| Bhattiprolu script | |
|---|---|
 The 6th stone inscription excavated at Bhattiprolu believed to be from 3rd century BCE | |
| Script type | |
Period | 3rd century-1st century BCE |
| Languages | Prakrits |
| Related scripts | |
Parent systems | |
Sister systems | Tamil-Brahmi Kadamba script Gupta Sinhala Tocharian |
| This article containsphonetic transcriptions in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. For the distinction between[ ],/ / and ⟨ ⟩, seeIPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters. | |
| Brahmic scripts |
|---|
| TheBrahmi script and its descendants |
TheBhattiprolu script is a variant of theBrahmi script which has been found in old inscriptions atBhattiprolu, a small village in the erstwhile Guntur district ofAndhra Pradesh,India. It is located in the fertileKrishna River delta and the estuary region where the river meets theBay of Bengal.
The inscriptions date to between the 3rd and 1st centuries BCE,[1][2] putting them among the earliest evidence of Brahmi writing in South India.[3][4]
Bhattiprolu differs fromAshokan Brahmi in two significant ways. First, the lettersgh, j, m, l, s are "radically different":m is upside-down compared to Brahmi, whilegh appears to derive fromg rather than from Semiticheth. Secondly, the inherent vowel has been discarded: A consonant written without diacritics represents the consonant alone. This is unique to Bhattiprolu among the early Indian scripts.[5]
Excavations that started in the year 1870 by Boswell,Sir Walter Elliot,Robert Sewell,Alexander Rea, Buhler and continued in 1969 by R. Subrahmanyam revealed a complex of Buddhiststupas (an area of 1700 square yards, drum diameter of 148 feet, dome diameter of 132 feet, height of 40 feet and a circumambulatory path of 8 feet). Bricks of 45 x 30 x 8 cm dimensions were used for the construction.[6]
Alexander Rea discovered three inscribed stone relic caskets containing crystal caskets, relics of Buddha and jewels in 1892.[7][8]
The most significant discovery is the crystal relic casket ofsārira-dhātu of theBuddha from the central mass of the stupas. The Mahachaitya (great stupa) remains of a large pillared hall, a large group of ruined votive stupas with several images of Buddha, a stone receptacle containing copper vessel, which in turn, contained two more, a silver casket and within it, a gold casket enclosing beads of bone and crystal were found.[9]
The script was written on the urn containing Buddha's relics. Linguists surmise that theMauryanBrahmi evolved in the 3rd century BCE and travelled soon after to Bhattiprolu. Twenty three symbols were identified in Bhattiprolu script. The symbols for 'ga' and 'sa' are similar to Mauryan Brahmi.
There are a total of nine inscriptions, all dated to the 2nd century BCE or possibly earlier (a tenth inscription is in a script much closer to standard Brahmi), written inPrakrit.
The Bhattiprolu inscription also shows systemic but notpaleographic similarity to Tamil Brahmi.[10] According to Richard Salomon, the Bhattiprolu script was originally invented to write a Dravidian language but was reapplied to inscribe in anIndo-Aryan Prakrit. Hence both the Bhattiprolu and Tamil Brahmi share common modifications to represent Dravidian languages.[11] Bhattiprolu script is also considered theRosetta Stone of Tamil Brahmi decipherment.[12]