Kaithi (šš¶šš², Bhojpuri pronunciation:[kÉÉŖĢÆtĢŖŹ°iĖ]), also called Kayathi (ššØšš²), Kayasthi (šš°šØš®š¹šš², Bhojpuri:[kÉjÉstĢŖŹ°iĖ]), Kayastani, or Kaite Lipi (šš°š ššµ šŖš±š£š±) in Nepali, is a Brahmic script historically used across parts of Northern and Eastern India. It was prevalent in regions corresponding to modern-day Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand. The script was primarily utilized for legal, administrative, and private records and was adapted for a variety of Indo-Aryan languages, including Angika, Awadhi, Bajjika, Bhojpuri, Hindustani, Maithili, Magahi, Nagpuri, and Surjapuri.
This table sets out the handwritten form of the vowels and consonants of the Kaithi script, as of the middle of the 19th centuryBhojpuri story written in Kaithi script by Babu Rama Smaran Lal in 1898
Etymology
The name Kaithi script is derived from the term Kayastha, a socio-professional group historically linked to writing, record-keeping and administration. This community served in royal courts and later in British colonial administration, maintaining revenue records, legal documents, title deeds, and general correspondence.
The Kaithi script is used in the multilingual stone inscription of King Pratap Malla, dated to 1654 CE. In this inscription, the name āKayathinÄgara Äkharaā (Newar: šš«š š¶š£šµšš¬ ššš¬, āKayathinagari scriptā) is used to refer to this script in Newar language. This script is also known as Kaite Lipi in Nepali language.
History
Kaithi script (left side bottom-most line) on the coins of Sher Shah Suri
Documents in Kaithi are traceable to at least the 16th century. The script was widely used during the Mughal period. In the 1880s, during the British Raj, the script was recognised as the official script of the law courts of Bihar. Kaithi was the most widely used script of North India west of Bengal. In 1854, 77,368 school primers were in Kaithi script, as compared to 25,151 in Devanagari and 24,302 in Mahajani. Among the three scripts widely used in the 'Hindi Belt', Kaithi was widely perceived to be neutral, as it was used by both Hindus and Muslims alike [citation needed] for day-to-day correspondence, financial and administrative activities, while Devanagari was used by Hindus and Persian script by Muslims for religious literature and education. This made Kaithi increasingly unfavorable to the more conservative and religiously inclined members of society who insisted on Devanagari-based and Persian-based transcription of Hindi dialects. As a result of their influence and due to the wide availability of Devanagari type as opposed to the incredibly large variability of Kaithi, Devanagari was promoted, particularly in the Northwest Provinces, which covers present-day Uttar Pradesh.
In the late 19th century, John Nesfield in Oudh, George Campbell of Inverneill in Bihar and a committee in Bengal all advocated for the use of Kaithi script in education. Many legal documents were written in Kaithi, and from 1950 to 1954 it was the official legal script of Bihar district courts. Present day Bihar courts struggle to read old Kaithi documents.
Classes
On the basis of local variants Kaithi can be divided into three classes viz. Bhojpuri, Magahi and Trihuti.
Signboard at Purbi Gumti, Arrah, with English (top), Bhojpuri Kaithi (bottom-left), and Urdu (bottom-right)
Bhojpuri
This was used in Bhojpuri speaking regions and was considered as the most legible style of Kaithi.
Magahi
Native to Magah or Magadh it lies between Bhojpuri and Trihuti.
Tirhuti
It was used in Maithili speaking regions and was considered as the most elegant style.
Vowels
Kaithi vowels have independent (initial) and dependent (diacritic) forms:
āBhojpuri rhotics are unique because they preserve a high frequency of /ɽŹ±/, which has become rare or merged in other Indo-Aryan languages like Hindi. Furthermore, unlike the standard alveolar /ɾ/, Bhojpuri utilises them in distinct morphophonemic patterns, where flaps and taps alternate regularly to signal grammatical changes or emphasis.
āThe letter š is made using the š with the (šŗ) mark.
āThe letter š is made using the š with the (šŗ) mark.
The second reason is Kaithi's orthographic nature. Because Kaithi was optimised by removing the shirorekha, to efficiently and rapidly transcribe information through continuous rapid strokes, historically, scribes have often avoided complex conjunct forms. Instead, they preferred to write the consonants sequentially, using an explicit virama (š¹) to suppress the inherent vowel. However, ligated forms also exist, particularly in the Tirhuti class of Kaithi.:ā26ā28ā
Example: The conjunct mba can be rendered as:
š§ + š¹ + š„ ā š§š¹āš„
the same conjunct mba can be ligated as:
š§ + š¹ + š„ ā š§š¹š„
When ligatures are employed, they typically follow two primary structural patterns:
Vertical Stacking: The trailing consonant is written directly below the leading consonant. This method is predominantly used for homorganic nasals and geminates.
šš¹š
kka
IPA: /kĖ/
š£š¹š
pta
IPA: /ptĢŖa/
Half-Forms: The distinctive right vertical stem of the leading consonant is removed, and the remaining left half is joined horizontally to the subsequent consonant
š§š¹š„
mba
IPA: /mba/
š®š¹š
sta
IPA: /stĢŖa/
šš¹š
ksha
IPA: /kŹa/
Common Double Consonants
Geminates are among the most frequently encountered ligatures in historical Kaithi manuscripts. They can be ligated or unligated, depending upon the scribe.
Below is a comprehensive table of all 1225 possible biconsonantal Kaithi conjunct clusters. The derived characters /ɽ/ (š) and /ɽŹ±/ (š) have also been included. Some of the ligated conjuncts may not be viable combinations in any language.
Article 1:
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
ā"Universal Declaration of Human Rights"(PDF). OHCHR.org. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. p.Ā 2. Archived(PDF) from the original on 15 March 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
ā"Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Magadhi"[ą¤®ą¤¾ą¤Øą¤µą¤¾ą¤§ą¤æą¤ą¤¾ą¤° ą¤ą„ ą¤²ą„ą¤² ą¤øą¤Æą„ą¤ą„ą¤¤ ą¤°ą¤¾ą¤·ą„ą¤ą„ą¤° ą¤ą¤ą„ą¤µą¤¾ą¤Æą„ą¤ą„ą¤¤](PDF). OHCHR.org (in Magahi). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. p.Ā 1. Archived(PDF) from the original on 21 May 2023. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
ā"Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Hindi"[ą¤®ą¤¾ą¤Øą¤µ ą¤ ą¤§ą¤æą¤ą¤¾ą¤°ą„ą¤ ą¤ą„ ą¤øą¤¾ą¤°ą„ą¤µą¤ą„ą¤® ą¤ą„ą¤·ą¤£ą¤¾](PDF). OHCHR.org (in Hindi). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. p.Ā 1. Archived(PDF) from the original on 11 May 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2026.
