Kharosthi script (Gāndhārī: 𐨑𐨪𐨆𐨮𐨿𐨛𐨁𐨌𐨫𐨁𐨤𐨁, romanized: kharoṣṭhī lipi), also known as the Gandhari script (𐨒𐨌𐨣𐨿𐨢𐨌𐨪𐨁𐨌𐨫𐨁𐨤𐨁, gāndhārī lipi),[1] was an ancient Indic script used by various peoples from the north-western outskirts of the Indian subcontinent (present-day Pakistan) to Central Asia via Afghanistan.[2] An abugida, it was introduced by the middle of the 3rd century BCE, possibly during the 4th century BCE,[3] and remained in use until it died out in its homeland around the 3rd century CE.[2]
Routes of ancient scripts of the subcontinent traveling to other parts of Asia (Kharosthi shown in blue)
The name Kharosthi may derive from the Hebrew kharosheth, a Semitic word for writing,[4] or from Old Iranian*xšaθra-pištra, which means "royal writing".[5] The script was earlier also known as Indo-Bactrian script, Kabul script and Arian-Pali.[6][7]
Scholars are not in agreement as to whether the Kharosthi script evolved gradually, or was the deliberate work of a single inventor. An analysis of the script forms shows a clear dependency on the Aramaic alphabet but with extensive modifications. Kharosthi seems to be derived from a form of Aramaic used in administrative work during the reign of Darius the Great, rather than the monumental cuneiform used for public inscriptions.[4] One theory suggests that the Aramaic script arrived with the Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley in 500 BCE and evolved over the next 200+ years to reach its final form by the 3rd century BCE where it appears in some of the Edicts of Ashoka. However, no intermediate forms have yet been found to confirm this evolutionary model, and rock and coin inscriptions from the 3rd century BCE onward show a unified and standard form. An inscription in Aramaic dating back to the 4th century BCE was found in Sirkap, testifying to the presence of the Aramaic script in present-day Pakistan. According to Sir John Marshall, this seems to confirm that Kharoshthi was later developed from Aramaic.[8]
While the Brahmi script remained in use for centuries, Kharosthi seems to have been abandoned after the 2nd–3rd century AD. Because of the substantial differences between the Semitic-derived Kharosthi script and its successors, knowledge of Kharosthi may have declined rapidly once the script was supplanted by Brahmi-derived scripts, until its re-discovery by Western scholars in the 19th century.[4]
The Kharosthi script was deciphered separately almost concomitantly by James Prinsep (in 1835, published in the Journal of the Asiatic society of Bengal, India)[9] and by Carl Ludwig Grotefend (in 1836, published in Blätter für Münzkunde, Germany),[10] with Grotefend "evidently not aware" of Prinsep's article, followed by Christian Lassen (1838).[11] They all used the bilingual coins of the Indo-Greek Kingdom (obverse in Greek, reverse in Pali, using the Kharosthi script). This in turn led to the reading of the Edicts of Ashoka, some of which were written in the Kharosthi script (the Major Rock Edicts at Mansehra and Shahbazgarhi).[4]
The study of the Kharosthi script was recently invigorated by the discovery of the Gandhāran Buddhist texts, a set of birch bark manuscripts written in Kharosthi, discovered near the Afghan city of Hadda just west of the Khyber Pass in Pakistan. The manuscripts were donated to the British Library in 1994. The entire set of British Library manuscripts are dated to the 1st century CE, although other collections from different institutions contain Kharosthi manuscripts from 1st century BCE to 3rd century CE,[12][13] making them the oldest Buddhist manuscripts yet discovered.
A bar above a consonant ⟨𐨸⟩ can be used to indicate various modified pronunciations depending on the consonant, such as nasalization or aspiration. It is used with k, ṣ, g, c, j, n, m, ś, ṣ, s, and h.
The cauda⟨𐨹⟩ changes how consonants are pronounced in various ways, particularly fricativization. It is used with g, j, ḍ, t, d, p, y, v, ś, and s.
The dot below ⟨𐨺⟩ is used with m and h, but its precise phonetic function is unknown.
Kharosthi includes only one standalone vowel character, which is used for initial vowels in words.[citation needed] Other initial vowels use the a character modified by diacritics. Each syllable includes the short /a/ sound by default[citation needed], with other vowels being indicated by diacritic marks.
Long vowels are marked with the diacritic ⟨𐨌⟩. An anusvara⟨𐨎⟩ indicates nasalization of the vowel or a nasal segment following the vowel. A visarga⟨𐨏⟩ indicates the unvoiced syllable-final /h/. It can also be used as a vowel length marker. A further diacritic, the double ring below⟨𐨍⟩ appears with vowels -a and -u in some Central Asian documents, but its precise phonetic function is unknown.[18]
Salomon has established that the vowel order is /a e i o u/, akin to Semitic scripts, rather than the usual vowel order for Indic scripts /a i u e o/.
^There is no diacritic form of this vowel as consonants include an inherent /a/ or /ə/ vowel.
^ abThe vowels ⟨𐨅⟩ and ⟨𐨁⟩ are written horizontally when combined with ⟨𐨀⟩, ⟨𐨣⟩, or ⟨𐨱⟩
^The vowel ⟨𐨅⟩ is written vertically when combined with ⟨𐨠⟩, ⟨𐨤⟩, ⟨𐨥⟩, or ⟨𐨫⟩
^The vowel ⟨𐨁⟩ is written as a small vertical stroke when combined with ⟨𐨠⟩, ⟨𐨤⟩, ⟨𐨥⟩, ⟨𐨨⟩, ⟨𐨫⟩, or ⟨𐨭⟩
^The vowel ⟨◌𐨆⟩ is written vertically when combined with ⟨𐨤⟩, ⟨𐨥⟩, ⟨𐨩⟩, or ⟨𐨭⟩
^Combining ⟨𐨨 + ◌𐨂⟩ produces this unique ligature, ⟨𐨡 + ◌𐨂⟩ also produces a unique ligature, ⟨𐨡𐨂⟩
Punctuation
Nine Kharosthi punctuation marks have been identified:[16]
𐩐
dot
𐩓
crescent bar
𐩖
danda
𐩑
small circle
𐩔
mangalam
𐩗
double danda
𐩒
circle
𐩕
lotus
𐩘
lines
Numerals
Kharosthi included a set of numerals that are reminiscent of Roman numerals and Psalter Pahlavi Numerals.[citation needed] The system is based on an additive and a multiplicative principle, but does not have the subtractive feature used in the Roman numeral system.[19]
The numerals, like the letters, are written from right to left. There is no zero and no separate signs for the digits 5–9. Numbers are written additively, so, for example, the number 1996 would be written as 𐩇𐩃𐩃𐩀𐩆𐩅𐩅𐩅𐩅𐩄𐩃𐩁.
Kharosthi script on a wooden plate in the National Museum of India in New Delhi
Kharosthi script on a wooden plate in the National Museum of India in New Delhi
Kharosthi script on wood from Niya, 3rd century CE
Double-wedged wooden tablet in Gandhari written in Kharosthi script, 2nd to 4th century CE
Wooden tablet inscribed with Kharosthi characters (2nd–3rd century CE). Excavated at the Niya ruins in Xinjiang, China. Collection of the Xinjiang Museum.
Fragmentary Kharosthi Buddhist text on birchbark (Part of a group of early manuscripts from Gandhara), first half of 1st century CE. Collection of the British Library in London
Silver bilingual tetradrachm of Menander I (155-130 BCE). Obverse:Greek legend, ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ ΜΕΝΑΝΔΡΟΥ (BASILEOS SOTEROS MENANDROU), literally, "Of Saviour King Menander". Reverse: Kharosthi legend: MAHARAJA TRATARASA MENADRASA "Saviour King Menander". Athena advancing right, with thunderbolt and shield. Taxila mint mark.
Coin of King Gurgamoya of Khotan (1st century CE). Obverse: Kharoshthi legend "Of the great king of kings, king of Khotan, Gurgamoya. Reverse: Chinese legend: "Twenty-four grain copper coin".
Coin of Menander II DikaiouObverse: Menander wearing a diadem. Greek legend: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΔΙΚΑΙΟΥ ΜΕΝΑΝΔΡΟΥ "King Menander the Just". Reverse: Winged figure bearing diadem and palm, with halo, probably Nike. The Kharoshthi legend reads MAHARAJASA DHARMIKASA MENADRASA "Great King, Menander, follower of the Dharma, Menander".
Fragments of stone well railings with a Buddhist inscription written in Kharoshthi script (late Han period to the Three Kingdoms era). Discovered at Luoyang, China in 1924.
^ abcdDias, Malini; Miriyagalla, Das (2007). "Brahmi Script in Relation to Mesopotamian Cuneiform". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka. 53: 91–108. JSTOR23731201.
^"When these alphabets were first deciphered, scholars gave them different names such as 'Indian-Pali' for Brahmi and 'Arian-Pali' for Kharosthi, but these terms are no longer in use." in Upāsaka, Sī Esa; Mahāvihāra, Nava Nālandā (2002). History of palæography of Mauryan Brāhmī script. Nava Nālanda Mahāvihāra. p. 6. ISBN9788188242047.
^Richard, Salomon (2018). Buddhist Literature of Ancient Gandhara: An Introduction with Selected Translations. Simon and Schuster. p. 1. ISBN978-1-61429-185-5. …Subsequent studies have confirmed that these and other similar materials that were discovered in the following years date from between the first century BCE and the third century CE…
^University of Washington. "The Early Buddhist Manuscripts Project": "...These manuscripts date from the first century BCE to the third century CE, and as such are the oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts as well as the oldest manuscripts from South Asia..." Retrieved 18 September 2021.
Falk, Harry (1993). Schrift im alten Indien: Ein Forschungsbericht mit Anmerkungen. Script Oralia (in German). Vol. 56. Tübingen: Gunter Narr. ISBN978-3-8233-4271-7.
Fussman, Gérard. "Les premiers systèmes d'écriture en Inde". Annuaire du Collège de France 1988–1989 (in French). pp. 507–514.
von Hinüber, Oscar (1990). Der Beginn der Schrift und frühe Schriftlichkeit in Indien (in German). Franz Steiner. ISBN978-3-515-05627-4.
Nasim Khan, M., ed. (2009). Kharoshthi Manuscripts from Gandhara (2nd ed.). Higher Education Commission of Pakistan.
Nasim Khan, M. (2004). "Kharoshthi Manuscripts from Gandhara". Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences. XII (1–2): 9–15.
Nasim Khan, M. (July 1999). "Two Dated Kharoshthi Inscriptions from Gandhara". Journal of Asian Civilizations. XXII (1): 99–103.
Nasim Khan, M. (September 1997). "Kharoshthi Inscription from Swabi – Gandhara". The Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences. V (2): 49–52.
Nasim Khan, M. (March 1997). "An Inscribed Relic-Casket from Dir". The Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences. V (1): 21–33.
Nasim Khan, M (1997). "Ashokan Inscriptions: A Palaeographical Study". Atthariyyat. Vol. I. Peshawar. pp. 131–150.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Norman, Kenneth R. (1992). "The development of writing in India and its effect upon the Pāli canon". Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde Südasiens. 36: 239–249. JSTOR24010823.
Salomon, Richard (1990). "New Evidence for a Gāndhārī Origin of the Arapacana Syllabary". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 110 (2): 255–273. doi:10.2307/604529. JSTOR604529.
Salomon, Richard (1 April 1993). "An additional note on Aracapana". The Journal of the American Oriental Society. 113 (2): 275–277. doi:10.2307/603034. JSTOR603034. GaleA14474853.
Salomon, Richard (1998). Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the other Indo-Aryan Languages. Oxford University Press. ISBN978-0-19-535666-3.
Salomon, Richard (2006). "Kharoṣṭhī syllables used as location markers in Gāndhāran stūpa architecture". In Faccenna, Domenico (ed.). Architetti, Capomastri, Artigiani: L'organizzazione Dei Cantieri E Della Produzione Artistica Nell'Asia Ellenistica : Studi Offerti a Domenico Faccenna Nel Suo Ottantesimo Compleanno. Istituto italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente. pp. 181–224. ISBN978-88-85320-36-9.
Salomon, Richard (1995). "On the Origin of the Early Indian Scripts". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 115 (2): 271–279. doi:10.2307/604670. JSTOR604670. ProQuest217141859.
External links
Gandhari.org Catalog and Corpus of all known Kharoṣṭhī (Gāndhārī) texts
Indoskript 2.0, a paleographic database of Brahmi and Kharosthi
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