Origins of Scripts
Across the world, since the early history of writing, scribes and writers have been part of an elite school. Writing was also an important measure of self-worth and social standing. As George Jean writes in Writing: The Story of Alphabets and Script, “Knowing how to write was already a source of considerable power. This knowledge was to remain a privilege”. The Akshara project of Crafting Indian Scripts revives and reinvents artistic applications of writing in earlier times.
Rhel, wooden book stand (Early 19th century)Dastkari Haat Samiti
Lacquered wooden book stand decorated with floral design.
Books of poemsDastkari Haat Samiti
The description written in the form of an abstract design on the outside of the main text is called the Hashia (Border).
Handi – cooking vessel (Early 20th century)Dastkari Haat Samiti
Handi – cooking vessel, a copper vessel for cooking rice and dal. The outer top part in nickeling and the bottom part in copper has Islamic calligraphy.
Brass vessel.
Janampatri (Late 18th century)Dastkari Haat Samiti
Horoscope in a scroll form. Cloth, decorated with colourful designs, symbols and numerical motifs.
Panchmukhi ( five headed) (18th century)Dastkari Haat Samiti
Hanuman Pataka inscribed all over with mantras.
Janampatri (19th century)Dastkari Haat Samiti
Horoscope in the form of a book with illustrations.
Pati (19th century)Dastkari Haat Samiti
Lacquered wood with Jain nagri – alphabets.
Alam, Muslim standards(brass) (19th century)Dastkari Haat Samiti
Alam, Muslim standards(brass).
Bismillah hi Rahman hi Raheem,Allahumma yaa zal – arshil azeeme w yaa khairan nasiireen w yaa mursi laryiyahi w yaa naafizal arwahi w yaa zal – zaudi wal karami
I will start by the name of the Almighty Allah; most beneficial, most merciful. Oh Almighty Allah who owns a huge Arsh and who is the best helper and who is the sender of winds and who reveals the dawn and who bestows soul to the body and who bestows generously and who is all about eternal bounty.
Part of a brocade fabric (20th century)Dastkari Haat Samiti
Part of a brocade fabric for jacket.
Folios of palm leaf manuscripts.Many manuscripts were written on palm leaves, even after Indian languages were put on paper in the 13th century. Both sides of the leaves were used for writing. Long rectangular strips were gathered on top of one another, holes were drilled through all the leaves, and the book was held together by string. The palm leaf was an excellent surface for writing with a brass stylus, making possible the delicate lettering used in many of the scripts of southern Asia. Whether the script became angular (as in Devanagari, Bengali or Assamese) or rounded (as in Telugu, Malayalam or Kannada) depended on the original materials and instruments used by scribes and artisans in each region of India. (13th century)Dastkari Haat Samiti
Many manuscripts were written on palm leaves, even after Indian languages were put on paper in the 13th century. Both sides of the leaves were used for writing. Long rectangular strips were gathered on top of one another, holes were drilled through all the leaves, and the book was held together by string. The palm leaf was an excellent surface for writing with a brass stylus, making possible the delicate lettering used in many of the scripts of southern Asia. Whether the script became angular (as in Devanagari, Bengali or Assamese) or rounded (as in Telugu, Malayalam or Kannada) depended on the original materials and instruments used by scribes and artisans in each region of India.
Tibetian prayer stone plaqueDastkari Haat Samiti
Tibetan prayer stone plaque.
Islamic yantra (Late 19th century)Dastkari Haat Samiti
Islamic yantra on copper plate.
Scripts ScriptsDastkari Haat Samiti
The Middle Prakrit existed in many regional varieties, which eventually developed literatures of their own. Pali, the language of the Buddhist canonical writings, is the oldest literary Prakrit. It is supposed to be the language spoken by the Buddha but scholars believe that it was more likely he spoke a form of Magadhi, from eastern Bihar. It remains in liturgical use in Sri Lanka, Burma, now renamed Myanmar, and in sacred scripts used by Tibetans. Indian scripts travelled to Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Burma although, as happened within India, each region evolved them further according to the writing materials they used. Bodhi, read and spoken by Buddhists of India, Tibet and Nepal can be seen as another offshoot of Sanskrit. Pali and many other variants took different paths, creating the multi-script and multi-lingual nature of India’s linguistic heritage.
Copper plaque (18th century)Dastkari Haat Samiti
Copper plates were used as a base for early inscriptions. In north India, birch bark was used as a writing surface as early as the 2nd century. Many manuscripts were written on palm leaves, even after Indian languages were put on paper in the 13th century. Both sides of the leaves were used for writing.
Ganesha, Janampatri (18th century)Dastkari Haat Samiti
Ganesha, Janampatri (paper scroll).
Nastaliq calligraphy styleDastkari Haat Samiti
Nastaliq is a style of calligraphy style. Urdu is conventionally written in the Nastaliq calligraphy style of the Perso-Arabic script and draws its vocabulary from Persian, Arabic, Turkish and local languages.
Dastavej (18th century)Dastkari Haat Samiti
Archival document on cloth scroll. Devanagiri script.
Part of a dastarkhan (Early 20th century)Dastkari Haat Samiti
Dastarkhaan - Block printed cloth in Persian.
Yeh dastarkhaan pe nehamat Hai,m kya dost to kya dushman - His merciful treasure is laid out on the dastarkhaan, then who is a friend and who is an enemy
Jab sakhawat ka dastarkhaan bicch jta hai, o murg kaf me roji khata hai - When the dastarkhaan of enormous endowment is spread out, everyone consumes their daily meals
Nehamat ki naashukru karnese, nehamat haath se chali jaati hai - When the merciful treasure is misued, one be bereaved the possession of this treasure
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