Tirhuta script#Numerals

File:Tirhuta Script at Mandar Hills of Banka District.jpg inscriptions of 7th century AD, showing Tirhuta script]]

The Lalitavistara, an ancient Buddhist text, mentions the Vaidehi script. A significant transformation occurred in the northeastern alphabet in the latter half of the 7th century AD. This evolution is first evident in the inscriptions of Adityasena. The eastern variant of this transformed script subsequently developed into the Maithili script, which gained prominence in regions like Assam, Bengal, and Nepal.

The earliest recorded epigraphic evidence of the Maithili script dates back to the 7th century AD. It is found in the inscriptions of Adityasena on the Mandar Hill Stone, located in Bounsi, Banka district, Bihar. These inscriptions, now preserved in the Baidyanath Temple of Deoghar, provide a crucial glimpse into the early development of this script.{{Cite web |last=Chaudhary |first=Radha Krishna |date=1976 |title=A Survey Of Maithili Literature |url=https://archive.org/details/aqar_a-survey-of-maithili-literature-by-radha-krishna-chaudhary-1976-deoghar-shanti-devi-deoghar/page/26/mode/2up?view=theater |website=Archive.org}}File:Sahodara Inscription.jpg

It is one of the scripts of the broader Eastern South Asia. It had come to its current shape by the 10th century AD. The oldest form of Mithilakshar is also found in the Sahodara stone inscriptions of 950 AD. The script has been used throughout Mithila from Champaran to Deoghar.{{Cite web |last=Press Information Bureau Government of India Ministry of Education |date=11 February 2019 |title=The MHRD constituted a Committee in the year 2018 for making a report for the Promotion and Protection of Maithili Language and its scripts. |url=https://pib.gov.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=1563907}}File:12th century Stone Inscription from Simroungarh in Tirhuta script.jpg

A fragmentary inscription found in Simraungadh, the medieval capital of the Karnats of Mithila which dates back to the 12th century in Tirhuta script is also one of the oldest evidence of this script.{{Cite web |title=A Fragmentary Inscription in Tirhuta script from Simraongarh, capital of Karnat dynasty of Mithila |url=https://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/ancientnepal/pdf/ancient_nepal_135_01.pdf}}

The use of this script has been declining since the last 100 years, which is the primary reason for the cultures decline. Despite its constitutional status, the development of the Maithili language is hindered by the lack of a widely used script.

Nowadays, the Maithili language is written almost exclusively in the Devanagari script, although Tirhuta is still sometimes used by religious Pundits and some culture – conscious families for writing ceremonial letters (pātā), documents & cultural affair, and efforts are underway to broaden the scope of its usage.{{Cite web |last=India Mysore |first=CIIL |title=SCRIPT AND SPELLING of Maithili language |url=http://lisindia.ciil.org/Maithili/Maith_Script.html |website=LIS-India}}

In the early 20th century some Sanskrit works were printed in this script through lithographic process. Later on Pusk Bhandar, Laheriasarai managed to forge a set of types and published a few works in Tirhuta, but could not go ahead. In the middle of the last century, All India Maithili Conference came with a new set of types and used it in the prestigious publication of Brihat Maithili Shabdakosha.{{Cite web |last=Mishra |first=Jayakanta |date=9 June 2017 |title=Brihat Maithili Shabda Kosh Fascilcule |url=https://archive.org/details/BrihatMaithiliShabdaKoshFascilculeIKRI1JayakantaMishra/mode/2up}}

The official recognition of Maithili as one of the 14 provincial official languages of Nepal{{cite report |url=https://languagecommission.gov.np/list/resource/632?parent=2281 |title=सरकारी कामकाजको भाषाका आधारहरूको निर्धारण तथा भाषासम्बन्धी सिफारिसहरू (पञ्चवर्षीय प्रतिवेदन- साराांश) २०७८ |trans-title=Determination of language bases of government work and language recommendations (five-year report - summary) 2078 |author=Language Commission |date=2021 |publisher=Government of Nepal |language=ne |access-date=23 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210906171816/https://languagecommission.gov.np/files/%E0%A4%B8%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%B8%20%E0%A4%B8%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%AA%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%A3%20%E0%A4%B8%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%80%20%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%9C%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%8B%20%E0%A4%AD%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%BE.pdf |archive-date=6 September 2021}} and its inclusion in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India in 2003 have established it as a language with an independent identity.{{Cite web |title=Languages Included in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution |url=https://rajbhasha.gov.in/en/languages-included-eighth-schedule-indian-constitution |website=Raj bhasa Vibhag Government of India}} However, currently Maithili in the Devanagari script is officially recognised.

In June 2014, the Tirhuta script was added to the Unicode Standard from version 7.0. Although there is limited electronic font support, digitalisation efforts have started.{{cite web |last1=Brookes |first1=Tim |title=Samrat Jha – Endangered Alphabets |url=https://www.endangeredalphabets.com/2021/05/27/reviving-endangered-scripts-samrat-jha/ |website=Reviving Endangered Scripts |access-date=18 April 2025 |date=27 May 2021}}

{{Contains special characters

| special = uncommon Unicode characters

| fix = Help:Multilingual support#Tirhuta script

| image = Replacement character.svg

| link = Specials (Unicode block)#Replacement character

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{{brahmic}}

Most of the consonant letters are effectively identical to Bengali–Assamese, with the exception of 7 of the 33 letters: {{angbr|jh, ṭ, ḍh, ṇ, l, ś, h}}, marked in pink. The consonants, along with their IAST and IPA transcriptions, are provided below.

Tirhuta script uses its own signs for the positional decimal numeral system.

Visual representation of the Maithili script, from its early inscriptions to contemporary handwriting.

File:Mandar parvat inscriptions of Tirhuta.jpg|7th Century AD, Mandar Parvat inscriptions of Tirhuta

File:Tirhuta script found on Mandar parbat.jpg|Tirhuta script found on Mandar Parvat

File:Tirhuta inscriptions at Mandar Parvat.jpg|Image showing early Tirhuta writing in 7th century AD, Mandar Hills inscriptions

File:Table showing various alphabets used in Mithila.png|Table showing various alphabets used in Mithila

File:Varṇa Ratnākara manuscript in the Library of Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal.jpg|Varṇa Ratnākara manuscript in Maithili script

File:Three scripts of Mithila.png|A Sanskrit Shloka written in three characters of Mithila

File:Mithilakshara Scripts hand writting.jpg|Hand written Mithilakshara scripts

File:Inscription of King Narsimha of the Oinwar dynasty of Mithila.jpg|Inscription of King Narasimha of the Oinwar dynasty in the Tirhuta script at the Kandaha Sun Temple in Saharsa district, (c. 1435 A.D.)

{{Main|Tirhuta (Unicode block)}}

Tirhuta script was added to the Unicode Standard in June 2014 with the release of version 7.0.

The Unicode block for Tirhuta is U+11480–U+114DF:

{{Unicode chart Tirhuta}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://omniglot.com/writing/tirhuta.htm Tirhuta at Omniglot]

{{Maithili language}}

{{list of writing systems}}

{{Tirhut Division topics}}

Category:Brahmic scripts

Category:Culture of Mithila

Category:Maithili language

Category:Writing systems of Nepal