Tirhuta script

The Tirhuta script (Maithili:𑒞𑒱𑒩𑒯𑒳𑒞𑒰‎,romanized:tirahutā), also known as Mithilakshar (Maithili:𑒧𑒱𑒟𑒱𑒪𑒰𑒏𑓂𑒭𑒩,romanized:mithilākṣar) or Maithili script, or Vaidehi script has historically been used for writing Maithili, an Indo-Aryan language spoken by almost 35 million people of Mithila region. The scripts of Maithili and Bengali are very much similar. Maithili, Bengali, Assamese, Newari, and Odia are a part of the same family of scripts.

History

The Lalitavistara, an ancient Buddhist text, mentions the Vaidehi script. A significant transformation occurred in the northeastern alphabet in the latter half of the 7th century AD. This evolution is first evident in the inscriptions of Adityasena. The eastern variant of this transformed script subsequently developed into the Maithili script, which gained prominence in regions like Assam, Bengal, and Nepal, and is also called the Gaudiya script.

Mithilakshar or Tirhuta is one of the scripts of the broader Eastern South Asia. It had come to its current shape by the 10th century AD. The oldest form of Mithilakshar is also found in the Sahodara stone inscriptions of 950 AD. The script has been used throughout Mithila from Champaran to Deoghar. A fragmentary inscription found in Simraungadh, the medieval capital of the Karnats of Mithila which dates back to the 12th century in Tirhuta script is also one of the oldest evidence of this script. The script became distinguished from the Bengali, Oriya and Newari scripts by the 14th century. Evidenced by inscriptions, the early Maithili and Oriya scripts were very similar up until the 15th century.

• Mandar Parvat inscriptions of 7th century AD, showing Tirhuta script
• Sahodara Inscription in Maithili script of 950 AD, Sahodara temple in West Champaran Bihar
• 12th Century Stone inscription from Simroungarh showing early Tirhuta writing

Current status

The use of this script has been declining in the last 100 years, which is the primary reason for the Mithila culture's decline. Despite its constitutional status, the development of the Maithili language is hindered by the lack of a widely used script.

Nowadays, the Maithili language is written almost exclusively in the Devanagari script, although Tirhuta is still sometimes used by religious Pundits and some culture-conscious families for writing ceremonial letters (pātā), documents & cultural affair, and efforts are underway to broaden the scope of its usage.

In the early 20th century some Sanskrit works were printed in this script through lithographic process. Later on Pusk Bhandar, Laheriasarai managed to forge a set of types and published a few works in Tirhuta, but could not go ahead. In the middle of the last century, All India Maithili Conference came with a new set of types and used it in the prestigious publication of Brihat Maithili Shabdakosha.

The official recognition of Maithili as one of the 14 provincial official languages of Nepal and its inclusion in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India in 2003 have established it as a language with an independent identity. However, currently Maithili in the Devanagari script is officially recognised.

In the year 2013, a campaign called Mithilakshar Saksharta Abhiyan, for the literacy of the script among the common people in the Mithila region, was started. In June 2014, the Tirhuta script was added to the Unicode Standard from version 7.0. Although there is limited electronic font support, digitalisation efforts have started.

Letters

Consonants

Most of the consonant letters are effectively identical to Bengali–Assamese, with the exception of 7 of the 33 letters: ⟨jh, ṭ, ḍh, ṇ, l, ś, h⟩, marked in blue text color. The consonants, along with their IAST and IPA transcriptions, are provided below.

Vowels

Other signs

Numerals

Tirhuta script uses its own signs for the positional decimal numeral system.

Image Gallery

Visual representation of the Maithili script, from its early inscriptions to contemporary handwriting.

• 7th Century AD, Mandar Parvat inscriptions of Tirhuta
• Tirhuta script found on Mandar Parvat
• Image showing early Tirhuta writing in 7th century AD, Mandar Hills inscriptions
• Table showing various alphabets used in Mithila
• Varṇa Ratnākara manuscript in Maithili script
• A Sanskrit Shloka written in three characters of Mithila
• Hand written Mithilakshara scripts
• Inscription of King Narasimha of the Oinwar dynasty in the Tirhuta script at the Kandaha Sun Temple in the Kandaha village of Saharsa district, (c. 1435 A.D.)

Unicode

Tirhuta script was added to the Unicode Standard in June 2014 with the release of version 7.0.

The Unicode block for Tirhuta is U+11480–U+114DF:

External links