Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c7.s2.t6.36

c7.s2.t6.36

In central India the peculiar “box-headed script” began to develop during this period. The principal characteristic of this script, namely, the square head mark, is noted in some northern Gupta inscriptions, but its full development, with the letters themselves molded into characteristically square, angular forms, first appeared in the inscriptions of the Vākāṭakas. This highly stylized script enjoyed a long period of popularity in central India, where it continued to be used into the seventh century,¹¹⁰ and also spread to the south, where it appears in some Kadamba and Pallava inscriptions.