The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c7.s6.5

c7.s6.5

Hwen Thsang notes that the written characters of Ganjam resembled those of central India, but that both the language and the pronunciation were different. This statement proves that the same alphabetical characters were still in use over the greater part of India at as late a date as the middle of the seventh century. It also serves to show that the intercommunications of the Buddhist fraternities throughout India were not yet broken, although they must already have been much restricted by the steady progress of Brahmanism.