Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c10.s3.t1.3

c10.s3.t1.3

The inherent imprecision of this method alluded to earlier is due mainly to the variability in writing styles and forms at any given place and time in history. Though it is true that in the long run scripts, like languages, follow more or less consistent courses of development, this does not mean that at any given time and place one and only one form of a script is in use. On the contrary, there will always be a variety of script forms for different contexts and purposes in simultaneous use in any particular place; and the stage and pace of development will by no means always be the same in different, even adjoining regions. Individual and idiosyncratic variations must also be kept in mind; for example, in the past, as in modern times, an older person tended to write in a more old-fashioned style than a younger contemporary.²¹ But despite these and other limiting factors, it has often been the practice to assign relatively precise dates to undated inscriptions on the basis of simple paleographic comparisons, which are sometimes chosen arbitrarily and evaluated in a superficial manner.