Gaudi script
Script type
Time period
c. 900-1300 CE[1]
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Related scripts
Parent systems
Child systems
Bengali-Assamese script, Bengali alphabet, Tirhuta, Odia script
Sister systems
Kamarupi script, Nagari
[a] The Semitic origin of the Brahmic scripts is not universally agreed upon.

The Gaudi script (Gāuṛi lipi), also known as the Proto-Bengali script[1][2] or the Proto-Oriya script[3][4] is an abugida in the Brahmic family of scripts. Gaudi script gradually developed into the Bengali-Assamese (Eastern Nagari), Odia, and Tirhuta script.[1]

Silver coin with Gaudi script, Harikela Kingdom, circa 9th–13th century

Naming

The Gaudi script is named after the Gauda Kingdom (Gāuṛ Rājya) of Gauḍa (region) in ancient Bengal by the German scholar Georg Bühler.[5] Medieval Gauḍa (region) is currently known as Bengal (region). Despite this name, the script was also used in Assam, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, neighbouring parts of Nepal and Rakhine in Myanmar. The script is called by different names in different regions such as Proto-Assamese, Proto-Bengali, Proto-Maithili, Proto-Oriya. Which is why Sureshchandra Bhattacharyya suggests neutral names such as the abbreviated Proto-BAM, Proto-BAMO.[6]

History

Silver Coin of Danujmarddana, 1417

The Gaudi script appeared in ancient Eastern India as a northeastern derivative of the Siddham,[1] derived from Gupta. According to the scholar Bühler, the Gaudi (or Proto-Bengali) script is characterized by its cursive letters and hooks or hollow triangles at the top of the verticals.[7] In the 11th century, famous Persian scholar Al-Biruni wrote about the script. He mentioned amongst Indian alphabets, Gaudi is used in the purva desa (Eastern County).[5]

The modern eastern scripts (Bengali-Assamese, Odia, and Maithili) became clearly differentiated around the 14th and 15th centuries from Gaudi.[1] While the scripts in Bengal, Assam and Mithila remained similar to each other, the Odia script developed a curved top in the 13th-14th century and became increasingly different.[8]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Salomon, Richard (1998). Indian Epigraphy. Oxford University Press. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-19-535666-3.
  2. ↑ Masica, Colin (1993). The Indo-Aryan languages. Cambridge University Press. p. 143. ISBN 9780521299442.
  3. ↑ Cardona, George; Jain, Dhanesh (2003). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Routledge language family series. London: Routledge. p. 487. ISBN 0-7007-1130-9. Proto-Oriya
  4. ↑ Tripāṭhī, Kunjabihari (1962). The Evolution of Oriya Language and Script. Utkal University. p. 32. Retrieved 21 March 2021. Proto-Oriya (The Proto-Bengali script script of Bühler)
  5. 1 2 Sircar, Dineschandra (1971). Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. pp. 126–127. ISBN 978-81-208-0690-0.
  6. ↑ Bhattacharyya, Sureshchandra (1969). The evolution of script in North-Eastern India from C.A.D. 400 to 1200, with special reference to Bengal (phd). ProQuest LLC (2018). pp. 56–58. doi:10.25501/SOAS.00029794.
  7. ↑ (Bhattacharyya 1969:55)
  8. ↑ "[T]he phase when the curved tops - so prominent now in many of the Oriya letters - were just appearing, initiating the parting of ways from the proto-[Bengali-Assamese-Maithili] phase. The beginning and progress of this trend can be noticed in many of the Orissa [inscriptions] of the 13th-14th centuries A.D." (Bhattacharyya 1969:56f)
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