Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c7.s2.t6.27

c7.s2.t6.27

In about the first three centuries of the Christian era, the gradual geographical differentiation of the Brāhmī script continued to the point that we begin to discern several distinct regional varieties. Although these local forms can still be considered essentially as varieties of the same script, they clearly foreshadow the development of separate local scripts which was to take place in the following centuries (cf. DIP 77–8). While it was formerly the standard practice to classify the scripts of this and the succeeding periods in dynastic terms ("Kuṣāṇa script," "Gupta script," etc.), Dani (DIP 78–9, 100–1; cf. 2.2.2) has argued that the traditional dynastic terminology is misleading and inaccurate, and has preferred to treat the paleographic development of Brāhmī in regional rather than dynastic terms. Thus, for the period in question, he discerns several local varieties, among which the Kauśāmbī, Mathurā, western Deccan, and eastern Deccan styles are of particular importance. Dani's geographical approach to historical paleography is undoubtedly a major improvement in this field, and will in general be followed here.