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[Y-Indology] Lipi and Sanskrit script

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Dear Sir,

Jai Jinendra

 

Irrespective of the origin of the word "lipi", Sanskrit always had a Lipi.

Sanskrit has always been a written language.

The earliest Sanskrit inscriptions are found in the Brahmi lipi.

 

Manish

 

On Saturday 30 November 2002 22:52, yaksh12000 wrote:

> It has been shown that the word "Lipi (script)" came into Sanskrit

> language much later, from Old Persian. Some tend to conclude that

> Sanskrit might not have had a script till that time. Here we argue

> that it need not be the case. In addition, one can even say that IF

> there was a script for Sanskrit before word Lipi came into Sanskrit

> vocabulary, then that script would have been the earliest one known

> to that region. Let us see why.

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INDOLOGY, Manish Modi <manish.modi@b...> wrote:

>

> Irrespective of the origin of the word "lipi", Sanskrit always

>had a Lipi.

> Sanskrit has always been a written language.

> The earliest Sanskrit inscriptions are found in the Brahmi lipi.

>

> Manish

>

 

When does the Persian word "Lipi" gets attested in Sanskrit first?

 

While Nagari seems to be restricted to the class of Brahmins,

Kaithi was used in villages, acc. to prof. Sushil.

Srivastava, Sushil "Review Article: Christopher King,

One Language, Two Scripts,"

The Annual of Urdu studies, p. 217-228. In pdf format

http://www.urdustudies.com/pdf/10/28KingLanguage.pdf

 

Like Marathi Modi script, Kaithi seems to have been popular,

and it originated from the Kayasth scribes.

p. 225

"However, it is a fact that Kaithi was a popular script

in rural north India up to the nineteenth century. It was

because of this that Sher Shah Suri accompanied all his

Persian declarations with translations in local languages

of the areas written out in the Kaithi script. Kaithi

was apparently used in matters related to the villages.

Literature, however, was composed in the Perso-Arabic

script. Most of the mss. that were put togther by the

Search Committee set up by the Nagari Paracarini Sabha

were found to have been written in the Perso-Arabic script."

 

 

> On Saturday 30 November 2002 22:52, yaksh12000 wrote:

> > It has been shown that the word "Lipi (script)" came into Sanskrit

> > language much later, from Old Persian.

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INDOLOGY, "naga_ganesan" <naga_ganesan@h...> wrote:

 

>

> While Nagari seems to be restricted to the class of Brahmins,

> Kaithi was used in villages, acc. to prof. Sushil.

> Srivastava, Sushil "Review Article: Christopher King,

> One Language, Two Scripts,"

> The Annual of Urdu studies, p. 217-228. In pdf format

> http://www.urdustudies.com/pdf/10/28KingLanguage.pdf

 

 

Perhaps, in Urdu studies it is politically correct to run down

Devanagari script as from a small group of brahmins which was given

all India prominence due to British colonial interests. It is better

to see Hindi dept. studies to get corrective picture and documents.

 

However, a German Company digitises Indian manuscripts in German

universities

 

http://www.e-ternals.com/english/publications/publications11.html

 

It dates the Agrayaneshta : a Book of Mantras manuscript in

Devanagari in early 17th C much before the inluence of the British.

 

The Ananga Ranga, by Kalyana Malla. in Devanagari is stated to have

been copied from an older manuscript in 1895 in Nepal.

 

A manusript of The Kashmiri Paippalada Recension of the ATHARVAVEDA

is on birch bark manuscript. If it had been done during British

time, why go for birch bark, why not print it on paper.

 

Prayascitta Prasna of 17th C is in Devanagari script

 

There are other manuscripts in Devanagari made centuries before the

British plot to helicopter Devanagari over all other scripts, as

alleged in the article

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naga_ganesan wrote:

 

> While Nagari seems to be restricted to the class of Brahmins,

> Kaithi was used in villages, acc. to prof. Sushil.

> Srivastava, Sushil "Review Article: Christopher King,

> One Language, Two Scripts,"

> The Annual of Urdu studies, p. 217-228. In pdf format

> http://www.urdustudies.com/pdf/10/28KingLanguage.pdf

 

Use of writing was never confined to Brahmins. If there is a group

associated with writing, it is Kayasthas.

 

I have seen a claim somewhere that the Vedic brahmins preferred to

transmit their text orally, and thus were opposed to writing for

some time. Thus unlike the Mauryas, Shungas did not leave any

inscriptions.

 

There appear to have been numerous variations of Devanagari. I

remember having seen piles of business postcards from early 20th

century saved at some establishments, I could not read many of them.

They were apparently in some 'fast' hand, somewhat similar to Modi.

Businessmen apparently were used to these variations.

 

Yashwant

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> Sanskrit has always been a written language.

 

A categorical statement , incorporating always , can either come after a

life-time of work or in a moment of rashnesh.

Rajesh Kochhar

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