Kharosthi

Kharosthi 𐨑𐨪𐨆𐨮𐨿𐨛𐨁𐨌
Script type	Abugida
Time period	4th century BCE – 3rd century CE
Direction	Right-to-left script
Languages	Gandhari Prakrit Pali Saka Sanskrit
Related scripts
Parent systems	Egyptian hieroglyphs Proto-Sinaitic script Phoenician alphabet Aramaic alphabet Kharosthi
Sister systems	Nabataean alphabet Brahmi script Syriac alphabet Palmyrene alphabet Mandaic alphabet Pahlavi scripts Sogdian alphabet
ISO 15924
ISO 15924	Khar (305), ​Kharoshthi
Unicode
Unicode alias	Kharoshthi
Unicode range	U+10A00–U+10A5F

Kharoshthi letters.

The Kharoṣṭhī script, also known as the Gāndhārī script, was an ancient Indic script used by various peoples from the north-western outskirts of the Indian subcontinent (present-day Pakistan) to Central Asia via Afghanistan. An abugida, it was introduced at least by the middle of the 3rd century BCE, possibly during the 4th century BCE, and remained in use until it died out in its homeland around the 3rd century CE.

It was also in use in Bactria, the Kushan Empire, Sogdia, and along the Silk Road. There is some evidence it may have survived until the 7th century in Khotan and Niya, both cities in East Turkestan.

History

Routes of ancient scripts of the subcontinent traveling to other parts of Asia (Kharosthi shown in blue)

The name Kharosthi may derive from the Hebrew kharosheth, a Semitic word for writing, or from Old Iranian *xšaθra-pištra, which means "royal writing". The script was earlier also known as Indo-Bactrian script, Kabul script and Arian-Pali.

Scholars are not in agreement as to whether the Kharosthi script evolved gradually, or was the deliberate work of a single inventor. An analysis of the script forms shows a clear dependency on the Aramaic alphabet but with extensive modifications. Kharosthi seems to be derived from a form of Aramaic used in administrative work during the reign of Darius the Great, rather than the monumental cuneiform used for public inscriptions. One theory suggests that the Aramaic script arrived with the Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley in 500 BCE and evolved over the next 200+ years to reach its final form by the 3rd century BCE where it appears in some of the Edicts of Ashoka. However, no intermediate forms have yet been found to confirm this evolutionary model, and rock and coin inscriptions from the 3rd century BCE onward show a unified and standard form. An inscription in Aramaic dating back to the 4th century BCE was found in Sirkap, testifying to the presence of the Aramaic script in present-day Pakistan. According to Sir John Marshall, this seems to confirm that Kharoshthi was later developed from Aramaic.

While the Brahmi script remained in use for centuries, Kharosthi seems to have been abandoned after the 2nd–3rd century AD. Because of the substantial differences between the Semitic-derived Kharosthi script and its successors, knowledge of Kharosthi may have declined rapidly once the script was supplanted by Brahmi-derived scripts, until its re-discovery by Western scholars in the 19th century.

The Kharosthi script was deciphered separately almost concomitantly by James Prinsep (in 1835, published in the Journal of the Asiatic society of Bengal, India) and by Carl Ludwig Grotefend (in 1836, published in Blätter für Münzkunde, Germany), with Grotefend "evidently not aware" of Prinsep's article, followed by Christian Lassen (1838). They all used the bilingual coins of the Indo-Greek Kingdom (obverse in Greek, reverse in Pali, using the Kharosthi script). This in turn led to the reading of the Edicts of Ashoka, some of which were written in the Kharosthi script (the Major Rock Edicts at Mansehra and Shahbazgarhi).

The study of the Kharosthi script was recently invigorated by the discovery of the Gandhāran Buddhist texts, a set of birch bark manuscripts written in Kharosthi, discovered near the Afghan city of Hadda just west of the Khyber Pass in Pakistan. The manuscripts were donated to the British Library in 1994. The entire set of British Library manuscripts are dated to the 1st century CE, although other collections from different institutions contain Kharosthi manuscripts from 1st century BCE to 3rd century CE, making them the oldest Buddhist manuscripts yet discovered.

Characteristics

The words "Dhrama-Dipi" ("Inscription of the Dharma") in Kharosthi, in Edict No.1 of the Shahbazgarhi Major Rock Edict of Ashoka (circa 250 BCE).

Kharoshthi on a coin of Indo-Greek king Artemidoros Aniketos, reading "Rajatirajasa Moasa Putasa cha Artemidorasa".

Kharosthi (𐨑𐨪𐨆𐨮𐨿𐨛𐨁𐨌, from right to left Kha-ro-ṣṭhī) is mostly written right to left (type A).

Each syllable includes the short /a/ sound by default, with other vowels being indicated by diacritic marks. Recent epigraphic evidence has shown that the order of letters in the Kharosthi script follows what has become known as the Arapacana alphabet. As preserved in Sanskrit documents, the alphabet runs:

a ra pa ca na la da ba ḍa ṣa va ta ya ṣṭa ka sa ma ga stha ja śva dha śa kha kṣa sta jñā rtha (or ha) bha cha sma hva tsa gha ṭha ṇa pha ska ysa śca ṭa ḍha

Some variations in both the number and order of syllables occur in extant texts.

Kharosthi includes only one standalone vowel character, which is used for initial vowels in words. Other initial vowels use the a character modified by diacritics. Using epigraphic evidence, Salomon has established that the vowel order is /a e i o u/, akin to Semitic scripts, rather than the usual vowel order for Indic scripts /a i u e o/. Also, there is no differentiation between long and short vowels in Kharosthi. Both are marked using the same vowel markers.

The alphabet was used in Gandharan Buddhism as a mnemonic for remembering a series of verses on the nature of phenomena. In Tantric Buddhism, the list was incorporated into ritual practices and later became enshrined in mantras.

Vowels

Vowels

		Initial				Diacritic
		Image	Text	Trans.	IPA	Image	Text	With 'k'
Unrounded	low central		𐨀	a	/ə/	—	—	𐨐	ka
	high front		𐨀𐨁	i	/i/		𐨁	𐨐𐨁	ki
Rounded	high back		𐨀𐨂	u	/u/		𐨂	𐨐𐨂	ku
Syllabic vibrant							𐨃	𐨐𐨃	kr̥
Mid	front unrounded		𐨀𐨅	e	/e/		𐨅	𐨐𐨅	ke
	back rounded		𐨀𐨆	o	/o/		𐨆	𐨐𐨆	ko

Vowel diacritic placement

Vowel	Position	Example	Applies to
-i	horizontal	𐨀 + 𐨁 → ‎𐨀𐨁	a, n, h
	diagonal	𐨐 + 𐨁 → ‎𐨐𐨁	k, ḱ, kh, g, gh, c, ch, j, ñ, ṭ, ṭh, ṭ́h, ḍ, ḍh, ṇ, t, d, dh, b, bh, y, r, v, ṣ, s, z
	vertical	𐨠 + 𐨁 → ‎𐨠𐨁	th, p, ph, m, l, ś
-u	attached	𐨀 + 𐨂 → ‎𐨀𐨂	a, k, ḱ, kh, g, gh, c, ch, j, ñ, ṭ, ṭh, ṭ́h, ḍ, ḍh, ṇ, t, th, d, dh, n, p, ph, b, bh, y, r, l, v, ś, ṣ, s, z
	independent	𐨱 + 𐨂 → ‎𐨱𐨂	ṭ, h
	ligatured	𐨨 + 𐨂 → ‎𐨨𐨂	m
-r̥	attached	𐨀 + 𐨃 → ‎𐨀𐨃	a, k, ḱ, kh, g, gh, c, ch, j, t, d, dh, n, p, ph, b, bh, v, ś, s
	independent	𐨨 + 𐨃 → ‎𐨨𐨃	m, h
-e	horizontal	𐨀 + 𐨅 → ‎𐨀𐨅	a, n, h
	diagonal	𐨐 + 𐨅 → ‎𐨐𐨅	k, ḱ, kh, g, gh, c, ch, j, ñ, ṭ, ṭh, ṭ́h, ḍ, ḍh, ṇ, t, dh, b, bh, y, r, v, ṣ, s, z
	vertical	𐨠 + 𐨅 → ‎𐨠𐨅	th, p, ph, l, ś
	ligatured	𐨡 + 𐨅 → ‎𐨡𐨅	d, m
-o	diagonal	𐨀 + 𐨆 → ‎𐨀𐨆	a, k, ḱ, kh, g, gh, c, ch, j, ñ, ṭ, ṭh, ṭ́h, ḍ, ḍh, ṇ, t, th, d, dh, n, b, bh, m, r, l, v, ṣ, s, z, h
	vertical	𐨤 + 𐨆 → ‎𐨤𐨆	p, ph, y, ś

Consonants

Occlusives

	Voiceless Plosives							Voiced Plosives							Nasals
	Unaspirated				Aspirated			Unaspirated				Aspirated
	Image	Text	Trans.	IPA	Image	Text	Trans.	Image	Text	Trans.	IPA	Image	Text	Trans.	Image	Text	Trans.	IPA
Velar		𐨐	k	/k/		𐨑	kh		𐨒	g	/ɡ/		𐨓	gh
Palatal		𐨕	c	/c/		𐨖	ch		𐨗	j	/ɟ/					𐨙	ñ	/ɲ/
Retroflex		𐨚	ṭ	/ʈ/		𐨛	ṭh		𐨜	ḍ	/ɖ/		𐨝	ḍh		𐨞	ṇ	/ɳ/
Dental		𐨟	t	/t/		𐨠	th		𐨡	d	/d/		𐨢	dh		𐨣	n	/n/
Labial		𐨤	p	/p/		𐨥	ph		𐨦	b	/b/		𐨧	bh		𐨨	m	/m/

There are two special modified forms of these consonants:

	Image	Text	Trans.	Image	Text	Trans.
Modified form		𐨲	ḱ		𐨳	ṭ́h
Original form		𐨐	k		𐨛	ṭh

Sonorants and fricatives

	Palatal				Retroflex				Dental				Labial
	Image	Text	Trans.	IPA	Image	Text	Trans.	IPA	Image	Text	Trans.	IPA	Image	Text	Trans.	IPA
Sonorants		𐨩	y	/j/		𐨪	r	/r/		𐨫	l	/l/		𐨬	v	/ʋ/
Sibilants		𐨭	ś	/ɕ/		𐨮	ṣ	/ʂ/		𐨯	s	/s/
	Other
		𐨰	z	?
		𐨱	h	/h/

Additional marks

Various additional marks are used to modify vowels and consonants:

Mark	Trans.	Example	Description
𐨌	◌̄	𐨨 + 𐨌 → ‎𐨨𐨌	The vowel length mark may be used with -a, -i, -u, and -r̥ to indicate the equivalent long vowel (-ā, -ī, -ū, and r̥̄ respectively). When used with -e it indicates the diphthong -ai. When used with -o it indicates the diphthong -au.
𐨍	◌͚	𐨯 + 𐨍 → ‎𐨯𐨍	The vowel modifier double ring below appears in some Central Asian documents with vowels -a and -u. Its precise phonetic function is unknown.
𐨎	ṃ	𐨀 + 𐨎 → ‎𐨀𐨎	An anusvara indicates nasalization of the vowel or a nasal segment following the vowel. It can be used with -a, -i, -u, -r̥, -e, and -o.
𐨏	ḥ	𐨐 + 𐨏 → ‎𐨐𐨏	A visarga indicates the unvoiced syllable-final /h/. It can also be used as a vowel length marker. Visarga is used with -a, -i, -u, -r̥, -e, and -o.
𐨸	◌̄	𐨗 + 𐨸 → ‎𐨗𐨸	A bar above a consonant can be used to indicate various modified pronunciations depending on the consonant, such as nasalization or aspiration. It is used with k, ṣ, g, c, j, n, m, ś, ṣ, s, and h.
𐨹	◌́ or ◌̱	𐨒 + 𐨹 → ‎𐨒𐨹	The cauda changes how consonants are pronounced in various ways, particularly fricativization. It is used with g, j, ḍ, t, d, p, y, v, ś, and s.
𐨺	◌̣	𐨨 + 𐨺 → ‎𐨨𐨺	The precise phonetic function of the dot below is unknown. It is used with m and h.
𐨿	(n/a)		A virama is used to suppress the inherent vowel that otherwise occurs with every consonant letter. Its effect varies based on situation:
		‎𐨢 + ‎𐨁 + ‎𐨐 + ‎𐨿 → ‎𐨢𐨁𐨐𐨿	When not followed by a consonant the virama causes the preceding consonant to be written as a subscript to the left of the letter before that consonant.
		‎𐨐 + ‎𐨿 + ‎𐨮 → ‎𐨐𐨿𐨮	When the virama is followed by another consonant, it will trigger a combined form consisting of two or more consonants. This may be a ligature, a special combining form, or a combining full form depending on the consonants involved. The result takes into account any other combining marks.
		‎𐨯 + ‎𐨿 + ‎𐨩 → ‎𐨯𐨿𐨩
		‎𐨐 + ‎𐨿 + ‎𐨟 → ‎𐨐𐨿𐨟

Punctuation

Nine Kharosthi punctuation marks have been identified:

Sign	Description	Sign	Description	Sign	Description
𐩐	dot	𐩓	crescent bar	𐩖	danda
𐩑	small circle	𐩔	mangalam	𐩗	double danda
𐩒	circle	𐩕	lotus	𐩘	lines

Numerals

Kharosthi included a set of numerals that are reminiscent of Roman numerals. The system is based on an additive and a multiplicative principle, but does not have the subtractive feature used in the Roman numeral system.

Numerals

Value	1	2	3	4	10	20	100	1000
Image
Text	𐩀	𐩁	𐩂	𐩃	𐩄	𐩅	𐩆	𐩇

The numerals, like the letters, are written from right to left. There is no zero and no separate signs for the digits 5–9. Numbers in Kharosthi use an additive system. For example, the number 1996 would be written as 1000 4 4 1 100 20 20 20 20 10 4 2 (image: , text: 𐩇𐩃𐩃𐩀𐩆𐩅𐩅𐩅𐩅𐩄𐩃𐩁).

Unicode

Main article: Kharoshthi (Unicode block)

Kharosthi was added to the Unicode Standard in March, 2005 with the release of version 4.1.

The Unicode block for Kharosthi is U+10A00–U+10A5F:

Kharoshthi[1][2] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

A

B

C

D

E

F

U+10A0x

𐨀

𐨁

𐨂

𐨃

𐨅

𐨆

𐨌

𐨍

𐨎

𐨏

U+10A1x

𐨐

𐨑

𐨒

𐨓

𐨕

𐨖

𐨗

𐨙

𐨚

𐨛

𐨜

𐨝

𐨞

𐨟

U+10A2x

𐨠

𐨡

𐨢

𐨣

𐨤

𐨥

𐨦

𐨧

𐨨

𐨩

𐨪

𐨫

𐨬

𐨭

𐨮

𐨯

U+10A3x

𐨰

𐨱

𐨲

𐨳

𐨴

𐨵

𐨸

𐨹

𐨺

𐨿

U+10A4x

𐩀

𐩁

𐩂

𐩃

𐩄

𐩅

𐩆

𐩇

𐩈

U+10A5x

𐩐

𐩑

𐩒

𐩓

𐩔

𐩕

𐩖

𐩗

𐩘

Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 15.1 2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

Gallery

• 
  Kharosthi script on a wooden plate in the National Museum of India in New Delhi
• 
  Kharosthi script on a wooden plate in the National Museum of India in New Delhi
• 
  Kharosthi script on a wooden plate in the National Museum of India in New Delhi
• 
  Kharosthi script on wood from Niya, 3rd century CE
• 
  Double-wedged wooden tablet in Gandhari written in Kharosthi script, 2nd to 4th century CE
• 
  Wooden tablet inscribed with Kharosthi characters (2nd–3rd century CE). Excavated at the Niya ruins in Xinjiang, China. Collection of the Xinjiang Museum.
• 
  Wooden Kharosthi document found at Loulan, China by Aurel Stein
• 
  Fragmentary Kharosthi Buddhist text on birchbark (Part of a group of early manuscripts from Gandhara), first half of 1st century CE. Collection of the British Library in London
• 
  Silver bilingual tetradrachm of Menander I (155-130 BCE). Obverse: Greek legend, ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ ΜΕΝΑΝΔΡΟΥ (BASILEOS SOTEROS MENANDROU), literally, "Of Saviour King Menander". Reverse: Kharosthi legend: MAHARAJA TRATARASA MENADRASA "Saviour King Menander". Athena advancing right, with thunderbolt and shield. Taxila mint mark.
• 
  Coin of King Gurgamoya of Khotan (1st century CE). Obverse: Kharoshthi legend "Of the great king of kings, king of Khotan, Gurgamoya. Reverse: Chinese legend: "Twenty-four grain copper coin".
• 
  Coin of Menander II Dikaiou Obverse: Menander wearing a diadem. Greek legend: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΔΙΚΑΙΟΥ ΜΕΝΑΝΔΡΟΥ "King Menander the Just". Reverse: Winged figure bearing diadem and palm, with halo, probably Nike. The Kharoshthi legend reads MAHARAJASA DHARMIKASA MENADRASA "Great King, Menander, follower of the Dharma, Menander".
• 
  The Indo-Greek Hashtnagar Pedestal symbolizes bodhisattva and ancient Kharosthi script. Found near Rajar in Gandhara, Pakistan. Exhibited at the British Museum in London.
• 
  Mathura lion capital with addorsed lions and Prakrit inscriptions in Kharoshthi script
• 
  Fragments of stone well railings with a Buddhist inscription written in Kharoshthi script (late Han period to the Three Kingdoms era). Discovered at Luoyang, China in 1924.
• 
  Portion of Emperor Ashoka's Rock Edicts at Shahbaz Garhi
• 
  Portion of Emperor Ashoka's Rock Edicts at Shahbaz Garhi
• 
  Document on Wooden Stick written in Kharoshthi script, 3rd-4th century CE.

See also

• Brahmi
• History of Afghanistan
• History of Pakistan
• Pre-Islamic scripts in Afghanistan

Further reading

• Kaschgar und die Kharoṣṭhī (1903)

References

Icon for Wikipedia links to pages in the Prakrit Languages

Further reading

• Dani, Ahmad Hassan (1979). Kharoshthi Primer. Lahore Museum Publication Series. Vol. 16. Lahore Museum. OCLC 10695864.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Daniels, Peter T.; Bright, William, eds. (1996). The World's Writing Systems. Oxford University Press, Inc. pp. 373–383. ISBN 978-0195079937.
• Falk, Harry (1993). Schrift im alten Indien: Ein Forschungsbericht mit Anmerkungen. Script Oralia (in German). Vol. 56. Tübingen: Gunter Narr. ISBN 978-3-8233-4271-7.
• Fussman, Gérard. "Les premiers systèmes d'écriture en Inde". Annuaire du Collège de France 1988–1989 (in French). pp. 507–514.
• von Hinüber, Oscar (1990). Der Beginn der Schrift und frühe Schriftlichkeit in Indien (in German). Franz Steiner. ISBN 978-3-515-05627-4.
• Nasim Khan, M., ed. (2009). Kharoshthi Manuscripts from Gandhara (2nd ed.). Higher Education Commission of Pakistan.
• Nasim Khan, M. (2004). "Kharoshthi Manuscripts from Gandhara". Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences. XII (1–2): 9–15.
• Nasim Khan, M. (July 1999). "Two Dated Kharoshthi Inscriptions from Gandhara". Journal of Asian Civilizations. XXII (1): 99–103.
• Nasim Khan, M. (September 1997). "Kharoshthi Inscription from Swabi – Gandhara". The Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences. V (2): 49–52.
• Nasim Khan, M. (March 1997). "An Inscribed Relic-Casket from Dir". The Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences. V (1): 21–33.
• Nasim Khan, M (1997). "Ashokan Inscriptions: A Palaeographical Study". Atthariyyat. Vol. I. Peshawar. pp. 131–150.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Norman, Kenneth R. (1992). "The development of writing in India and its effect upon the Pāli canon". Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde Südasiens. 36: 239–249. JSTOR 24010823.
• Salomon, Richard (1990). "New Evidence for a Gāndhārī Origin of the Arapacana Syllabary". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 110 (2): 255–273. doi:10.2307/604529. JSTOR 604529.
• Salomon, Richard (1 April 1993). "An additional note on Aracapana". The Journal of the American Oriental Society. 113 (2): 275–277. doi:10.2307/603034. JSTOR 603034. Gale A14474853.
• Salomon, Richard (1998). Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the other Indo-Aryan Languages. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-535666-3.
• Salomon, Richard (2006). "Kharoṣṭhī syllables used as location markers in Gāndhāran stūpa architecture". In Faccenna, Domenico (ed.). Architetti, Capomastri, Artigiani: L'organizzazione Dei Cantieri E Della Produzione Artistica Nell'Asia Ellenistica : Studi Offerti a Domenico Faccenna Nel Suo Ottantesimo Compleanno. Istituto italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente. pp. 181–224. ISBN 978-88-85320-36-9.
• Salomon, Richard (1995). "On the Origin of the Early Indian Scripts". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 115 (2): 271–279. doi:10.2307/604670. JSTOR 604670. ProQuest 217141859.

External links

• Gandhari.org Catalog and Corpus of all known Kharoṣṭhī (Gāndhārī) texts
• Indoskript 2.0, a paleographic database of Brahmi and Kharosthi
• A Preliminary Study of Kharoṣṭhī Manuscript Paleography by Andrew Glass, University of Washington (2000)