Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c7.s2.t6.42

c7.s2.t6.42

¹¹² The script has also been referred to by several other names, such as “acute-angled,” “early Nāgarī,” “Kuṭila,” or “Vikaṭa.” (The latter two result from apparent misinterpretations of descriptive terms found in various inscriptions; see Bühler, EI 1, 1892, 75–6; Fleet, CII 3, 201; and Sircar, EI 36, 1965–66, 50). The name Siddhamātṛkā is reported by Al-Bīrūnī, and appears to be corroborated by the term “Siddham” which is applied to it by Buddhist tradition in East Asia. This is thus one of the few cases wherein we know the traditional name for one of the premodern scripts (cf. 2.2.2).