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The Eastern Alphabet―550-1100 A.D.

We now come to the class of alphabets, to which Dr. Bühler has given the name, Siddhamātṛkā. From this point, Dr. Bühler's work ceases to be exhaustive and does not deal with Eastern variety forms of the Northern alphabet, separately. Such a treatment of North-Indian palaeography was, perhaps, impossible sixteen years ago, and consequently, the author of the Indian Palæography was obliged to deal with the Northern Indian alphabet of the 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th centuries A.D., as a single whole. The differentiation was made only in the case of Sāradā alphabet, which was already a separate unit in the 8th century A.D. and in a much later period, in the case of proto-Bengali. In these pages Dr. Bühler's arrangement has not been followed, on account of the following reasons:— I. The discovery of a number of dated records, has made it impossible to accept, the alphabet used in the Bodh-Gayā inscription of Mahānāman, as representing type specimens of the North-Eastern alphabet of the 6th and 7th centuries A.D. These new inscriptions are:—

(i) the Amaunā grant of Nandana, G. E. 232=551 A.D.

(ii) the Paṭiakellā grant of Mahārāja Śivarāja, G. E. 283=602 A.D.

(iii) the Gańjām grant of the time of Mahārājādhirāja Śaśāṅka, G. E. 300=619 A.D.