Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c7.s3.t7.1

c7.s3.t7.1

Unlike Brāhmī and its derivatives, Kharoṣṭhī script did not undergo extensive paleographic changes in the course of its historical development. This is no doubt mainly due to the fact that its history (at least as known to us from extant documents) covers only some five centuries and takes place within a relatively limited geographical area, as opposed to Brāhmī, which developed over two millennia throughout India and in many other parts of Asia. Kharoṣṭhī can be treated essentially as one and the same script throughout its history, and, with the exception of the central Asian variety, does not have clearly differentiated local variants. The changes which the individual characters underwent were gradual and for the most part minor, so that it is difficult to establish reliable criteria for the paleographic dating of Kharoṣṭhī documents in anything other than broad terms such as “early,” “middle,” and “late.” Even the central Asian form of the script is not essentially different from the Indian; many of its peculiar characteristics, such as its generally more cursive aspect, are attributable as much to the different physical character of the documents, which were written in pen and ink rather than carved into stone or metal, as to geographical variation.