Indian Epigraphy c9.t5.3

c9.t5.3

The *phalaka*, mentioned in the Jātaka stories in connection with young learners in elementary schools, was apparently wooden slabs or planks while the *Vinayapiṭaka* refers to the early use of wooden boards or bamboo chips as writing material.² Bamboo chips called *śalākā*, with the names of the bearers incised on them, served as passports to Buddhist monks. Kātyāyana and Daṇḍin speak respectively of plaints written on boards with *pāṇḍu-lekha* (chalk) and of royal declarations written on a varnished board.³ A large number of wooden sheets with Kharoṣṭhī writings have been discovered in Central Asia. They are mostly of the nature of letters.⁴ Some of these wooden records are wedge-shaped (called *kila-mudrā* in the documents themselves) and some are rectangular tablets.⁵