Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c7.s2.t6.35

c7.s2.t6.35

During this period, conventionally referred to as the “Gupta era,” the degree of regional differentiation continued to increase. The northern and southern groups were by now clearly differentiated, and other distinct regional scripts made their appearance, for instance, in central India. In the north, the inscriptions of the Guptas and their contemporaries were written in regional varieties of the northern script, which may be called, following Sircar’s terminology (IIEP 113; cf. 2.2.2), “late Brāhmī.” The varieties of the northern Gupta script have traditionally been classified as western and eastern, the latter being characterized mainly by cursivized forms of *la* (𑀮) and *ha* (𑀳) and the looped *sa* (𑀲). But Dani (DIP 102ff.) has shown that this division is oversimplified, and he classifies the northern script into regional subvarieties such as the Kauśāmbī (roughly equivalent to the old “eastern” style), Mathurā, and Malwa styles. In general, the northern scripts of the Gupta era are characterized by the continued extension of various forms of the head mark or, as it now can be called, the top line. The shapes of the individual characters also continued to develop; among the changes which prefigure important characteristics of later scripts are the prolongation of the right arm in 𑀕 *ga*, 𑀢 *ta*, 𑀪 *bha*, and 𑀰 *śa*; the looped form of 𑀦 *na*; and the development of the dot inside 𑀣 *tha* into a horizontal line.