Writing & Scripts
Brahmi script
by 3rd c. BCE (earlier roots debated)Ancient Indian scribesAshokan inscriptionsTamil Nadu
300 BCE
A writing system that became the ancestor of most Indian and many Southeast Asian scripts.
- Dated
- 300–201 BCE
- As scholars put it
- by 3rd c. BCE (earlier roots debated)
- Originator
- Ancient Indian scribes
- Source text
- Ashokan inscriptions
- Region
- Tamil Nadu
- Discipline
- Writing & Scripts
- Evidence
- Documented
- Confidence
- High
- Verification
- Reference-cited
Meanwhile in the West
One of the world's major script families.
Fair to say
Whether Brahmi arose indigenously or from a Semitic model is a long-standing scholarly debate.
Path to modern innovation
The root of Devanagari, Tamil, Thai, Balinese and many more scripts.
Transmission
Spread across South and Southeast Asia.
References
- 1Salomon, Indian Epigraphy
Further reading
Corrections and additional sources: edit IND-195 on GitHub.