52 siglinde dietz
Kharo h originated sometime in the fourth or fth centuries BC.^18
Taxila, the capital of Gandhra, seems to have been the place of origin
of Kharo h.^19 After the reign of Aoka, Kharo h continued to be
the principal script in use in the northwest during the period of the
reigns of the Indo-Greek, Indo-Scythian, Indo-Parthian, and Kua
kings from the rst century BC to the second century AD. It appears
that the Kharo h script fell into disuse in this region during the third
century AD, but it may have continued to be used in the Tarim Basin,
where documents in this script were found together with others in the
Kuchean language dating to the seventh century.^20
Kharo h inscriptions^21 have been discovered as far west as Wardak
or Khawat on the Kabul River in Afghanistan and north of the
Hindukush, in ancient Bactria and nowadays Afghanistan (Qundus)
and in Uzbekistan (Termez) and Tajikistan (Anzhina-Tepe). Kharo h
inscriptions are sporadically found in the south and southwest as far
as Mohenjo-Daro and in Baluchistan as well as in the southeast, in the
region around Delhi and Mathur. In Northern India and adjoining
regions Kharo h script was in use for the coin legends of the Indo-
Greek and Scythian kings.^22 Third century AD Central Asian Kharo h
script served not only for epigraphic purposes, but also for the of cial
documents of the Shan-shan (Kroraina) kingdom in the Tarim Basin.
These documents were composed in a local variety of the Gndhr
(^18) The Kharo h script has some unique features which stand in contrast to all
other Indian scripts: Unlike the Indian Brhm it is written from right to left and has a
cursive ductus which according to R. Salomon seems to re ect an origin in a “clerk’s”
script. Furthermore it is top-oriented. Thus, the distinctive features of a character are
to be seen at its top. The script did not undergo any signi cant palaeographic changes
in the course of its development nor does it have local variants, except its Central
Asian variety. Dating inscriptions or manuscripts on the basis of the palaeographic
criteria is, therefore, quite dif cult. Cf. Salomon 1998a, p. 55; von Hinüber 2001,
p. 27. A reason for this might be the short-lived use of the Kharo h script within a
relatively limited area, lasting for only some ve centuries. There are also differences
in graphics between Brhm and Kharo h. The latter basically does not differentiate
between long and short vowels. Consonantal conjuncts or ligatures and consonantal
combinations, particularly those involving stops and sibilants, are prone to take special
and obscure or even wrong forms in Kharo h. Cf. Salomon 1998a, pp. 48f.; von
Hinüber 2003, pp. 8f.
(^19) Konow 1929, p. xiv.
(^20) Salomon 1998a, pp. 46–47.
(^21) Fussman 1989, pp. 444–451; Salomon 1998a, pp. 44–46.
(^22) It is noteworthy, that the coins of the Western Katrapas Nahpana and Ca ana
had legends in three different scripts, i.e., Greek, Brhm and Kharo h.