Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c7.s2.t6.33

c7.s2.t6.33

Also in this period there first emerged a tendency toward calligraphic elaboration. Thus characters such as *a*, *ka*, and *ra*, which end with verticals at the bottom, developed ornamental loops to the lower left (e.g., 𑀓 *ka*). The diacritic vowel signs were also often elaborated with extensions and flourishes. These more elaborate forms are characteristic of the Deccan style, especially in the eastern Deccan. Here, in inscriptions from such sites as Nāgārjunakoṇḍa, Amarāvatī, and Jaggayyapeta, we find extreme calligraphic developments with long vertical flourishes above and below many of the letters (cf. 2.5.3.1). In general, we can begin to perceive in this period a broad differentiation between the northern scripts, which are beginning to develop their characteristic squarish and angular forms, and the southern scripts with their typically rounded and flowing shapes.