method of the comparison of signs then available, a second theory of the origin of Brāhmī was also mooted, even before the nineteenth century. It was Sir William Jones who first suggested its connexion with Semitic writing.