DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.36954#0180
cursive ??M ^3 resembles much more the sign from mss. of the
northern route (SANDER 1968, alphabet r, PI. 32). In the
cursive script it is clearly distinct from 14 (PI. 207 Fol. 7 r2
It must accordingly be due either to a late
influence of the Proto-Sarada, or, as seems more plausible, to an
indigenous development. 7??% and the Indian form of the diacritic
sign for -<? and -%?' would be, in fact, the only %^s%ms in common
with the Proto-Sarada apart from those which had been passed
on unchanged for centuries such as and n?. The beginning of
this development can already be observed in some, perhaps
younger mss., still classified as belonging to the "SouthTurkestan
Brahmi" type, which is here only represented by the early ms.
Zb In these mss. the left part of ??M, originally written , has
been straightened TJ.
From these observations one may conclude that the early local
Brahmi of Gilgit and Bamiyan had been the basis of the different
developments of the Brahmi scripts on both sides of the Tarim
basin: among the Tocharians in the north and the Sakas in the
south at about the fifth to the sixth century A.D. Khotanese and
Tocharian Brahmi scripts may have had some influence on each
other, as can be seen from the common use of the dieresis in
Tocharian, Tum$uq Saka, and Khotanese mss., and from the fact
that the ?7?a in cursive Khotanese mss. was most probably
adopted from the Brahmi of the northern route. The influence of
the pen with the slanting tip is reflected by all Brafimi types in
this region written from the seventh century onwards. But its
possibility for creating calligraphic effects was best used by the
scribes of mss. written in Proto-Sarada, South Turkestan Brahmi,
and Late South Turkestan Brahmi. From about the seventh cen-
tury onwards the development of the formal Brahmi of Khotan
was mainly influenced by the cursive script of this region. The
western influence of the Proto-Sarada cannot be proved with any
certainty.
118
northern route (SANDER 1968, alphabet r, PI. 32). In the
cursive script it is clearly distinct from 14 (PI. 207 Fol. 7 r2
It must accordingly be due either to a late
influence of the Proto-Sarada, or, as seems more plausible, to an
indigenous development. 7??% and the Indian form of the diacritic
sign for -<? and -%?' would be, in fact, the only %^s%ms in common
with the Proto-Sarada apart from those which had been passed
on unchanged for centuries such as and n?. The beginning of
this development can already be observed in some, perhaps
younger mss., still classified as belonging to the "SouthTurkestan
Brahmi" type, which is here only represented by the early ms.
Zb In these mss. the left part of ??M, originally written , has
been straightened TJ.
From these observations one may conclude that the early local
Brahmi of Gilgit and Bamiyan had been the basis of the different
developments of the Brahmi scripts on both sides of the Tarim
basin: among the Tocharians in the north and the Sakas in the
south at about the fifth to the sixth century A.D. Khotanese and
Tocharian Brahmi scripts may have had some influence on each
other, as can be seen from the common use of the dieresis in
Tocharian, Tum$uq Saka, and Khotanese mss., and from the fact
that the ?7?a in cursive Khotanese mss. was most probably
adopted from the Brahmi of the northern route. The influence of
the pen with the slanting tip is reflected by all Brafimi types in
this region written from the seventh century onwards. But its
possibility for creating calligraphic effects was best used by the
scribes of mss. written in Proto-Sarada, South Turkestan Brahmi,
and Late South Turkestan Brahmi. From about the seventh cen-
tury onwards the development of the formal Brahmi of Khotan
was mainly influenced by the cursive script of this region. The
western influence of the Proto-Sarada cannot be proved with any
certainty.
118