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| Pallava script | |
|---|---|
 'Pallava' in Pallava script | |
| Script type | |
Period | 4th century CE to Present[1] |
| Direction | Left-to-right  |
| Languages | Tamil,Sanskrit,Telugu,Kannada,Konkani,Marathi,Old Khmer,Old Malay,Burmese,Thai,Sinhala,Lao,Mon,Balinese, etc. |
| Related scripts | |
Parent systems | |
Child systems | Tamil,Grantha,Mon-Burmese,Khmer,Cham,Kawi |
Sister systems | Vattezhuthu,Kolezhuthu |
| 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 |
ThePallava script, orPallava Grantha, named after thePallava dynasty ofSouthern India (Tamilakam) and is attested to since the 4th century CE. The Pallava script evolved fromTamil-Brahmi.[2] It was used to originally writeTamil andSanskrit texts – the court languages of Pallavas, thus, it features glyphs to render the sounds of both languages. Both theTamil script via the intermediate script/step called Chozha-Pallava-Script[3][4] andGrantha script have originated from the Pallava script.[5]
Pallava alsospread to Southeast Asia and evolved into scripts such asBalinese,[6]Baybayin,[7]Javanese,[8]Kawi,[9]Khmer,[10]Lanna,[11]Lao,[12]Mon–Burmese,[13]New Tai Lue,[14]Sundanese,[15] andThai.[16] This script is the sister of theVatteluttu script which was also used to write Tamil and Malayalam in the past.[17]
Epigrapher Arlo Griffiths argues that the name of the script is misleading as not all of the relevant scripts referred to have a connection with the Pallava dynasty. He instead advocates that these scripts be calledLate Southern Brāhmī scripts.[1]
During the rule of thePallavas, the script accompanied priests, monks, scholars, and traders intoSoutheast Asia. Pallavas developed the Pallava script based onTamil-Brahmi. The main characteristics of the newer script are aesthetically matched and fuller consonant glyphs, similarly visible in the writing systems of Chalukya,[18] Kadamba, and Vengi at the time of Ikshvakus. Brahmi's design was slightly different from the scripts of Cholas, Pandyas, and Cheras. Pallava script was the first significant development of Brahmi in India, combining rounded and rectangular strokes and adding typographical effects, and was suitable for civic and religious inscriptions.
It served as parent script for several modern-day-scripts, such as Chozha-Pallava-Script, which ultimately gave rise toTamil script and alsoGrantha script. Once the Pallava dynasty was integrated via the conquest byAditya I in 897 CE,[19] which laid the foundation for the futureChola Empire – the Chozha-Pallava was subsequently developed under that dynasty and replaced both the Pallava and Grantha scripts to write Tamil texts, whereas Grantha remained to be in usage for renderingManipravalam texts.[20] It also supplanted theVatteluttu, when thePandya Nadu inc. 850 CE was conquered by the Cholas as well.[21] The Chozha-Pallava script resembled the same glyph developments like its counterpart Grantha script, but it didn't feature any foreign sounds from Sanskrit, thus, simplifying the script and ultimately becoming the modern-day Tamil script.[3][4]
Kadamba-Pallava script[22] evolved into early forms ofKannada and Telugu scripts. Glyphs become more rounded and incorporate loops because of writing upon leaves and paper.[22]
The script is not yet a part ofUnicode but proposals have been made to include it. In 2018, Anshuman Pandey made a proposal.[23]
The form shown here is based on examples from the 7th century CE. Letters labeled * have uncertain sound value, as they have little occurrence in Southeast Asia.
Each consonant has an inherent /a/, which will be sounded if no vowel sign is attached. If two consonants follow one another without intervening vowel, the second consonant is made into a subscript form, and attached below the first.
| ka | kha | ga | gha | nga |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |  |
| ca | cha | ja | jha* | nya |
 |  |  |  |  |
| ṭa | ṭha* | ḍa | ḍha* | ṇa |
 |  |  |  |  |
| ta | tha | da | dha | na |
 |  |  |  |  |
| pa | pha | ba | bha | ma |
 |  |  |  |  |
| ya | ra | la | va | |
 |  |  |  | |
| śa | ṣa | sa | ha | |
 |  |  |  |
| a | ā | i | ī | u | e | o | ai* | au* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
_(cropped).jpg)
A proposal to encode the script inUnicode was submitted in 2018.[23]
After about AD 1500, translations from Sanskrit did appear, and unassimilated words began to flood literary Malayalam; eventually a hybrid idiom (manipravalam) mixing Sanskrit and tamil words, and Sanskrit words with tamil inflections, was devised
Media related toPallava script at Wikimedia Commons
