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& 12, A.)
INDIAN PALEOGRAPHY.
27
VIII, IX). In combination with ma, the re-stroke stands invariably at the right top, as in mru (29, V), and in kera and bkra (28, V), occasionally at the right end of the hooks of those letters, Sometimes, especially in Mansehra, & curve open above, as in thra (21, IV), is substituted for the straight stroke. The stroke and the curres, of course, are cursive substitutes for a full ra, attached to the foot of the combined consonants.
(3) IR oru (39, 11) the two consonants have been pushed the one into the other, so that the vertical does duty both for the va and the ra. The same principle is followed in the formation of the ligature sta (which consists only in Shāh bāzgarhi edict I, 1. 2, srestamati, of sa with ta hooked into the vertical, 89, IV). At the same time na is mutilated, the middle of its top remaining open and the hook on the left being omitted. This is clearly visible in sti (39, V) and stri (39, IX), while sta (39, III), sti (39, VI), sto (89, VII), and stri (89, VIII) are made more negligently. The ligature of sa and pa is formed according to [28] the same principles, but the sa is mutilated still more and merely indicated by a little book at the top of the vertical of pa in spa (39, X) and spi (39, XII).1 In spa (89, XI) the hook stands on the side-limb of pe.
(4) The ligature in 38, VII, seems to have two different meanings. In Shāhbāzgarhi edict X, I. 21, the sign appears in the representative of the Sanekrit tadātrāya, which in the dialect of the Asoka edicts might be either tadatvaye or tadattayo, and in Mansehra it occurs frequently in the representative of the Sanskrit atman. As the Kuşana inscriptions offer a similar sign (81, XIII) in the representative of the Sanskrit satvānām, we have probably to read tva in Shāh bāzgarhi edict X, L 21, and to assume that the curve at the foot of te represents a va, just as it stands in thra (21, IV) for the similar ra. This explanation is confirmed by the ligatures 30, XIII, and 37, XIII, which most probably are equivalent to sva (isvara) and ava (visharasvamini). In Mansehra (especially edict XII) the sign 38, VII, bag to be read tma.
22. - Changes in the later varieties.'
A. -The radical signs. (1) The meaningless upward stroke connected with the foot of the verticals occurs only occasionally on the Indo-Grecian coins (7, VI; 20, VI; 36, VI). More frequently it appears detached to the left of the signs, as in A (1, VI), and even with ha (37, VI). A cursive snbstitute is the very common dot, as in ha (37, VII); compare also ma (29, VII). Finally, various letters, like ta (20, VII) and na (24, VII), receive on the Indo-Grecian coins a horizontal base-line (see above, $ 11, A, 1). In the variety of the Saka period, the ends of the verticals show sometimes # meaningless hook, as in oa (10, VIII) and in sa (36, IX), or a straight stroke on the right, as in si (85, VIII). The same hook appears also in the carsive script of the Kasana period (sa, 85, X), or a horizontal stroke to the left, as in A (1, XI), ka (6, X), dka (23, XI), na (24, XII), bi (27, XI), ya (30, X), as well as curves both to the right and left, as in kha (7, X), oa (10, XII), dhi (16, XI), ghi (9, X), ba (27, X), mi (29, XI), where the carve has been added to the vowel-stroke.
(2) In the Saka and Kugana varieties, the head of ke is commonly converted into a curve (6, VIII), and in the Kuşana variety this curve is connected with the side-limb of ka
10. FRANKX, Nachr. Gött. Gon, d. Wis., 1895, 540, and ZDMG. 50, 808, proposes to road Ja and for the signs which I read spa and api.
* The MS. of the Dhammapada shows this same sign both in the terminations of the absolutives in tva (tvā) and in atma (atman), and thus further confirms the explanation proposed.
Regarding the characters on the Indo-Grecian soins, see WZKM, 8, 198 1. regarding the script of the Baka and Kuans inscriptions, seo J.RAS, 1868, 288, pl. 4 (where, however, in l. 1 the second ch must be deleted, in L. 2 na munt be substituted for , and the for #, and in 1, 8 rya for, and the signs for sy in l. 4 are doubtful), and O. TRANKE, ZDMG. 50, 602 ff.
