Sharada script explained

Sharada script
Also Known As:Śāradā
Sample:Shukla Sharada.svg
Caption:The word śāradā in Sharada script
Time:700 CE  - present (almost extinct)
Region:India, Pakistan, Central Asia
Fam1:Egyptian
Fam2:Proto-Sinaitic
Fam3:Phoenician
Fam4:Aramaic
Fam5:Brahmi
Fam6:Gupta
Unicode:U+11180 - U+111DF
Iso15924:Shrd
Note:none

The Śāradā, Sarada or Sharada script is an abugida writing system of the Brahmic family of scripts. The script was widespread between the 8th and 12th centuries in the northwestern parts of Indian Subcontinent (in Kashmir and neighbouring areas), for writing Sanskrit and Kashmiri.[3] [4] [5] Although originally a signature Brahminical script created in the valley, it was more widespread throughout northwestern Indian subcontinent, and later became restricted to Kashmir, and is now rarely used, except by the Kashmiri Pandit community for religious purposes.[4]

It is a native script of Kashmir and is named after the goddess Śāradā or Saraswati, the goddess of learning and the main Hindu deity of the Sharada Peeth temple.[6]

History

Sharda script is named after the Hindu goddess Śāradā, also known as Saraswati, the goddess of learning and the main Hindu deity of the Sharada Peeth temple.

Although originally a script restricted to only Brahmins, Sharda was later spread throughout the larger Hindu population in Northwestern Indian subcontinent, as Hinduism became the dominant religion in the region again.[7] [8]

The Bakhshali manuscript uses an early stage of the Sharada script.[3] The Sharada script was used in Afghanistan as well as in the Himachal region in India. In Afghanistan, the Kabul Ganesh has a 6th to 8th century Proto-Sharada inscription mentioning the, Turk Shahis, king Khingala of Oddiyana.[9] At the historic temple of Mirkula Devi (also Mrikula Devi) in Lahaul, [Himachal Pradesh], the goddess Mahishamardini has a Sharada inscription of 1569 CE.[10]

From the 10th century onwards, regional differences started to appear between the Sharada script used in Punjab, the Hill States (partly Himachal Pradesh) and Kashmir. Sharada proper was eventually restricted to very limited ceremonial use in Kashmir, as it grew increasingly unsuitable for writing the Kashmiri language. With the last known inscription dating to 1204 C.E., the early 13th century marks a milestone in the development of Sharada.[11] The regional variety in Punjab continued to evolve from this stage through the 14th century; during this period it starts to appear in forms closely resembling Gurmukhī and other Landa scripts. By the 15th century, Sharada had evolved so considerably that epigraphists denote the script at this point by a special name, Devāśeṣa.[11]

Letters

Vowels

TransliterationIPAIndependentpositionDependent position
GlyphExampleSpecial forms
apronounced as /[ɐ]/(none)(pa)
āpronounced as /[aː]/ → ; → ; → ; →
ipronounced as /[ɪ]/ pi
īpronounced as /[iː]/
upronounced as /[ʊ]/ pu → ; → ; → ; → ; → ; → ; → ; → ; →
ūpronounced as /[uː]/ → ; → ; → ; → ; → ; → ; → ; → ; →
pronounced as /[r̩]/ pr̥
r̥̄pronounced as /[r̩ː]/ pr̥̄
pronounced as /[l̩]/ pl̥
l̥̄pronounced as /[l̩ː]/ pl̥̄
ēpronounced as /[eː]/
aipronounced as /[aːi̯]/, pronounced as /[ai]/, pronounced as /[ɐi]/, pronounced as /[ɛi]/ pai
ōpronounced as /[oː]/
aupronounced as /[aːu̯]/, pronounced as /[au]/, pronounced as /[ɐu]/, pronounced as /[ɔu]/ pau
am̐pronounced as /[◌̃]/ pam̐
aṃpronounced as /[n]/, pronounced as /[m]/ paṃ
aḥpronounced as /[h]/ paḥ

Consonants

Isolated glyphTransliterationIPA
kapronounced as /[kɐ]/
khapronounced as /[kʰɐ]/
gapronounced as /[ɡɐ]/
ghapronounced as /[ɡʱɐ]/
ṅapronounced as /[ŋɐ]/
capronounced as /[tɕɐ]/
chapronounced as /[tɕʰɐ]/
japronounced as /[dʑɐ]/
jhapronounced as /[dʑʱɐ]/
ñapronounced as /[ɲɐ]/
ṭapronounced as /[ʈɐ]/
ṭhapronounced as /[ʈʰɐ]/
ḍapronounced as /[ɖɐ]/
ḍhapronounced as /[ɖʱɐ]/
ṇapronounced as /[ɳɐ]/
tapronounced as /[tɐ]/
thapronounced as /[tʰɐ]/
dapronounced as /[dɐ]/
dhapronounced as /[dʱɐ]/
napronounced as /[nɐ]/
papronounced as /[pɐ]/
phapronounced as /[pʰɐ]/
bapronounced as /[bɐ]/
bhapronounced as /[bʱɐ]/
mapronounced as /[mɐ]/
yapronounced as /[jɐ]/
rapronounced as /[rɐ]/, pronounced as /[ɾɐ]/, pronounced as /[ɽɐ]/, pronounced as /[ɾ̪ɐ]/
lapronounced as /[lɐ]/
ḷapronounced as /[ɭɐ]/
vapronounced as /[ʋɐ]/
śapronounced as /[ɕɐ]/
ṣapronounced as /[ʂɐ]/
sapronounced as /[sɐ]/
hapronounced as /[ɦɐ]/

Numerals

Sharada Arabic
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

Sharada script uses its own signs for the positional decimal numeral system.

Unicode

See main article: Sharada (Unicode block).

Śāradā script was added to the Unicode Standard in January, 2012 with the release of version 6.1.[12]

The Unicode block for Śāradā script, called Sharada, is U+11180 - U+111DF:

See also

References

Works cited

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Daniels . P.T. . Writing systems of major and minor languages . Kachru . Braj B. . Kachru . Yamuna . Sridhar . S. N. . Language in South Asia . 27 March 2008 . Cambridge University Press . 978-1-139-46550-2 . en.
  2. Book: Masica . Colin . The Indo-Aryan languages . 1993 . 143.
  3. Book: Selin . Helaine . Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures . 2008 . Springer Science & Business Media . 9781402045592 . Bakhshali Manuscript entry . en. 2008ehst.book.....S .
  4. Book: Singh . Upinder . A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century . 2008 . Pearson Education India . 9788131711200 . 43 . en.
  5. Sir George Grierson. (1916). "On the Sharada Alphabet". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 17.
  6. News: Pandits to visit Sharda temple. https://web.archive.org/web/20070204050822/http://www.hindu.com/2006/05/17/stories/2006051704920900.htm . dead . 4 February 2007 . . 17 May 2006 . 13 August 2012.
  7. Web site: The Indigenous Script of Kashmir – The Sharda Script . live . September 24, 2023 . https://archive.today/20230924195939/https://eduindex.org/2020/06/12/the-indigenous-script-of-kashmir-the-sharda-script/ . September 24, 2023 . June 12, 2020 . en-IN .
  8. Book: Fogelin, Lars . 2015 . An Archaeological History of Indian Buddhism . September 24, 2023 . 9780199948239 . . 149 . ...the emergence and spread of Hinduism through Indian society helped lead to Buddhism's gradual decline in India. . en-UK .
  9. https://books.google.com/books?id=x2cuAQAAIAAJ&q=khingala+ganesha+sarAda From Persepolis to the Punjab: Exploring Ancient Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Elizabeth Errington, Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis, British Museum Press, 2007 p. 96
  10. https://www.jstor.org/stable/29757141 Observations on the Architecture and on a Carved Wooden Door of the Temple of Mirkulā Devī at Udaipur, Himachal Pradesh, Francesco Noci, East and West, Vol. 44, No. 1 (March 1994), pp. 99-114
  11. Web site: N3545: Proposal to Encode the Sharada Script in ISO/IEC 10646 . Anshuman . Pandey . Working Group Document, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2 . 2009-03-25.
  12. Web site: L2/09-074R2: Proposal to encode the Sharada Script in ISO/IEC 10646. 2009-08-05. Anshuman. Pandey.