Indian Antiquary Vol 42

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 382

xxviii
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
CHAPTER 111
throughout (F. GI, No. 18, p. 79, Plate xi). Good examples of the use of the flat-topped á are the cave inscription of Udayagiri (Lat. 23° 32', Long. 77° 50'), dated in 425-6 A.D. (F. GI, No. 61, p. 258, Plate xxxviii), and the stone image inscription at Mathura (Lat. 27° 30', Long. 77° 43'; F. GI, No. 63, p. 262, Plate xxxix A), dated in 454-5 A.D. On the other hand, good examples of the use of the round-topped ó are the copper-plate land-grants of the Parivrâjaka Mahârâjas, at Khôh, Majhgawâm, and Bhunara (about Lat. 24° 25' and Long. 80° 45'; F.GI. Nos. 21-25, pp. 93-112, Plates xiii, xiv, xv B), which are dated between 475 and 529 A.D. These examples show that the two forms of the palatal á were in use over the same western area, and during the same period of time.
But there is one point to be observed with regard to the use of the two forms of the palatal á, whch is of great importance in connection with the Bower Manuscript. The two ways of writing that are never confounded, nor do they ever occur promiscuously in the same epigraphic record. It is clear, therefore, that they mark two different styles of writing, each peculiar to a particular writer. They thus offer a test for determining the number of writers who were engaged in the production of the several Parts of the Bower Manuscript. As may be seen by reference to Table I, the round-topped é is used exclusively in Parts I-III, while the flat-topped á is, equally exclusively used in Parts IV-VII. In Parts I-III, the flat-topped ó never occurs, nor does the round-topped é ever occur in Paris IV-VII. It is inconceivable that the same person should have used habitually and exclusively one mode of writing á in one set of manuscripts, and another in another set of manuscripts. It follows, therefore, that Parts I-III were written by a person different from the three persons who wrote Parts IV-VII; for as will be shown in the sequel (pp. xxix and xxxiii), on similar grounds, the two writers of Parts IV and VI must have been different persons from the writer of Parts V and VII.
In this connection, as bearing on the question of the number of scribes, the following fact, which will be fully discussed in Chapter IV, must be noted. The modern form of the letter y, which originated in the northern area of the Gupta script, and which is found in Parts I-III, is entirely absent from Parts IV-VII. The latter make use exclusively of the old three-pronged form of y (Fig. 19), which persistently continued to prevail in the southern area. Also, another small point which distinguishes the scribes of Parts V-VII from the scribe of Parts I-III is worth noticing. It is the fashion of writing the character for the dental th. As may be seen in Table I, in Parts I-III that character has an upright position, while in Parts V-VII its position is more or less slanting. Though a small point in itself, it is worth noticing, because it marks the germ of a fashion of writing with a slant, which developed subsequently in the Eastern Turkestan settlement of Kuchar, and which is shown in Fig. 15, 1, 2, (r. xxxii), and in Fig. 17, 1. 3, cand d (p. xxxiv).
The peculiarities of writing above set out shown that there must have been no less than four persons engaged in the writing of the Bower Manuscript. In Parts I-III, the similarity of writing is, in all points so conspicuous that it is impossible to ascribe their production to more than one person. A's to Parts V, VI and VII, it has been shown from their mode of writing the palatal , that they cannot have been written by the identical person who wrote Parts I-III. Moreover, it is practically certain that they must have been written by two different writers. That Parts V and VII are due to the same writer follows, as in the case of Parts I-III, from the conspicuous similarity of the writing. The case of Part VI rany seein uncertain. There is superficial dissimilarity in its style of writing from that in Parts V and VII, but on the other hand, it must be remembered