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The Age of Maturity (11th-13th Century A.D.)
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ardized shape. I am, of course, not dealing with all these processes in this chapter, however, it focuses mainly on the evolution till the 13th century A.D. because by then it reached a mature stage and subsequently became stereotyped.
There are minor varieties in Nāgarī script, depending on differences in localities, period or individual hands. These varieties have been shown by dividing them into Northern and Southern, Jaina and non-Jaina,? or Eastern and Western by the scholars. But these divisions are rather broad and largely vague, having limitations and do not take into account the minutiae of the alphabet. In order to understand clearly the development of the Nāgari script I have worked out the following sub-divisions:
A. Eastern India
I. Bihar-Bengal, II. Assam, III. Orissa
B. Northern India
1. The Middle Gangā Valley, II. Central India, III. Rajasthan.
C. Western India & the Deccan
1. Gujarat, "II. Maharashtra, III. Karnataka.
Under these I am mainly concerned with (i) the fully developed or archaic form of letters, (ii) the changes due to developing technology, (iii) regional and inter-regional influences on the Nāgari script.
Eastern India
The influence of the proto-Nagari, or Nāgarī alphabet in Eastern India gradually declined from the time of Mahīpāla I (c. A.D. 988-1038). The use of the Gaudi alphabet begins towards the close of the 10th century A.D.' which diverges from the proto-Nāgarī type and ultimately develops into regional scripts of Assam, Bengal and Orissa. To briefly review the changes in Nāgarī characters in Eastern India we now take up these regions.
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