The Origin of the Bengali Script

by Rakhaldas Bandyopadhyay

THE ORIGIN OF THE BENGALI SCRIPT

THE ORIGIN

OF THE

BENGALI SCRIPT

 

BY

R. D. BANERJI, M.A.

 

 

PUBLISHED BY THE

UNIVERSITY OF CALCUTTA
1919

 

PRINTED BY ATULCHANDRA BHATTACHARYYA

AT THE CALCUTTA UNIVERSITY PRESS, SENATE HOUSE, CALCUTTA.

 

 

To my Teachers

of

Indian Palæography

The Late Dr. Theodor Bloch, Ph.D.,

and

Mahamahopadhyaya Hara Prasad Sastri,
M.A., C.I.E.

 

 

PREFACE

This essay on the origin of the Bengali Script was originally written by me in my mother tongue at the suggestion of the late Āchārya Rāmendra Sundara Trivedī, Principal of the Ripon College, who to my great regret has not lived to see its publication. Principal Trivedi intended to publish this essay in the Journal of the Baṅgīya Sāhitya Pariṣad, of which learned Society he was the Secretary and one of the founders. At the suggestion of the Hon'ble Justice Sir Āśutoṣa Mukhopādhyāya, Sarasvatī, Sāstra-Vāchaspati, it was translated into English and submitted with Principal Trivedī's consent for the University of Calcutta Jubilee Research Prize which was awarded to me in 1913. The publication of this work was undertaken by the University of Calcutta at the direction of the Hon'ble Justice Sir Āśutoṣa Mukhopādhyāya, Sarasvatī, Sāstra-Vāchaspati, Kt., C.S.I., M.A., D.L., Ph.D., D.Sc., etc., then Vice-Chancellor of the University.

I am indebted to my teacher the venerable Pandit Mahāmahopādhyāya Hara Prasāda Śāstrī, M.A., C.I.E., formerly Principal of the Government Sanskrit College, Calcutta, and now President of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, and Dr. D. B. Spooner, B.A., Ph.D., F.A.S.B., formerly Superintendent, Archæological Survey, Eastern Circle, and now Officiating Director General of Archæology in India, for many corrections and valuable suggestions. My friend Mr. Surendranath Kumar has helped me greatly by translating portions of works in German and French for my use. My pupil Prof. Kalidas Nag, M.A., of the Scottish Churches College, Calcutta, has revised the type-written manuscript twice and has corrected many of the proofs. My thanks are due to Sj. Hemchandra Gosvāmī, Extra Assistant Commissioner, Gauhati, Assam, for pointing out the modern Bengali inscription recording the dedication of the image of Āmrātakeśvara at Kāmākhyā near Gauhati in Assam. To my friend Pandit Vasanta Rañjana Rāya Vidvadvallabha Kavirañjana, the Custodian of the manuscript collection of the Baṅgīya Sāhitya Pariṣad, I owe a deep debt of gratitude. Mr. Rāya has enabled me to complete the history of the development of the Bengali Script by collecting transitional and final forms from the manuscript of Caṇḍīdāsa's Kṛṣṇa Kīrttana, discovered by him in Bankura, a task which I could never have succeeded in completing without his aid. I am indebted to the Council of the Asiatic Society of Bengal and the Executive Committee of the Baṅgīya Sāhitya Pariṣad for permission to photograph and reproduce certain pages of a manuscript of the Bodhicharyāvatāra of Śāntideva, written in 1492 V. E., and of the Kṛṣṇa-Kīrttana of Caṇḍīdāsa.

Poona,	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$
20th August, 1919.

CONTENTS

		Page
Chapter I.	Introduction …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …	1
Chapter II.	The Northern Indian Alphabets (B.C. 350—A.D. 600) …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …	7
A.	The Older Maurya Alphabet …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …	7
B.	Varieties of the Older Maurya Alphabet …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …	8
C.	The Younger Maurya Alphabet …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …	11
D.	Kusana Inscriptions …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …	18
E.	The so-called Gupta Alphabet of the 4th and 5th Centuries A.D. …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …	23
Chapter III.	The Eastern Alphabet, 550-1100 A.D. …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …	37
Chapter IV.	The Final Development of the Alphabet …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …        …	87

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

I.	Fragmentary Inscription on the Image of Buddha, Rajgir, Patna.
II.	Fragmentary Kusana Inscription, Rajgir, Patna.
III.	Inscription of the time of Mahendrapala, Ramgaya, Gaya.
IV.	Dinajpur Pillar Inscription—Saka 888 (?).
V.	Bodhicharyavatara (Ms. Ga 8067) Fol. 65 Obv. Collection of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.
VI.	Ibid, Fol. 179, Rev.
VII.	Prapitamahesvara Temple Inscription, Gaya—V. S. 1299.
VIII.	Krishnakirttana—Fol. 179, Rev. Collection of the Bangiya Sahitya Pariṣad.
IX.	The Umga Hill Inscription of Bhairavendra.
X.	Kamakhya Hill Inscription of Pramatha Sinha—Saka 1666.