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The History and Development of Mauryan Brahnii Script Thesis The History and Development of Mauryan Brahnii Script Thesis submitted for the Degree of the Doctor of Philosophy at the University of London Qhandrika Singh Upasak The School of Oriental 1st June91959o and African Studies■ ProQuest Number: 10731524 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10731524 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 Page 1. Abstracts iii 2* Preface: iv 3. Abbreviations: vii 4° Chapter- I - Introduction: 1 5. Chapter- II- Origin and decipherment of Brahrni scriptf ~ 7 6o Chapter-Ill- Asokan Brahrni Script: 34 7. Chapter- IV- The Asokan Brahrni alphabet and system of writing: 46 8o Chapter-V- The Mauryan Inscriptions: 175 9o Chapter- VI- Other Inscriptions attributed To"The Mauryan p e r r o 234 10* Chapter-VII- Conclusmon: 259 11* Appendices: 262 12* Line-Chart of the Minor Rock Edict of Erragudi*374 13* Standard shape of Asokan Brahma: 375 14* Bibliography: 376 15* Photographs of the inscriptions: In the pocket ill ABSTRACT After giving a brief survey of the history of India till the rise of the Mauryas in the introduction of this wor we have discussed the origin of the Brahrni script in the nex chapter* In this chapter, besides a brief account of differ theories propounded by many scholars, we have endeavoured to put forward our own views where they differ from or go beyon those of earlier students® This chapter also presents a bri account of the decipherment of Brahma * The next chapter is mainly devoted to the special features noted in the Asokan Brahrni. A detailed study of each letter has proved that the was no regional influence whatsoever in the Asokan_inscripti and that there existed a royal standard form of Brahrni scrii which predominated in almost all the inscriptions of Asoka. We have also pointed out how the individual characteristcs o an engraver played an important part in producing different shapes of a letter in one inscription or sometime even in on line® The fourth chapter is larger than the others, as it presents a detailed description of the individual letters found in the Asokan inscriptions * It starts with the vowels followed by the consonants arranged according to the present Devanagari alphabet, and finally concludes with a study of conjuncts, numerals, punctuations and corrections* The succeeding chapter gives a general account of each inscripti of Asoka with its palaeographic peculiarities, if any have been noticed* The sixth cha.pter is devoted to those inscriptions which are doubtfully ascribed to the pre-Asokar or Asokan period* Since these inscriptions are undated records and all that we can infer must be based upon their palaeography alone, it has been most difficult to make any definite pronouncement about their dates* However, we have expressed our opinions, though reservedly. The last chaptei concludes the work by pointing out the facts that we have been able to gather as a result of our research. The work concludes with appendices giving the occurrences of each letter of Asokan Brahrni, a line-chart of Minor Rock Edict of Erragudi, the standard shape of each letter, bibliography and photostatically reproduced copies of the unpublished inscriptions. iv PREPAOB The Palaeography of Brahma is vast and varied. Not only does its use cover a long period of several centuries hut also, as being the parent of all the scripts of the Indif sub-continent and many of the south-east Asian countries, it has spread over a very extensive area. The present work is confined to the treatment of the Mauryan Brahrni script. 1] other words., it deals with the earliest form of the Brahrni writing. As a prologue to a fuller study of the script, it is appropriate to tell something about its origin. We have therefore discussed this problem, but only very briefly since otherwise it would become a full length work in itself. And as an epilogue, we have reviewed and presented the palaeogra- phical peculiarities of all those inscriptions of uncertain date which are rightly or wrongly believed by some to be the records of the pre-Asokan or Asokan period. While discussing the individual letters of Asokan Brahmx, we have done our best to reproduce all the shapes of a letter as found in their facsimiles. An exhaustive list o: all these signs has been compiled and given in the form of appendices, which should be consulted in conjunction with V the individual description of the letter concerned* To reproduce these shapes and to point out their exact position in an edict, we have followed Hultzsch in the Corpus Inscri- ptionum Indicarum, Vol.I, except for a few unpublished inscriptions and those published elsewhere, for the Minor Rock Edict Erragudi, we have consulted Sircar^ Select Inscriptions . for the facsimiles of,the unpublished inscri­ ptions, we are indebted to Dr* D,C.Sircar, the Grove rnment Epigraphist of India, who vdry kindly forwarded the full se' of the photographs of these inscriptions and allowed their use* Photostatically reproduced copies of these are given in the end* The Rock Edicts of Erra.gudi are in a damaged and blurred state and so it was not possible to compile an exhaustive list of the shapes of each letter from them. Nevertheless, we have endeavoured to include them as far as they are traceable. With regard to the diacritical signs, we have followed the usual system as employed to denote the Eevanaga: alphabet, except for the north Indian S and the letter Pft ° The former is expressed thus - Ra , while the latter is written as Ri * for the south Indian Ra , we have adopted the usual sign La . In the course of my research I have been assisted by various scholars and friends, and I wish to express my thanks to them. I should like in particular to thank Dr» J.D M« Derrett and hr. A.Ii. Dani for their many valuable and bright suggestions. I am also grateful to Mrs. 33 . 33 . G-rant and Miss Alexandra Livas who assisted me in the preparation of the type-script copied of the work. I also owe much to the Venerable H. Saddhatissa, M.A., the Chief Incumbent of th London Buddhist Vihara, 10, Ovington G-ardens, London, S.W.3» for the generous help that he readily gave during my stay in London. The State Government of Bihar, India, offered me a loan of Rs.5,000/- for higher studies abroad in Palaeography and granted me an extra-ordinary leave to this effect. I should like to express my appreciation to the government for this assistance» My thanks are also due to the members of the Library-staff of the School of Oriental and African Studies for their excellent help in providing all the materials that I needed. Finally, I should like to express my deepest gratitude to Professor A,L. Basham for his erudite guidance and sympathetic help throughout the period of the preparation of this work. vii ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THIS WORK ABORI : Annals of Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, A.S.I.(A.R.) : Archaeological Survey of India (Annual Report) A,S cl.R. : Archaeological Survey of India Reports (Cunnin gham). G .1.1. : Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum. E»I, : Epigraphia Indica. I .A. : Indian Antiquary. ItH.Q* : Indian .Historical Quarterly, Inso : Inscription, <J. : Jataka. JASB : Journal of Asiatic Society of Bengal. JBBRAS : Journal of Bombay Branch of Royal Asiatic Society. JBORS : Journal of Bihar^Orissa Research Society, JBRS : Journal of Bihar Research Society. JRAS : Journal of Royal Asiatic Society. MPE ; Minor Pillar Edict. MRE : Minor Rock Edict. MSS. : Manuscripts. PE : Pillar Edict. PE All, Kos. : Pillar Edict of Allahahad-Eosam, PED1VI : Pillar Edict of Delhi-Mirath. PEDT s Pillar Edict of Delhi-Topra. PELA : Pillar Edict of Lauriya-Araraj PELN : Pillar Edict of Lauriya-Nandangarh PER : Pillar Edict of Ramapurva-. RE : Rock Edict* REP : Rock Edict Dhauli. REG : Rock Edict G-irnar. REJ : Rock Edict Jaugada.^ 0 REK : Rock Edict Kalsi. SRED : Separate Rock Edict Dh.au!i. SREJ s Separate Rock Edict Jaugada. Vino : Vinaya Pitaka. 1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION With the discovery of the Indus Valley Civilization, the history of human civilization in India can he traced hack to a hoary antiquity* We know a great deal ahout the civili­ zation of Egypt and Mesopotamia, as they have left us written materials, which have heen satisfactorily deciphered* Unlike them, the Indus people have left only very small and hrief inscriptions on seals and sealings ; though it may he argued that 1 absence of lengthier documents among the finds may suggest that for ordinary purposes perishable materials were used1 • It is also generally believed that these seals and sealings were used for mercantile purposes and so probably bear mostly proper names. Several brilliant efforts have been made to read these seals. They bear some 270 different symbol but no one so far has succeeded in interpreting them; and hence our knowledge of the Indus Civilization as a whole and its script in particular, is very inadequate. But it goes to prove that the use of writing in India was prevalent at X least as early as the third millennium B.C., among a people 1.
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