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Kharoṣṭhī

File:YingpanKharoshthi.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Kharoṣṭhī

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Also known as Kharosthi script, Kharoshthi, Kharosthi, Khar

Kharosthi script (), also known as the Gandhari script (), was an ancient Indic script originally developed in the Gandhara Region of the north-western Indian subcontinent, between the 5th and 3rd century BCE. Primarily used by the people of Gandhara in various parts of South Asia and Central Asia, Kharosthi remained in use until it died out in its homeland around the 5th century CE. It was also in use in Bactria, the Kushan Empire, Sogdia, and along the Silk Road. There is some evidence it may have survived until the 7th century in Khotan and Niya, both cities in Tarim Basin.

Key facts

Writing system.name
Kharosthi
Writing system.type
Abugida
Writing system.native_name
𐨑𐨪𐨆𐨮𐨿𐨛𐨁𐨌
Writing system.sample
File:YingpanKharoshthi.jpg
Writing system.fam1
Egyptian hieroglyphs
Writing system.fam2
Proto-Sinaitic script
Writing system.fam3
Phoenician alphabet
Writing system.time
4th century BCE – 3rd century CE
Writing system.iso15924
Khar
Writing system.unicode
U+10A00–U+10A5F
Writing system.fam4
Aramaic alphabet

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of
unicase alphabet
Image
Decirpherment of Kharoshthi by C.L. Grotefend in 1836.jpg
Show 7 more facts
language of work or name
Gandhari
Commons category
Kharoshthi
script directionality
right-to-left
Unicode range
U+10A00-10A5F
name
kharochthî
inception
0400-00-00
end time
0300-00-00
Sources (6)

via Wikidata · CC0

~14 min read

Encyclopedic overview

14 sections
Contents
  • History
  • Alphabet
  • Consonants
  • Vowels and syllables
  • Additional marks
  • Punctuation
  • Numerals
  • Unicode
  • Gallery
  • See also
  • Further reading
  • References
  • Further reading
  • External links

Kharosthi script (), also known as the Gandhari script (), was an ancient Indic script originally developed in the Gandhara Region of the north-western Indian subcontinent, between the 5th and 3rd century BCE. Primarily used by the people of Gandhara in various parts of South Asia and Central Asia, Kharosthi remained in use until it died out in its homeland around the 5th century CE. It was also in use in Bactria, the Kushan Empire, Sogdia, and along the Silk Road. There is some evidence it may have survived until the 7th century in Khotan and Niya, both cities in Tarim Basin.

==History== thumb|Routes of ancient scripts of the subcontinent traveling to other parts of Asia (Kharosthi shown in blue) The name Kharosthi may derive from the Hebrew , a Semitic word for writing, or from Old Iranian , which means "royal writing". The script was earlier also known as Indo-Bactrian script, Kabul script and Arian-Pali.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Kharoṣṭhī” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (20)