Ancient Indian Scripts

Throughout the history of the Indian subcontinent, ancient Indian scripts have been utilized as writing systems. The Indian subcontinent is divided into several distinct linguistic groups, each with its language and culture. Ancient Indians used a variety of scripts, most of which had common foundations. All Indian scripts are derived from Brahmi. Devanagari, Dravidian, and Grantha are the three primary script families. Sanskrit, Pali, and Hindi are only a few of the languages written in Ancient Indian scripts. These languages are no longer widely spoken.

However, understanding it is critical because it may teach valuable stories that were written in these languages but are no longer told. These tales are about gods and goddesses, culture, and Indian mythology. Except for Urdu, which is written in an Arabic alphabet, and Santhali, the bulk of Indian languages are written in Brahmi-derived scripts such as Devanagari, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Odia, Eastern Nagari: Assamese/Bengali, and so on. Here, we will provide a list of Ancient Indian Scripts and types of ancient Indian scripts, which will be beneficial for competitive examinations such as State Services, SSC, NDA, CDS, UPSC Prelims, and Railways, among others.

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Types of Ancient Indian Scripts

During its countrywide survey, the People's Linguistic Study of India, a privately held research institute in India, recorded over 66 distinct scripts and more than 780 languages in India, proclaiming to be the largest linguistic survey in the country. Below is the list of some important ancient scripts of India.

• Brahmi Script

• Indus Script

• Sarada Script

• Kharosthi Script

• Gupta Script

• Kalinga Script

• Grantha Script

• Nagari Script

• Devanagari Script

• Vatteluttu Script

• Kadamba Script

• Tamil Script

• Landa script

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List of Ancient Indian Scripts with Description

1. Brahmi Script

Most modern Indian scripts, such as Devanagari, Bengali, Tamil, and Malayalam, are descended from Brahmi. Northern and Southern India grew into two distinct kinds, with the northern being more angular and the southern being more round. It was decoded by James Princep in 1937. The greatest examples may be found in Asoka's rock-cut edicts.

2. Indus Script

The Indus script (also called the Harappan ancient script) is a set of symbols established by the Indus Valley Civilization in Harrapa and Kot Diji. It refers to the script employed by the Indus valley civilization’s inhabitants. It has yet to be decoded. It has been suggested that this script was the forerunner of the Brahmi script. This script is written in the Boustrophedon manner, with one line written from left to right and the rest from right to left. Because most inscriptions featuring these symbols are so brief, it's impossible to tell if they were part of a script used to record a language or even indicate a writing system. Despite several tries, the script has yet to be decoded, but work is still underway. It was in use between 2700 and 1900 BCE.

3. Sarada Script

The Sarada or Sharada script belongs to the Brahmic family of scripts and is an abugida writing system. The script was widely used for writing Sanskrit and Kashmiri in the northwestern portions of the Indian Subcontinent (in Kashmir and northern KPK) between the 8th and 12th centuries. It was a Gupta script with a Western twist. It developed into the Kashmiri and Gurmukhi scripts (which are currently used to write Punjabi). It might also be used to write Sanskrit. It is no longer widely used. Its usage was formerly more widespread, but it was eventually limited to Kashmir, and it is currently only used for religious purposes by the Kashmiri Pandit population. 

4. Kharosthi Script

The Kharosthi script, often written by Kharoshthi, was a Gandhari Prakrit and Sanskrit writing system used in Gandhara. It was also used in Central Asia. It was introduced during the middle of the 3rd century BCE, probably around the 4th century BCE, and continued in use until around the 3rd century CE in its homeland. It is Brahmi's contemporary and sister script. It was written in the left-to-right direction. It was popular in North-Western India's Gandhara civilization, and it's also known as the Gandhari Script. Its inscriptions have been discovered in modern-day Afghanistan and Pakistan in the shape of Buddhist texts.

5. Gupta Script

The Late Brahmi script is another name for it. During the Gupta dynasty, it was employed to write Sanskrit. It gave rise to the Sarada, Nagari, and Siddham scripts, which gave rise to India's most important scripts like Devanagari and Bengali. The Nagari, Sarada, and Siddham scripts were descended from the Gupta script, which was descended from Brahmi. Many of India's most important scripts arose from these scripts, including Devanagari (the most prevalent script for writing Sanskrit since the 19th century), the Gurmukh script for Punjabi, the Bengali-Assamese script, and the Tibetan script.

6. Kalinga Script

Odisha was known as Kalinga in ancient times, and this script was used to write an old version of Oriya. It resembles the original Brahmi in appearance. Currently, the Oriya language utilizes a script that is developed from a Bengali script.

7. Grantha Script

Brahmi is the origin of one of the earliest Southern scripts. It led to the formation of the Tamil and Malayalam scripts, which are being used to write both languages today. It is also the forerunner of the Sinhala script used in Sri Lanka. Indian traders took a variation of Grantha called Pallava to Indonesia, where it influenced the creation of several South-East Asian letters. It was termed Grantha because it was used in Tamil Nadu to write Sanskrit Granthas.

8. Nagari Script

It was a Gupta script variation from the East. It's a Devanagari script variant from the beginning. It spawned a slew of other scripts, including Devanagari, Bengali, and Tibetan. Both Prakrit and Sanskrit were written using it.

9. Devanagari Script

It is currently the main script for printing standard Hindi, Marathi, and Nepali, as well as Santhali, Konkani, and a variety of other Indian languages. It is now used to write Sanskrit and is one of the world's most widely used writing systems. It was made out of the words Deva (God) and Nagari (city), implying that it was both holy and urbane or sophisticated.

9. Vatteluttu Script

It was a script developed from the Brahmi that was used in India's south. Tamil and Malayalam were written using it. It got rid of the signs in Brahmi that weren't necessary for writing the Southern languages. Both Tamil and Malayalam have adopted their Grantha-derived scripts at this time.

10. Kadamba Script

It is descended from Brahmi and represents the beginning of the Kannada script. It paved the way for current Kannada and Telugu scripts. Sanskrit, Konkani, Kannada, and Marathi were all written using it.

11. Tamil Script

It's the script that's used to write Tamil in India and Sri Lanka. Grantha, the Southern version of Brahmi, gave birth to it. It is a syllabic language rather than an alphabetic language. It is written in the left-to-right direction.

12. Landa Script

During the 10th century, the Landa script evolved from the Sarada. In Punjab, Sindh, Kashmir, and portions of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, it was frequently utilized. Punjabi, Sindhi, Saraiki, Hindustani, Balochi, Pashto, Kashmiri, and different Punjabi dialects such as Pahari-Pothwari were all written with it.

Sub-Scripts of Landa Script

• Multani Script

Multani is a Brahmic script that originated in Punjab's Multan area. It was used to write the Saraiki language, which is commonly regarded as a dialect of Western Punjabi. The script was utilized for everyday writing as well as commercial purposes. Multani is one of four Landa scripts whose use was codified for literary activity and printing beyond the mercantile realm; the others being Gurmukhi, Khojki, and Khudawadi.

• Mahajani Script

Mahajani is a Landa commercial script that was traditionally used to write Marwari, Hindi, and Punjabi accounts and financial documents. It is written from left to right and is a Brahmic script. The Hindi word for 'bankers,' also known as 'sarrafi' or 'kothival,' is Mahajani (merchant)

• Khojki Script

Khojiki, or Khojiki, is a script that was once nearly entirely used by the Khoja people of Sindh. The Persian word khoje, which meaning "master" or "lord," is the source of the name "Khojki." It was largely used to record Isma'ili religious material as well as a few hidden Twelver sects' writings. The Landa script is one of two used for liturgy, the other being the Gurmukhi alphabet.

Ancient Indian scripts have 66 different scripts and more than 780 languages in India. The important scripts of the Indian ancient are covered in this article. Devanagari, Dravidian, and Grantha are the three primary script families. Sanskrit, Pali, and Hindi are only a few of the languages written in these scripts. The bulk of Indian languages are written in Brahmi-derived scripts.