Kharosthi
Kharosthi script (Gandhari: Kharoṣṭhī 𐨑𐨪𐨆𐨯𐨠𐨁), also known as the Gandhari script (Gandhari: gāndhārī lipi 𐨒𐨌𐨣𐨿𐨢𐨌𐨪𐨁𐨌 𐨫𐨁𐨤𐨁), was an ancient Indic script originally developed in the Gandhara Region of the north-western Indian subcontinent, between the 5th and 3rd century BCE.[1][2][3] Primarily used by the people of Gandhara in various parts of South Asia and Central Asia, Kharosthi remained in use until it died out in its homeland around the 5th century CE.[4] 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 Tarim Basin.
The Kharosthi script developed around the same time as the Indian Brahmi script[5] both of which are possibly descended from the Aramaic alphabet.
Both the Kharosthi and Brahmi scripts were used to write early Sanskrit Buddhist texts. The Kharosthi was used for Buddhist texts written in Gandhara.[5]
Some Gandharan Buddhist Texts written in Kharosthi have been discovered in Afghanistan. They date to the 1st century CE and are the oldest written Buddhist scripts known at present.[5]
The alpha-syllabary for the Kharosthi script, named "arapacana", appeared in many works of the Mahayana.[6]
- Further reading
Kharosthi, Wikipedia
References
- ↑ "Kharoshti | Indo-Parthian, Brahmi Script, Prakrit | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
- ↑ "When these alphabets were first deciphered, scholars gave them different names such as 'Indian-Pali' for Brahmi and 'Arian-Pali' for Kharosthi, but these terms are no longer in use." in Upāsaka, Sī Esa; Mahāvihāra, Nava Nālandā (2002). History of palæography of Mauryan Brāhmī script. Nava Nālanda Mahāvihāra. p. 6. ISBN 9788188242047.
- ↑ Salomon 1998, pp. 11–13.
- ↑ R. D. Banerji (April 1920). "The Kharosthi Alphabet". The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 52 (2): 193–219. doi:10.1017/S0035869X0014794X. JSTOR 25209596. Unknown parameter
|s2cid=ignored (help) - ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Understanding Buddhist Sanskrit Terms (Fo Guang Shan 佛光山 2013-2022)". ntireader.org. Retrieved 2022-06-19.
- ↑ Robert E. Buswell Jr., Donald S. Lopez Jr., The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism (Princeton: 2014), s.v. arapacana
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