Bhaiksuki alphabet

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Bhaiksuki
Type
Languages Sanskrit
Time period
c. 11th–12th century AD [1]
Parent systems
Brāhmī
Sister systems
Sharada
Devanagari
Direction Left-to-right
ISO 15924 Bhks, 334

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Bhaiksuki (Sanskrit: भैक्षुकी) is a Brahmi-based script that was used around the 11th and 12th centuries CE. It used to be known in English as the "Arrow-Headed Script" or "Point-Headed Script," while an older designation, "Sindhura," had been used in Tibet for at least three centuries.[2] Records showing usage of the script mainly appeared in the present-day states of Bihar and West Bengal in India, and in regions of Bangladesh. Records have also been located in Tibet, Nepal, and Burma.

Bhaiksuki has been accepted for inclusion in a future version of Unicode.[3]

Extant manuscripts

The script is found exclusively in Buddhist texts. According to the Unicode proposal, "Only eleven inscriptions and four manuscripts written in this script are known to exist. These are the Bhaiksuki manuscripts of the Abhidharmasamuccayakārikā, Maṇicūḍajātaka, Candrālaṃkāra, and at least one more Buddhist canonical text. The codex of the Abhidharmasamuccayakārikā was once kept in Tibet, but it is now inaccessible and its exact place of preservation is unknown. The fourth codex was discovered in Tibet and was recently shown in a Chinese documentary; however, information about this manuscript is limited."[2]

Sanskrit is the main language written in this script. It is strongly related to the Devanagari and Sharada scripts.

References

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  2. 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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