Laṇḍā scripts

Laṇḍā scripts
Landa script chart
Script type
Alphabet, with some abugida descendents
Period
10th-11th century CE
DirectionLeft-to-right Edit this on Wikidata
Related scripts
Parent systems
Child systems
Gurmukhi, Khojki, Khudabadi, Mahajani, Multani, others
Sister systems
Takri script
 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 Laṇḍā scripts, from the term laṇḍā meaning "without a tail", is a Punjabi word used to refer to writing systems used in Punjab and adjoining areas. In Sindhi, it was known as 'Wāṇiko' or 'Baniyañ'. Formerly used to write Punjabi by mercantile groups, its usage is in decline.

Development

Laṇḍā is a script that evolved from the Sharada script during the 10th century. It was widely used in the northern and northwestern Indian subcontinent, in the Indus River plain, and adjoining areas, comprising Punjab, Sindh, Kashmir, and some parts of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It was used to write languages including Punjabi in its various dialects and registers, languages of Haryana, Sindhi, Siraiki,Balochi, Kashmiri, and Pashto.

The Laṇḍā scripts form a "typologically distinct group," and are closer in norms to its predecessor Brāhmī than they are to the Nāgarī scripts to the east, in their general avoidance of conjunct glyphs or marking of the Middle Indo-Aryan geminations distinctive of Panjābī. While possessing full sets of consonants, even separate letters for the common Lahndā consonant clusters tr and dr, their indication of vowels is less regular; they possess three vowel letters to indicate initial /ə ɪ ʊ/, but no letters or signs in other positions, thus being "alphabetical on the restricted Semitic model of Ugaritic cuneiform."

Functions

Landa scripts were originally used as mercantile shorthand for commercial purposes in the Punjab region and Sindh; they often lacked the full set of vowel sounds, as well as often imperfect correspondence of consonants. This made them liable to misreadings, frequently recognized by the local population through local proverbs referring to its usefulness only to the original writer. Various technical improvements would make certain descendant scripts fully suitable for literary use, primarily motivated by interest in recording religious scripture, particularly in the cases of Gurmukhī in Punjab, and Khojkī in Sindh.

Variants

The Laṇḍā scripts was first classified by George Abraham Grierson. Pandey (2010) further classifies Laṇḍā scripts into "Panjābī" and "Sindhī" regional subclasses:

Grammarians of the 19th century variously identified as many as six Laṇḍā forms used in Punjab and as many as twelve in Sindh. Further typological differences used in this subclassification include:

Even within these subclasses, the scripts exhibit further differences.

Fully attested

Currently, five Laṇḍā-descended scripts have enough information to be supported in Unicode.

  1. Gurmukhī is used for Panjābī and sometimes for Sindhī. Originally used in Sikh scripture and writings, it is the only major Laṇḍā-descended script in modern day usage. It has preserved the distinctive names of letters (kakkā, khakkhā, etc.) and collation order of Laṇḍā (vowels→ fricatives→ occlusives→ sonorants). In keeping with Laṇḍā's proximity to Brāhmī, it has retained a particularly close resemblance to Brāhmī among living scripts. Helping to foster a distinct Sikh culture and contributing to the consolidation of the Sikh religion, as well as first being a vehicle of Sikh religious literature, Gurmukhi became particularly important in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries when the Sikhs established political hegemony over Punjab and Kashmir.
  2. Khojkī, also known as caliha akhari or "the forty letters," an ecclesiastical script of the Isma'ili Khoja community, is considered to be a refined version of Lohāṇākī. Originally developed for Sindhi, it had also been used for Punjabi, Saraiki, and Gujarati as it spread, as well as for Arabic and Persian. Shifts in correspondences of letters most commonly included implosive letters for the tenuis consonants, and tenuis letters for aspirated stops. Such shifts was partly because as Khojkī spread to languages without Sindhī's implosives, the corresponding letters lost their original values, leading to shifts and ambiguity in usage. It remained in general use by the community until the early 20th century, as the printing press facilitated its increasing replacement by the Gujarati script for Ismāʿīlī literature. By the 1940s, its printing and instruction were confined to its native Sindh, where it survived until the early 1970s, continuing to be taught in community schools until it was superseded by Perso-Arabic.
  3. Standard Khudābādī, formerly used for Sindhī, was derived in the 1860s from Khudāwādī, the script associated with merchant communities of Hyderabad, Sindh, the Lohāṇā type of which Khojkī was "very close" to, being supplemented with characters from Shikārpurī. It is now obsolete. Through official government initiative and encouragement, it developed into a vehicle for literary expression.
  4. Mahājanī, a script previously used for Panjābī and Mārwāṛī, was taught to students from merchant and trading classes for business, and was similar to other accounting scripts like Sarrāfī ("of bankers"), Koṭhīvāl, and Baniauṭī ("of merchants"). Attested mostly from merchant documents, bills of exchange, and letters. It had five vowel letters, a, e, i, o, u, with the letter for i also used for ī, e, ai and the letter for u also used for ū, o, au. It had neither a dedicated nasalization diacritic, instead using the letter for n, nor script-specific numerals, instead using those of Devanāgarī or Gujarātī, though it does have fraction signs and unit marks, nor script-specific punctuation besides section marks and abbreviation. There are variants of certain letters, and generally did not space between words. It "may not be entirely obsolete."
  5. Multānī, former writing system of Sarāikī, is now obsolete. While classed by Pandey (2012) in the Punjabi subclass, it contains implosive characters and clusters similar to those of the Sindhi subclass, that other Punjabi Landa scripts lack. It had 4 vowel letters, a, i, u, e; a was used for ā as well; i was also used for ī as well as commonly as a semivowel in place of the letter y; u was used for ū and o, and e for ai as well as o in some sources. Shifts in sound representation meant that some letters often represented more than one sound, most often with tenuis letters used for aspirated stops, and implosive letters for tenuis sounds, as well as variants of certain letters. Pandey (2012) proposes an "idealized" form for encoding, with more regular correspondences, as well as the usage of Gurmukhī numerals for Multānī, as their numerals are "nearly identical."
Comparison of attested characters of Laṇḍā-descended scripts
←Class
Script↓Common lettersImplosivesNuqtāGemination
IAST sahakakhagaghaṅacachajajhañaṭaṭhaḍaḍhaṇatathadadhanapaphababhamayaralavaṛaśag̠aj̄aḍ̠aḇa
Panjābī
Gurmukhi ਸਹਕਖਗਘਙਚਛਜਝਞਟਠਡਢਣਤਥਦਧਨਪਫਬਭਮਯਰਲਵੜਸ਼਼ੱ
Mahajani 𑅰𑅱𑅕𑅖𑅗𑅘𑅙𑅚𑅛𑅜𑅝𑅞𑅟𑅠𑅡𑅢𑅣𑅤𑅥𑅦𑅧𑅨𑅩𑅪𑅫𑅬𑅭𑅮𑅯𑅲𑅳
Multani 𑊥𑊦𑊄𑊅𑊆𑊈𑊊𑊋𑊌𑊏𑊐𑊑𑊒𑊔𑊕𑊖𑊗𑊘𑊙𑊚𑊛𑊜𑊝𑊟𑊠𑊡𑊢𑊣𑊤𑊧(𑊥)(𑊆)𑊍𑊓(𑊝)
Sindhī
Khojki 𑈩𑈪𑈈𑈉𑈊𑈌𑈍𑈎𑈏𑈐𑈓𑈔𑈕𑈖𑈗𑈘𑈙𑈚𑈛𑈝𑈞𑈟𑈠𑈡𑈣𑈤𑈥𑈦𑈧𑈨𑈩𑈶𑈋𑈑𑈜𑈢𑈶𑈷
Khudabadi 𑋝𑋞𑊺𑊻𑊼𑊾𑊿𑋀𑋁𑋂𑋄𑋅𑋆𑋇𑋈𑋋𑋌𑋍𑋎𑋏𑋐𑋑𑋒𑋓𑋔𑋖𑋗𑋘𑋙𑋚𑋛𑋜𑊽𑋃𑋉𑋕𑋩

Multānī used the character 𑊥 for both sa and śa, and commonly used the characters 𑊆 ga and 𑊝 ba for their implosive counterparts as well. Both Multānī and Khojkī commonly used one letter in any given writing for both ja and jha, which are "anyway rather weakly contrasted phonemes,": 36  at least in the case of Khojkī. While both scripts each have two characters used interchangeably for both phonemes, they were conflated to the extent that the lesser-used letters of each, while attested, are not currently supported in Unicode. According to Pandey, "it is possible that a distinct letter for jha exists in a style of Multani. For this reason, space has been reserved for *jha in the [Unicode] block." In both cases, the unsupported letter shares a resemblance with Gurmukhī ਜ ja.

While Laṇḍā did not have dependent vowel signs, several descendent scripts like Gurmukhī, Khojkī and Khudābādī have developed them. Earlier Khojkī represented diphthongs in a manner more similar to Laṇḍā.: 37  Khojkī 𑈂 was typically used for both i and ī.

Comparison of vowels of Laṇḍā-descended scripts
←Class
Script↓Independent VowelsVowel Diacritics
IAST aāiīuūeaioauāiīuūeaioau
Panjābī
Gurmukhi ਅਆਇਈਉਊਏਐਓਔਾਿੀੁੂੇੈੋੌ
Mahajani 𑅐𑅑𑅒𑅓𑅑𑅔𑅒
Multani 𑊀𑊁𑊂𑊃𑊂
Sindhī
Khojki 𑈀𑈁(𑉀)𑈂𑈃𑈄𑈅𑈆𑈇𑈬𑈭𑈮𑈯𑈰𑈱𑈲𑈳
Khudabadi 𑊰𑊱𑊲𑊳𑊴𑊵𑊶𑊷𑊸𑊹𑋠𑋡𑋢𑋣𑋤𑋥𑋦𑋧𑋨

These scripts developed further adaptations as necessity arose. Gurmukhī has developed supplementary and subscript letters to accommodate loansounds and certain consonant clusters respectively. Mahājanī had the ligature 𑅶 śrī and various accounting signs. Multānī had the character 𑊨 ṛha, and Khudābādī had the character 𑋓𑋩 fa. Khojkī had the characters 𑈫 ḷa and 𑈿 qa, as well as conjuncts for kṣa, jña, tra, and dra, often borrowing such orthography from easterly scripts.: 37  It also made extensive use of its nuqtā to accommodate the emphatics, uvulars, and pharyngeals of Arabic. Letters of the unstandardized scripts often had glyphic variants; for instance, a variant of Multānī 𑊗 tha resembles its Gurmukhī counterpart ਥ.

Alphabet Charts

Punjabi-language manuscript of the 'Ekadashi Mahatam' written in a Punjabi variant of Sharada script, ca.1200–1300

Other Laṇḍā-linked scripts have been documented. The ones below do not have enough information to be supported in Unicode.

References

  1. ↑ Shackle 2007, p. 594: "These scripts are alphabetical on the restricted Semitic model of Ugaritic cuneiform...."
  2. ↑ 中西 亮(Nakanishi, Akira) (1980-01-01). Writing systems of the world: alphabets, syllabaries, pictograms. Rutland, Vt.; Tokyo, Japan: C.E. Tuttle Co. pp. 50-51. ISBN 0804812934.
  3. 1 2 Pollock, Sheldon; Raghunathan, Arvind (2003). Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia. University of California Press. p. 623. ISBN 9780520228214.
  4. ↑ Mahapatra, B. P.; Padmanabha, P.; McConnell, G. D.; Verma, V. S. (1989). "Pendjabi". In Kloss, Heinz; McConnell, Grant D. (eds.). THE WRITTEN LANGUAGES OF THE WORLD: A SURVEY OF THE DEGREE AND MODES OF USE, Volume II: INDIA. Book 1. Constitutional Languages. Laval University Press. p. 437. ISBN 9782763771861.
  5. ↑ India Census Commissioner (1902). "Census of India, 1901". Census of India. 17 (1). Government Central Press: 266–267. Landa, literally the docked or tailless script.... is taught by padhas, in a sort of nursery rhyme, of which the following is the Rohtak version.
  6. 1 2 Shackle, Christopher (2007). "Writing Systems of the Indo-Aryan Languages". In Cardona, George; Jain, Dhanesh (eds.). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Routledge. pp. 594–595. ISBN 978-1-135-79711-9.
  7. 1 2 3 Asani, Ali A. (1987). "The Khojkī Script: A Legacy of Ismaili Islam in the Indo-Pakistan Subcontinent". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 107 (3): 440–441. JSTOR 603464.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Pandey, Anshuman. (2010). L2/10-011R A Roadmap for Scripts of the Landa Family Archived 2023-03-15 at the Wayback Machine
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Leitner, Gottlieb Wilhelm (1883). A Collection of Specimens of Commercial and Other Alphabets and Handwritings as Also of Multiplication Tables Current in Various Parts of the Panjab, Sind and the North West Provinces. Lahore: Anjuman-i-Panjab Press. pp. 8–9.
  10. ↑ Masica, Colin (1993). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press. p. 145. ISBN 978-0-521-29944-2. (It may be noted in passing, and should be apparent from the samples in Table 6.1, that the Nagari script is one that has gone furthest from Brahmi, at least among the "Northern" scripts. The other scripts, particularly Gurmukhi, often retain letters more similar to those of Brahmi.)
  11. 1 2 Boivin, Michel (2024). Devotion, Religious Authority, and Social Structures in Sindh: Khojas, Vanyos, and Faqirs. Brill. p. 33. ISBN 9789004695290.
  12. 1 2 Pandey, Anshuman. (2011). L2/11-021 Final Proposal to Encode the Khojki Script
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 Shackle, Christopher; Moir, Zawahir (2000). Ismaili Hymns from South Asia: An Introduction to the Ginans. Curzon. pp. 34–42. ISBN 9780700711468.
  14. 1 2 Daftary, Farhad (2012). Historical Dictionary of the Ismailis. Scarecrow Press. pp. 96–97. ISBN 9780810861640.
  15. ↑ Pandey, Anshuman. (2011). L2/11-022 Final Proposal to Encode the Khudawadi Script
  16. ↑ Pandey, Anshuman. (2011). L2/11-274 Proposal to Encode the Mahajani Script
  17. 1 2 3 Pandey, Anshuman. (2012). L2/12-316 Proposal to Encode the Multani Script
  18. ↑ Punjab History Conference: Proceedings. Vol. 22. Department of Punjab Historical Studies, Punjabi University. 1989. p. 86.
  19. 1 2 McLeod, W. H. (July 16, 2009). The A to Z of Sikhism. Scarecrow Press. p. 37. ISBN 9780810863446. These they wrote in a script called Bhatakshri, which was a family code such as Lande and Mahajani.
  20. ↑ Singh, Karnail (2005). "24: Bhatt Wahis". Fragments of Half a Century. Institute of Sikh Studies. p. 96. ISBN 9788185815251.
  21. ↑ Sukhdial Singh, ed. (2005). Punjab History Conference, Thirty-seventh Session, March 18–20, 2005: Proceedings. Department of Punjab Historical Studies, Punjabi University. p. 198. ISBN 978-81-7380-990-3.
  22. ↑ Anshuman, Pandey (12 July 2011). "Proposal to Encode the Mahajani Script in ISO/IEC 10646" (PDF). www.unicode.org. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
  23. ↑ Kaushik, Kshama V.; Dutta, Kaushik (Jan 23, 2012). "Bahi-Khata and Parta System". India Means Business: How the elephant earned its stripes. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199088515. The language used for writing depends on the business; since most of the Indian business was in the hands of Marwaris and Gujaratis in the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, mundi was the language of choice for bookkeeping. The other accounting language was found among Punjabi businessmen which was called langdi Hindi.
  24. ↑ Garg, Vipin K. (1984). Trade Practices and Traditions: Origin and Development in India. Allied. pp. v, 107–109. ISBN 9780836414349. For many centuries past, the merchant class in India had been using a special script for recording accounts and for correspondence. This script acquired different names in different areas like Mundi, Mudiya, Modi, Mahajani, and Sarrafi.... The name Munda also signifies its relationship with the Hindi dialect of the area. In Hindi, the word 'Munda' is used to denote bare-headedness. Since the alphabet for writing Mundi did not have the bar on top of the alphabet...
  25. ↑ Chakrabarty, Sreeparna (6 April 2023). "Ancestry records of pilgrim centres to shed light on India's past". The Hindu. Retrieved 11 June 2025.

Further reading