Palaeographical Remarks On Horiuzi Palmleaf MSS

Author(s): G Buhler
Publisher: G Buhler

Page 11

APPENDIX.
REMARKS ON THE HORIUZI PALM-LEAF MSS.
79
preserving the old angular shape. Its other peculiarity, the wedge at the end of the upper horizontal, is found in Ne. I. 3-15 (Nos. 1-2 only showing the straight stroke of Gu. and the older alphabets), in Ne. MS. 1049, and in SA. The use of this letter in manonsi (H. P. A. 1. 5). instead of the anusvára, finds numerous analogies in inscriptions from various parts of India, where na commonly stands before sa, sa, and ha. The fact probably finds its explanation by the peculiar pronunciation of the anusvåra before these three letters, where it very frequently has a guttural sound, resembling gå.
ka differs from the Gu. and older forms by its triangular form, and the prolongation of the right-hand down-stroke. The former peculiarity is constant in Ne. I. 10-15 (No. I showing the half-moon of Gu., and Nos. 3-9 wavering between the crescent and a triangle), as well as in Gha. But the prolonged down-stroke is found only in Ne. MS. 1049 and Sa. The form of Så. is probably a modification of the triangle, the left-hand side of which has been attached to the left end of the top-line.
kka differs from the usual form by the opening in the left-hand circle. The same peculiarity occurs in Ne. MS. 1049 and Sa.
ga differs from Gu. and the older forms by the wedge at the end of the first horizontal bar, by the slanting direction of the second horizontal, and by the curves given to the third horizontal as well as to the down-stroke on the left. The same peculiarities appear with slight modifications in Ne. MS. 1049 and Gha. Among the Ne. I. the slant in the second horizontal and the curve in the third appear already in No. 1, the wedge and the curve in the down-stroke are first clearly observable in No. 4, though the latter is not constant. The form of Sa. is a further development, tending towards the final result, the conversion of the first horizontal into a top-line, of the second bar into a vertical, and of the third into a double twist on the left, which is reached in the modern Devanagari. In Sa. the letter is turned round, the old vertical being made a horizontal line, and the three horizontals turned into verticals!
gha differs from the old Maurya and Andhra form merely by the wedges marking the ends of the strokes, and is identical with that of
Ne. MS. 1049. Sa presents a further development, the hook on the right being detached from the vertical and hung on the top bar. The modern Devanagari forms of the letter partly go back to the H. P. form, and partly to the Gaina 5, with the hook turned downwards.
na shows two forms, the independent and that used in connexion with ga (i, 52). The former differs from the independent form of the older inscriptions and from Gu, mainly by the shape of the hook on the left, which turns its opening upwards instead of downwards. The only analogy is furnished by the compound letter of Gu. (iv. a, 52), and it is probably the parent of the modern Devanagari, where the whole letter has, however, been turned round. The compound form (i, 52) finds its explanation through the independent form of Ne. MS. 1049 (li, 26), where the three elements of the ancient form have been converted into three curves of varying size, the uppermost representing the horizontal stroke at the top, the middlemost the vertical, and the third the hook originally attached to the right. The compound form of H. P. (i, 52) consists of the same elements, but has been made more regular, and placed horizontally under the ga in order to make it possible to preserve the distances between the lines. The proof for this assertion is furnished by Ne. I. Nos. 1-2, where the H. P. letter occurs in an upright position (see e.g. No. 1, iii, 11. 8, 12, 15), side by side with the older form (No. 1, ii, 1. 3). Ne. I. Nos. 3-15 and Sa. agree with H. P. In Gha. (v, 26, 52) we have a curious shape exactly agreeing with na. I think it, however, unlikely that the writer has made a mistake. It is more probable that the likeness has been produced accidentally by the same process of turning the letter sideways, and that the curve on the left stands for the top-stroke of the old letter, the horizontal for its vertical, and the curve on the right for the hook.
ta differs from the Gu. and older forms by the wedge placed above the old half-circle and the addition of a small line to the left, which again ends in a wedge. Among the Ne. I. No. 1, iii, l. 16 wavers between the older form and that with the line attached to the top. Nos. 3-15, as well as the other alphabets of table vi, fully agree with H. P.
tha, da, and dha, which show very slight changes, require no special remarks. All the varieties occurring in table vi are identical with or go back to the angular Maurya form (Burgess, Ind. Alph. 1).
fla again shows two forms, the independent (i, 31) and the subscribed
The H. P. form occurs, however, in ancient Sarada MSS. of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.