Ancient Indian Scripts - A Comprehensive Study for IAS Exam

A Glimpse into Ancient Indian Scripts

The 1830s marked a significant period in Indian epigraphy with several momentous developments taking place. Let's take a brief journey through some notable Ancient Indian Scripts:

Source – NCERT

The Enigma of the Indus Script

• The Brahmi Script may have its origins in the enigmatic Indus Valley Script.
• The Indus script, discovered in Harappa around 1900 BC, predates the first Brahmi and Kharosthi inscriptions by almost 1400 years.
• The Harappans were known to have writing skills, with many of their seals bearing some form of script.
• Despite numerous attempts, the Indus script remains undeciphered, adding to its allure and mystery.
• The Indus script holds the distinction of being an undeciphered script from the ancient world.

The Ubiquitous Brahmi Script

• The Brahmi script is the progenitor of the Brahmic family of scripts, which includes all Indian scripts such as Devanagari, Odia, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, and also ancient scripts used in Sri Lanka, Burma, and Southeast Asian countries like Java, Sumatra, Cambodia.
• The present alphabets of Burma, Thailand, Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia are all derived from the Brahmi script.
• The Ashokan inscriptions from the third century BCE, written in the Brahmi script, provide the earliest evidence of its use.
• Most of the Ashokan inscriptions were in Prakrit language, with a few in the northwest written in Aramaic and Greek.
• The majority of Prakrit inscriptions were written in the Brahmi script, with a few in the northwest penned in Kharosthi.
• The Asokan Brahmi was deciphered by James Prinsep in 1838, after years of meticulous investigations by several epigraphists.

The Northwestern Kharosthi Script

• The Kharosthi script was one of the major scripts used in the northwest from the 3rd century BCE to the 3rd century CE.
• The Indo-Greek and Scytho-Parthian rulers extensively used the Kharosthi script in their coins, alongside the Greek script.
• The Kushanas also used the Kharosthi script in their inscriptions and coins.
• The Kharosthi script was written from right to left in horizontal lines, distinguishing it from many other scripts.
• James Prinsep and others deciphered the Kharosthi script around the mid-19th century.

The Popular Devanagari Script

• Devanagari script is used to write spoken Hindi, as well as Sanskrit, Nepali, and Marathi.
• The characters of Devanagari hang from a horizontal line (known as the head stroke) written at the top of the character, unlike English letters which are written from a line below them.
• This unique writing system is a combination of a syllabary and an alphabet.
• The Devanagari script is written from left to right, similar to many modern scripts.

The Southern Grantha Script

• Many Grantha characters bear a strong resemblance to their equivalent Tamil characters, with subtle differences.
• The Grantha script, which originates from the ancient Asokan Brahmi script, is a major script used in South India, particularly in Tamil Nadu, India, and in Sri Lanka.

The Himalayan Takri Script

• The Takri script, derived from the Sarada script, was used in the western regions of the Himalayas.
• By the early 20th century, the Takri script had been replaced by Devanagari.

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