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Development of Nāgarī Script
In the Khandelā inscription, the development of a tail is discerned in the letters ka, kha, gha, cha, ja, da, pa, ma, ya, ra, va, sha and sa. The letter da is interesting as it resembles the form of the letter in JainaNāgarī.30 Na is like the Nāgarī lā. The shape of the letters ka, ga, cha, ța, dha, da, na, pa, ma, ya, ra, la, va and sa (Pls. 1-2, Ag) show the transitional phase and nearer to their corresponding forms in Nāgarī.
The further developments are noticed in the Sankaragana's inscriptions, in the forms of cursive na, developed ta, open-mouthed bha and sa, looped ma and tailed ra (Pls. 1-4, A10). However, gha is of archaic variety, ja retains three horizontal bars, da has a tip instead of tail and na is of looped variety. Pa is open at the top while two verticals of va meet with the line headmark at two points (Table A10). V.V. Mirashi' is accurate in placing, on palaeographical grounds, these inscriptions in the middle of the eighth century A.D.
In ligatures, the forms of ncha, nchha, pta, rya, hna, etc., are noticeable. In the subscript ta mouth opens downward.
The medial signs of Tables Ag and A, are, in general, ornamented while those of Table A10 bear simple forms. Table A10 represents mostly standardized form of medial signs in which u is of cursive variety; e, ai, o and au are reaching Nāgarī forrns. Medial ā in jā is added to the middle bar of the letter. In nā and hā it is attached on the top in slanted forms and in ligature ttā in hooked shape while usually it is found in a long or short vertical line form.
Western India and the Deccan
In this group I propose to describe the development of the Kuțila script of south-western region of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra. The Kutila script represents marked evolution in this region. The most ancient specimen of proto-Nāgari is found from Gujarat. However, the earlier inscriptions of the region are engraved in local (cave) characters. A question may arise, as to what led the scribes to use an alphabet different
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