| ANCIENT SCRIPTS |
FEATURES AND SIGNIFICANCE |
| Brahmi Script |
- It is considered as the precursor to many modern Indian scripts, including Devanagari, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Odia, Assamese, and Bengali.
- It is written from left to right.
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| Grantha Script |
- Widely used from the 6th to the 20th centuries in South India, especially in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
- Used for writing Sanskrit and Manipravalam.
- It is a Brahmic script, evolving from Brahmi in Tamil Nadu, and a precursor to Malayalam, Tigalari, and Sinhala scripts.
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| Gupta Script |
- Associated with the Gupta Empire and used for Sanskrit.
- Descended from Brahmi.
- Gave rise to various scripts, including Nagari, Sharada, Siddham, Devanagari, Gurmukhi (for Punjabi), Assamese, Bengali, and Tibetan scripts.
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| Gurmukhi Script |
- It was standardized during the 16th century by Guru Angad and derived from the Sarada script.
- Used for writing the entire Guru Granth Sahib and is commonly used by Sikhs and Hindus for Punjabi language.
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| Indus Script |
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| Kharosthi Script |
- It is considered the Sister script of Brahmi and was used in ancient Gandhara to write Gandhari Prakrit and Sanskrit.
- James Prinsep deciphered it.
- Includes numerals similar to Roman numerals.
- Written mostly right to left, but some inscriptions show left to right direction.
|
| Modi Script |
- Historically, it was used to write Marathi and other languages.
- It was Marathi’s official script until the 20th century when Devanagari was promoted.
- Known to have been used for Urdu, Kannada, Gujarati, Hindi, and Tamil.
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| Sarada Script |
- It developed around the 8th century and was written in Abiguda style.
- Initially used for Sanskrit and Kashmiri, but later limited to Kashmir.
- At present, it is rarely used except for ceremonial purposes by the Kashmiri Pandit community.
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| Urdu Script |
- It is written from right to left by modifying the Persian alphabet.
- It was influential in the development of the Nastaliq style of Perso-Arabic script.
- Its expanded form, Shahmukhi, is used for writing other Indo-Aryan languages like Punjabi and Saraiki.
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| Vatteluttu Script |
- It was developed from Tamil-Brahmi and written in Abiguda style.
- Used to write Granthi, Pallava, and Tamil scripts.
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April 18, 2024
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