STUDY AND ANALYSIS OF BRĀHMĪ AND ŚᾹRADᾹ INSCRIPTIONS FROM GANDHᾹRA: ITS IMPACT ON RELIGIOUS, CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL LANDSCAPE OF THE REGION
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Date
2016
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Department of Archaeology
Abstract
1.1 Background of Research
Numerous archaeological remains have been discovered in Gandhāra, the most
significant among them are coins, sculptures, as well as secular and religious buildings.
These discoveries provide important information about the art, political, social and
cultural history of the region. Another important cultural material from
Gandhāra which deserves special attention are the inscriptions, written in Kharoṣṭhī,
Brāhmī, Kohi1 and other foreign scripts like Bactrian, Aramaic and Greek. Kharoṣṭhī
was initially used alongside with the less predominant Kohi script in the earlier period.
After the 4th Century C.E., the popularity of Kharoṣṭhī faded away and gradually being
replaced by the north-western style of Gupta-Brāhmī, which later developed into ProtoŚāradā
and Śāradā. The Brāhmī and Śāradā inscriptions found in Gandhāra are mostly
carved on metal plates and sheets, stones, boulders and clay tablets. Although some of
these epigraphic materials give important information regarding the culture and history
of the area, even though compared to the Kharoṣṭhī inscriptions, less importance has so
far been given by the scholars to the Brāhmī and
Śāradā inscriptions found in Gandhāra.
This thesis, therefore, not only focuses on the problems concerning the
epigraphic and palaeographic study of Brāhmī and Śāradā inscriptions, but we will try
to understand its impact on the religion, cultural and historical landscape of Gandhāra.
1.2 Origin and Development of Writing in the Indo-Pak Subcontinent The earliest
writing system used in the Indo-Pak Subcontinent was the Indus Script, found in
different sites of the Indus civilization. Dated between 2600-1800 B.C. (Parpola 1996:
165), the script was used in short inscriptions discovered in Harappa, Mahenjo-Daro
and Dhulavira archaeological sites. They were found in the forms of seals or seals
impressions except in Dhulavira, where an inscription written in the Indus script was
discovered in the northern gateway of the city. One of the longest is often called
“Dhulavira Signboard”, which is 3 metres long and the signs are around 37 cm in height
(Kenoyer 1998: 98). The most frequent among the Indus script symbols are homo signs,
bull signs, fish signs, bird signs, scorpion, jar, geometric designs etc