Devāśeṣa

Devasesha
Devāśeṣa
Script type
Period
10th – 14th centuries CE
RegionIndia, Pakistan
Related scripts
Parent systems
Child systems
Takri
Gurmukhi?

Devasesha (Devāśeṣa) is the term for a late-stage of Sharada script,[1][2] being a degenerated form of Sharada.[3] Devadesha was the intermediary script between Sharada and Takri scripts.[4][1] As per Tarlochan Singh Bedi, the Gurmukhi script was devised from the Devasesha script.[2][5][6] A surviving work written in the script is a 12th century manuscript of the Ekadashi Mahatam discovered in Hoshiarpur.[7][8]

Development

Sharada script can be divided into two, broad paleographical periods: 'Sharada proper' and 'modern Sharada'.[1] Usage of Sharada proper came to an end by the start of the 13th century.[1] From that point onward, the modern Sharada continued to evolve and from it arose other scripts, such as Takri, Landa, and Gurmukhi.[1] By the 15th century, Sharada had shifted substantially from the pre-Islamic period, leading to a new term to denote this stage of development of the script: Devāśeṣa. The Devāśeṣa stage lasted from the 14–18th centuries in Himachal Pradesh (specifically Chamba and the surrounding hill tracts), whilst other sources give an earlier dating of the stage to the 10th and 14th centuries.[4][1][2] Inscriptions sourced from Chamba written in Devāśeṣa are dated to between the 10th to 12th centuries. Takri arose from Devāśeṣa in around 1350 in the Pahari Hills.[3] Bedi believes Devasesha is the script that Gurmukhi arose from, which he terms Pritham Gurmukhi or Proto-Gurmukhi.[9] However, there are alternative theories on Gurmukhi's origins, such as it being an adapted form of a Landa or Takri script used by mercantile and scribal communities of northwest India.[10]

Timeline

A timeline is as follows (with exact dates or time periods for the emergence and disappearance of particular scripts being contested in academia):[3] Brahmi (300 BCE to 300 CE) → Western Gupta (4th – 6th century CE) → Kutila (7th to 9th century CE) → Śāradā (9th to 11th centuries) → Devāśeṣa (11th to 13th centuries)

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pandey, Anshuman (2009-03-25). "N3545: Proposal to Encode the Sharada Script in ISO/IEC 10646" (PDF). Working Group Document, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2.
  2. 1 2 3 Lehal, Gurpreet Singh; Kaur, Harvinder Pal; Brar, Boota Singh; Sidhu, Paramjit Singh (27 July 2018). Proposal for a Gurmukhi Script Root Zone Label Generation Ruleset (LGR) (PDF). Neo-Brahmi script Generation Panel (NBGP), Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). pp. 1–6.
  3. 1 2 3 Sharma, Mahesh (24 June 2009). "3: CONTEXT: LANGUAGE, MEASURES AND FESTIVALS - The Script and Language". Western Himalayan Temple Records: State, Pilgrimage, Ritual and Legality in Chambā. Brill. pp. 139–140. ISBN 9789047430377.
  4. 1 2 Deambi, Bhushan Kumar Kaul (2008). "Preface & Chapter 4. Development of the Sarada Alphabet (14th-16th Centuries)". Śāradā and Ṭakarī Alphabets: Origin and Development. Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts and D.K. Printworld. pp. xi, xii, 43. ISBN 9788124604120.
  5. ↑ Bedi, Trilochan Singh (1972). Pañjābī wārataka dā ālocanātamaka adhiaina 1705-1750 (in Punjabi). Amarjit Kaur. p. 22. As for the Script, you are welcome to call it Gurmukhi; though we epigraphists would call it Devasesha, a stage of development between the Sharda and Gurmukhi.
  6. ↑ Sindhu, P. S. (1 August 2023). "5.4 Evolution of Punjabi Language". Evolution of India and Indianness: From Hydrogen Atom to Mohenjo Daro Racing to Digital World. Motilal Banarsidass Publishing House. pp. 130–134. ISBN 9789356763340.
  7. ↑ Singh, Harbhajan (1997). "Medieval Punjabi Literature - The Prose Writings". In Paniker, K. Ayyappa (ed.). Medieval Indian Literature: An Anthology. Vol. I: Surveys and Selections. Translated by Neki, J. S. Sahitya Akademi. pp. 86, 420, 450. ISBN 9788126003655.
  8. ↑ "18 Oldest Book in Punjabi Literature". Herald of Library Science. Vol. 10. Sarada Ranganathan Endowment for Library Science. P.N. Kaula at the Eureka Publications. 1971. p. 393. A 700 old manuscript entitled "Ekadashi Mahatam," believed to be the oldest book in Punjabi literature, has been discovered by Dr Tarlochan Singh of Tanda Urmar Government College, Patiala. The script of the manuscript is something between Sharda and Gurumukhi which can be called "Devashesha" or some form of evolving Gurmukhi ...{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  9. ↑ Bedi, Tarlochan Singh (1999). Guramukhī lipī dā janama te wikāsa: Bhāratī purā lekhāṃ de sandarabha wica ਗੁਰਮੁਖੀ ਲਿਪੀ ਦਾ ਜਨਮ ਤੇ ਵਿਕਾਸ (ਭਾਰਤੀ ਪੁਰਾ ਲੇਖਾ ਦੇ ਸੰਦਰਭ ਵਿਚ) [Origin and Development of Gurmukhi Script (In the Context of Indian Epigraphy/Paleography)] (in Punjabi). Publication Bureau, Punjabi University, Patiala.
  10. ↑ Williams, Tyler W. (1 October 2024). "FASHIONING THE GURU FROM PAPER AND INK: SCRIPTURE IN MANUSCRIPT". If All the World Were Paper: A History of Writing in Hindi. Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231558754.

Further reading

  • Ojha, Gauri Shankar Hira Chand, 1962, Bharti Prachin Lipi Mala (Ed. Jagdish Chand & Others), Patiala: Bhasha Vibhag Punjab.
  • Singh, G.B., 1950, Gurmukhi Lipi Da Janam te Vikas, Chandigarh: Punjab University.
  • Singh, Pritam, 1958, Gurmukhi Lipi Di Utpati te Vikas, Ludhiana: Lahore Book Shop.
  • Bedi, Tarlochan Singh, 1999, Gurmukhi Lipi da Janam te Vikas, Patiala: Punjabi University.
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