Kharosthi

Kharosthi was a script used in the north-western region of India between about the fourth century B.C. and the third century A.D. It was used to write many different local languages like Prakrit.

Kharosthi was based on the Aramaic script used under the Achaemenid Empire which controlled north-western India around the fifth century B.C.

Kharosthi is written from right to left. Examples of Kharosthi script have been found on stone, metal, leather and parchment. Many of these objects were Buddhist records which describe donations and the foundation of buildings. However, Kharosthi script was also used in literary as well as administrative documents.

Throughout the 1830s and 1840s several men worked on deciphering Kharosthi script. James Prinsep, Christian Lassen, C.L. Grotefend and Edwin Norris worked independently. However, they shared their ideas with each other and eventually the structure of the script became clear.

back to the epigrapher's desk