Why is the devanagari script special? Is it “Hindi imposition” to use devanagari? Is it some recently imposed script for Sanskrit? Is it younger than “Urdu” script? The answer to all this is no!
Devanagari is primus inter pares (first amongst equals) for some reasons.
Devanagari is primus inter pares (first amongst equals) for some reasons.
The script used to write Hindi is called the देवनागरी script. It is a direct descendant of the Brahmi script, from which every script in India descends. The father script of देवनागरी is Siddhamatṛka — Siddham was a pan-Indian quasi-national script. DN inherited this role from it
Siddham was used to write Sanskrit not only in northern & eastern India but also in the west. Occassionally seen even in the far south (Paṭṭadakal biscript inscription). Siddham was a quasi-national script.
The daughter of Siddham, devanagari, inherited this role as a quasi-national script to write Sanskrit across India for epigraphic & literary purposes by the 11th century. It is the closest thing to a national script for writing Sanskrit in India.
The cultural, literary & epigraphic literature of devanagari in Sanskrit, it’s widespread utility & that of it’s parent Siddham is a testament to it’s value as a quasi-national script. It is of course centuries older than any urdu script.
