The Mauryan Polity c13.s12.3

c13.s12.3

We had occasion to refer to the question of writing in India and tried to show how writing had been in existence centuries before Megasthenes came as the ambassador to the Indian Court. Prof. Stein, who has examined all the available Greek records, shows on the authority of Nearchos the existence of the custom of writing in B.C. fourth century.¹ And this fits in well with the *Kauṭalīya* which speaks of different kinds of written documents (*patra*, *śāsana*), art of writing (speech, style, and logic), as well as defects of writing, and the materials of writing.² In fact the whole chapter 10 is full of interesting materials as regards writing and its technique. The term *tāla* occurs in various places in different connections. In the chapter on royal writs the phrase *kālapatra* occurs. If we may venture a conjecture it may be *tālapatra*, and *k* for *t* could have been plausibly the mistake of the copyist. If we are to take it as *kāla*, then the word *patra* must evidently refer to *tālapatra* (palmyra leaves) as can be gathered from contemporary and earlier records.