SC2/WG2 N2524
L2/02-203 R2
ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 2/WG 2
PROPOSAL SUMMARY FORM TO ACCOMPANY SUBMISSIONSFOR ADDITIONS TO THE REPERTOIRE OF ISO/IEC 106461
Please fill all the sections A, B and C below.
(Please read Principles and Procedures Document for guidelines and details before filling this form.)
See http://www.dkuug.dk/JTC1/SC2/WG2/docs/summaryform.html for latest Form.
See http://www.dkuug.dk/JTC1/SC2/WG2/docs/principles.html for latest Principles and Procedures document.
See http://www.dkuug.dk/JTC1/SC2/WG2/docs/roadmaps.html for latest roadmaps.

A. Administrative
1. Title:

Proposal to Encode Kharoṣṭhī in Plane 1 of ISO/IEC 10646

2. Requester's name:Andrew Glass, Stefan Baums, Richard Salomon
3. Requester type (Member body/Liaison/Individual contribution):
Individual contribution
4. Submission date:
19 September 2002
5. Requester's reference (if applicable): _____________________________________________________________
6. (Choose one of the following:)
This is a complete proposal:
Yesor,More information will be provided later:_______________
B. Technical - General
1. (Choose one of the following:)
a. This proposal is for a new script (set of characters):
Yes
Proposed name of script:

Kharoṣṭhī / KHAROSTHI

b. The proposal is for addition of character(s) to an existing block:______________Name of the existing block:__________________________________________________
2. Number of characters in proposal:
66
3. Proposed category (see section II, Character Categories):
C
4. Proposed Level of Implementation (1, 2 or 3) (see clause 14, ISO/IEC 10646-1: 2000):
Level 3Is a rationale provided for the choice?
Yes
If Yes, reference: Combining marks used.
5. Is a repertoire including character names provided?
Yesa. If YES, are the names in accordance with the 'character naming guidelines
in Annex L of ISO/IEC 10646-1: 2000?
Yes
b. Are the character shapes attached in a legible form suitable for review?
Yes
6. Who will provide the appropriate computerized font (ordered preference: True Type, or PostScript format) for
publishing the standard? Andrew Glass (True Type)If available now, identify source(s) for the font (include address, e-mail, ftp-site, etc.) and indicate the tools
used:
Not yet available.
7. References:a. Are references (to other character sets, dictionaries, descriptive texts etc.) provided? Yes
b. Are published examples of use (such as samples from newspapers, magazines, or other sources)of proposed characters attached?
Yes
8. Special encoding issues:
Does the proposal address other aspects of character data processing (if applicable) such as input,
presentation, sorting, searching, indexing, transliteration etc. (if yes please enclose information)?
Yes. It covers Kharoṣhṭ ī bidirectional behavior and gives normative rules required for rendering the script.
9. Additional Information:
Submitters are invited to provide any additional information about Properties of the proposed Character(s) or Scriptthat will assist in correct understanding of and correct linguistic processing of the proposed character(s) or script.
Examples of such properties are: Casing information, Numeric information, Currency information, Display behaviour
information such as line breaks, widths etc., Combining behaviour, Spacing behaviour, Directional behaviour, Default
Collation behaviour, relevance in Mark Up contexts, Compatibility equivalence and other Unicode normalization
related information. See the Unicode standard at http://www.unicode.org for such information on other scripts. Also
see http://www.unicode.org/Public/UNIDATA/UnicodeCharacterDatabase.html and associated Unicode Technical
Reports for information needed for consideration by the Unicode Technical Committee for inclusion in the UnicodeStandard.

1

Form number: N2352-F (Original 1994-10-14; Revised 1995-01, 1995-04, 1996-04, 1996-08, 1999-03, 2001-05, 2001-09)

C. Technical - Justification
1. Has this proposal for addition of character(s) been submitted before?
No
If YES explain _________________________________________________________________________
2. Has contact been made to members of the user community (for example: National Body,
user groups of the script or characters, other experts, etc.)?
Yes
If YES, with whom? Richard Salomon, Andrew Glass
If YES, available relevant documents: Kharoṣṭhī Manuscript Paleography
3. Information on the user community for the proposed characters (for example:
size, demographics, information technology use, or publishing use) is included?
Scholars
Reference: ___________________________________________________________________________
4. The context of use for the proposed characters (type of use; common or rare)
Scholarly; Rare
Reference: ___________________________________________________________________________
5. Are the proposed characters in current use by the user community?
Yes
If YES, where? Reference: Scholars worldwide
6. After giving due considerations to the principles in Principles and Procedures document (a WG 2 standing
document) must the proposed characters be entirely in the BMP?
No
If YES, is a rationale provided?
______________
If YES, reference: ________________________________________________________
7. Should the proposed characters be kept together in a contiguous range (rather than being scattered)? Yes
8. Can any of the proposed characters be considered a presentation form of an existing
character or character sequence?
No
If YES, is a rationale for its inclusion provided?
______________
If YES, reference: ________________________________________________________
9. Can any of the proposed characters be encoded using a composed character sequence of either
existing characters or other proposed characters?
No
If YES, is a rationale for its inclusion provided?
______________
If YES, reference:______________
10. Can any of the proposed character(s) be considered to be similar (in appearance
or function) to an existing character?
Yes
If YES, is a rationale for its inclusion provided?
Yes
If YES, reference:
See below
11. Does the proposal include use of combining characters and/or use of composite sequences(see clauses 4.12 and 4.14 in ISO/IEC 10646-1: 2000)?
Yes
If YES, is a rationale for such use provided?
Yes
If YES, reference: See below; and Kharoṣṭhī Manuscript Paleography
Is a list of composite sequences and their corresponding glyph images (graphic symbols)
provided?
Yes
If YES, reference: See below; and Kharoṣṭhī Manuscript Paleography
12. Does the proposal contain characters with any special properties such as
control function or similar semantics?
Yes
If YES, describe in detail (include attachment if necessary)
Virāma (10A3F)
13. Does the proposal contain any Ideographic compatibility character(s)?
No
If YES, is the equivalent corresponding unified ideographic character(s) identified? ____________
If YES, reference: ________________________________________________________

Submitter's Responsibilities
The national body or liaison organization (or any other organization or an individual) proposing new
character(s) or a new script shall provide:1.
Proposed category for the script or character(s), character name(s), and description of usage.
2.
Justification for the category and name(s).
3.
A representative glyph(s) image on paper:
If the proposed glyph image is similar to a glyph image of a previously encoded ISO/IEC 10646
character, then additional justification for encoding the new character shall be provided.
Note: Any proposal that suggests that one or more of such variant forms is actually a distinct character
requiring separate encoding, should provide detailed, printed evidence that there is actual, contrastive use of
the variant form(s). It is insufficient for a proposal to claim a requirement to encode as characters in theStandard, glyphic forms which happen to occur in another character encoding that did not follow theCharacter-Glyph Model that guides the choice of appropriate characters for encoding in ISO/IEC 10646.
Note: WG 2 has resolved in Resolution M38.12 not to add any more Arabic presentation forms to thestandard and suggests users to employ appropriate input methods, rendering and font technologies to meetthe user requirements.

4.
5.

6.
7.

8.
9.

Mappings to accepted sources, for example, other standards, dictionaries, accessible publishedmaterials
Computerized/camera-ready font:Prior to the preparation of the final text of the next amendment or version of the standard asuitable computerized font (camera-ready font) will be needed. Camera-ready copy is mandatory
for final text of any pDAMs before the next revision. Ordered preference of the fonts is True Typeor PostScript format. The minimum design resolution for the font is 96 by 96 dots matrix, forpresentation at or near 22 points in print size.
List of all the parties consulted.
Equivalent glyph images:
If the submission intends using composite sequences of proposed or existing combining and noncombining characters, a list consisting of each composite sequence and its corresponding glyph
image shall be provided to better understand the intended use.
Compatibility equivalents:
If the submission includes compatibility ideographic characters, identify the equivalent unified CJK
Ideograph character(s).
Any additional information that will assist in correct understanding of the different characteristics
and linguistic processing of the proposed character(s) or script.

Proposal for Kharoṣṭhī script
This is a proposed assignment for Kharoṣṭhī characters. The Kharoṣṭhī script was used to write
Gāndhārī and Sanskrit as well as various mixed dialects termed ‘Gāndhārī Hybrid Sanskrit’ (seeSalomon 2001). The characters in this proposal are derived from sources in the Kharoṣṭhī scriptfrom across the whole range of known manuscripts and inscriptions. The intention is to provide astandard method for writing Kharoṣṭhī, and also a common means for the electronic storage ofmanuscript data. The Unicode Consortium has not previously published a proposal for Kharoṣṭhī.

Brief History of the Kharoṣṭhī script
The Kharoṣṭhī script is one of the two ancient writing systems of India in the historical period.
Unlike the pan-Indian Brāhmī script, Kharoṣṭhī was confined to the northwest of India centeredon the region of Gandhāra (modern northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan, see map). The
exact details of its origin remain obscure despite the attention of several generations of scholars,
but it is almost certainly related to Aramaic, stemming from the time of the Achaemenidconquest and occupation of that region in 559–336 BCE (Salomon 1998: 51–4). The Kharoṣṭhī
script first appears in a fully developed form in the Aśokan inscriptions at Shāhbāzgaṛhī andMānsehrā which have been dated to around 250 BCE (Hultzsch 1925: xxxv). The script continued
to be used in Gandhāra and neighboring regions, sometimes alongside Brāhmī, until around thethird century CE, when it disappeared from its homeland (Salomon 1996: 375). The Kharoṣṭhī
script was also used for official documents and epigraphs in the Central Asian cities of Khotan
and Niya in the third and fourth centuries CE, and appears to have survived in Kucha andneighboring areas along the Northern Silk Road as late as the seventh century.

Map: Geographical extent of the Kharoṣṭhī script.

The Kharoṣṭhī script was initially deciphered around the middle of the nineteenth century byJames Prinsep and others who worked from the short biscript inscriptions (Greek and Kharoṣṭhī)on the coins of the Indo-Greek and Indo-Scythian kings. The decipherment has been refined overthe last 150 years as more material has come to light. We now have several examples of Sanskrit,
or Sanskritized Gāndhārī, written in the Kharoṣṭhī script. The current proposal makes provision
for encoding the level of Sanskrit found in the known documents (see Salomon 2001).

The Writing System
The Kharoṣṭhī script is a member of the Indic script family and conforms to the alphasyllabic or
abugida script type. However, unlike the other scripts of this group, it is written from right toleft. Kharoṣṭhī letters do not have positional variants as in Arabic and Hebrew.
Unicode Bidirectional Algorithm. Kharoṣṭhī can be implemented using the rules of the Unicode
Bidirectional Algorithm as they apply to Arabic and Hebrew, with the exception that in
Kharoṣṭhī both letters and numerals are written from right to left.
Convention. In this proposal we follow the Unicode naming conventions for the other Indic
scripts (see http://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0900.pdf), with slight adaptations based on
current scholarly conventions for naming Kharoṣṭhī letters (see Glass 2000: 33–113).
Diacritic Marks/Vowels. All vowels other than a are written with diacritic marks in Kharoṣṭhī. In
addition, there are four vowel modifiers and three consonant modifiers which are written withcombining diacritics. Some letters may take more than one such diacritical mark. In these cases
the preferred encoding sequence is: Letter (L) + [Consonant Modifier (CM)] + [Vowel (V)] +[Vowel Modifier (VM)]. For example the Sanskrit word parārdhyaiḥ might be rendered in
Kharoṣṭhī script as *parāraiḥ (written from right to left):

Numeral Signs. Kharoṣṭhī employs a set of numeral signs unique to the script. They have been
included in this proposal. The numerals, like the letters, are written from right to left. Numbers in
Kharoṣṭhī are based on an additive system. There is no zero, nor separate signs for the numbers
5–9. The number 1996, for example, would appear as: 1000 4 4 1 100 20 20 20 20 10 4 2 (seeGlass 2000: 139–43).

Punctuation. Nine different punctuation marks are used in Kharoṣṭhī manuscripts andinscriptions. They have been included in this proposal (see Glass 2000: 144–7).
Minimum Rendering Requirements. Rendering requirements for Kharoṣṭhī are similar to those forDevanāgarī. The remainder of this section specifies a minimum set of rules that provide legible
Kharoṣṭhī diacritic and ligature substitution behavior.
Combining Classes. The various combining diacritics attach to the full characters in different
ways. A number of classes have been determined on the basis of their standard positions.
VOWEL SIGNS:
Combining -i:
Horizontal: example a + -i → imembers of this class: a, na, ha.
Diagonal: example ka + -i → kimembers of this class: ka, ḱa, kha, ga, gha, ca, cha, ja, ña,ṭa, ṭha, ha, ḍa, ḍha, ṇa, ta, da, dha, ba, bha, ya, ra, va, ṣa, sa, za.
Vertical: example tha + -i → thimembers of this class: tha, pa, pha, ma, la, śa.
Combining -u:
Attached: example a + -u → umembers of this class: a, ka, ḱa, kha, ga, gha, ca, cha, ja,
ña, ṭha, ha, ḍa, ḍha, ṇa, ta, tha, da, dha, na, pa, pha, ba, bha, ya, ra, la,va, śa, ṣa, sa, za.
Independent: example ha + -u → hu

members of this class: ṭa, ha.
Ligatured: example ma + -u → mu

members of this class: ma.
Combining -r̥:Attached: example a + -r̥ → r̥

members of this class: a, ka, ḱa, kha, ga, gha, ca, cha, ja, ta,da, dha, na, pa, pha, ba, bha, va, śa, sa.

Independent: example ma + -r̥ → mr̥

members of this class: ma, ha.
Combining -e:
Horizontal: example a + -e → emembers of this class: a, na, ha.
Diagonal: example ka+ -e → kemembers of this class: ka, ḱa, kha, ga, gha, ca, cha, ja, ña,ṭa, ṭha, ha, ḍa, ḍha, ṇa, ta, dha, ba, bha, ya, ra, va, ṣa, sa, za.
Vertical: example tha + -e → themembers of this class: tha, pa, pha, la, śa.
Ligatured: example da + -e → demembers of this class: da, ma.
Combining -o:
Diagonal: example a + -o → omembers of this class: a, ka, ḱa, kha, ga, gha, ca, cha, ja,
ña, ṭa, ṭha, ha, ḍa, ḍha, ṇa, ta, tha, da, dha, na, ba, bha, ma, ra, la, va, ṣa,sa, za, ha.
Vertical: example pa + -o → pomembers of this class: pa, pha, ya, śa.
VOWEL MODIFIERS:
Combining VOWEL LENGTH MARK:This sign may be used with -a, -i, -u, -r̥, to indicate the equivalent longvowel -ā,-ī, -ū, -r̥̄. In combination with -e and -o it indicates the diphthongs -ai and -au.
Example ma + ̄ → mācombines with: -a, -i, -r̥, -u, -e, -o.
Combining DOUBLE RING BELOW:This sign appears in some of the Central Asian documents. Its precise

phonetic value has not yet been established.
Example sa + ͏̫→ s

combines with: -a, -u.
Combining ANUSVARA:
This sign indicates nasalization of the vowel or a nasal segment following
the vowel.
Example a + -ṃ → aṃ

combines with: -a, -i, -u, -r̥, -e, -o.
Combining VISARGA:
This sign is generally used to indicate unvoiced syllable-final [h]. A
secondary usage is as a vowel length marker.
Example ka + -ḥ → kaḥ

combines with: -a, -i, -u, -r̥, -e, -o.
CONSONANT MODIFIERS:
Combining BAR ABOVE:
This sign is used to indicate various modified pronunciations depending on
the consonants involved, such as nasalization or aspiration.
Example ja + ̄ → a

combines with: kṣa ga, ca, ja, na, ma, śa, ṣa, sa, ha.
Combining CAUDA:
This sign is used to indicate various modified pronunciations of theconsonants involved, particularly fricativization.
Example ga + ́ → ǵa

combines with: ga, ja, ḍa, ta, da, pa, ya, va, śa, sa.
Combining DOT BELOW:
The precise value of this sign has not yet been determined.
Example ma + ̣→ ṃa

combines with: ma, ha.
COMBINING VIRAMA:
This is a control character. When not followed by a consonant it causes the preceding
consonant to be written as subscript to the left of the letter before it. If followed byanother consonant, it will trigger a combined form consisting of two or more consonants.
The resulting form may also be subject to combinations with the above combining
diacritics.
Examples:Pure VIRAMA:
dha + i + k + [VIRAMA] → dhik

Ligatures:ka + [VIRAMA] + ṣa → kṣa

ma + [VIRAMA] + ra → mra

va + [VIRAMA] + ha → vha

sa + [VIRAMA] + ta → sta

members of this class: kṣV, tsV, mrV, vhV, stV.
Consonants with special combining forms:
sa + [VIRAMA] + ya → sya

ra + [VIRAMA] + ta → rta

ta + [VIRAMA] + ra → trala + [VIRAMA] + pa → lpa

pa + [VIRAMA] + la → pla

ka + [VIRAMA] + la → kla

ta + [VIRAMA] + va → tva

members of this class: CyV, rCV, CrV, lCV, ClV, CvV.
Consonants with full combined forms:
ka + [VIRAMA] + ta → kta

kha + [VIRAMA] + ka + [VIRAMA] +ṣa → khkṣa

members of this class: k, kh, g, ǵ, c, j, ñ, ṭ, ṭh, ḍ, ḍh, ṇ, t, th, d, dh, n, p, b,
bh, m, y (in ryV), l (in lmV), v (in vrV), ś, ṣ, s, z, h.

Kharoṣṭhī
Range: 10A00 to 10A5F
These charts contain only proposed assignments and should not be considered valid until such time as the Unicode
Consortium formally accepts them.
Andrew Glass created the fonts used in these charts.

Code chart
The code chart characters are normalized forms based on manuscripts of the first century CE.

10A0

10A1

10A2

10A3

10A4

10A5

10A00

10A10

10A20

10A30

10A40

10A50

10A01

10A11

10A21

10A31

10A41

10A51

10A02

10A12

10A22

10A32

10A42

10A52

10A03

10A13

10A23

10A33

10A43

10A53

10A24

10A44

10A54

0
1
2
3
4
5
10A05

10A15

10A25

10A45

10A55

10A06

10A16

10A26

10A46

10A56

10A17

10A27

10A47

10A57

6
7
8
10A28

10A38

10A19

10A29

10A39

10A1A

10A2A

10A3A

10A1B

10A2B

10A0C

10A1C

10A2C

10A0D

10A1D

10A2D

10A0E

10A1E

10A2E

10A0F

10A1F

10A2F

9
A
B
C
D
E
F
10A3F

10A58

Name chart
The name chart characters are normalized forms based on manuscripts of the first century CE
Additional information about individual characters in this block can be found in Appendix 1.
Glyph Unicode code point NameTranscription

10A00

KHAROSTHI LETTER A

a

10A01

KHAROSTHI VOWEL SIGN I

i

10A02

KHAROSTHI VOWEL SIGN U

u

10A03

KHAROSTHI VOWEL SIGN VOCALIC R

r̥

10A04

(This position shall not be used)

10A05

KHAROSTHI VOWEL SIGN E

e

10A06

KHAROSTHI VOWEL SIGN O

o

10A07

(This position shall not be used)

10A08(This position shall not be used)

10A09(This position shall not be used)

10A0A(This position shall not be used)

10A0B(This position shall not be used)

10A0C

KHAROSTHI VOWEL LENGTH MARK

10A0D

KHAROSTHI SIGN DOUBLE RING BELOW

͏

10A0E

KHAROSTHI SIGN ANUSVARA

ṃ

10A0F

KHAROSTHI SIGN VISARGA

ḥ

10A10

KHAROSTHI LETTER KA

ka

10A11

KHAROSTHI LETTER KHA

kha

10A12

KHAROSTHI LETTER GA

ga

10A13

KHAROSTHI LETTER GHA

gha

10A14

(This position shall not be used)̄Glyph Unicode code point NameTranscription

10A15

KHAROSTHI LETTER CA

ca

10A16

KHAROSTHI LETTER CHA

cha

10A17

KHAROSTHI LETTER JA

ja

10A18

(This position shall not be used)

10A19

KHAROSTHI LETTER NYA

ña

10A1A

KHAROSTHI LETTER TTA

ṭa

10A1B

KHAROSTHI LETTER TTHA

ṭha

10A1C

KHAROSTHI LETTER DDA

ḍa

10A1D

KHAROSTHI LETTER DDHA

ḍha

10A1E

KHAROSTHI LETTER NNA

ṇa

10A1F

KHAROSTHI LETTER TA

ta

10A20

KHAROSTHI LETTER THA

tha

10A21

KHAROSTHI LETTER DA

da

10A22

KHAROSTHI LETTER DHA

dha

10A23

KHAROSTHI LETTER NA

na

10A24

KHAROSTHI LETTER PA

pa

10A25

KHAROSTHI LETTER PHA

pha

10A26

KHAROSTHI LETTER BA

ba

10A27

KHAROSTHI LETTER BHA

bha

10A28

KHAROSTHI LETTER MA

maGlyph Unicode code point NameTranscription

10A29

KHAROSTHI LETTER YA

ya

10A2A

KHAROSTHI LETTER RA

ra

10A2B

KHAROSTHI LETTER LA

la

10A2C

KHAROSTHI LETTER VA

va

10A2D

KHAROSTHI LETTER SHA

śa

10A2E

KHAROSTHI LETTER SSA

ṣa

10A2F

KHAROSTHI LETTER SA

sa

10A30

KHAROSTHI LETTER ZA

za

10A31

KHAROSTHI LETTER HA

ha

10A32

KHAROSTHI LETTER KKA

ḱa

10A33

KHAROSTHI LETTER TTTHA

ha

10A34

(This position shall not be used)

10A35(This position shall not be used)

10A36(This position shall not be used)

10A37(This position shall not be used)

10A38

KHAROSTHI SIGN BAR ABOVE

10A39

KHAROSTHI SIGN CAUDA

10A3A

KHAROSTHI SIGN DOT BELOW

10A3B(This position shall not be used)

10A3C(This position shall not be used)

10A3D(This position shall not be used)

10A3E(This position shall not be used)

10A3F

KHAROSTHI VIRAMA= halant• suppresses inherent vowel̄́ or ̱
̣see VIRAMAGlyph Unicode code point NameTranscription

10A40

KHAROSTHI DIGIT ONE

1

10A41

KHAROSTHI DIGIT TWO

2

10A42

KHAROSTHI DIGIT THREE

3

10A43

KHAROSTHI DIGIT FOUR

4

10A44

KHAROSTHI NUMBER TEN

10

10A45

KHAROSTHI NUMBER TWENTY

20

10A46

KHAROSTHI NUMBER ONE HUNDRED

100

10A47

KHAROSTHI NUMBER ONE THOUSAND

1000

10A48

(This position shall not be used)

10A49(This position shall not be used)

10A4A(This position shall not be used)

10A4B(This position shall not be used)

10A4C(This position shall not be used)

10A4D(This position shall not be used)

10A4E(This position shall not be used)

10A4F(This position shall not be used)

10A50

KHAROSTHI PUNCTUATION DOT

10A51

KHAROSTHI PUNCTUATION SMALL CIRCLE

◦

10A52

KHAROSTHI PUNCTUATION CIRCLE

○

10A53

KHAROSTHI PUNCTUATION CRESCENT BAR

∈

10A54

KHAROSTHI PUNCTUATION MANGALAM

⊕

10A55

KHAROSTHI PUNCTUATION LOTUS

❂

10A56

KHAROSTHI PUNCTUATION DANDA|

Glyph Unicode code point NameTranscription

10A57

KHAROSTHI PUNCTUATION DOUBLE DANDA

||

10A58

KHAROSTHI PUNCTUATION LINES

〰

10A59

(This position shall not be used)

10A5A(This position shall not be used)

10A5B(This position shall not be used)

10A5C(This position shall not be used)

10A5D(This position shall not be used)

10A5E(This position shall not be used)

10A5F(This position shall not be used)Text Samples

Figure 1: Aśokan inscription at Shahbazgaṛhi, ca. 250 BCE (Hultzsch 1925).

Figure 2: Relic vase inscription of Theodoros, ca. 50 BCE (Konow 1929: Plate 1).

Figure 3: Coin of King Azes with legend in Greek and Kharoṣṭhī, ca. 50 BCE. (The Royal Collection of Coins andMedals, National Museum, Denmark. Photographs by Stefan Baums and Helle Horsnæs. Inventory Number B.P. 917.)

Figure 4: Detail from British Library Kharoṣṭhī Fragment 5B, ca. 50 CE (Salomon 2000: Plate 2).

Figure 5: Detail from British Library Kharoṣṭhī Fragment 14, ca. 50 CE (Allon 2001: Plate 7).

Figure 6: Fragment 44 from the Schøyen Collection, ca. 150 CE (Braarvig 2000: Plate 10.2).

Figure 7: Sample text including Kharoṣṭhī characters from a recent publication (Allon 2001: 66).

Figure 8: Typeset version of the text shown in fig. 4.

Appendix 1: Usage of Characters•10A00. This is the independent form of the vowel a, and the vowel carrier for the otherindependent vowels.

•10A01 – 10A06. These are the combining vowel signs. In principle only one may be applied
to each syllable. However there are some examples of akṣaras taking two vowel diacritics
in Central Asian Kharoṣṭhī.
•10A0C – 10A0D. These are vowel modifiers in the narrow sense (as opposed to 10A0E and
10A0F). They have only been found in manuscripts and inscriptions from the first
century CE onwards. They are transparent for sorting purposes, see Appendix 2.
•10A0E. This is the Kharoṣṭhī anusvāra, indicating either vowel nasalization or a nasal
consonant segment. The sort order of this glyph is thus context dependent, see Appendix
2.
•10A0F. This is the Kharoṣṭhī visarga. It is found only in Sanskritized forms of the language.
It indicates either a variant articulation of the vowel or a [h] segment following thevowel. In the former usage, but not the latter, it is transparent for sorting purposes, see
Appendix 2. It cannot co-occur in the same akṣara with anusvāra.
•10A10 – 10A31. These are the basic consonant signs. All unmarked consonants include theinherent vowel a. Other vowels are indicated by one of the combining vowel diacritics.
Consequently, these consonant signs can combine with vowel diacritics and bothconsonant and vowel modifiers, see Diacritic Marks/Vowels above.
•10A32 – 10A33. These are special modified forms of two of the basic consonant signs thatare not obtainable by combination of those basic signs with one of the consonant
modifiers. The modified forms ḱa and ṭ́ha are consistently distinguished from ka and ṭhain the writing system.
•10A38 – 10A3A. These are the consonant modifiers. Usually only one consonant modifier
can be applied to a single consonant. The resulting combined form may also combinewith the vowel diacritics and/or one of the vowel modifiers and/or anusvāra or visarga,
see Diacritic Marks/Vowels above. They are transparent for sorting purposes, see
Appendix 2.
•10A3F. This is the Kharoṣṭhī virāma. It is used to indicate the suppression of the inherent
vowel. It not a mark or sign in itself, but a control character that causes the consonant
which it follows to appear as a subscript to the preceding akṣara. When followed
immediately by another consonant it triggers a conjunct form representing bothconsonants, see Combining with VIRAMA above. It can only follow a consonant, or aconsonant modifier. It cannot follow a space, a vowel, a vowel modifier, a numeral sign,
a punctuation sign, or another VIRAMA.
•10A40 – 10A47. These are the Kharoṣṭhī numerals. They are written from right to left likethe letters. The Kharoṣṭhī number system is additive/multiplicative, there is no zero, andno decimal point.
•10A50 – 10A57. These are the Kharoṣṭhī punctuation signs. Nine punctuation signs havebeen identified from across the range of Kharoṣṭhī sources. Some of these punctuation
signs could be considered to similar (in appearance or function) to existing characters.
However, we feel that independent code points should be assigned to the Kharoṣṭhī
punctuation signs so that Kharoṣṭhī documents posted on the Internet may be searchable
for those who do not have specialized Kharoṣṭhī fonts installed. For example, such

documents should be searchable using a future version of Arial Unicode or any othersingle, fallback Unicode font.

Appendix 2: Sort Order
There is an ancient abecedary connected with the Kharoṣṭhī script called Arapacana, named after
its first five akṣaras. There is, however, no evidence that words were ever sorted in this order. A
further complication is that there is no record in Kharoṣṭhī of the complete Arapacana sequence,
while Sanskrit records of it are not in total agreement about the inventory and order of letters.
Therefore, we do not propose using the Arapacana as the basis for sorting.
In modern scholarly practice, Gāndhārī is sorted in much the same order as Sanskrit. Vowel
length, however, even when marked is ignored in Kharoṣṭhī. In the following table, when two
signs are given in a single row, they should be treated as equivalent in the sorting algorithm, thefirst sign having priority in tie-resolving situations, for example, ka, ḱa, ki.
Character,Unicode code point

Transcription

10A00

a

10A01

i

10A02

u

10A03

r̥

10A05

e

10A06

o

10A0E

ṃ (preceding ∅, y–h)
see note below

10A0F

ḥ

10A3F

see VIRAMA

10A10, 10A32

k, ḱ

10A11

kh

10A12

g

10A13

gh

Character

,
,

,

,

Unicode code point

Transcription

10A0E

ṃ (preceding k–gh)
see note below

10A15

c

10A16

ch

10A17

j

10A19, 10A0E

ñ, ṃ (preceding c–ñ) see note
below

10A1A

ṭ

10A1B, 10A33

ṭh, h

10A1C

ḍ

10A1D

ḍh

10A1E, 10A0E

ṇ, ṃ (preceding ṭ-ṇ) see note
below

10A1F

t

10A20

th

10A21

d

10A22

dh

10A23, 10A0E

n, ṃ (preceding t-n) see note
below

10A24

p

10A25

ph

10A26

b

10A27

bh

Character

Unicode code point

Transcription,

10A28, 10A0E

m, ṃ (preceding p-m) see note
below

10A29

y

10A2A

r

10A2B

l

10A2C

v

10A2D

ś

10A2E

ṣ

10A2F

s

10A30

z

10A31

h

10A40

1

10A41

2

10A42

3

10A43

4

10A44

10

10A45

20

10A46

100

10A47

1000

10A50

•

Character

Unicode code point

Transcription

10A51

◦

10A52

○

10A53

∈

10A54

⊕

10A55

❂

10A56

|

10A57

||

10A58

〰

The following characters, omitted in the above table, should be transparent to the sorting
algorithm:
CharacterUnicode code point

Transcription

10A0C

̄

10A0D

͏

10A38

̄

10A39

́ or ̱

10A3A

̣The sort value of ANUSVARA (10A0E) is context dependent:•When followed by a space, the letters y–h (10A29 – 10A31), a number (10A40 – 10A47), apunctuation mark (10A50 – 10A57), or any non-Kharoṣṭhī character, it is considered to
be a ‘true’ anusvāra and follows o (10A07) in the sort order.
•When followed by the letters k–gh, or ḱ (10A10 – 10A13, or 10A32), it is considered to be avelar nasal and follows gh (10A13) in the sort order.
•When followed by the letters c–ñ, (10A15 – 10A19), it is functionally equivalent to ñ
(10A19), and follows j (10A17) in the sort order.
•When followed by the letters ṭ–ṇ, or h (10A1A – 10A1E, or 10A33), it is functionallyequivalent to ṇ (10A1E), and follows ḍh (10A1D) in the sort order.
•When followed by the letters t–n, (10A1F – 10A23), it is functionally equivalent to n
(10A23), and follows dh (10A22) in the sort order.
•When followed by a vowel or the letters p–m, (10A00 or 10A24 – 10A28), it is functionallyequivalent to m (10A28), and follows bh (10A27) in the sort order.
The sort values of the Kharoṣṭhī digits will not produce a correct sorting of Kharoṣṭhī numerals,
because of the multiplicative element in the Kharoṣṭhī numeral system. If possible, Kharoṣṭhī
numbers should be sorted according to their numeric values.

Appendix 3: Word Breaks, Line Breaks and Hyphenation
Most Kharoṣṭhī manuscripts are written as continuous text with no indication of wordboundaries. Only a few examples are known where spaces have been used to separate words orverse quarters. Most scribes have tried to finish words before starting a new line. There are no
examples of anything akin to hyphenation in Kharoṣṭhī manuscripts. In cases where a word
would not completely fit into a line, its continuation simply appears at the beginning of the next
line. Modern scholarly practice will in most cases make use of spaces and hyphenation. Whennecessary, hyphenation should be applied on the model of Sanskrit.

References
Allon, Mark. 2001. Three Ekottarikāgama-Type Sūtras: British Library Kharoṣṭhī Fragments 12
and 14. Gandhāran Buddhist Texts 2. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
Boyer, A. M., E. J. Rapson, and E. Senart. 1920–9. Kharoṣṭhī Inscriptions Discovered by Sir
Aurel Stein in Chinese Turkestan. 3 pts. (pt. 3 by Rapson and P. S. Noble). Oxford:
Clarendon Press.
Braarvig, Jens, ed. 2000. Manuscripts in the Schøyen Collection I: Buddhist Manuscripts, vol. 1.
Oslo: Hermes Publishing.
Glass, Andrew. 2000. “A Preliminary Study of Kharoṣṭhī Manuscript Paleography.” Master’s
thesis, Department of Asian Languages and Literature, University of Washington.
Hultzsch, E. 1925. The Inscriptions of Aśoka. Second edition. Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum 1.
Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Konow, Sten, ed. 1929. Kharoshṭhī Inscriptions with the Exception of Those of Aśoka. Corpus
Inscriptionum Indicarum 2.1. Calcutta: Government of India. Plate 1.
Salomon, Richard. 1996. “Brahmi and Kharoshthi” in Daniels and Bright, eds. The World’s
Writing Systems. New York: Oxford University Press.
—————. 1998. Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, andOther Indo-Aryan Languages. New York: Oxford University Press.
—————. 2000. A Gāndhārī Version of the Rhinoceros Sūtra: British Library Kharoṣṭhī
Fragment 5B. Gandhāran Buddhist Texts 2. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
—————. 2001. “‘Gāndhārī Hybrid Sanskrit’: New Sources for the Study of the Sanskritizationof Buddhist Literature.” Indo-Iranian Journal 44: 241–252.

Comments or Discussion
Please send any responses to this proposal to Andrew Glass (email: asg@u.washington.edu).
Please also CC to Richard Salomon (email: rsalomon@u.washington.edu) and Stefan Baums(email: baums@u.washington.edu).