Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c7.3298

c7.3298

3) Bhārata lipis. Different kinds of lipis were prevalent in ancient Bhārata. Lalitavistara mentions about sixty-four kinds of lipis in Bhārata during the time of Buddha. From inscriptions on stones and other historical records it can be gathered that the basis of all the lipis had been two main lipis named Brāhmī and Kharoṣṭrī. Kharoṣṭrī was used in the northwest of Bhārata and became extinct by the 4th Century A.D. Brāhmī was the lipi universally used in Bhārata. This lipi had different forms in the north and south. The lipi in use in the south was called Drāviḍī.