Page:The Origin of the Bengali Script.djvu/46

24 ** and (iii) the Western variety—angular monumental type.

In the light of later discoveries, especially the important finds of the British and Prussian expeditions into Central Asia under Sir Marc Aurel Stein, Grünwedel and others, the Northern Indian alphabet of the 4th and 5th centuries A.D., should be divided into the following varieties:


 * 1. The Eastern variety: specimens—
 * (i) the Allahabad pillar-inscription of Samudragupta,
 * (ii) the Udayagiri cave-inscription of Candragupta II,
 * (iii) the Gaḍhwā fragmentary inscriptions of the times of Candragupta II and Kumaragupta I,
 * (iv) the Dhānāidaha grant of Kumāragupta I,
 * (v) the Mānkuwār inscription of Kumāragupta I,
 * (vi) the Bihār pillar-inscription of Skandagupta,
 * (vii) the Kosām image-inscription of Bhīmavarman,
 * (viii) the Kahāuṁ pillar-inscription of Skandagupta.
 * 2. The Western variety: specimens—
 * (i) the Mathurā inscription of Candragupta II,
 * (ii) the Sāñei inscription of Candragupta II,
 * (iii) the Bharaḍi Ḍiḥ or Karamdaṇḍa inscription of Kumāragupta I,
 * (iv) the Bhiṭāri pillar-inscription of Skandagupta,
 * (v) the Indore grant of Skandagupta,
 * (vi) the Erān pillar-inscription of Budhagupta.