Gupta script

Gupta script
(Late Brahmi script)
Gupta script; (Late Brahmi script);
	The Gopika Cave Inscription of Anantavarman, in the Sanskrit language and using the Gupta script. Barabar Caves in Jehanabad Bihar, 5th or 6th century CE.
Script type	Abugida
Time period	c. 4th–6th century CE
Direction	Left-to-right
Languages	Sanskrit
Related scripts
Parent systems	Egyptian Proto-Sinaitic Phoenician Aramaic Brahmi Northern Brahmi Gupta script; (Late Brahmi script); ; ; ; ; ;
Child systems	Sharada ; Siddham ; Tibetan ; Kalinga ; Bhaiksuki ;
Sister systems	Pallava script, Kadamba script, Sinhala, Tocharian
	This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

Last updated April 12, 2024

The Gupta script (sometimes referred to as Gupta Brahmi script or Late Brahmi script)^[6] was used for writing Sanskrit and is associated with the Gupta Empire of the Indian subcontinent, which was a period of material prosperity and great religious and scientific developments. The Gupta script was descended from Brāhmī and gave rise to the Śāradā and Siddhaṃ scripts. These scripts in turn gave rise to many of the most important Indic scripts, including Devanāgarī (the most common script used for writing Sanskrit since the 19th century), the Gurmukhī script for Punjabi, the Odia script, the Bengali-Assamese script and the Tibetan script.

Origins and classification

The Gupta script was descended from the Ashokan Brāhmī script, and is a crucial link between Brahmi and most other Brahmic scripts, a family of alphasyllabaries or abugidas. This means that while only consonantal phonemes have distinct symbols, vowels are marked by diacritics, with /a/ being the implied pronunciation when the diacritic is not present. In fact, the Gupta script works in exactly the same manner as its predecessor and successors, and only the shapes and forms of the graphemes and diacritics are different.

Through the 4th century, letters began to take more cursive and symmetric forms, as a result of the desire to write more quickly and aesthetically. This also meant that the script became more differentiated throughout the Empire, with regional variations which have been broadly classified into three, four or five categories;^[7]^[8] however, a definitive classification is lacking, because even in a single inscription, there may be variation in how a particular symbol is written. In this sense, the term Gupta script should be taken to mean any form of writing derived from the Gupta period, even though there may be a lack of uniformity in the scripts.

Evolution from Brahmi to Gupta, and to Devanagari^[9]
	k-	kh-	g-	gh-	ṅ-	c-	ch-	j-	jh-	ñ-	ṭ-	ṭh-	ḍ-	ḍh-	ṇ-	t-	th-	d-	dh-	n-	p-	ph-	b-	bh-	m-	y-	r-	l-	v-	ś-	ṣ-	s-	h-
Brahmi	𑀓	𑀔	𑀕	𑀖	𑀗	𑀘	𑀙	𑀚	𑀛	𑀜	𑀝	𑀞	𑀟	𑀠	𑀡	𑀢	𑀣	𑀤	𑀥	𑀦	𑀧	𑀨	𑀩	𑀪	𑀫	𑀬	𑀭	𑀮	𑀯	𑀰	𑀱	𑀲	𑀳
Gupta
Devanagari	क	ख	ग	घ	ङ	च	छ	ज	झ	ञ	ट	ठ	ड	ढ	ण	त	थ	द	ध	न	प	फ	ब	भ	म	य	र	ल	व	श	ष	स	ह

Inscriptions

The surviving inscriptions of the Gupta script are mostly found on iron or stone pillars, and on gold coins from the Gupta Dynasty. One of the most important was the Prayagraj (Allahabad) Prasasti . Composed by Harisena, the court poet and minister of Samudragupta, it describes Samudragupta's reign, beginning from his accession to the throne as the second king of the Gupta Dynasty and including his conquest of other kings. It is inscribed on the Allahabad pillar of Ashoka.

Alphabet

The Gupta alphabet is composed of 37 letters: 32 consonants with the inherent ending "a" and 5 independent vowels. In addition diacritics are attached to the consonants in order to change the sound of the final vowel (from the inherent "a" to other sounds such as i, u, e, o, au ...). Consonants can also be combined into compounds, also called conjunct consonants (for example sa+ya are combined vertically to give "sya").^[10]^[11]^[12]

Independent vowels

Late Brahmi vowel diacritics

Gupta script vowel diacritics (Allahabad standard).^[13]^[12]

Usage examples.^[12]

Letter	IAST and Sanskrit IPA	Letter	IAST and Sanskrit IPA
	a /ə/		ā /aː/
	i /i/		ī /iː/
	u /u/		ū /uː/
	e /eː/		o /oː/
	ai /əi/		au /əu/
𑀋	ṛ /r̩/	𑀌	ṝ /r̩ː/
𑀍	l̩ /l̩/	𑀎	ḹ /l̩ː/

Consonants

	Stop								Nasal			Fricative
Voicing →	Voiceless				Voiced							Voiceless		Voiced
Aspiration →	No		Yes		No		Yes		No			Yes
Velar		ka /k/		kha /kʰ/		ga /g/		gha /ɡʱ/		ṅa /ŋ/					ha /ɦ/
Palatal		ca /c/		cha /cʰ/		ja /ɟ/		jha /ɟʱ/		ña /ɲ/	ya /j/		śa /ɕ/
Retroflex		ṭa /ʈ/		ṭha /ʈʰ/		ḍa /ɖ/		ḍha /ɖʱ/		ṇa /ɳ/	ra /r/		ṣa /ʂ/
Dental		ta /t̪/		tha /t̪ʰ/		da /d̪/		dha /d̪ʱ/		na /n/	la /l/		sa /s/
Labial		pa /p/		pha /pʰ/		ba /b/		bha /bʱ/		ma /m/	va /w,ʋ/

In Unicode

The Unicode Standard does not explicitly state that the Gupta script is considered a stylistic variation of Brahmi,^[14] though use of the Brahmi encoding is one approach.

Brahmi ^[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+1100x	𑀀	𑀁	𑀂	𑀃	𑀄	𑀅	𑀆	𑀇	𑀈	𑀉	𑀊	𑀋	𑀌	𑀍	𑀎	𑀏
U+1101x	𑀐	𑀑	𑀒	𑀓	𑀔	𑀕	𑀖	𑀗	𑀘	𑀙	𑀚	𑀛	𑀜	𑀝	𑀞	𑀟
U+1102x	𑀠	𑀡	𑀢	𑀣	𑀤	𑀥	𑀦	𑀧	𑀨	𑀩	𑀪	𑀫	𑀬	𑀭	𑀮	𑀯
U+1103x	𑀰	𑀱	𑀲	𑀳	𑀴	𑀵	𑀶	𑀷	𑀸	𑀹	𑀺	𑀻	𑀼	𑀽	𑀾	𑀿
U+1104x	𑁀	𑁁	𑁂	𑁃	𑁄	𑁅	𑁆	𑁇	𑁈	𑁉	𑁊	𑁋	𑁌	𑁍
U+1105x			𑁒	𑁓	𑁔	𑁕	𑁖	𑁗	𑁘	𑁙	𑁚	𑁛	𑁜	𑁝	𑁞	𑁟
U+1106x	𑁠	𑁡	𑁢	𑁣	𑁤	𑁥	𑁦	𑁧	𑁨	𑁩	𑁪	𑁫	𑁬	𑁭	𑁮	𑁯
U+1107x	𑁰	𑁱	𑁲	𑁳	𑁴	𑁵										BNJ
Notes 1. ^ As of Unicode version 15.1 2. ^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

Gupta numismatics

The study of Gupta coins began with the discovery of a hoard of gold coins in 1783. Many other such hoards have since been discovered, the most important being the Bayana (situated in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan) hoard, discovered in 1946, which contained more than 2000 gold coins issued by the Gupta Kings.^[19] Many of the Gupta Empire's coins bear inscriptions of legends or mark historic events. In fact, it was one of the first Indian Empires to do so, probably as a result of its unprecedented prosperity.^[7] Almost every Gupta king issued coins, beginning with its first king, Chandragupta I.

The scripts on the coin are also of a different nature compared to scripts on pillars, due to conservatism regarding the coins that were to be accepted as currency, which would have prevented regional variations in the script from manifesting on the coinage.^[7] Moreover, space was more limited especially on their silver coins, and thus many of the symbols are truncated or stunted. An example is the symbol for /ta/ and /na/, which were often simplified to vertical strokes.

Gallery

The Allahabad pillar inscription of Samudragupta, with its standardised Gupta characters.
Brahmi and its descendent scripts.
The 5th- or 6th-century Gupta script Gopika Cave Inscription in Sanskrit about goddess Durga
Gupta script decipheration table
A palm leaf Sanskrit manuscript in early Gupta Brahmi script, discovered in Miran, northwest China.^[20]
The name Śrī Yaśodharmma ("Lord Yashodharman") in Gupta script in Line 4 of the Mandsaur stone inscription of Yashodharman-Vishnuvardhana.^[21]

Related Research Articles

An abugida – sometimes also called alphasyllabary, neosyllabary, or pseudo-alphabet – is a segmental writing system in which consonant–vowel sequences are written as units; each unit is based on a consonant letter, and vowel notation is secondary, similar to a diacritical mark. This contrasts with a full alphabet, in which vowels have status equal to consonants, and with an abjad, in which vowel marking is absent, partial, or optional – in less formal contexts, all three types of the script may be termed "alphabets". The terms also contrast them with a syllabary, in which a single symbol denotes the combination of one consonant and one vowel.

Devanagari is an Indic script used in the northern Indian subcontinent. Also simply called Nāgari, it is a left-to-right abugida, based on the ancient Brāhmi script. It is one of the official scripts of the Republic of India and Nepal. It was developed and in regular use by the 7th century CE and achieved its modern form by 1000 CE. The Devanāgari script, composed of 48 primary characters, including 14 vowels and 34 consonants, is the fourth most widely adopted writing system in the world, being used for over 120 languages.

The Brahmic scripts, also known as Indic scripts, are a family of abugida writing systems. They are used throughout the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and parts of East Asia. They are descended from the Brahmi script of ancient India and are used by various languages in several language families in South, East and Southeast Asia: Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Tibeto-Burman, Mongolic, Austroasiatic, Austronesian, and Tai. They were also the source of the dictionary order (gojūon) of Japanese kana.

Malayalam script is a Brahmic script used commonly to write Malayalam, which is the principal language of Kerala, India, spoken by 45 million people in the world. It is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry by the Malayali people. It is one of the official scripts of the Indian Republic. Malayalam script is also widely used for writing Sanskrit texts in Kerala.

The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire on the Indian subcontinent which existed from the early 4th century CE to early 6th century CE. At its zenith, from approximately 319 to 467 CE, it covered much of the Indian subcontinent. This period has been considered as the Golden Age of India by historians, although this characterisation has been disputed by some other historians. The ruling dynasty of the empire was founded by Gupta and the most notable rulers of the dynasty were Chandragupta I, Samudragupta, Chandragupta II, Kumaragupta I and Skandagupta. The 4th-century CE Sanskrit poet Kalidasa credits the Guptas with having conquered about twenty-one kingdoms, both in and outside India, including the kingdoms of Parasikas, the Hunas, the Kambojas, tribes located in the west and east Oxus valleys, the Kinnaras, Kiratas, and others.

Brahmi is a writing system of ancient India that appeared as a fully developed script in the 3rd century BCE. Its descendants, the Brahmic scripts, continue to be used today across Southern and Southeastern Asia.

The Ahom script or Tai Ahom Script is an abugida that is used to write the Ahom language, a dormant Tai language undergoing revival spoken by the Ahom people till the late 18th-century, who established the Ahom kingdom and ruled the eastern part of the Brahmaputra valley between the 13th and the 18th centuries. The old Ahom language today survives in the numerous manuscripts written in this script currently in institutional and private possession.

The Tamil script is an abugida script that is used by Tamils and Tamil speakers in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and elsewhere to write the Tamil language. It is one of the official scripts of the Indian Republic. Certain minority languages such as Saurashtra, Badaga, Irula and Paniya are also written in the Tamil script.

Telugu script, an abugida from the Brahmic family of scripts, is used to write the Telugu language, a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana as well as several other neighbouring states. It is one of the official scripts of the Indian Republic. The Telugu script is also widely used for writing Sanskrit texts and to some extent the Gondi language. It gained prominence during the Eastern Chalukyas also known as Vengi Chalukya era. It shares extensive similarities with the Kannada script, as both of them evolved from the Bhattiprolu and Kadamba scripts of the Brahmi family. In 2008, the Telugu language was given the status of a Classical Language of India, in recognition of its rich history and heritage.

The Odia script is a Brahmic script used to write primarily Odia language and others including Sanskrit and other regional languages. It is one of the official scripts of the Indian Republic. The script has developed over more than 1000 years from a variant of Siddhaṃ script which was used in Eastern India, where the characteristic top line transformed into a distinct round umbrella shape due to the influence of palm leaf manuscripts and also being influenced by the neighbouring scripts from the Western and Southern regions.

The Cham script is a Brahmic abugida used to write Cham, an Austronesian language spoken by some 245,000 Chams in Vietnam and Cambodia. It is written horizontally left to right, just like other Brahmic abugidas.

The Pallava script or Pallava Grantha is a Brahmic script named after the Pallava dynasty of Southern India (Tamilakam) and is attested to since the 4th century CE. In India, the Pallava script evolved from Tamil-Brahmi. The Grantha script originated from the Pallava script. Pallava also spread to Southeast Asia and evolved into local scripts such as Balinese, Baybayin, Javanese, Kawi, Khmer, Lanna, Lao, Mon–Burmese, New Tai Lue, Sundanese, and Thai.

The earliest undisputed deciphered epigraphy found in the Indian subcontinent are the Edicts of Ashoka of the 3rd century BCE, in the Brahmi script.

The Bhattiprolu script is a variant of the Brahmi script which has been found in old inscriptions at Bhattiprolu, a small village in the erstwhile Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is located in the fertile Krishna river delta and the estuary region where the river meets the Bay of Bengal.

The Bengali–Assamese script, sometimes also known as Eastern Nagari, is an eastern Brahmic script, primarily used today for the Bengali and Assamese language spoken in eastern South Asia. It evolved from Gaudi script, also the common ancestor of the Odia and Tirhuta scripts. It is commonly referred to as the Bengali script by Bengalis and the Assamese script by the Assamese, while in academic discourse it is sometimes called Eastern-Nāgarī. Three of the 22 official languages of the Indian Republic—Bengali, Assamese, and Meitei—commonly use this script in writing; Bengali is also the official and national language of Bangladesh.

A is a vowel of Indic abugidas. In modern Indic scripts, A is derived from the early "Ashoka" Brahmi letter after having gone through the Gupta letter . Bare consonants without a modifying vowel sign have the "A" vowel inherently, and thus there is no modifier sign for "A" in Indic scripts.

Ā is a vowel of Indic abugidas. In modern Indic scripts, Aa is derived from the early "Ashoka" Brahmi letter after having gone through the Gupta letter . As an Indic vowel, "Ā" comes in two normally distinct forms: 1) as an independent letter, and 2) as a vowel sign for modifying a base consonant. Bare consonants without a modifying vowel sign have the inherent short "A" vowel.

I is a vowel of Indic abugidas. In modern Indic scripts, I is derived from the early "Ashoka" Brahmi letter after having gone through the Gupta letter . As an Indic vowel, "I" comes in two normally distinct forms: 1) as an independent letter, and 2) as a vowel sign for modifying a base consonant. Bare consonants without a modifying vowel sign have the inherent "A" vowel.

U is a vowel of Indic abugidas. In modern Indic scripts, U is derived from the early "Ashoka" Brahmi letter after having gone through the Gupta letter . As an Indic vowel, U comes in two normally distinct forms: 1) as an independent letter, and 2) as a vowel sign for modifying a base consonant. Bare consonants without a modifying vowel sign have the inherent "A" vowel.

Ṛ is a vowel symbol, or vocalic consonant, of Indic abugidas. In modern Indic scripts, Ṛ is derived from the early "Ashoka" Brahmi letter after having gone through the Gupta letter . As an Indic vowel, Ṛ comes in two normally distinct forms: 1) as an independent letter, and 2) as a vowel sign for modifying a base consonant. Bare consonants without a modifying vowel sign have the inherent "A" vowel.

References

↑ Salomon, Richard (1998). Indian Epigraphy. p. 32.
↑ "Epigraphy, Indian Epigraphy Richard Salmon OUP" – via Internet Archive.
↑ Handbook of Literacy in Akshara Orthography, R. Malatesha Joshi, Catherine McBride(2019),p.27
↑ Daniels, P. T. (January 2008), Writing systems of major and minor languages
↑ Masica, Colin (1993). The Indo-Aryan languages. p. 143.
↑ Sharma, Ram. 'Brahmi Script' . Delhi: BR Publishing Corp, 2002
1 2 3 Srivastava, Anupama. The Development of Imperial Gupta Brahmi Script. New Delhi: Ramanand, 1998
↑ Fischer, Steven Roger. A History of Writing. UK: Reaktion, 2004
↑ Evolutionary chart, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal Vol 7, 1838
↑ Fischer, Steven Roger (2004). History of Writing. Reaktion Books. p. 123. ISBN 9781861895882.
↑ Publishing, Britannica Educational (2010). The Culture of India. Britannica Educational Publishing. p. 82. ISBN 9781615302031.
1 2 3 "Gupta Unicode" (PDF).
↑ Das Buch der Schrift: Enthaltend die Schriftzeichen und Alphabete aller ... (in German). K.K. Hof- und Staatsdruckerei. 1880. p. 126.
↑ Unicode Consortium (2022). "The Unicode® Standard Version 15.0 – Core Specification" (PDF). Unicode Consortium website.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
↑ The "h" ( ) is an early variant of the Gupta script.
↑ Verma, Thakur Prasad (2018). The Imperial Maukharis: History of Imperial Maukharis of Kanauj and Harshavardhana (in Hindi). Notion Press. p. 264. ISBN 9781643248813.
↑ Sircar, D. C. (2008). Studies in Indian Coins. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 376. ISBN 9788120829732.
↑ Tandon, Pankaj (2013). Notes on the Evolution of Alchon Coins Journal of the Oriental Numismatic Society, No. 216, Summer. Oriental Numismatic Society. pp. 24–34. also Coinindia Alchon Coins (for an exact description of this coin type)
↑ Bajpai, KD. 'Indian Numismatic Studies. ' New Delhi: Abhinav Publications 2004
↑ Puri, Baij Nath (1987). Buddhism in Central Asia. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 187 Note 32. ISBN 9788120803725.
↑ Fleet, John Faithfull (1960). Inscriptions Of The Early Gupta Kings And Their Successors. pp. 150-158.

External links

(in Spanish) The Gupta Alphabet
AncientScripts.com entry on the Gupta Script
Ye, Shao-Yong. (2009). An eastern variety of the post-Gupta script: Akṣara List of the Manuscripts of the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā and Buddhapālita's Commentary (ca. 550–650 CE) . Research Institute of Sanskrit Manuscripts & Buddhist Literature, Peking University.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] Salomon, Richard (1998). Indian Epigraphy. p. 32.

[2] "Epigraphy, Indian Epigraphy Richard Salmon OUP" – via Internet Archive.

[3] Handbook of Literacy in Akshara Orthography, R. Malatesha Joshi, Catherine McBride(2019),p.27

[daniels-4] Daniels, P. T. (January 2008), Writing systems of major and minor languages

[masica-5] Masica, Colin (1993). The Indo-Aryan languages. p. 143.

[sharma-6] Sharma, Ram. 'Brahmi Script' . Delhi: BR Publishing Corp, 2002

[anupama-7] 1 2 3 Srivastava, Anupama. The Development of Imperial Gupta Brahmi Script. New Delhi: Ramanand, 1998

[8] Fischer, Steven Roger. A History of Writing. UK: Reaktion, 2004

[9] Evolutionary chart, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal Vol 7, 1838

[10] Fischer, Steven Roger (2004). History of Writing. Reaktion Books. p. 123. ISBN 9781861895882.

[11] Publishing, Britannica Educational (2010). The Culture of India. Britannica Educational Publishing. p. 82. ISBN 9781615302031.

[GU-12] 1 2 3 "Gupta Unicode" (PDF).

[13] Das Buch der Schrift: Enthaltend die Schriftzeichen und Alphabete aller ... (in German). K.K. Hof- und Staatsdruckerei. 1880. p. 126.

[14] Unicode Consortium (2022). "The Unicode® Standard Version 15.0 – Core Specification" (PDF). Unicode Consortium website.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

[15] The "h" ( ) is an early variant of the Gupta script.

[16] Verma, Thakur Prasad (2018). The Imperial Maukharis: History of Imperial Maukharis of Kanauj and Harshavardhana (in Hindi). Notion Press. p. 264. ISBN 9781643248813.

[17] Sircar, D. C. (2008). Studies in Indian Coins. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 376. ISBN 9788120829732.

[18] Tandon, Pankaj (2013). Notes on the Evolution of Alchon Coins Journal of the Oriental Numismatic Society, No. 216, Summer. Oriental Numismatic Society. pp. 24–34. also Coinindia Alchon Coins (for an exact description of this coin type)

[19] Bajpai, KD. 'Indian Numismatic Studies. ' New Delhi: Abhinav Publications 2004

[20] Puri, Baij Nath (1987). Buddhism in Central Asia. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 187 Note 32. ISBN 9788120803725.

[EG-21] Fleet, John Faithfull (1960). Inscriptions Of The Early Gupta Kings And Their Successors. pp. 150-158.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[1]

[2]

[19]

[20]

[21]