An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c25.s4.35

v1.c25.s4.35

From the fall of the Mauryan empire to the middle of the 1st century A.D. the script shows four broad regional variations, e., n.-w., Deccan and s. India. From the 1st century A.D. the writing styles tended to become localized, but this was partially retarded by the use of a common language, Sanskrit, facilitating the easy movement of literates and scribes and the technical skill or styles of writing and by the growth of larger kingdoms, which had to adopt a uniform style of writing. This explains how the Kauśāmbī style of the 2nd-3rd century A.D. spread throughout the middle Ganga valley up to Bengal after its adoption by the Guptas; but in the 6th-7th centuries, with the growth of the power of Kanauj, it was replaced by another style from the w. region.