DOCSLIB.ORG

The History and Development of Mauryan Brahnii Script Thesis

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

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.
Recommended publications
  • Grammatica Et Verba Glamor and Verve

    Grammatica Et Verba Glamor and Verve

    “GippertOVprint” — 2014/4/24 — 22:14 — page 81 —#1 Grammatica et verba Glamor and verve Studies in South Asian, historical, and Indo-European linguistics in honor of Hans Henrich Hock on the occasion of his seventy-fifth birthday edited by Shu-Fen Chen and Benjamin Slade Beech Stave Press Ann Arbor New York • “GippertOVprint” — 2014/4/24 — 22:14 — page 82 —#2 © Beech Stave Press, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Typeset with LATEX using the Galliard typeface designed by Matthew Carter and Greek Old Face by Ralph Hancock. The typeface on the cover is Post Hock by Steve Peter. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Grammatica et verba : glamor and verve : studies in South Asian, historical, and Indo- European linguistics in honor of Hans Henrich Hock on the occasion of his seventy- fifth birthday / edited by Shu-Fen Chen and Benjamin Slade. pages cm Includes bibliographical references. ISBN ---- (alk. paper) . Indo-European languages. Lexicography. Historical linguistics. I. Hock, Hans Henrich, - honoree. II. Chen, Shu-Fen, editor of compilation. III. Slade, Ben- jamin, editor of compilation. –dc Printed in the United States of America “GippertOVprint” — 2014/4/24 — 22:14 — page 83 —#3 TableHHHHHH ofHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH ContentsHHHHHHHHHHHH Preface . vii Bibliography of Hans Henrich Hock . ix List of Contributors . xxi , Traces of Archaic Human Language Structure Anvita Abbi in the Great Andamanese Language. , A Study of Punctuation Errors in the Chinese Diamond Sutra Shu-Fen Chen Based on Sanskrit Texts .
  • Language Contact and Identity in Roman Britain

    Language Contact and Identity in Roman Britain

    Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 5-16-2016 12:00 AM Language Contact and Identity in Roman Britain Robert Jackson Woodcock The University of Western Ontario Supervisor Professor Alexander Meyer The University of Western Ontario Graduate Program in Classics A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree in Master of Arts © Robert Jackson Woodcock 2016 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Part of the Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons, and the Indo- European Linguistics and Philology Commons Recommended Citation Woodcock, Robert Jackson, "Language Contact and Identity in Roman Britain" (2016). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 3775. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/3775 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Abstract Language is one of the most significant aspects of cultural identity. This thesis examines the evidence of languages in contact in Roman Britain in order to determine the role that language played in defining the identities of the inhabitants of this Roman province. All forms of documentary evidence from monumental stone epigraphy to ownership marks scratched onto pottery are analyzed for indications of bilingualism and language contact in Roman Britain. The language and subject matter of the Vindolanda writing tablets from a Roman army fort on the northern frontier are analyzed for indications of bilingual interactions between Roman soldiers and their native surroundings, as well as Celtic interference on the Latin that was written and spoken by the Roman army.
  • Human Sacrifice, Karma and Asceticism in Jantu’S Tale of the Mahābhārata.”

    Human Sacrifice, Karma and Asceticism in Jantu’S Tale of the Mahābhārata.”

    A Final Response to Philipp A. Maas, “Negotiating Efficiencies: Human Sacrifice, Karma and Asceticism in Jantu’s Tale of the Mahābhārata.” Vishwa Adluri, Hunter College, New York Interpretation of the narrative and using intertextual connections as evidence I disagree that “the occurrence of the word ‘jantu’ in the KU and in Shankara[’]s commentary” does not “help to understand the MBh passage under discussion.” On the contrary, it is highly relevant. The term jantu’s resonances in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad permit us to understand the philosophical dimension of the narrative. It suggests that an important philosophical argument is being worked out in the narrative rather than the kind of jostling for political authority between Brahmanism and śramaṇa traditions you see in the text. Even if you are not interested in philosophical questions, it is disingenuous to suggest that “Shankara interpreted the Upanishads from the perspective of Advaita Vedanta many hundred years after these works were composed. His approach is not historical but philosophical, which is fully justified, but his testimony does not help to determine what the works he comments upon meant at the time and in the contexts of their composition.” Is it really credible that Śaṁkara, interpreting the Mahābhārata some centuries after it was composed, did not correctly understand the Mahābhārata, while you, writing two millennia later, do? Can you seriously claim that Śaṁkara is not aware of the history of the text (although you are), while being ignorant of the intertextual connections between this narrative and the Kaṭha Upaniṣad? Isn’t the real reason that you claim a long period of development that it is only on this premise that you can claim that Śaṁkara’s interpretation is not relevant, and that yours, on the contrary, has greater objectivity? The notion that only the contemporary scholar, applying the historical-critical method, has access to the true or the most original meaning of the text is deeply rooted in 1 modernity.
  • ART XVI.—On the Identity of Xandrames and Krananda

    ART XVI.—On the Identity of Xandrames and Krananda

    447 ART XVI.—On the Identity of Xandrames and Krananda. By EDWARD THOMAS, ESQ. AT the meeting of the Royal Asiatic Society, on the 21st Nov., 1864,1 undertook the task of establishing the identity of the Xandrames of Diodorus Siculus and Quintus Curtius, the undesignated king of the Gangetic provinces of other Classic Authors—with the potentate whose name appears on a very extensive series of local mintages under the bilingual Bactrian and Indo-Pali form of Krananda. With the very open array of optional readings of the name afforded by the Greek, Latin, Arabic, or Persian tran- scriptions, I need scarcely enter upon any vindication for con- centrating the whole cifcle of misnomers in the doubly autho- ritative version the coins have perpetuated: my endeavours will be confined to sustaining the reasonable probability of the contemporaneous existence of Alexander the Great and the Indian Krananda; to exemplifying the singularly appro- priate geographical currency and abundance of the coins themselves; and lastly to recapitulating the curious evidences bearing upon Krananda's individuality, supplied by indi- genous annals, and their strange coincidence with the legends preserved by the conterminous Persian epic and prose writers, occasionally reproduced by Arab translators, who, however, eventually sought more accurate knowledge from purely Indian sources. In the course of this inquiry, I shall be in a position to show, that Krananda was the prominent representative of the regnant fraternity of the " nine Nandas," and his coins, in their symbolic devices, will demonstrate for us, what no written history, home or foreign, has as yet explicitly de- clared, that the Nandas were Buddhists.
  • ANSWERED ON:25.11.2014 TOURIST SITES Singh Shri Rama Kishore

    ANSWERED ON:25.11.2014 TOURIST SITES Singh Shri Rama Kishore

    GOVERNMENT OF INDIA TOURISM LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO:403 ANSWERED ON:25.11.2014 TOURIST SITES Singh Shri Rama Kishore Will the Minister of TOURISM be pleased to state: (a) whether tourist sites have been categorised grade-wise in the country and if so, the details thereof; (b) the details of tourist sites covered under Buddhist circuit and developed as world heritage tourist sites during the last three years and the current year; (c) whether the Government has any tourism related proposals for Vaishali in Bihar including financial assistance; and (d) if so, the details thereof? Answer MINISTER OF STATE FOR TOURISM (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) (DR. MAHESH SHARMA) (a): Madam. At present there is no grade wise categorization of tourist sites. (b): The Ministry of Tourism has identified following three circuits to be developed as Buddhist Circuits in the country with the help of Central Government/State Government/Private stake holders: Circuit 1: The Dharmayatra or the Sacred Circuit - This will be a 5 to 7 days circuit and will include visits to Gaya (Bodhgaya), Varanasi (Sarnath), Kushinagar, Piparva (Kapilvastu) with a day trip to Lumbini in Nepal. Circuit 2: Extended Dharmayatra or Extended Sacred Circuit or Retracing Buddha's Footsteps - This will be a 10 to 15 day circuit and will include visits to Bodhgaya (Nalanda, Rajgir, Barabar caves, Pragbodhi Hill, Gaya), Patna (Vaishali, Lauriya Nandangarh, Lauriya Areraj, Kesariya, Patna Museum), Varanasi (Sarnath), Kushinagar, Piparva (Kapilvastu, Shravasti, Sankisa) with a day trip to Lumbini in Nepal. Circuit 3: Buddhist Heritage Trails (State Circuits). i. Jammu and Kashmir - Ladakh, Srinagar (Harwan, Parihaspora) and Jammu (Ambaran).
  • The Original Pronunciation of Sanskrit Devanàgará – Transliteration – IPA-Symbols

    The Original Pronunciation of Sanskrit Devanàgará – Transliteration – IPA-Symbols

    The Original Pronunciation of Sanskrit DevanÀgarÁ – Transliteration – IPA-Symbols $ a n$D À DØ i L Á LØ u X A Â XØ ? Ã `C C Å `CØ CØ Æ O C # e HØ #H ai DeØ, $DH o RØ $D( au DØe8 N{ k N R kh N+ J g J gh J+ Ç 1 F c WeÝ ' ch WeÝ+ M j GeÛ + jh GeÛ+ _ È × T Ê Þ 4 Êh Þ+ I Ë É ) Ëh É+ > É Ö W t W Z th W+ G{ d G [ dh G+ Q n Q S p S { ph S+ E b E bh E+ P m P \ y M U{ r `O l O Y v Y9 ] Ì Ý Í V s V K h Ù Drafted by Maciej Zieba and Ulrich Stiehl under the auspices of Manfred Mayrhofer. ! Ï [ Improvements by Jost Gippert, Madhav Deshpande, Sunder Hattangadi, John Smith and others. This chart is a compromise, since the original pronunciation of Sanskrit Î YDULRXV is not exactly known in every detail. – 06/09/2002/us. Notes: 1. $ seems to have been pronounced originally as [n] or as [], possibly never as [D]. Not even the pronunciation of this most often used letter $ is exactly known! 2. The original pronunciation of is not known. It occurs only in the verb dS(kÆp). 3. U{seems to have been pronounced as [`] or as [], and likewise the liquid seems to have been pronounced as syllabic [`C] (notation: [`]+ [ C]) or as syllabic [C]. 4. The pronunciation of the semi-vowel Y seems to have been either [Y] or [9].
  • John Benjamins Publishing Company Historiographia Linguistica 41:2/3 (2014), 375–379

    John Benjamins Publishing Company Historiographia Linguistica 41:2/3 (2014), 375–379

    Founders of Western Indology: August Wilhelm von Schlegel and Henry Thomas Colebrooke in correspondence 1820–1837. By Rosane Rocher & Ludo Rocher. (= Abhandlungen für die Kunde des Morgenlandes, 84.) Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2013, xv + 205 pp. ISBN 978-3-447-06878-9. €48 (PB). Reviewed by Leonid Kulikov (Universiteit Gent) The present volume contains more than fifty letters written by two great scholars active in the first decades of western Indology, the German philologist and linguist August Wilhelm von Schlegel (1767–1789) and the British Indologist Henry Thomas Colebrooke (1765–1837). It can be considered, in a sense, as a sequel (or, rather, as an epistolary appendix) to the monograph dedicated to H. T. Colebrooke that was published by the editors one year before (Rocher & Rocher 2012). The value of this epistolary heritage left by the two great scholars for the his- tory of humanities is made clear by the editors, who explain in their Introduction (p. 1): The ways in which these two men, dissimilar in personal circumstances and pro- fessions, temperament and education, as well as in focus and goals, consulted with one another illuminate the conditions and challenges that presided over the founding of western Indology as a scholarly discipline and as a part of a program of education. The book opens with a short Preface that delineates the aim of this publica- tion and provides necessary information about the archival sources. An extensive Introduction (1–21) offers short biographies of the two scholars, focusing, in particular, on the rise of their interest in classical Indian studies. The authors show that, quite amazingly, in spite of their very different biographical and educational backgrounds (Colebrooke never attended school and universi- ty in Europe, learning Sanskrit from traditional Indian scholars, while Schlegel obtained classical university education), both of them shared an inexhaustible interest in classical India, which arose, for both of them, due to quite fortuitous circumstances.
  • Sanskrit Alphabet

    Sanskrit Alphabet

    Sounds Sanskrit Alphabet with sounds with other letters: eg's: Vowels: a* aa kaa short and long ◌ к I ii ◌ ◌ к kii u uu ◌ ◌ к kuu r also shows as a small backwards hook ri* rri* on top when it preceeds a letter (rpa) and a ◌ ◌ down/left bar when comes after (kra) lri lree ◌ ◌ к klri e ai ◌ ◌ к ke o au* ◌ ◌ к kau am: ah ◌ं ◌ः कः kah Consonants: к ka х kha ga gha na Ê ca cha ja jha* na ta tha Ú da dha na* ta tha Ú da dha na pa pha º ba bha ma Semivowels: ya ra la* va Sibilants: sa ш sa sa ha ksa** (**Compound Consonant. See next page) *Modern/ Hindi Versions a Other ऋ r ॠ rr La, Laa (retro) औ au aum (stylized) ◌ silences the vowel, eg: к kam झ jha Numero: ण na (retro) १ ५ ॰ la 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 @ Davidya.ca Page 1 Sounds Numero: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910 १॰ ॰ १ २ ३ ४ ६ ७ varient: ५ ८ (shoonya eka- dva- tri- catúr- pancha- sás- saptán- astá- návan- dásan- = empty) works like our Arabic numbers @ Davidya.ca Compound Consanants: When 2 or more consonants are together, they blend into a compound letter. The 12 most common: jna/ tra ttagya dya ddhya ksa kta kra hma hna hva examples: for a whole chart, see: http://www.omniglot.com/writing/devanagari_conjuncts.php that page includes a download link but note the site uses the modern form Page 2 Alphabet Devanagari Alphabet : к х Ê Ú Ú º ш @ Davidya.ca Page 3 Pronounce Vowels T pronounce Consonants pronounce Semivowels pronounce 1 a g Another 17 к ka v Kit 42 ya p Yoga 2 aa g fAther 18 х kha v blocKHead
  • Special Session: 'Languages, Scripts and Their Uses in Ancient North

    Special Session: 'Languages, Scripts and Their Uses in Ancient North

    Special Session: ‘Languages, scripts and their uses in ancient North Arabia’ Paper Abstracts The Proto-South Semitic Script: A reconstruction of its glyphs and phonemic repertoire Ahmad Al-Jallad (Leiden University) According to majority scholarly opinion, the original alphabet was probably invented in Egypt in the second millennium BC and, sometime after this, split into two branches: the Phoenico-Aramaic branch and the South Semitic branch. The latter was used in Ancient Arabia and the southern Levant. The oldest datable documents (early first millennium BC) come from South Arabia and are composed in the Ancient South Arabian script. Central and north Arabia are home to a variety of scripts belonging to the South Semitic family, conventionally termed ‘Ancient North Arabian’, but most of these texts are not datable. At first, scholars assumed that the Ancient North Arabian alphabets descended from Ancient South Arabian but recent research suggests that the two ‘branches’ developed in a parallel fashion from a common Proto-South Semitic script. This talk will attempt a reconstruction of the Proto-South Semitic script by separating the glyphs that all of the South Semitic scripts have in common from those that exhibit variation. We find that the glyphs that exhibit the greatest variation in form belong to shared phonemic categories, such as voiced interdental (ḏ), the emphatic lateral fricative (ḍ), the velar fricatives (ḫ and ġ) and the emphatic interdental (ẓ). This distribution suggests that the original South Semitic script was designed for a language that underwent many of the sound changes that would characterize later north-west Semitic languages.
  • 6. Art of Mauryan Period

    6. Art of Mauryan Period

    ASHOKA THE GREAT : REPRESENTING THE ACME OF INDIAN CULTURE 1 ARTS OF THE MAURYAN PERIOD 3 Royal Palace 4 Pillars, Sculptures and Rock-cut Architecture 5 Pillars 5 LION CAPITAL, SARNATH 6 Bull Capital , Rampurva 8 Sculptures 9 DIDARGUNJ YAKSHINI 9 Yaksha, Parkham, Mathura 11 Rock Cut Cave- Lomus Rishi 12 Chaitya, karle 14 Stupas 15 Pottery 19 Coins 20 Donors and Patronage 21 ASHOKA THE GREAT : REPRESENTING THE ACME OF INDIAN CULTURE Ashoka occupies a unique place in the history of India. His policies of universal peace, non-violence and religious harmony find no parallel in the monarchs of the world. Ashoka stands out as a monarch who combined successful kingship with idealism and philosophy. Like other rulers, Ashoka too began his reign with war - the conquest of Kalinga. However, the mindless destruction of life and property in this war shattered him so greatly that he vowed never to wage any war again. Instead he adopted the policy of Dhamma Vijaya that is conquest through dhamma. Page !1 of !22 In his thirteenth major Rock Edict, Asoka states that true conquest is by piety (the quality of being religious or reverent) and virtue. Such a decision taken by a king, who lived in an era where military might was the measure of power, earned him a unique place in history. Ashoka was a true humanist. His policies were oriented towards the welfare of his people. His dhamma was based on social responsibility. Besides giving importance to respecting brahmins, and servants, obedience to elders, abstention from killing living beings, dhamma also asked people to live in religious harmony.
  • 192. Great Stupa at Sanchi Madhya Pradesh, India. Buddhist, Maurya

    192. Great Stupa at Sanchi Madhya Pradesh, India. Buddhist, Maurya

    192. Great Stupa at Sanchi Madhya Pradesh, India. Buddhist, Maurya, late Sunga Dynasty. c. 300 B.C.E. – 100 C.E. Stone masonry, sandstone on dome The Great Stupa at Sanchi is the oldest stone structure in India[1] and was originally commissioned by the emperor Ashoka the Great in the 3rd century BCE built over the relics of the Buddha It was crowned by the chatra, a parasol-like structure symbolising high rank, which was intended to honour and shelter the relics 54 feet tall and 120 feet in diameter The construction work of this stupa was overseen by Ashoka's wife, Devi herself, who was the daughter of a merchant of Vidisha. Sanchi was also her birthplace as well as the venue of her and Ashoka's wedding. In the 1st century BCE, four elaborately carved toranas (ornamental gateways) and a balustrade encircling the entire structure were added With its many tiers it was a symbol of the dharma, the Wheel of the Law. The dome was set on a high circular drum meant for circumambulation, which could be accessed via a double staircase Built during many different dynasties . An inscription records the gift of one of the top architraves of the Southern Gateway by the artisans of the Satavahana king Satakarni: o "Gift of Ananda, the son of Vasithi, the foreman of the artisans of rajan Siri Satakarni".[ o Although made of stone, they were carved and constructed in the manner of wood and the gateways were covered with narrative sculptures. They showed scenes from the life of the Buddha integrated with everyday events that would be familiar to the onlookers and so make it easier for them to understand the Buddhist creed as relevant to their lives At Sanchi and most other stupas the local population donated money for the embellishment of the stupa to attain spiritual merit.
  • Finite-State Script Normalization and Processing Utilities: the Nisaba Brahmic Library

    Finite-State Script Normalization and Processing Utilities: the Nisaba Brahmic Library

    Finite-state script normalization and processing utilities: The Nisaba Brahmic library Cibu Johny† Lawrence Wolf-Sonkin‡ Alexander Gutkin† Brian Roark‡ Google Research †United Kingdom and ‡United States {cibu,wolfsonkin,agutkin,roark}@google.com Abstract In addition to such normalization issues, some scripts also have well-formedness constraints, i.e., This paper presents an open-source library for efficient low-level processing of ten ma- not all strings of Unicode characters from a single jor South Asian Brahmic scripts. The library script correspond to a valid (i.e., legible) grapheme provides a flexible and extensible framework sequence in the script. Such constraints do not ap- for supporting crucial operations on Brahmic ply in the basic Latin alphabet, where any permuta- scripts, such as NFC, visual normalization, tion of letters can be rendered as a valid string (e.g., reversible transliteration, and validity checks, for use as an acronym). The Brahmic family of implemented in Python within a finite-state scripts, however, including the Devanagari script transducer formalism. We survey some com- mon Brahmic script issues that may adversely used to write Hindi, Marathi and many other South affect the performance of downstream NLP Asian languages, do have such constraints. These tasks, and provide the rationale for finite-state scripts are alphasyllabaries, meaning that they are design and system implementation details. structured around orthographic syllables (aksara)̣ as the basic unit.1 One or more Unicode characters 1 Introduction combine when rendering one of thousands of leg- The Unicode Standard separates the representation ible aksara,̣ but many combinations do not corre- of text from its specific graphical rendering: text spond to any aksara.̣ Given a token in these scripts, is encoded as a sequence of characters, which, at one may want to (a) normalize it to a canonical presentation time are then collectively rendered form; and (b) check whether it is a well-formed into the appropriate sequence of glyphs for display.