In today's world, Gaudi script has become a topic of increasing interest to people of all ages and backgrounds. With the advancement of technology and globalization, Gaudi script has become a point of reference in the daily lives of many people, influencing everything from their consumption decisions to their way of relating to others. Throughout history, Gaudi script has been the subject of debate and analysis, generating endless opinions and perspectives that seek to understand its impact on society. In this article, we will explore the key elements that make Gaudi script a relevant topic today, as well as its evolution over time and its influence on different aspects of modern life.
| Gaudi script | |
|---|---|
| Script type | |
Period | c. 900-1300 CE[1] |
| Direction | Left-to-right |
| Related scripts | |
Parent systems | |
Child systems | Bengali-Assamese script, Tirhuta, Odia script |
Sister systems | Kamarupi script, Nagari |
The Semitic origin of the Brahmic scripts is not universally agreed upon. | |
| Brahmic scripts |
|---|
| The Brahmi script and its descendants |
The Gaudi script (Gāuṛi lipi), also known as the Proto-BAM script, Proto-BAMO script, Proto-Assamese script, Proto-Bengali script, Proto-Oriya script and Proto-Maithili script is an abugida in the Brahmic family of scripts.[2][1][3][4] By the fourteenth century, Gaudi script had begun to differentiate and gradually developed into the Bengali-Assamese (Eastern Nagari), Odia,[a] and Maithili script.[1][5]
The Gaudi script is named after the Gauda Kingdom (Gāuṛ Rājya) of Gauḍa (region) in ancient Bengal by the German scholar Georg Bühler.[6] Medieval Gauḍa (region) is currently known as Bengal (region). Despite this name, the script was also used in Assam, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, neighbouring parts of Nepal and Rakhine in Myanmar. The script is called by different names in different regions such as Proto-Assamese, Proto-Bengali, Proto-Maithili, Proto-Oriya. Which is why Sureshchandra Bhattacharyya suggests neutral names such as the abbreviated Proto-BAM, Proto-BAMO.[7]

The Gaudi script appeared in ancient Eastern India as a northeastern derivative of the Siddham,[1] derived from Gupta. According to the scholar Bühler, the Gaudi (or Proto-Bengali) script is characterized by its cursive letters and hooks or hollow triangles at the top of the verticals.[8] In the 11th century, famous Persian scholar Al-Biruni wrote about the script. He mentioned amongst Indian alphabets, Gaudi is used in the purva desa (Eastern County).[6]
The modern eastern scripts (Bengali-Assamese, Odia, and Maithili) became clearly differentiated around the 14th and 15th centuries from Gaudi.[1] While the scripts in Bengal, Assam and Mithila remained similar to each other, the Odia script developed a curved top in the 13th-14th century and became increasingly different.[9]
Proto-Bengali gave birth to the Maithili, Modern Bengali (settled in the seventeenth century: Assamese is a nineteenth-century variant), and Oriya scripts, as well as the Manipuri and Newari scripts for two Tibeto Burman languages.
Proto-Oriya (The Proto-Bengali script script of Bühler)
In the northeast, meanwhile separately evolved into a form referred to as 'proto-Bengali' or Gaudī, which prevailed until the fourteenth century, by which time it had begun to be differentiated into the modern eastern scripts, Bangla-Asamiya, Maithilī and Oriya.