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THE ALPHABET Middle Grantha
The middle Grantha character appears first on Kuram copper-plates belonging to the third quarter of the seventh century A.D. It is a current hand, used contemporaneously with a more archaic monumental script, represented in an inscription--running from right to left-of Narasimha II, of the end of the seventh century.
Transitional Grantha
The "transitional" Grantha (so termed by Buehler) or "Chola or middle Grantha" (Burnell) seems to have originated towards the end of the eighth or in the ninth century A.D.
Modern Grantha
The modern Grantha alphabet (Fig. 154, col. 41) dates from about A.D. 1300. The oldest modern Grantha MSS. extant belong to the end
ಇಬ್ಬರು ಹಾದಿಕಾರರು ಕೂಡಿ ಹೋಗುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು | ಅವರಲ್ಲಿ ಒಬ್ಬನಿಗೆ ಹಾದಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಬಿದ್ದಿರುವ ಹಣದ ಚೀಲವು ಸಿಕ್ಕಿತು |
వొక మనుష్యునికి యిద్దరు కుమారులు వుండిరి. - వారిలో చిన్న వాడు, ఓ తండ్రి ఆస్తిలో నాకు వచ్చే
ಎಕಾ ಗೃಹಸ್ತಕ ದೊಗ್-ಜಾಣ ಫತ ಆಶಿಲ್ಲೆ | ತಾಂತುಲೆ ಪೈಕಿ ನಾನು ಕಾಗೆಲ್ಯಾ ಬಾಪ್ಪು ಕಡೆ
Fig. 175 Specimens of modern Kanarese (t) and Telugu (3). 2, Specimen of Marathi written in Kanarese character
of the sixteenth century. There are at present two Grantha varieties: the Brahmanic or "square" hand, used chiefly in Tanjore, and the round" or Jain hand, used by the Jains still remaining near Arcot and Madras; the latter has preserved the original characteristics of the early Grantha far better.
Tulu-Malayalam Character
The Tulu-Malayalam character (Fig. 176, 1) is a variety of the Grantha, and like it was originally used only for writing Sanskrit. According
