Brahmi Script:

Origins in the Indus Valley

Louis L. Merriam

louis.merriam@gmail.com
Sidwell Friends School
Washington, DC 20016

Jan 7, 2023

Working draft: Please do not cite without permission.

 Origin of the Brahmi Script

The Brahmi script was one of the most influential writing systems in the world.

Developed in the Iron Age, it was India’s first alphabetic writing system and was the

parent to nearly every South Asian script that followed it (Patel et al., 2007). While the

origins of Brahmi have been debated for well over a century (Bühler, 1898), this issue is

far from settled. One proposal is that Brahmi emerged from the Aramaic script of the

Achaemenid Empire (Salomon, 1998). According to this theory, when the Achaemenids

invaded India in 535 BCE (Curtis & Tallis, 2005), they introduced their writing system,

which then evolved into Brahmi and was altered to match Prakrit sounds (Salomon,

1998). A competing proposal holds that Brahmi emerged from the Indus script, a Bronze

Age writing system used by inhabitants of the Indus River Valley Civilization (Salomon,

1998). While there are shortcomings with both proposals, this paper will provide new

insights relating to the timeline of events, comparisons of symbols, and archaeological

evidence indicating that Brahmi most likely emerged from the Indus script.

The Aramaic script, like Brahmi, was the parent of a number of important writing

systems that followed, influencing the Hebrew, Mongolian, Manchu, and Arabic scripts

(Daniels & Bright, 1996). The script itself descended from the Phoenician alphabet

(Daniels & Bright, 1996), which in turn emerged from the Egyptian Hieroglyphs (Fischer,

2004). The script spread around the Middle East during the Assyrian empire, and was

adopted by the Achaemenid empire (Aramaic Alphabet | Britannica, n.d.), which

invaded India in the year 535 BCE under the reign of Cyrus the Great (Curtis & Tallis,

2005). However, it was only under Darius the Great who reigned between 522-486 BCE

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 Origin of the Brahmi Script

(Curtis & Tallis, 2005) that the Achaemenids truly established a foothold in India,

conquering the Sindh Valley in what is now Pakistan. The Persians had an enormous

influence on Indian culture, and Achaemenid sites like Taxila would play a vital role in

Indian history (Fleming, n.d.). However, the idea that the Achaemenids influenced

Brahmi is problematic for a multitude of reasons discussed below.

Evaluating the Aramaic Origin Hypothesis

There are several challenges to the Aramaic Origin Hypothesis. The first

concerns the timeline of events relating to the Achaemenid invasion of India and the

emergence of the Brahmi script. According to the Aramaic hypothesis, the

Achaemenids, who invaded Northwest India in 535 BCE (Curtis & Tallis, 2005),

introduced their writing system to the kingdoms of Northern India. However, there is no

archaeological evidence of writing in Northern India until the campaigns of King Ashoka

at around 268-232 BCE (Salomon, 1998). Although not necessarily a reliable source,

the Greek ambassador Megasthenes clearly stated that there was no writing system

within the Mauryan state just 25 years before Ashoka’s reign and that all tasks were

performed from memory (Strabo, Geography, BOOK XV., CHAPTER I., Section 53,

n.d.). This would then indicate that Ashoka’s court itself was inspired by Aramaic and

designed the Brahmi script around 250 BCE. However, while writing was for the most

part nonexistent in Northern India from the collapse of the Indus Civilization until

approximately 250 BCE, early Brahmi writings appeared in Southern India from around

500 BCE on pottery sherds. For example, in the city of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka,

inscriptions dating from at least the 4th century BCE have been found (Coningham et

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 Origin of the Brahmi Script

al., 1996), and other sites, like Poruntal in Tamil Nadu, have also yielded important finds

dating from between 520-490 BCE (Rajan & V. P. Yatheeskumar, n.d.) and some results

from Keezhadi go as far back as 580 BCE. Though there is some debate over the

precise dating of these finds, and varying political interests have interfered with this

research, it can be agreed that Tamil Brahmi existed from at least 500 BCE (Rajan & V.

P. Yatheeskumar, n.d.). Therefore, how could Southern India have had writing centuries

before Northern India, when Northern India was supposed to be the region that was

introduced to Aramaic first?

Furthermore, North India developed its own script around the 3rd century BCE,

the Kharosthi script, which was used in the region of Gandhar. This script is generally

agreed to have come from Aramaic and was introduced by the Persians, like how

Brahmi supposedly emerged according to the Aramaic Origin Hypothesis (Violatti, n.d.).

However, Brahmi and Kharosthi share very few similarities even though they both

supposedly came from Aramaic according to the hypothesis. As many researchers have

pointed out, it is unclear why two extremely different scripts would emerge from Aramaic

in India (Salomon, 1998). What seems to be more likely is that these two scripts came

from different places, one that was influenced by Aramaic in Northern India and one that

wasn’t.

Another major problem with this hypothesis concerns fundamental differences

between the two scripts. For example, Brahmi has 40 letters while the Aramaic alphabet

has only 22 (Balasubramanian, 2015); Brahmi contains vowels while Aramaic has none;

Brahmi is an Abugida (a script where diacritics alter the consonant to add a vowel

sound) while Aramaic is an Abjad (no vowels, just consonants). Lastly, if Brahmi did

4
 Origin of the Brahmi Script

come from Aramaic, one would expect to see more resemblance between the

characters of the two scripts. But instead, Brahmi bears little similarity with Aramaic

symbols (Balasubramanian, 2015). Brahmi and Aramaic do share a few noteworthy

similarities, so it is conceivable that Brahmi is a very distant relative of Aramaic. But the

theory states that Aramaic was the direct ancestor, and as I have shown above, this

assertion is without merit. It is also possible that Brahmi evolved from Aramaic over a

long period of time explaining the fundamental differences between the two scripts but

there have been no intermediate stages between Brahmi and Aramaic that have been

found. Furthermore, the Achaemenid Empire which supposedly introduced the Aramaic

script to India only invaded India in 535 BCE at the earliest which was around the same

time as the first Tamil Brahmi inscriptions, meaning that if Aramaic was introduced by

the Achaemenids it would have had to evolve and spread greatly in the span of a few

years.

Mahasthan, Piprahwa, and Sohgaura

While there are no conclusive North Indian examples of writing prior to Ashoka and after

the Indus River Valley Civilization there are a few examples of possibly pre-Ashokan

Brahmi. The Sohgaura inscription, written on a copper plate, is a brief description of two

storehouses. Several researchers have proposed that this inscription predates Ashoka

though judging by the grammatical structure of the writing it appears to be

Post-Ashokan (Sircar, 1942). The Mahasthan inscription is a fragmentary inscription

written on limestone describing an order by some ruler to a Mahamatra, a high ranking

official appointed by Ashoka, about how to conduct famine relief (Singh, 2008). The

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 Origin of the Brahmi Script

translation is debatable but it seems very likely that this inscription was given out during

the reign of Ashoka to some Mahamatra when a famine occurred. The third inscription

is the Piprahwa inscription, the inscription is written on a vase claiming to contain ashes

of the Buddha. The Buddha is generally agreed to have died at around 500 BCE, the

Piprahwa Stupa is also agreed to have been constructed around this time. However,

after his conversion to Buddhism, Emperor Ashoka constructed many stupas and

redistributed Buddha's relics (Strong, 1989), likely explaining this inscription as being

Ashokan.

The Indus Script

The Indus script is much more of a mystery than Aramaic. While multiple theories

have been proposed, it is most likely that the people of the Indus Valley Civilization

spoke a Dravidian language (Parpola, 2009) with many words that would be adopted

into Sanskrit. The writing was also probably Logo-Syllabic due to the work of Asko

Parpola (Parpola, 2009), meaning that each character had a symbolic or syllabic value.

Despite these advances, the script remains undeciphered and much of a mystery to

historians.

Most of the writing from this period comes from the famous seals of the Indus

River Valley Civilization; however, by the end of the Late Harappan Period between

1900 BCE and 1500 BCE, writing had vanished from seals (B. B. Lal, 1960). By the

collapse of the Indus River Valley Civilization around 1500 BCE, the Indus script had

gone completely extinct. For a long period, writing had practically disappeared as a

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 Origin of the Brahmi Script

whole from the subcontinent with the exception of a handful of markings found in

various South Indian megalithic burial sites and a few other inscriptions like the

Vikramkhol Cave Inscription. The Megalithic Graffiti Symbols, the markings found in

burials and on pottery, were observed to have a strong correspondence with the Indus

script (B. B. Lal, 1960).

The Brahmi script came from the Megalithic Graffiti Symbols which in turn came

from the Indus script.

I have already stated that inscriptions in Brahmi have been found in Southern

India and Sri Lanka as far back as 600-500 BCE (Coningham et al., 1996); this variant

of Southern Brahmi has been given the name Damili or Tamil Brahmi (Salomon, 1998).

During this period it appears that Graffiti symbols are used interchangeably with what is

an early form of the Tamil Brahmi. An example would be the Anaikoddai Seal, which

possesses both scripts:

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 Origin of the Brahmi Script

As previously mentioned, the Graffiti symbols were related to the Indus script. It seems

that eventually, the Megalithic Graffiti Symbols evolved into Tamil Brahmi. An inscription

found at the Late Harappan site of Bet Dwarka, discovered by S. R. Rao (Rao, 1987),

may provide some evidence in support of this:

As others have pointed out, the symbol on the right of the Dwarka inscription resembles

the Tamil Brahmi M(a) letter. This shows that the later Indus script was beginning to

evolve more towards Tamil Brahmi. Furthermore, the symbol seems to be an evolved

version of the common Indus sign , which has been decoded as ‘fish’ by Asko

Parpola (Parpola, 2009). The Dravidic word for fish is Meen (Parpola, 2009), while the

Sanskrit word for fish is Matsya, likely being a loan word from the Indus or Bactria. In

either case, both words start with ‘M’ like the Tamil Brahmi M(a) letter. In the same way

the Egyptian hieroglyphs eventually evolved into an alphabet, something similar likely

happened to the Indus script. Meen over time became M(a).

Following this logic, we can compare already deciphered Indus signs with Brahmi

to find similar values as others like Dr. Ramkumar Unnipillai Santhakumari have

attempted (Santhakumari, 2020). is a common Indus sign, likely meaning spear as

8
 Origin of the Brahmi Script

deciphered by Iravatham Mahadevan and Asko Parpola (Parpola, 1997). Spears play

an important role in Tamil culture, they are wielded by the god Kartikeya and are

associated with chiefs and kings. It also appears that the spear was one of the key

weapons of the relatively peaceful Indus Civilization. Several seals depict warriors with

spears and a figurine shows a man thrusting or throwing a javelin. The word for spear is

‘vel’ or ‘vellan’ in Dravidian. The Brahmi letter​ V(a) bears similarity to the Indus sign.

Another example would be with the boat sign ; in Proto-Dravidian, the word for boat

is either Ota or Otam. This sign also resembles the Brahmi symbol T(a). The Indus

character probably means person or man. In Dravidian, this would most likely be

āl/ān, the sign resembles the Brahmi letter (ā). Lastly, this common Indus sign, ,

probably means pot/container. This was probably called Panai or bān, though this could

be debated as there are many other ways to say pot, such as kalam, kal, or akal; these

signs also likely meant measurement, as well as meaning priest, as suggested by

Iravatham Mahadevan. In either case, the Tamil Brahmi letter for P(a) looks much alike:

A feature worth mentioning is the fact that many letters in Ashokan Brahmi have

altered versions with an added aspirate. For example, the symbol T(a) has an altered

version of Th(a). Most of these symbols do not seem to be entirely new characters

but rather changed versions of existing ones as proposed by Georg Bühler. Since these

aspirate versions do not exist in Tamil Brahmi it is likely they were developed later to

match Prakrit aspirate sounds.

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 Origin of the Brahmi Script

Pictorial value Indus Sign Tamil Brahmi Ashokan Brahmi Aramaic

Fish
(This link has also
been proposed by
Dr. Ramkumar
Unnipillai
Santhakumari.)

Meen M
M(a) Ma

Boat
(Hoda in Sanskrit
likely came from
this Dravidian
word.)

O’tam/O’ta/Od T(a) Ta T

Spear/throw/
sharp
(This can be
debated as this
reading only
appears in Tamil and
Malayalam.)

Vel/Vical V(a) Va V

Man
(Also deciphered by
Asko Parpola, the
sign also could have
meant servant, the
word for which is the
same as the word
for man.)

Ā’l/Ā’n Ā Ā A

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 Origin of the Brahmi Script

Vessel
(This can be
debated as there
are many other
ways to say pot.)

Ban/panai P(a) Pa P

The following are other potential connections:

Pictorial value Indus Sign Tamil Brahmi Ashokan Brahmi Aramaic

Hoe/spade/pick
(Very common Dravidian
word, it matches the
Indus character well
although the line that
goes between the two
intersecting lines cannot
be explained.)

Guntal G(a) Ga G
Carrying yoke as
proposed by Asko
Parpola
(This sign appears in a
more simplistic form
many times in the
Megalithic Graffiti
Symbols.)

Karai, kā, karal, K(a) Ka K

kav

Pregnant/womb
(Cul means pregnant, Kol
means womb in North
Dravidian while Kadu
means womb in Telugu.)

Cūl/kōl C(a) Ca Q

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 Origin of the Brahmi Script

Shoot/propel/thrust/ None
discharge
(Another word for this
could be Tunt which also
means to shoot, the D
Brahmi letter also
resembles this
character.)
Ey/Eri E E

Hammer/mallet None
(Samati which means
sledgehammer is also
possible.)

Sutti S(a) Sa

Legs/stem
(Another potential
meaning is thigh which
reads as Tud. The
meaning kick is also
possible which reads as
Toz. The word for walk is
Nata.)

Tāl T(a) Ta T

Fishhook none none

(Another potential
reading is koy which
means to reap. Kodavali
(sickle) and kond (bent)
are also possible.)

Kal Kha

Cow’s Head and None

possessive suffix
(This reading was proposed
by Asko Parpola, there is
much debate on the exact
meaning of this sign, others
have proposed that it is a jar
or vase but this seems
dubious as there already is a
jar sign.)
Ātu Ū Ū

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 Origin of the Brahmi Script

Mortar for husking

rice/pestle
(Note that the Munda
word for mortar is Svl
and the Sanskrit word for
pestle is Musala which
doesn’t seem to be an
Indo-Aryan word.)

Saval S(a) Sa
S

Dog None
(Fairly common root, nal
also means four.)

Ńal Ñ(a) Ña

Hill
(The Brahmi letter D
could also just be a
modification of the T
letter as they look similar
or could have come from
Tunt, which means to
shoot, as the letter looks
like a bow.)
Dip Dh(a) Dha D

One
(This word is an adjective
describing something,
the other word for one is
Ontu.)

Or R(a) Ra R

Space between two None

pillars
(Slightly dubious as
it only appears in
South Dravidian and
Telugu.)

Ankanam N(a) Na

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 Origin of the Brahmi Script

Signs that appear in Megalithic Graffiti but not in the Indus Script and other less

certain possibilities:

Pictorial value Megalithic Graffiti Tamil Brahmi Brahmi Aramaic

Symbol

Unknown,
possibly a Yoni or
an Elephant

Yoni/Yanai? Y(a) Ya Y

Plough, No symbols None None

which was called
Nangol

N(a)

Erect/straight, No symbols None

the word for this
was Niv

N(a) Na
Ear of paddy/corn
(This symbol could
also represent Shiva, a
major god in the
Dravidian pantheon
whose weapon is a
trident, the term Shiva
could have a Dravidian
etymology.)
Śer S(a) S(a) S

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 Origin of the Brahmi Script

Other inscriptions dated between the collapse of the Indus River Valley

Civilization and the emergence of Brahmi

While the Megalithic Graffiti Symbols are by far the most prevalent script found

after the collapse of the Indus Civilization, there are a few noteworthy exceptions that

need to be discussed, the first being the Vikramkhol Cave Inscription.

This inscription found in Odisha, dated to approximately 1500 BCE, is one of the most

significant examples of a possible writing system dated between the fall of the Indus

River Valley Civilization and Tamil Brahmi’s emergence (Carnac, 1933). It is very likely

that this is cave art of some kind though the proposal that this is some kind of writing

should be taken seriously (Salomon, 1998). Professor B. B. Lal is one of the greatest

proponents of the theory that this inscription represented some kind of Brahmi which is

15
 Origin of the Brahmi Script

logical as the symbols bear much resemblance to Brahmi in shape. It is also possible

that these are Megalithic Graffiti Symbols as many of the characters bear resemblance

to the graffiti, the only issue with this theory is that the inscription is in Odisha which is in

East India some 1,500 km away from the Indus Civilization which was collapsing during

this time. It is possible that Indus people could have traveled this far bringing some

variant of their script. In conclusion, this inscription was likely some form of cave art, if

not it could be Megalithic Graffiti judging by the likeness of the characters.

The second example of writing found between the fall of the Harappan

Civilization and the emergence of Brahmi is a copper anthropomorphic figure which

appears to have Brahmi writing on it (Kak, 2020).

The copper figure seems quite dubious as there are no inscriptions like it that have

been found. Assuming that this is from the Late Harappan Period or Copper Hoard

Culture the characters seem remarkably similar to Ashokan Brahmi, however, it could

still be the Indus script as most of the characters in the inscription have potential

counterparts in the Indus symbols. The unicorn motif also makes the inscription seem

related to the Indus Civilization as the unicorn motif is commonly occurring on Indus

16
 Origin of the Brahmi Script

Seals. For this inscription, given the information we have so far, it appears to be a late

version of the Indus Script used by the Copper Hoard Culture people in the Doab.

Evidence for the Migration of the Indus People

As we have now established a link between the Indus script and Brahmi script in

addition to explaining the various mysterious inscriptions that appear between the

collapse of the Indus River Valley Civilization and the creation of Brahmi, we can now

look for other evidences supporting the theory that the Indus people migrated south and

brought their script with them. One of the most beloved sages of South India and to the

Dravidians was Agastya, who supposedly led the Velir people from the city Dwarka.

This fits well with the theory that the Indus people traveled south bringing their script

from the Indus River Valley Civilization, as Dwarka was a Harappan settlement

(Mahadevan, n.d.). The Velir people were also a significant clan in South India, their

name Velir also could be related to the Vel, or spear, the aforementioned weapon that

seemed to be a character in the Indus script and a highly important weapon in the

peaceful Indus River Valley Civilization. Though this legend of a southern migration from

the Indus River Valley Civilization is just a myth, it provides some interesting possible

evidence to further support the theory that the Indus people brought their script with

them to Southern India, where it developed into Brahmi.

Other Possible Explanations for the Emergence of Brahmi

With the evidence given it does appear most likely that the Indus script

influenced Brahmi, however, there are a few other ways one could potentially interpret

17
 Origin of the Brahmi Script

the evidence. The first being that the South Indian peoples simply invented the Brahmi

script with no connection to the Indus script or the Megalithic Graffiti Symbols, this fits

well with the evidence showing that many Brahmi characters resemble Proto-Dravidian

words in shape and sound, however, this is still not much to go on if we assume that the

Dravidian peoples all of a sudden just created a script based on the sounds of certain

words in their language. There has always been a proposal that Ashoka or some other

individual designed Brahmi script out of nothing (Salomon, 1998) in a similar fashion to

how King Sejong of the Korean Joseon Kingdom designed the Korean script Hangul

(Hangul | Alphabet Chart & Pronunciation | Britannica, n.d.). However, this also seems

unlikely as we know the Brahmi script developed before Ashoka and any centralized

Indian state. It would have been incredibly hard to design and spread a script in a

decentralized culture. Furthermore, early Tamil Brahmi inscriptions used far from

standardized symbols with there being a variety of ways in which the characters were

written, making the theory that some single person created a standard script for

everyone's use unlikely. The one benefit of this theory is that many Brahmi symbols

have a geometric design indicating that they were created by a single person though

this doesn’t seem to outway the various flaws with this theory.

The second proposal that appears possible, though less so than the first, is that

the Phoenician script influenced Brahmi. Though this seems contrary to everything

stated so far, it seems far more likely than the Aramaic Hypothesis for a multitude of

reasons. This theory has also been proposed before and is one of the most significant

theories on the origin of the Brahmi script (Bühler, 1898). One of the biggest reasons

why Phoenician would be a more likely candidate for the emergence of Brahmi than

18
 Origin of the Brahmi Script

Aramaic is that the Phoenician alphabet simply resembles Brahmi more so than

Aramaic. Now it might seem unlikely that Phoenician, a script mostly used in the

Mediterranean, could have influenced Tamil Brahmi which was in use in South India,

however, both the Tamil and Phoenician people were adept traders. It is possible that

Tamil traders could have brought the script back to India and changed it significantly. Of

course it still seems very improbable that such a thing could have happened. The other

issue is that this theory contradicts much of the evidence shown before in this paper

promoting an Indus script origin. As you can see both of these theories are also

reasonable explanations, though the simplest and most evidenced is the Indus script

hypothesis.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Indus script was, in fact, the most likely forefather of Brahmi,

not the Aramaic script. As the civilization collapsed the writing began to change and

vary explaining the Copper Anthropomorphic Figure. Over time, the Indus script was

limited to pottery sherds, and slowly, as migrants of the civilization traveled southwards

and westwards, evidenced by the legend of Agastya and the Velir coming from Dwarka,

they brought their writing system with them, possibly explaining the Vikramkhol

inscription. These migrant peoples eventually settled in South and Central India,

continuing the use of their writing system. Eventually, these Megalithic Graffiti Symbols

would become early Tamil Brahmi as the syllabic sounds of the Indus script were

shortened to be single sounds. By 600 BCE, Southern India flourished under the

Sangam age and Tamil Brahmi had grown to be widespread. Finally, with the

19
 Origin of the Brahmi Script

campaigns of the Nanda and Mauryan Empires (250 BCE), Brahmi was introduced to

Northern India, where additional modifications were made, such as adding new

characters to match Prakrit sounds. These empires used Brahmi along with Kharosthi, a

script actually influenced by Aramaic in their imperial inscriptions and soon Brahmi

would evolve into dozens of South Asian writing systems. As one can see,

overwhelming evidence indicates a link between Brahmi and the Indus script.

20
 Origin of the Brahmi Script

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Violatti, C. (n.d.). Kharosthi Script. World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved January 3, 2023, from

https://www.worldhistory.org/Kharosthi_Script/

All Indus Signs-Corpus of Indus Seals and Inscriptions

Brahmi and Aramaic letters-Omniglot

Tamil Brahmi-Varied sources online provide images of Tamil inscriptions, Virtual Vinodh.

Megalithic Graffiti-From the Megalithic to the Harappa: Tracing Back the Graffiti on the

Pottery.

Etymologies were found using starlingdb.org Dravidian etymology, A Dravidian

Etymological Dictionary by T. Burrow & M. B. Emeneau, and online dictionaries of Tamil,

Kannada, Malayalam, and Telugu.

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