Brahmi: Did you mean...?

The Brahmi script is the earliest writing system developed in India after the Indus script. It is one of the most influential writing systems; all modern Indian scripts and several hundred scripts found in Southeast and East Asia are derived...

Rock inscription written in Brahmi Script, Gandhara, 5th-7th century. Islamabad Museum, Pakistan.

The Kharosthi script (also known as 'Indo-Bactrian' script) was a writing system originally developed in present-day northern Pakistan, sometime between the 4th and 3rd century BCE. Kharosthi was employed to represent a form of Prakrit (Middle...

The Edicts of Ashoka are 33 inscriptions engraved on pillars, large stones, and cave walls by Ashoka the Great (r. 268-232 BCE), the third king of the Mauryan Empire (322-185 BCE) of India. One set, the so-called Major Rock Edicts, are consistent...

The rarity of the appearance of Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek kingdoms in ancient literature is one of the reasons why those states are so little-known today. Indo-Greek literature did exist, but none has been found that speaks about the...

The Indus Script is the writing system developed by the Indus Valley Civilization and it is the earliest form of writing known in the Indian subcontinent. The origin of this script is poorly understood: this writing system remains undeciphered...

Writing is the physical manifestation of a spoken language. It is thought that human beings developed language c. 35,000 BCE as evidenced by cave paintings from the period of the Cro-Magnon Man (c. 50,000-30,000 BCE) which appear to express...

Brahmi inscription on an Ashokan Pillar (3rd century BCE) found at Lumbini in present-day Southern Nepal.

A 3rd century BCE Brahmi inscription incised on a fragment of one of the Ashokan Pillars. This piece is currently kept at the British Museum.

Example of a Tamil Brahmi inscription carved on rock found at Dakshinachitra, Chennai (southern India)