Gupta script

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 {{IPA|/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;Srivastava, Anupama. The Development of Imperial Gupta Brahmi Script. New Delhi: Ramanand, 1998Fischer, Steven Roger. A History of Writing. UK: Reaktion, 2004 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.

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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.

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").{{cite book |last1=Fischer |first1=Steven Roger |title=History of Writing |date=2004 |publisher=Reaktion Books |isbn=9781861895882 |page=123 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iYMXnSko5QwC&pg=PT123 |language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Publishing |first1=Britannica Educational |title=The Culture of India |date=2010 |publisher=Britannica Educational Publishing |isbn=9781615302031 |page=82 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6cabAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA82 |language=en}}

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(Allahabad standard).{{cite book |title=Das Buch der Schrift: Enthaltend die Schriftzeichen und Alphabete aller ... |date=1880 |publisher=K.K. Hof- und Staatsdruckerei |page=[https://archive.org/details/dasbuchderschri01faulgoog/page/n142 126] |url=https://archive.org/details/dasbuchderschri01faulgoog |language=German}}{{cite web |title=Gupta Unicode |url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2003/03249r-brahmi-proposal.pdf}}

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The Unicode Standard does not explicitly state that the Gupta script is considered a stylistic variation of Brahmi,{{Cite web |last=Unicode Consortium |year=2022 |title=The Unicode® Standard Version 15.0 – Core Specification |url=https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode15.0.0/ch14.pdf |website=Unicode Consortium website}} though use of the Brahmi encoding is one approach.

{{Unicode chart Brahmi}}

File:Kushan signet in Gupta Brahmi script 3rd century CE.jpg signet in Gupta Brahmi script, showing Septimius Severus and Julia Domna. The seal reads Damputrasya Dhanguptasya ("[Seal of] Dhangupta son of Dama). 3rd century CE.]]

File:Coin of Vikramaditya Chandragupta II with the name of the king in Brahmi script 380 415 CE.jpg) with the name of the king in Gupta Brahmi script 380–415 CE.]]

File:Mihirakula of the Alchon Huns.jpg ruler Mihirakula. Obv: Bust of king, with legend in Gupta script (12px)12px12px12px14px12px12px12pxThe "h" (12px) is an early variant of the Gupta script. (Ja)yatu Mihirakula ("Let there be victory to Mihirakula"). Rev: Dotted border around Fire altar flanked by attendants.{{cite book |last1=Verma |first1=Thakur Prasad |title=The Imperial Maukharis: History of Imperial Maukharis of Kanauj and Harshavardhana |date=2018 |publisher=Notion Press |isbn=9781643248813 |page=264 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=09FqDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT264 |language=hi}}{{cite book |last1=Sircar |first1=D. C. |title=Studies in Indian Coins |date=2008 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=9788120829732 |page=376 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m1JYwP5tVQUC&pg=PA376 |language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Tandon |first1=Pankaj | pages=24–34|title=Notes on the Evolution of Alchon Coins Journal of the Oriental Numismatic Society, No. 216, Summer |date=2013 |publisher= Oriental Numismatic Society |url=http://coinindia.com/galleries-alchon-early.html}} also [http://coinindia.com/galleries-toramana.html Coinindia Alchon Coins (for an exact description of this coin type)]]]

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

File:Allahabad stone pillar inscription of Samudragupta.jpg|The Allahabad pillar inscription of Samudragupta, with its standardised Gupta characters.

Image:brahmi.png|Brahmi and its descendent scripts.

File:5th or 6th century Gopika cave inscription, Sanskrit, Shaktism, Anantavarman, Gupta script 2.jpg|The 5th- or 6th-century Gupta script Gopika Cave Inscription in Sanskrit about goddess Durga

File:Das Buch der Schrift (Faulmann) 141.jpg|Gupta script decipherment table

File:A palm leaf Sanskrit manuscript in Brahmi script from Miran China.jpg|A palm leaf Sanskrit manuscript in early Gupta Brahmi script, discovered in Miran, northwest China.{{cite book |last1=Puri |first1=Baij Nath |title=Buddhism in Central Asia |date=1987 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=9788120803725 |page=187 Note 32 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sluKZfTrr3oC&pg=PA187 |language=en}}

File:Sri Yashodharman.jpg|The name 14px14px16px10px14px Śrī Yaśodharmma ("Lord Yashodharman") in Gupta script in Line 4 of the Mandsaur stone inscription of Yashodharman-Vishnuvardhana.{{cite book |last1=Fleet |first1=John Faithfull |title=Inscriptions Of The Early Gupta Kings And Their Successors |date=1960 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.463254/page/n151 150]-158 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.463254}}

• Bengali–Assamese script
• Bhattiprolu script
• Brahmic scripts
• Kadamba script
• Lipi scripts
• Pallava script
• Telugu-Kannada alphabet

{{Reflist}}

• Carl Faulmann (1835–1894), Das Buch der Schrift, Druck und Verlag der Kaiserlichen Hof-und Staatsdruckerei, 1880

• {{in lang|es}} [http://www.proel.org/index.php?pagina=alfabetos/gupta The Gupta Alphabet]
• [http://www.ancientscripts.com/gupta.html AncientScripts.com] entry on the Gupta Script
• Ye, Shao-Yong. (2009). [http://www.fanfoyan.com/resour/pale/buddhapalita.pdf 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.

{{list of writing systems}}

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Category:Brahmic scripts

Category:Gupta Empire