[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Reference works](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference) › [An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989) › v1.c25.s3.7 # An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c25.s3.7 An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c25.s3.7 - **Language:** English ### [v1.c25.s3.7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c25.s3.7) The use of ink is implied in the work \*lipi\* in Pāṇini’s \*Aṣṭādhyāyī\* and the inscriptions of Aśoka. The evolution of some Brāhmī and Kharoṣṭhī letters in many cases shows the use of pen and ink. A pre-Christian relic vessel from Andher contains a record in ink. The Kharoṣṭhī \*Dhammapada\* from Khotan is among the earliest manuscripts in ink. The Sanskrit terms for ink (\*maṣī\* or its variants, and \*melā\*) refer to the powdering and mixing of colour-giving objects. Words for containers (\*pātra\*, \*bhāṇḍa\*, \*kūpikā\*, etc.) were suffixed to those for ink to signify ink-pots \[20.2\]. Besides the general term \*lekhanī\*, \*varṇikā\* was a wooden pen, \*isīkā\* or \*iṣīkā\* was a reed or bamboo pen and \*varṇa-vartikā\* was a kind of brush. The \*Kāvyamīmāṃsā\* mentions \*loha-kaṇṭaka\* (an iron needle for writing on \*tāla-dala\*), \*lekhanī\* and \*maṣī-bhājana\* (for writing on birch-bark) and \*phalaka\* (a board) and \*khaṭikā\* (a piece of chalk). Plaints written on boards with \*pāṇḍu-lekha\* (chalk) and royal declarations recorded on a varnished board are referred to in other sources. The \*Vinaya-piṭaka\* speaks of wooden boards as writing material. Young learners used wooden planks (\*phalaka\*). Some Gandhāra sculptures portray a child Bodhisattva and his classmates with writing boards and ink-pots. A recently discovered Śuṅga terracotta from Sugh, Dt Ambala, depicts a young boy, possibly Kṛṣṇa, practising alphabets on a writing-board in his lap (Chhabra, 1970). - [Previous: v1.c25.s3.6](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c25.s3.6) - [Next: v1.c25.s3.8](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c25.s3.8) - [Up: v1.c25.s3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c25.s3) ## Linked texts (5) - [Aṣṭādhyāyī](https://indike.org/pramana/in.vedanga.vyakarana.astadhyayi) — Pāṇini, Sanskrit - [Kāvyamīmāṃsā](https://indike.org/pramana/in.art.alamkara.kavisiksa.kavyamimamsa) — Rājaśekhara, Sanskrit - [Dhammapada](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.sp.khuddaka.dhammapada) — Pāli - [Vinayapiṭaka](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada.vp) — Pāli - [Sugh](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.sugh) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c25.s3.7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c25.s3.7) · Pramāṇa