Transmission of Scripts and Administrative Languages: Brahmi to Persianate Records (c.3rd century BCE–17th century CE)

1. Achaemenid rule spreads Aramaic record practices

   Jan 1, 520 BCELabels: Achaemenid Empire, Aramaic

   • WHE Kharosthi
   • Aramean DEM

2. Ashoka issues Greek–Aramaic Kandahar edict

   Jan 1, 260 BCELabels: Ashoka, Kandahar Edict

   • Kandahar Edict
   • Edicts overview

3. Ashoka standardizes Prakrit in Brahmi inscriptions

   Jan 1, 257 BCELabels: Ashoka, Brahmi

   • Edicts overview
   • Brahmi script

4. Kharosthi used for Ashokan edicts in Gandhara

   Jan 1, 250 BCELabels: Kharosthi, Gandhara

   • UNESCO SBG
   • WHE Kharosthi

5. Kharosthi remains dominant in northwest inscriptions

   Jan 1, 200 BCELabels: Kharosthi, Northwest India

   • WHE Kharosthi
   • Kharosthi

6. Kushan era mixes scripts and languages for governance

   Jan 1, 125Labels: Kushan Empire, Bactrian

   • Iranica Kushan
   • Rabatak

7. Gupta script evolves from Brahmi

   Jan 1, 320Labels: Gupta Empire, Gupta script

   • Britannica Gupta
   • Gupta script

8. Prayag Prashasti models imperial Sanskrit epigraphy

   Jan 1, 375Labels: Prayag Prashasti, Samudragupta

   • Allahabad Pillar
   • Gupta script

9. Southern Brahmi line develops into Pallava script

   Jan 1, 400Labels: Pallava, Southern Brahmi

   • Pallava script
   • Grantha

10. Bilingual copper-plate grants formalize record culture

    Jan 1, 770Labels: Copper-plate grants, Velvikudi plates

    • Velvikudi
    • Tamil plates

11. Delhi Sultanate Persian chronicles anchor a Persianate bureaucracy

    Jan 1, 1357Labels: Delhi Sultanate, Persian

    • OUP review
    • Tarikh Firoz

12. Akbar-era Persian administration codified in Ain-i-Akbari

    Jan 1, 1596Labels: Ain-i-Akbari, Akbar

    • Ain i Akbari
    • Cambridge CSSH

13. Jahangir adds Persian inscription to Ashokan pillar

    Jan 1, 1605Labels: Allahabad Pillar, Jahangir

    • Allahabad Pillar