A History of Sanskrit Literature c4.24

c4.24

In the inscriptions of the third century B.C. two types, the Northern and the Southern, may be distinguished in the *Brāhmī* writing. From the former is descended the group of Northern scripts which gradually prevailed in all the Aryan dialects of India. The most important of them is the *Nāgarī* (also called *Devanāgarī*), in which Sanskrit MSS. are usually written, and Sanskrit as well as Marāthī and Hindī books are regularly printed. It is recognisable by the characteristic horizontal line at the top of the letters. The oldest inscription engraved entirely in *Nāgarī* belongs to the eighth, and the oldest MS. written in it to the eleventh century. From the Southern variety of the *Brāhmī* writing are descended five types of script, all in use south of the Vindhya range. Among them are the characters employed in the Canarese and the Telugu country.