Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c7.s2.t6.38

c7.s2.t6.38

In the south, we now begin to see clearly, for instance, in the inscriptions of the Kadambas and early Cālukyas, the strong preference for rounded forms and wavy lines which is to characterize most of the southern scripts of subsequent centuries up to modern times.¹¹¹ In some inscriptions from the earlier part of this period we find peculiar aberrant forms, apparently cursive modifications, of certain letters such as 𑌤 *ta*, 𑌨 *na*, 𑌮 *ma*, and 𑌸 *sa* in the Mayidavōlu (SI I.457–61) and other early Pallava copper plates. But in general the southern scripts of this and subsequent periods tended to be more conservative as regards the basic shapes of the characters, which underwent less radical reformation than in the north.