Beginning of Script in Indian Subcontinent

It is believed to have been the script in the Indian Subcontinent before some hundred years of the birth of Buddha, around c. 563-483 BCE. ‘Brami Script is supposed to have been the mother of scripts. The name Brami came from 300-400 A.D. (three to four hundred) years later, and even though this script was used for more than a thousand years at that time, later Brahmin people claimed that Brahmins made this script, so Brami name was given. Spiritual guru Gedun Chhopel calls the present-day “Brami Script” is the continuation of the same ancient script. Pilgrims of that time also used ‘Brami Script’. King Sudhadhan wrote at least a letter to Buddha in ‘Brami Script’, when his son was away from him for a long time. The letter was envoyed by a priest ‘vicchu’ (priest) Chharkha in the hand of Buddha and read by Buddha himself; the letter reads like this:

I protected you well
When you came in the womb.
The clan of monarchy destroyed
As your heart was filled with neutrality.
Following the line of disciple
Being Buddha yourself
You’re imparting peace to all
Whereas I am sheltering pain and sorrow.
While trying to protect you
To do worth value deed
And follow kinsmen.
You rejected
And got enlightened.
Now accept me and kinsmen
In your feet with mercy and affection.
And with your aura of wisdom
Give us apt knowledge.

Similarly, the first preaching of Buddha, after his enlightenment, was also documented in ‘Brami Script’. Around 35 inscribed pillars erected by the (Emperor) Ashoka (304-232 BCE), all except two, are found to have used ‘Brami Script’. Regarding the structure of this script, Gedun Chophel says it is exactly ‘ka’ (क) ‘kha’ (ख) of ‘Gupta Script’. There are two views regarding the origin of ‘Brami Script’. Some say it originated in the Indian Subcontinent. Another view is that, as it is similar to ‘Arama Script’, it developed in India but originated outside the Indian Subcontinent. This script of the ancients was long forgotten and rediscovered in the 19^th century by researchers.

As art and literature of the Indian Subcontinent extended far and wide in the 4^th century, Brami gradually changed to ‘Gupta Script’. There were two scripts in the royal line of Gupta: first established in 320 A.D.  and second established between 535 A.D. to 730 A.D. At the end of the 7^th century, ‘Gupta Script’ changed to ‘City Script’. ‘Ranjana Script’ is supposed to have been developed from City Script in the 8^th century.