JacksonCazaly4 at 04:15, 23 April 2026

2026-04-23T04:15:56Z

New page

{{Short description|Brahmic writing system}}
{{Unreliable sources|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox Writing system
| name = '''Pallava script'''
| type = [[Abugida]]
| languages = [[Tamil language|Tamil]], [[Sanskrit]], [[Telugu Language|Telugu]], [[Kannada]], [[Konkani Language|Konkani]], [[Marathi Language|Marathi]], [[Old Khmer]], [[Old Malay]], [[Burmese language|Burmese]], [[Thai language|Thai]], [[Sinhala language|Sinhala]], [[Lao language|Lao]], [[Mon language|Mon]], [[Balinese language|Balinese]], etc.
| time = 4th century CE to Present<ref name="griffiths"/>
| fam1 = [[Egyptian hieroglyphs]]
| fam2 = [[Proto-Sinaitic script|Proto-Sinaitic]]
| fam3 = [[Phoenician alphabet|Phoenician]]
| fam4 = [[Aramaic alphabet|Aramaic]] (debated)
| fam5 = [[Brahmi script|Brāhmī]]
| fam6 = [[Tamil-Brahmi]]
| sisters = [[Vatteluttu|Vattezhuthu]], [[Koleluttu|Kolezhuthu]]
| children = [[Tamil script|Tamil]], [[Grantha script|Grantha]], [[Mon-Burmese script|Mon-Burmese]], [[Khmer alphabet|Khmer]], [[Cham script|Cham]], [[Kawi script|Kawi]]
| sample = Pallava aksharamala.png
| imagesize =
| caption = Pallava Script Chart in modern font
| iso15924 =
}}
{{brahmic}}

The '''Pallava script''', or '''Pallava Grantha''', named after the [[Pallava dynasty]] of [[South India|Southern India]] ([[Tamilakam]]) and is attested to since the 4th century CE. The Pallava script evolved from [[Tamil-Brahmi]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Salomon |first1=Richard |title=Indian Epigraphy |date=1998 |page=40}}</ref> It was used to originally write [[Tamil language|Tamil]] and [[Sanskrit]] texts {{Spaced en dash}} the court languages of Pallavas, thus, it features glyphs to render the sounds of both languages. Both the [[Tamil script]] via the intermediate script/step called Chozha-Pallava-Script<ref name=":2">[https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/romadict.pl?table=tamil-lex&page=148&display=utf8 University of Madras Tamil Lexicon, page 148: "{{lang|ta|அலியெழுத்து}} [ {{transliteration|ta|ISO|aliyeḻuttu}} ] n {{transliteration|ta|ISO|ali-y-eḻuttu}} . < {{lang|ta|அலி}}¹ +. 1. The letter {{lang|ta|ஃ}}, as being regarded as neither a vowel nor a consonant; {{lang|ta|ஆய்தம்}}. ({{lang|ta|வெண்பாப். முதன்மொ. 6, உரை.}}) 2. Consonants; {{lang|ta|மெய்யெ ழுத்து. (பிங்.).}}"]{{Dead link|date=July 2025|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref><ref name="griffiths2">{{cite web |last1=Griffiths |first1=Arlo |date=2014 |title=Early Indic Inscriptions of Southeast Asia |url=https://www.academia.edu/6301451 |url-access=registration}}</ref> and [[Grantha script]] have originated from the Pallava script.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.omniglot.com/writing/grantha.htm |title=Grantha alphabet |access-date=13 September 2018}}</ref>

Pallava also [[Indianization of Southeast Asia|spread to Southeast Asia]] and evolved into scripts such as [[Balinese script|Balinese]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.omniglot.com/writing/balinese.htm |title=Balinese alphabet |access-date=13 July 2019}}</ref> [[Baybayin]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Tagalog|url=https://www.omniglot.com/writing/tagalog.htm|access-date=13 September 2018}}</ref> [[Javanese script|Javanese]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.omniglot.com/writing/javanese.htm |title=Javanese alphabet |access-date=13 September 2018}}</ref> [[Kawi alphabet|Kawi]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.omniglot.com/writing/kawi.htm |title=Kawi alphabet |access-date=13 September 2018}}</ref> [[Khmer alphabet|Khmer]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Khmer|url=https://www.omniglot.com/writing/khmer.htm|access-date=13 September 2018}}</ref> [[Tai Tham alphabet|Lanna]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Lanna alphabet|url=https://www.omniglot.com/writing/lanna.htm|access-date=13 September 2018}}</ref> [[Lao alphabet|Lao]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Lao|url=https://www.omniglot.com/writing/lao.htm|access-date=13 September 2018}}</ref> [[Mon–Burmese script|Mon–Burmese]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.omniglot.com/writing/mon.htm |title=Mon |access-date=13 September 2018}}</ref> [[New Tai Lue alphabet|New Tai Lue]],<ref>{{cite web|title=New Tai Lue script|url=https://www.omniglot.com/writing/tailue.htm|access-date=13 September 2018}}</ref> [[Sundanese script|Sundanese]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Sundanese|url=https://www.omniglot.com/writing/sundanese.php|access-date=13 September 2018}}</ref> and [[Thai alphabet|Thai]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.omniglot.com/writing/thai.htm |title=Thai |access-date=13 September 2018}}</ref> This script is the sister of the [[Vatteluttu script]] which was also used to write Tamil and Malayalam in the past.<ref name="coulmas">{{Cite book|last1=Coulmas|first1=Florian|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y3KdxBqjg5cC|title=The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Writing Systems|year=1999|isbn=9780631214816|page=542|publisher=Blackwell Publishing}}</ref>

Epigrapher Arlo Griffiths argues that the name of the script is misleading as not all of the relevant scripts referred to have a connection with the Pallava dynasty. He instead advocates that these scripts be called '''Late Southern Brāhmī''' scripts.<ref name="griffiths">{{Cite book |last=Griffiths |first=Arlo |url=https://www.academia.edu/6301451 |title=LOST KINGDOMS: Hindu-Buddhist Sculpture of Early Southeast Asia |publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |year=2014 |isbn=9781588395245 |location=New York |chapter=53-57}}</ref>

==History==
During the rule of the [[Pallavas]], the script accompanied priests, monks, scholars, and traders into [[Southeast Asia]]. Pallavas developed the Pallava script based on [[Tamil-Brahmi]]. The main characteristics of the newer script are aesthetically matched and fuller consonant glyphs, similarly visible in the writing systems of Chalukya,<ref>{{Cite web| title=Western Calukya script | year=690 | url=http://www.skyknowledge.com/burnell-plate4.gif | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110215233625/http://www.skyknowledge.com/burnell-plate4.gif | archive-date=2011-02-15}}</ref> Kadamba, and Vengi at the time of Ikshvakus. Brahmi's design was slightly different from the scripts of Cholas, Pandyas, and Cheras. Pallava script was the first significant development of Brahmi in India, combining rounded and rectangular strokes and adding typographical effects, and was suitable for civic and religious inscriptions.

It served as parent script for several modern-day-scripts, such as Chozha-Pallava-Script, which ultimately gave rise to [[Tamil script]] and also [[Grantha script]]. Once the Pallava dynasty was integrated via the conquest by [[Aditya I]] in 897 CE,<ref>{{citation |author=Gabriel Jouveau-Dubreuil |title=The Pallavas |page=83 |publisher=Asian Educational Services, 1995 - Art, Indic - 86 pages}}</ref> which laid the foundation for the future [[Chola Empire]] {{Spaced en dash}} the Chozha-Pallava was subsequently developed under that dynasty and replaced both the Pallava and Grantha scripts to write Tamil texts, whereas Grantha remained to be in usage for rendering [[Manipravalam]] texts.<ref name="New York, Springer">{{cite book |last1=Blackburn |first1=Stuart |title=Print, folklore, and nationalism in colonial South India |publisher=New York, Springer |year=2006 |page=29 |quote=After about AD 1500, translations from Sanskrit did appear, and unassimilated words began to flood literary Malayalam; eventually a hybrid idiom (''manipravalam'') mixing Sanskrit and tamil words, and Sanskrit words with tamil inflections, was devised}}</ref> It also supplanted the [[Vatteluttu]], when the [[Pandya dynasty|Pandya Nadu]] in {{circa|850 CE}} was conquered by the Cholas as well.<ref name=":24">Sastri, K. A. Nilakanta. (1958, second ed.) ''A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar.'' Madras, Oxford University Press. 167–68.</ref> The Chozha-Pallava script resembled the same glyph developments like its counterpart Grantha script, but it didn't feature any foreign sounds from Sanskrit, thus, simplifying the script and ultimately becoming the modern-day Tamil script.<ref name=":2" /><ref name="griffiths2" />

''Kadamba-Pallava script''<ref name="skynowledge">{{cite web|url=http://www.skyknowledge.com/pallava.htm |title=Pallava script |publisher=Skyknowledge.com |date=2014-02-02 |access-date=2014-03-13}}</ref> evolved into early forms of [[Telugu-Kannada script|Kannada and Telugu scripts]]. Glyphs become more rounded and incorporate loops because of writing upon leaves and paper.<ref name="skynowledge" />

The script is not yet a part of [[Unicode]] but proposals have been made to include it. In 2018, Anshuman Pandey made a proposal.<ref name=":0">Pandey, Anshuman. (2018). ''[https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2018/18083-pallava.pdf Preliminary proposal to encode Pallava in Unicode]''.</ref>

==Characteristics==
The form shown here is based on examples from the 7th century CE. Letters labeled * have uncertain sound value, as they have little occurrence in Southeast Asia.

===Consonants===
[[File:Shukla Pallava.svg|thumb|right|The word "Pallava" written in modern Pallava font]]
Each consonant has an inherent /a/, which will be sounded if no vowel sign is attached. If two consonants follow one another without intervening vowel, the second consonant is made into a subscript form, and attached below the first.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! ka || kha || ga || gha || nga
|-
| [[File:Pallava Ka.svg|x40px]] || [[File:Pallava Kha.svg|x40px]] || [[File:Pallava Ga.svg|x40px]] || [[File:Pallava Gha.svg|x40px]] || [[File:Pallava Nga.svg|x40px]]
|-
! ca || cha ||ja ||jha* || ña
|-
|[[File:Pallava Ca.svg|x40px]]
|[[File:Pallava Cha.svg|x40px]]
|[[File:Pallava Ja.svg|x40px]]
|[[File:Pallava Jha.svg|x40px]]
|[[File:Pallava Nya.svg|x40px]]
|-
! ṭa || ṭha* ||ḍa ||ḍha* ||ṇa
|-
|[[File:Pallava Tta.svg|x40px]]
|[[File:Pallava Ttha.svg|x40px]]
|[[File:Pallava Dda.svg|x40px]]
|[[File:Pallava Ddha.svg|x40px]]
|[[File:Pallava Nna.svg|x40px]]
|-
! ta ||tha || da || dha || na
|-
|[[File:Pallava Ta.svg|x40px]]
|[[File:Pallava Tha.svg|x40px]]
|[[File:Pallava Da.svg|x40px]]
|[[File:Pallava Dha.svg|x40px]]
|[[File:Pallava Na.svg|x40px]]
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| pa || pha || ba || bha || ma
|-
|[[File:Pallava Pa.svg|x40px]]||[[File:Pallava Pha.svg|x40px]]||[[File:Pallava Ba.svg|x40px]]||[[File:Pallava Bha.svg|x40px]]||[[File:Pallava Ma.svg|x40px]]
|-
! ya || ra || la || va ||
|-
|[[File:Pallava Ya.svg|x40px]]
|[[File:Pallava Ra.svg|x40px]]
|[[File:Pallava La.svg|x40px]]
|[[File:Pallava Va.svg|x40px]]
|
|-
|śa || ṣa || sa || ha ||
|-
|[[File:Pallava Sha.svg|x40px]]
|[[File:Pallava Ssa.svg|x40px]]
|[[File:Pallava Sa.svg|x40px]]
|[[File:Pallava Ha.svg|x40px]]
|
|}

===Independent Vowels===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
! a || ā || i || ī || u || e || o || ai* || au*
|-
| [[File:Pallava A.svg|x40px]] || [[File:Pallava Aa.svg|x40px]] || [[File:Pallava I.svg|x40px]] || [[File:Pallava Ii.svg|x40px]] || [[File:Pallava U.svg|x40px]] || [[File:Pallava E.svg|x40px]] || [[File:Pallava O.svg|x40px]] || [[File:Pallava Ai.svg|x40px]] || [[File:Pallava Au.svg|x40px]]
|}

==Examples==
{{gallery
|File:Huruf Pallawa.JPG|Kadamba-Pallava script
|File:India - Kanchipuram - 020 (2243370563) (cropped).jpg|Pallava script at the 8th century [[Kanchi Kailasanathar Temple|Kailasanatha temple]] in [[Kanchipuram]], [[Tamil Nadu]].
|File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Beschreven steen bij de onderneming Semplak Buitenzorg TMnr 60016469.jpg|The [[Ciaruteun inscription]], a 5th-century Pallava stone inscription discovered in [[Indonesia]]
|File:kutai Prasasti of Mulawarman.JPG|One of the oldest inscriptions discovered in [[Indonesia]], the [[Yūpa #Yūpa inscription in Indonesia|Yūpa inscriptions]] of King [[Mulavarman]], king of [[Kutai|Kutai Martadipura]] written in the [[4th century AD]]}}

==Unicode==
A proposal to encode the script in [[Unicode]] was submitted in 2018.<ref name=":0" />

==References==
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
<references/>
{{div col end}}

==Bibliography==
*[[C. Sivarama Murti|Sivaramamurti, C]], ''Indian Epigraphy and South Indian Scripts.'' Bulletin of the Madras Government Museum. Chennai 1999

==External links==
* {{commons category-inline|Pallava script}}

{{list of writing systems}}

[[Category:4th-century introductions]]
[[Category:Obsolete writing systems]]
[[Category:Brahmic scripts]]
[[Category:Pallava Empire]]

Pallava script - Revision history

JacksonCazaly4 at 04:15, 23 April 2026