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Tirhuta
Mithilakshar
𑒞𑒱𑒩𑒯𑒳𑒞𑒰‎‎
Tirhuta; Mithilakshar; 𑒞𑒱𑒩𑒯𑒳𑒞𑒰‎‎
Script type	Abugida
Time period	c. 7th century–present day
Direction	Left-to-right
Languages	Maithili, Sanskrit
Related scripts
Parent systems	Proto-Sinaitic script Phoenician alphabet Aramaic alphabet Brāhmī Gupta Siddhaṃ Gaudi Tirhuta; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Sister systems	Bengali–Assamese, Odia
ISO 15924
ISO 15924	Tirh (326), Tirhuta
Unicode
Unicode alias	Tirhuta
Unicode range	U+11480–U+114DF; Final Accepted Script Proposal

The Tirhuta also known as Mithilakshar or Maithili script has historically been used for writing the Maithili, an Indo-Aryan language spoken by almost 35 million people of cultural Mithila. It was also used to write Sanskrit language.^[4] The scripts of Maithili, Bengali, Assamese, Newari, Odia and Tibetan are a part of the same family of scripts.^[5]

History

The Lalitavistara, an ancient Buddhist text, mentions the Vaidehi script. A significant transformation occurred in the northeastern alphabet in the latter half of the 7th century AD. This evolution is first evident in the inscriptions of Adityasena. The eastern variant of this transformed script subsequently developed into the Maithili script, which gained prominence in regions like Assam, Bengal, and Nepal.^[1]

The earliest recorded epigraphic evidence of the Maithili script dates back to the 7th century AD. It is found in the inscriptions of Adityasena on the Mandar Hill Stone, located in Bounsi, Banka district, Bihar. These inscriptions, now preserved in the Baidyanath Temple of Deoghar, provide a crucial glimpse into the early development of this script.^[1]

It is one of the scripts of the broader North Eastern India. It had come to its current shape by the 10th Century AD. The oldest form of Mithilakshar is also found in the Sahodara stone inscriptions of 950 AD. The script has been used throughout Mithila from Champaran to Deoghar.^[6]

A fragmentary inscription found in Simraungadh, the medieval capital of the Karnats of Mithila which dates back to the 12th century in Tirhuta script is also one of the oldest evidence of this script.^[7]

Current status

The use of this script has been declining since the last 100 years, which is the primary reason for the cultures decline. Despite its constitutional status, the development of the Maithili language is hindered by the lack of a widely used script.^[6]

Nowadays, the Maithili language is written almost exclusively in the Devanagari script, although Tirhuta is still sometimes used by religious Pundits and some culture – conscious families for writing ceremonial letters (pātā), documents & cultural affair, and efforts are underway to broaden the scope of its usage.^[4]^[8]

Tirhuta is yet to enter the area of printing technology. In the early 20th century some Sanskrit works were printed in this script through lithographic process. Later on Pusk Bhandar, Laheriasarai managed to forget a set of types and published a few works in Tirhuta, but could not go ahead. In the middle of the last century, All India Maithili Conference came with a new set of types and used it in the prestigious publication of Brihat Maithili Shabdakosha.^[9] Electronic technology is yet out of reach for this script.^[8]

The official recognition of Maithili as one of the 14 provincial official languages of Nepal^[10] and its inclusion in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India in 2003 have established it as a language with an independent identity.^[11] However, currently Maithili in the Devanagari script is officially recognized.^[8]

Letters

You may need rendering support to display the uncommon Unicode characters in this article correctly.

Consonant letters

Most of the consonant letters are effectively identical to Bengali–Assamese. The Unicode submission, for example, only bothered to create new graphic designs for 7 of the 33 letters: ⟨jh, ṭ, ḍh, ṇ, l, ś, h⟩.

Consonants
Sign		beng.	Transcription
Image	Text	beng.	IAST	IPA
	𑒏‎	ক	ka	/kə/
	𑒐‎	খ	kha	/kʰə/
	𑒑‎	গ	ga	/gə/
	𑒒‎	ঘ	gha	/gʱə/
	𑒓‎	ঙ	ṅa	/ŋə/
	𑒔‎	চ	ca	/t͡ʃə/
	𑒕‎	ছ	cha	/t͡ʃʰə/
	𑒖‎	জ	ja	/d͡ʒə/
	𑒗‎	ঝ	jha	/d͡ʒʱə/
	𑒘‎	ঞ	ña	/ɲə/
	𑒙‎	ট	ṭa	/ʈə/
	𑒚‎	ঠ	ṭha	/ʈʰə/
	𑒛‎	ড	ḍa	/ɖə/
	𑒜‎	ঢ	ḍha	/ɖʱə/
	𑒝‎	ণ	ṇa	/ɳə/
	𑒞‎	ত	ta	/t̪ə/
	𑒟‎	থ	tha	/t̪ʰə/
	𑒠‎	দ	da	/d̪ə/
	𑒡‎	ধ	dha	/d̪ʱə/
	𑒢‎	ন	na	/nə/
	𑒣‎	প	pa	/pə/
	𑒤‎	ফ	pha	/pʰə/
	𑒥‎	ব	ba	/bə/
	𑒦‎	ভ	bha	/bʱə/
	𑒧‎	ম	ma	/mə/
	𑒨‎	য	ya	/jə/
	𑒩‎	র	ra	/rə/
	𑒪‎	ল	la	/lə/
	𑒫‎	ৱ	va	/ʋə/
	𑒬‎	শ	śa	/ʃə/
	𑒭‎	ষ	ṣa	/ʂə/
	𑒮‎	স	sa	/sə/
	𑒯‎	হ	ha	/ɦə/

Vowels

Vowels
Independent		Dependent		Transcription
Image	Text	Image	Text	IAST	IPA
	𑒁‎			a	/а/
	𑒂‎		𑒰‎	ā	/аː/
	𑒃‎		𑒱‎	і	/і/
	𑒄‎		𑒲‎	ī	/іː/
	𑒅‎		𑒳‎	u	/u/
	𑒆‎		𑒴‎	ū	/uː/
	𑒇‎		𑒵‎	ṛ	/r̩/
	𑒈‎		𑒶‎	ṝ	/r̩ː/
	𑒉‎		𑒷‎	ḷ	/l̩/
	𑒊‎		𑒸‎	ḹ	/l̩ː/
	𑒋‎		𑒹‎	ē	/еː/
			𑒺‎	e	/е/
	𑒌‎		𑒻‎	аі	/аі/
	𑒍‎		𑒼‎	ō	/оː/
			𑒽‎	о	/о/
	𑒎‎		𑒾‎	аu	/аu/

Other signs

Other dependent signs
Text	Name	Notes
𑒿‎	chandrabindu	marks the nasalization of a vowel
𑓀‎	anusvara	marks nasalization
𑓁‎	visarga	marks the sound [h], which is an allophone of [r] and [s] in pausa (at the end of an utterance)
𑓂‎	virama	used to suppress the inherent vowel
𑓃‎	nukta	used to create new consonant signs
𑓄‎	avagraha	used to indicate prodelision of an [a]
𑓅‎	gvang	used to mark nasalization
𑓇‎	Om	Om sign

Numerals

Tirhuta script uses its own signs for the positional decimal numeral system.

Digits
Image
Text	𑓐‎	𑓑‎	𑓒‎	𑓓‎	𑓔‎	𑓕‎	𑓖‎	𑓗‎	𑓘‎	𑓙‎
Digit	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9

Image Gallery

Visual representation of the Maithili script, from its early inscriptions to contemporary handwriting.

7th Century AD, Mandar Parvat inscriptions of Tirhuta
Tirhuta script found on Mandar Parvat
Image showing early Tirhuta writting in 7th century AD, Mandar Hills inscriptions
Table showing various alphabets used in Mithila
Varṇa Ratnākara manuscript in Maithili script
A Sanskrit Shloka written in three characters of Mithila

Unicode

Tirhuta script was added to the Unicode Standard in June 2014 with the release of version 7.0.

The Unicode block for Tirhuta is U+11480–U+114DF:

Tirhuta^[1]^[2] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	A	B	C	D	E	F
U+1148x	𑒀‎	𑒁‎	𑒂‎	𑒃‎	𑒄‎	𑒅‎	𑒆‎	𑒇‎	𑒈‎	𑒉‎	𑒊‎	𑒋‎	𑒌‎	𑒍‎	𑒎‎	𑒏‎
U+1149x	𑒐‎	𑒑‎	𑒒‎	𑒓‎	𑒔‎	𑒕‎	𑒖‎	𑒗‎	𑒘‎	𑒙‎	𑒚‎	𑒛‎	𑒜‎	𑒝‎	𑒞‎	𑒟‎
U+114Ax	𑒠‎	𑒡‎	𑒢‎	𑒣‎	𑒤‎	𑒥‎	𑒦‎	𑒧‎	𑒨‎	𑒩‎	𑒪‎	𑒫‎	𑒬‎	𑒭‎	𑒮‎	𑒯‎
U+114Bx	𑒰‎	𑒱‎	𑒲‎	𑒳‎	𑒴‎	𑒵‎	𑒶‎	𑒷‎	𑒸‎	𑒹‎	𑒺‎	𑒻‎	𑒼‎	𑒽‎	𑒾‎	𑒿‎
U+114Cx	𑓀‎	𑓁‎	𑓂‎	𑓃‎	𑓄‎	𑓅‎	𑓆‎	𑓇‎
U+114Dx	𑓐‎	𑓑‎	𑓒‎	𑓓‎	𑓔‎	𑓕‎	𑓖‎	𑓗‎	𑓘‎	𑓙‎
Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 16.0 2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points