Kashmiri Shaivaite manuscript (17th or 18th century)
The Sharada script is an abugida writing system of the Brahmic family of scripts, developed from ca. the 8th century. It is closely related, and predating, Devanagari. Originally more widespread, its use became later restricted to Kashmir, and it is now rarely used at all. The name sharada means "autumnal".
Like the Brahmi and the Kharoshti in the ancient period, the Sharadascript in the early medieval period formed a vital link in the chain of communication of ideas, knowledge, and culture among the states comprised in the Western Hirnalayan region.
While the use of the Sharada alphabet in the inscriptions dates from the 8th century A.D. its use in the manuscripts, however, is not known earlier than the 12th century when we find it first used in a manuscript discovered from the village Bakhshali in the Peshawar district of Pakistan11.
Deambi, Kaul, B.K., Corpus of the Sharada Inscriptions of Kashmir.
The Proto-Gurmukhi letters evolved through the Gupta script, from 4th to 8th century, followed by the Sharadascript, from 8th century onwards, and finally adapted their archaic form in the Devasesha stage of the Later Sharadascript, dated between the 10th and 14th centuries.
Also Takri was a script that developed through the Devasesha stage of the Sharadascript, and is found mainly in the Hill States, such as Chamba, where it is called Chambyali and in Jammu, where it is known as Dogri.
Later in the 20th century, the script was given the authority as the official script of the Eastern Punjabi language.
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