Indian Antiquary Vol 21

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 39

FEBRUARY, 1892.]
DATE OF THE BOWER MANUSCRIPT.
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sion, which is suggested by these facts; it is, that the invention, so to speak, of the cursive form of ya took place in the North-West of India, somewhere within the area in which the North-Western alphabet was current.
The first document known to us, from which the use of the old form lias entirely lisappeared is the long Bollgaya inscription of Malinamnu of 588 A.D. (F'lect, 1.274). It incs exclusively the transitional form, with one or two exceptions, in which the modern form itself is used.10 In another short Bodhgayi inscription of Maluinimun, of toont the same into (Fleet, p. 278), the modern form is used exclusively. In fact, after 600 A. D., there is no inscription known, which shows any trace of the survival of the old form. In all of them the cursive form of yu is fully established in exclusive use, thus in the Mouthi (Lakkhun Manlal) inscription of bont 600 A. D. (Epigraphin India, Vol. I, p. 10),11 the Madhaban inscription of lar'sha, of 031 A D. (ibil. p. 67), the Aplisad and Shahpur inscriptions of Adityasenn, of about 672 A. 1). (l'loot, pp. 200, 208), the Dao Baranark inscription of Jiviti Gupta, of about 7:25 A. D. (Fleet, p. 213), the Sarnath inscription of Prakatiditya of somewhere in the seventh century (Floet, p. 281). To these muy be addol the evidence of those Nopalese inscriptions, which are not written in the NorthEastern or proper Nepalese alphabet, bnt in the North-Western characters; thus the Patan inscription of 687 A. D. (see Mr. Bendall's Journey in Nepul, p. 77), the Jaist (Katmandu) inscription of 750 A. D. ibid. p. 79), the inscription of Siva Deva, of 748 A, D.. another of 750 A. D., and the inscription of Jayadeva, of 758 A. D. (sce ante, Vol. IX, pp. 176-78). In nil these inscriptions the modern cursive form is used exclusively.
Another piece of evidence, in the same direction, is the Tibetan tradition respecting the introduction of the Northern Indian alphabet into Tibet (see Journal, Asiutic Society of Bengal, Vol. LVII, pp. 41 ff.). It is said that these characters were introduced into Tibet by the snge Sambhūta, who brought them from Magadha, where he had rosidled from A. D. 030-050. These characters are known in Tibet as the “Wartn" characters of Mngadha; their forms, as tradi. tionally preserved in Tibet, may be seen in Plate I of the Journal (ibid ), and it will be seen that among these the letter ya has the cursive form. This shows that at the time of Sambhôti's visit to Magadha, in the second quarter of the seventh centary A. D., the cursive form of ya was in current use in North-India, 12
I am not aware of the existence of a single dated inscription in North-Indie, written in the North-Western alphabet, which indubitably proves any use, still less the exclusive, or almost exclusive, use of the old form of ya, after 600 A. D. It follows from this evidence that, sinco the old form of a huu ontirely disapponred from inscriptions, from the end of the sixth century (say from aboat 590 A. D.), it must have disappeared from the cursive writing of ordinary manuscripts long before. Accordingly, a manuscript, like the Bower MS, in which the old form is still used almost exclusively, must be placed long before the end of the sixth century, and much nearer the beginning of it.
This conclusion is fully sapported by the evidence of all the ancient dated (or practically dated) MSS. that are, as yet, known to exist. The oldest is the Horiuzi MS. The date of its writing has been shown by Professor Bühler to be somewhere in the middle of the sixth century, that is, between 520 and 577 A.D. (see Anec. O.con., p. 63 ff.). It exhibits tlıronghout tho exclusive use of the cursive form of ya, thus showing that this cursive form was fully
20 The transitional form is here used in a somewhat modified and more ornate shape.
11 The transitional form occurs twice in this inscription, in yana, 11. 6 and 11, curiously enough, with the vowel €, on which seo page 35.
19 Tbo "Wartu " characters exhibit in all test points the characteristics of the North-Western alphabet. This shows, what I have already observed (ante, p. 81), that the North-Eastern alphabet, which was once current in Magadba, was there in very early times displaced by the North-Western alphabet. It is said, however, that Sambhuta oniy "partly" adopted the "Warta" characters for his Tibetan alphabet (Journal, ibid. p. 41). This explains the fact that the "Warta" or cursive form of ya does not appear in that alphabet. For the letter ya that sage appears to have drawn on the North-Eastern alphabet, which he must have known from Nepal, where (as I have shown) it maintained its ground about three centuries longer than in Magadba.