An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c25.s4.53

v1.c25.s4.53

Traditionally Thon-mi-Sam-bhota, minister of king Srong-btsan-Sgam-po, is credited to have invented the Tibetan script in 639. But the Tibetan script is only a revision of an earlier script already in use in Tibet. It contains signs for additional sounds not present in Indian languages. Hoernle suggested that the Tibetan script was introduced from Khotan. Thus the Tibetan alphabet can be called Indian inasmuch as its source, the Khotanese alphabet, was derived from an Indian script. Two varieties of the Tibetan script have been recognized; *dbu-chan* (pron. *u-chan*) meaning ‘head-possessing’ and used for literary purposes and printing and *dbu-med* (pron. *umed*) or ‘headless’ used for secular purposes. The main variety of the second is Khyug-yig or the current hand. Chinese was also written in Tibetan characters.