Origin and development of Ancient Indian Scripts & languages

In short form
The script is a written symbolisation of speech. Throughout the ages, the evolution of writing
from the image of pictograms and then later on inscriptional images were inspired from
calligraphic strokes.
Most modern Indian scripts have developed from the Brahmi script over hundreds of years.

List of Ancient Indian Scripts

Some of the most momentous developments in Indian epigraphy took place in the 1830s. A
list of Ancient Indian Scripts are discussed in brief below:

Source – NCERT

Indus Script

 Brahmi Script may be possibly derived from the Indus Valley Script.
 The Indus script was found in Harappa at around 1900 BC, whereas the first Brahmi
and Kharosthi inscriptions were at nearly 500 BC.
 Harappans knew how to write, and most of their seals contain some form of script.
 But unfortunately, no one has yet been able to decipher that script.
 The Indus script is an undeciphered script of the ancient world.

Brahmi Script

 Brahmi is the ancestor of the Brahmic family of scripts, which includes all Indian
scripts, viz. Devanagari, Odia, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu etc. and also ancient scripts in
Sri Lanka, Burma, and south-east Asian countries: Java, Sumatra, Cambodia.
 Present alphabets of Burma, Thailand, Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia are derived from
Brahmi.
 The Ashokan inscriptions dating to the third century BCE used the Brahmi script, the
earliest evidence of the use of Brahmi.
 Most Asokan inscriptions were in the Prakrit language, while those in the northwest
of the subcontinent were in Aramaic and Greek.
  Most Prakrit inscriptions were written in the Brahmi script; however, some, in the
northwest, were written in Kharosthi.
 It was only after decades of painstaking investigations by several epigraphists that
James Prinsep was able to decipher Asokan Brahmi in 1838.

Kharosthi Script

 Kharosthi was one of the major scripts of the northwest from 3rd century BCE to 3rd
century CE.
 Kharosthi script was used extensively by the Indo-Greek, Scytho-Parthian rulers in
their coins together with Greek script.
 The Kushanas used the Kharosthi script in their inscriptions and coins.
 It was written from right to left in horizontal lines.
 Kharoshti was deciphered by James Prinsep and others around the middle of the 19th
century.

Devanagari Script

 The sounds of spoken Hindi are generally written in Devanagari script, which is also
used to write Sanskrit, Nepali, and Marathi.
 Devanagari’s characters hang from a horizontal line (called the head stroke) written at
the top of the character.
 Unlike English letters, which are written up from a line below them.
 This writing system is a combination of syllabary and alphabet.
 It is written from the left to right direction.

Grantha Script

 A number of Grantha characters are nearly the same as the equivalent Tamil
characters.
 However, it is to be noted that there exist subtle differences from the Tamil
Equivalent.
 The Grantha script which ultimately derives from the ancient Asokan Brahmi script is
a major script living in South India, especially in the State of Tamil Nadu, India and
in Sri Lanka.

Takri Script

 The Takri script derives from the Sarada script and was used in the western regions of
the Himalayas.
 By the early 20th century, the Takri script has been replaced by Devanagari.
Descriptive form
Indus script
After the pictographic and petroglyph representations of early man the first evidence of a
writing system can be seen in the Indus valley civilization. The earliest evidence of which is
found on the pottery and pot shreds of Rahman Dheri and these potter’s marks, engraved or
painted, are strikingly similar to those appearing in the Mature Indus symbol system.
Later the writing system can be seen on the seals and sealings of Harappan period. Most
inscriptions containing these symbols are extremely short (5 symbols), making it difficult to
judge whether or not these symbols constituted a script used to record a language, or even
symbolize a writing system.
The long inscriptions are found in Gujarat particularly Dholavira where we find slabs of stone
inscribed with inscriptions which might represent name plates of the houses with 24 to 34
symbols.
The characters are largely pictorial but include many abstract signs. The inscriptions are
thought to have been written mostly from right-to-left (because there are several instances of
the symbols being compressed on the left side, as if the writer is running out of space at the
end of the row there), but they sometimes follow a boustrophedonic (sarphalekhana) style. The
number of principal signs is about 400. Since that is considered too large a number for each
character to be a phonogram, the script is generally believed to instead be logo-syllabic.
There were arguments that the Indus script is nonlinguistic, which symbolise families, clans,
gods, and religious concepts and are similar to totem poles. Based on the extreme brevity of
the inscriptions, the existence of too many rare signs and the lack of the random-looking sign
repetition that is typical of language.
But others have argued that it is a linguistic system and the debate shifted to whether it is the
predecessor of Dravidian script or the Brahmi script.
Some scholars, have argued that the Brahmi script has some connection with the Indus system,
but others, such as Iravatham Mahadevan, have argued that the script had a relation to a
Dravidian language. This debate has been further fuelled by the arguments of who were the
initial and original inhabitants of India the Aryan’s or the Dravidian’s.
Brahmi script
Brahmi is the originator of most of the present Indian scripts, including Devanagari, Bengali,
Tamil, and Malayalam etc. It developed into two broad types in Northern and Southern India,
 in the Northern one being more angular and the Southern one being more circular. It was
deciphered in 1838 by James Prinsep. The best-known Brahmi inscriptions are the rock-
cut edicts of Ashoka in north-central India, dated to 250–232 BCE.
Many scholars support that Brahmi probably derives from Aramaic influence and others
support that the Brahmi language can have some Indus script influence.
The Brahmi script confirms to the syllabic writing system and was used more for writing
Prakrit, the language spoken by ordinary people initially and later Sanskrit also was
written in this script.
According to the epigraphers- All Indian scripts are derived from Brahmi. There are two main
families of scripts:
1. 1. Devanagari, which is the basis of the languages of northern and western India: Hindi,
Gujarati, Bengali, Marathi, Dogri, Panjabi, etc.
2. Dravidian which shows the formats of Grantha and Vatteluttu.
Kharosthi Script
It is the sister script and contemporary of Brahmi. It was written from right to left. It was used
in the Gandhara culture of North-Western India and is sometimes also called the Gandhari
Script. Its inscriptions have been found in the form of Buddhist Texts from present day
Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Gupta Script
It is also known as the Late Brahmi script. It was used for writing Sanskrit in the Gupta period.
It gave rise to the Nagari, Sarada and Siddhamatrika scripts which in turn gave rise to the
most important scripts of India such as Devanagari, Bengali etc.
Nagari Script
It was an Eastern variant of the Gupta script. It is an early form of the Devanagari script. It
branched off into many other scripts such as Devanagari. It was used to write both Prakrit and
Sanskrit.
It is the main script at present to write standard Hindi and Nepali. It is also used presently to
write Sanskrit and is one of the most used writing systems in the world. It is composed of
Deva meaning, God and Nagari meaning city, which meant that it, was both religious and
urbane or sophisticated.
It is written from left to right, has a strong preference for symmetrical rounded shapes within
squared outlines, and is recognisable by a horizontal line that runs along the top of full letters. In
a cursory look, the Devanagari script appears different from other Indic scripts such
as Bangla, Oriya or Gurmukhi, but a closer examination reveals they are very similar except
for angles and structural emphasis.
Sarada Script
The Sarada or Sharada script of the Brahmic family of scripts, developed around the 8th
century. It was used for writing Sanskrit and Kashmiri. Originally more widespread, its use
became later restricted to Kashmir, and it is now rarely used except by the Kashmiri Pandit
community for ceremonial purposes. Sarada is another name for Saraswati, the goddess of
learning.
Siddhamatrika script (Kutila)
This script was prominent in eastern India in 6th century AD leading to subsequent
evolution of Gaudi script. This Eastern Nagari script or Bengali-Assamese script defines the
unified usage of Bengali script and Assamese script thought minor variations within. Its usage
is associated with the two main languages Bengali and Assamese.
Western India
Landa script
The Laṇḍa scripts, meaning “without a tail”, is a Punjabi word used to refer to scripts in North
India. Landa is a script that evolved from the Sarada script during the 10th century. It was used
to write Punjabi, Hindi, Sindhi, Saraiki, Balochi, Kashmiri, Pashto and various Punjabi dialects.
Gurmukhi script
Gurmukhi is an alphabetic developed from the Landa scripts and was standardized during the
16th century by Guru Angad, the second guru of Sikhism. The whole of the Guru Granth
Sahib is written in this script, and it is the script most commonly used by Sikhs and Hindus for
writing the Punjabi language.
Deccan
Modi script
Modi is a script used to write the Marathi language, which is the primary language spoken in
the state of Maharashtra in western India. Modi was an official script used to write Marathi
until the 20th century when the Balbodh style of the Devanagari script was promoted as the
standard writing system for Marathi. Although Modi was primarily used to write Marathi.
Gujarati script
The Gujarati script, which like all Nagari writing system is a type of alphabet, is used to write
the Gujarati and Kutchi languages. It is a variant of Devanagari script differentiated by the loss
of the characteristic horizontal line running above the letters and by a small number of
modifications in the remaining characters. The Gujarati script is also often used to
write Sanskrit and Hindi.
South India
Grantha Script
It is one of the earliest Southern scripts to originate from Brahmi. It branched off into Tamil
and Malayalam scripts, which are still used to write those languages.
It is also the predecessor of the Sinhala script used in Sri Lanka. A variant of Grantha called
Pallava was taken by Indian merchants in Indonesia, where it led to the development of many
South-East Asian scripts. It was used in Tamil Nadu to write the Sanskrit Granthas and hence,
was named Grantha.
The Grantha script was widely-used between the sixth century and the 20th centuries by Tamil
speakers in South India, particularly in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, to write Sanskrit, and is still in
restricted use in traditional Vedic schools. It is a Brahmic script, having evolved from
the Brahmi script in Tamil Nadu. The Malayalam script is a direct descendant of Grantha.
Vatteluttu Script
It was a script derived from the Brahmi and was used in the Southern part of India. It was used
to write Tamil and Malayalam. It removed those signs from Brahmi, which were not needed
for writing the Southern languages. Presently, both Tamil and Malayalam have moved on to
their own Grantha derived scripts. Vatteluttu is one of the three main alphabet systems
developed by Tamil people to write the Proto-Tamil language, alongside the
ancient Granthi or Pallava alphabet and the Tamil script.
Kadamba Script
It is a descendant of Brahmi and marks the birth of the dedicated Kannada script. It led to the
development of modern Kannada and Telugu scripts. It was used to write Sanskrit, Konkani,
Kannada and Marathi. The Kadamba script was developed during the reign of the Kadamba
dynasty in the 4th-6th centuries. The Kadamba script is also known as Pre-Old-Kannada
script. This script later became popular in what is today the state of Goa and was used to
write Sanskrit, Kannada, Konkani and Marathi.
Tamil Script
It is the script used to write the Tamil language in India and Sri Lanka. It evolved from Grantha,
the Southern form of Brahmi. It is a syllabic language and not alphabetic. It is written from
left to right.
Kannada script
Kannada script is widely used for writing Sanskrit texts in Karnataka. Several minor languages,
such as Tulu, Konkani, Kodava, Sanketi and Beary, also use alphabets based on the Kannada
script. The Kannada and Telugu scripts share high mutual intellegibility with each other,
and are often considered to be regional variants of single script.
Telugu script
The Brahmi script used by Mauryan kings eventually reached the Krishna River delta and
would give rise to the Bhattiprolu script found on an urn purported to contain Lord Buddha’s
relics. The Bhattiprolu Brahmi script evolved into the Telugu script by 5th century C.E.
Malayalam script
The Malayalam script, also known as Kairali script is a Brahmic script used commonly to
write Malayalam, which is the principal language of Kerala, India. Malayalam script is also
widely used for writing Sanskrit texts in Kerala.
Malayalam was first written in the Vatteluttu alphabet, an ancient script of Tamil. However,
the modern Malayalam script evolved from the Grantha alphabet, which was originally used to
write Sanskrit. Both Vatteluttu and Grantha evolved from the Brahmi script, but independently.
Medieval and Modern scripts
Urdu script
The Urdu alphabet is the right-to-left alphabet used for the Urdu language. It is a modification
of the Persian alphabet, which is itself a derivative of the Arabic alphabet.
The standard Urdu script is a modified version of the Perso-Arabic script and has its origins in
13th century Iran. It is closely related to the development of the Nastaliq style of Perso-Arabic
script.
Urdu script in its extended form is known as Shahmukhi script and is used for writing
other Indo-Aryan languages of North Indian subcontinent like Punjabi and Saraiki as well.
Santali script
Santali is a language in the Munda subfamily of Austroasiatic languages, related
to Ho and Mundari. Till the nineteenth century Santali remained an oral language.
A recent development has been the creation of a separate Ol Chiki script for Santali by Pt.
Raghunath Murmu in the 1970s which is used exclusively by the Santali speaking people of
the Singhbhum Jharkhand and Odisha.

Origin and development of Indian languages

Ever since human beings have invented scripts, writing has reflected the culture, lifestyle,
society and the polity of contemporary society. In the process, each culture evolved its own
language and created a huge literary base. This literary base of a civilisation tells us about the
evolution of each of its languages and culture through the span of centuries. Ever since human
beings have invented scripts, writing has reflected the culture, lifestyle, society and the polity
of contemporary society. In the process, each culture evolved its own language and created a
huge literary base. This literary base of a civilisation tells us about the evolution of each of its
languages and culture through the span of centuries.

Role of Sanskrit
Sanskrit is the mother of many Indian languages. The Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas and
Dharmasutras are all written in Sanskrit. There is also a variety of secular and regional
literature. By reading about the languages and literature created in the past, we shall be able to
understand our civilization better and appreciate the diversity and richness of our culture.

All this was possible because of the language that developed during that time. Sanskrit is the
most ancient language of our country. It is one of the twenty-two languages listed in the Indian
Constitution .The literature in Sanskrit is vast, beginning with the most ancient thought
embodied in the Rig Veda, the oldest literary heritage of mankind, and the Zend Avesta.

It was Sanskrit that gave impetus to the study of linguistics scientifically during the eighteenth
century. The great grammarian Panini, analysed Sanskrit and its word formation in his
unrivalled descriptive grammar Ashtadhyayi. The Buddhist Sanskrit literature includes the rich
literature of the Mahayana school and the Hinayana school also.

The most important work of the Hinayana school is the Mahavastu which is a storehouse of
stories. While the Lalitavistara is the most sacred Mahayana text which supplied literary
material for the Buddhacarita of Asvaghosa. Sanskrit is perhaps the only language that
transcended the barriers of regions and boundaries. From the north to the south and the east to
the west there is no part of India that has not contributed to or been affected by this language.
Kalhan’s Rajatarangini gives a detailed account of the kings of Kashmir whereas with Jonaraja
we share the glory of Prithviraj. The writings of Kalidasa have added beauty to the storehouse
of Sanskrit writings. Other great literacy works, which marked the golden era of Indian
literature include ‘Abhijanam Shakuntalam’ and ‘Meghdoot’ by Kalidasa, ‘Mricchakatika’ by
Shudraka, ‘Swapna Vasavadattam’ by Bhasa, and ‘Ratnavali’ by Sri Harsha. Some other
famous works are Chanakya’s ‘Arthashastra’ and Vatsyayana’s “Kamasutra’
Vedas
The Vedas are the earliest known literature in India. The Vedas were written in Sanskrit and
were handed down orally from one generation to the other. Do you know that preservation of
the Vedas till today is one of our most remarkable achievements. To be able to keep such a
literary wealth as the Vedas intact when the art of writing was not there and there was a paucity
of writing material is unprecedented in world history. The word ‘Veda’ literally means
knowledge. In Hindu culture, Vedas are considered as eternal and divine revelations. They treat
the whole world as one human family Vasudev Kutumbakam. There are four Vedas, namely,
the- Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda and Atharva Veda. Each Veda consists of the
Brahmanas, the Upanishads and the Aranyakas. The Rig Veda, Sama Veda and the Yajur Veda
are collectively known an Traji. In later years the Atharava Veda was incorporated in this
group.
Rig Veda
The Rig Veda is the earliest of the Vedas. It is a collection of 1028 hymns in Vedic Sanskrit.
Many of these are beautiful descriptions of nature. The prayers are largely for seeking worldly
prosperity. It is believed that these recitations are the natural outpouring of Vedic rishis
experiencing a mentally transcendental stage.
Some of the well-known rishis are Vasistha, Gautama, Gritasamada, Vamadeva, Vishvamitra
and Atri. The prominent gods of the Rig Veda are Indra, Agni, Varun, Rudra, Aditya, Vayu,
Aditi and the Ashwini twins. Some of the prominent goddesses are Usha - the goddess of dawn,
Vak - the goddess of speech and Prithvi - the goddess of earth.
Do you know that most of the hymns spoke of universally recognised higher values of life such
as truthfulness, honesty, dedication, sacrifice, politeness and culture. The prayers are for
seeking worldly prosperity and for the development of a highly cultured society. Along with
religion Rig Veda provides us knowledge about social, political and economic condition of
ancient India.
Yajur Veda
Yajur means sacrifice or worship. This Veda is concerned mostly with rites and mantras of
different sacrifices. It gives directions for the performance of the yajnas. It has both poetic and
prose renderings. Being a treatise on rituals, it is the most popular of the four Vedas. There are
two major branches of Yajur Veda, namely Shukla and Krishna Yajur Veda i.e. Vajasaneyi
Samhita and Taitriya Samhita. Sama Veda Sama means melody or songs. This Veda consists
of 16,000 ragas and raginis or musical notes. Out of total 1875 verses only 75 are original and
others are from the Rig Veda. The Sama Veda prescribes the tunes for the recitation of the
hymns of the Rig Veda. It may be called the book of Chants (Saman). This book is an evidence
of the development of Indian music during this period.
Atharva Veda The Atharva Veda is also known as the Brahma Veda. It contains treatment for
ninety-nine diseases. The source of this Veda is traced to two rishis called Atharvah and
Angiras. The Atharva Veda is of immense value as it represents the religious ideas at an early
period of civilisation. It has two branches, the Paippalada and the Saunaka.

This book gives detailed information about the family, social and political life of later Vedic
period. In order to understand the Vedas, it is necessary to learn the Vedangas or the limbs of
the Vedas. These supplements of the Vedas provide education (siksha), grammar (vyakarana),
ritual (kalpa), etymology (nirukta), metrics (chhanda) and astronomy (Jyotisha). A good deal
of literature grew around these subjects.
It was written in the form of precepts in the sutra style. A precept was called sutra because of
its brevity. The most famous example of this is Panini’s grammar, Ashtadhyayi, which
illustrates the rules of grammar and also throws light on society, economy and culture of those
times.