Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c7.s3.t5.8

c7.s3.t5.8

All in all, the question of the origin and meaning of the name Kharoṣṭhī remains problematic, but it appears that the connections noted by Przyluski et al. with the well-attested proper names Kharaposta and Kharaosta lie at the heart of the matter. In all probability *Kharoṣṭ(h)ī* is a Sanskritization of an original Iranian name whose etymology is uncertain. The connection with *khara* ‘donkey’ is probably nothing more than folk etymology, and the original term was most likely connected with Old Iranian **xšaθra* ‘sovereignty’, as noted by Bailey and others,¹⁶¹ though the second part of the word remains unclear, as does the process by which the name in question became associated with the script.