Gaudi script

Gaudi script
Proto-BAMO script
Script type
Period
10th - 14th centuries CE
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Related scripts
Parent systems
Child systems
Bengali-Assamese script, Tirhuta, Odia script. Newari
Sister systems
Kamarupi script, Nagari
[a] The Semitic origin of the Brahmic scripts is not universally agreed upon.
 This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

The Gaudi script (Gāuṛi lipi) or Proto-BAMO script is an abugida in the Brahmic family of scripts. By the fourteenth century, Gaudi script had begun to differentiate and gradually developed into the Bengali-Assamese, Odia,, Maithili script and Newari.

Naming issues

The Gaudi script is named after the Gauda Kingdom (Gāuṛ Rājya) of Gauḍa (region) in ancient Bengal. In 1030 AD, the Persian scholar Al-Biruni, in his writings on India, mentioned the ancient Gaudi script of Eastern India. Medieval Gauḍa (region) is currently known as Bengal (region).

However the script was not limited to the Gauda or ancient Bengal. It 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 in modern times, which is why Sureshchandra Bhattacharyya suggested neutral acronyms Proto-BAM and Proto-BAMO. Bhattacharya also argued that Al-Biruni didn't have a first-hand acquaintance with eastern India, therefore his account may not truly reflect whether and/or how far the term "Gauḍiya" was in actual usage in different regions of eastern India. The script has also been called the "old Eastern script". In Daṇḍin's 7th-century Kavyadarsha, the Sanskrit literary style prevalent throughout eastern India is called the Gauḍa style, as it is thought that poets from other regions of eastern India imitated the literary style of the poets of the Gauda court. Thus, the name Gauḍa generally came to be applied to the whole of Eastern India. The script prevalent in this region was also named the Gauḍi script, like the literary style, after Gauḍa in ancient times.

History

The scripts of eastern North India developed through the regional evolution of the northern Brāhmī tradition during and after the Gupta period, from the fourth through sixth centuries A.D. The Gupta script represented an important stage in the development of northern Indian scripts, with regional variations becoming increasingly pronounced in the post-Gupta period. By the latter part of the sixth century and during the seventh century, these developments produced an increasingly angular form conventionally known as Kutila, also called Siddhamātṛkā.

A significant transformation occurred in the northeastern form of the alphabet during the latter half of the seventh century. Radhakrishna Choudhary states that this transformation is first evident in the inscriptions of the Later Gupta king Ādityasena. Choudhary states that the inscriptions of Ādityasena is an important specimen in the development of the northeastern script. Fleet classified the characters of the Aphsad inscription as the “Kutila variety” of the Magadha alphabet of the seventh century. The subsequent development was gradual. Bhattacharyya distinguishes an early phase of Kutila dating from approximately 600–800 CE, a further development of the Kutila style during approximately 800–900, and a transition from Kutila to varied eastern styles during approximately 900–1000. The stage of the script which we would call Gaudi, was current from the tenth to the fourteenth centuries. In the 11th century, famous Persian scholar Al-Biruni wrote about the ancient Gaudi script. He mentioned amongst Indian alphabets, Gaudi is used in the purva desa (Eastern County).

The modern eastern scripts (Bengali-Assamese, Odia, and Maithili) became clearly differentiated around the 14th and 15th centuries from Gaudi. 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. Evidenced by inscriptions, the early Maithili and Oriya scripts were very similar up until the 15th century.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ In some contexts, also known as the Proto-Assamese script, the Proto-Bengali script, or Proto-Oriya script; Sureshchandra Bhattacharya suggested the extended Proto-BAMO script in 1969, the full form of which is Proto-Bengali-Assamese-Maithili-Odia script. The script has also been called the "old Eastern script".
  2. ↑ The Oriya script actually appears to have had a composite origin, with secondary influences from the southern scripts and Nagari.[citation needed]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Salomon, Richard (1998). Indian Epigraphy. Oxford University Press. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-19-535666-3.
  2. 1 2 3 Neog, Maheswar (1963). "The Assamese & Bengali script". Assam Information. 14 (12–16): 16–19.
  3. ↑ Neog, Maheswar (1981). The Evolution of Assamese Script. Jorhat: Asam Sahitya Sabha. p. 11.
  4. 1 2 3 Masica, Colin (1993). The Indo-Aryan languages. Cambridge University Press. p. 143. ISBN 9780521299442.
  5. 1 2 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)
  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. ↑ Cardona, George; Jain, Dhanesh (2003). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Routledge language family series. London: Routledge. p. 109. ISBN 0-7007-1130-9. In the northeast, meanwhile separately evolved into a form referred to as 'proto-Bengali' or Gaudī, which prevailed until the fourteenth century, by which time it had begun to be differentiated into the modern eastern scripts, Bangla-Asamiya, Maithilī and Oriya.
  8. ↑ Wolpert, Stanley (2006). Encyclopedia of India: K-R. p. 55.
  9. 1 2 3 Sircar, Dineschandra (1971). Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. pp. 126–127. ISBN 978-81-208-0690-0.
  10. ↑ (Bhattacharyya 1969, p. 56-59)
  11. ↑ Diringer, David (1948). The Alphabet: A Key to the History of Mankind. London: Hutchinson. p. 357.
  12. ↑ Bühler, Georg (1896). Indian Palæography. Strassburg: K. J. Trübner. p. 50.
  13. ↑ Choudhary, Radhakrishna (1976). A Survey of Maithili Literature. Deoghar: Shanti Devi. p. 26.
  14. ↑ Fleet, John Faithfull (1888). "Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum". Inscriptions of the Early Gupta Kings and their Successors. Vol. III. Calcutta: Government Printing. pp. 205–208.
  15. ↑ (Bhattacharyya 1969, p. 56-59)
  16. ↑ "[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)
  17. ↑ Chaudhary, Radha Krishna (1976). "A Survey Of Maithili Literature". Archive.org.