KHAROSTHI

writing system used in northwestern India before about AD 500. The earliest extant inscription in Kharosthi dates from 251 BC, and the latest from the 4th5th century AD. The system probably derived from the Aramaic alphabet while northwestern India was under Persian rule in the 5th century BC. Aramaic, however, is a Semitic alphabet of 22 consonantal letters, while Kharosthi is syllabic and has 252 separate signs for consonant and vowel combinations. A cursive script written from right to left, Kharosthi was used for commercial and calligraphic purposes. It was influenced somewhat by Brahmi, the other Indian script of the period, which eventually superseded it.