|
The metamorphosed form of the ancient Bráhmii script is the Shriiharśa script. It was named Shriiharśa after King Harshavardhan, since a seal in his handwriting that was discovered, was written in this script. This Shriiharśa script was the script of the whole of eastern India (Allahabad and the regions to the east). Manipuri (Mithei and Viśeńpurii), Assamese, Bengali, Maethilii and the like are written in this script, though with local variations, of course. Languages such as Angika, Magahi, Bhojpuri, Nagpuri and Chattrishgarhi also use this script. But those people’s mother tongues having been suppressed for a long time, their mother script is unfamiliar to them. The script of Oriya also is this Shriiharśa script. The characters in the Shriiharśa script are basically angular. In Orissa it was the custom to write on palmyra leaves with an iron kitchen implement, but writing the angular characters in this way with that iron implement, the palmyra leaves were likely to be damaged. Thus the practice was introduced of avoiding angles and writing in a circular way. Hence the present Oriya script is nothing but the Shriiharśa script, avoiding angles.
As Shriiharśa is one of the ancient scripts of India, Sanskrit has been written in this script since ancient times, and most ancient books in Sanskrit were written in this script. The Devanagari script came much later. The deed of gift written in the Sanskrit language by King Chandravarma of Shushunia Hill, Ráŕh, was written in Shriiharśa script, and that Shushuniyá script is the most ancient example of Bengali script.(1) From this perspective, Shushunia Hill may be regarded by scholars and litterateurs as a sort of tiirtha [sacred place]. Such inscriptions carved in stone in ancient Bengali script are available in Jaida of Singhbhum District and Chiyada of Bankura District. If searches are carried out, such will be found in many more places. Some think that Devanagari is the script of Sanskrit, but this idea is totally wrong. Sanskrit has no script of its own. The Shriiharśa script is much older than Devanagari, and it facilitates swift writing (as one can write for a long time without raising one’s hand).
Footnotes
(1) The Shushuniyá script is 1100 years old. In 1984, a few years after writing the above, the author himself discovered some older scripts at Bhula-Pavanpur village under Patamda Police Station, Bangurdá village under Kamalpur Police Station, and at Jaida village under Chandil Police Station, all within East Singhbhum and Seraikela Districts. The author opined that these scripts must date back 1700 years or more, clearly indicating that they are older than the Shushunia script. The author named this script Dálmá script, because the river basins where they were available (as mentioned above) are surrounded by the Dálmá Hills in western Ráŕh. (See Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, Varńa Vicitrá Part 2.) –Trans.