Writing and Scribes in Ancient India
The paper brings up for discussion the moment when the writing appeared in India, and the position of scribes in society. The Vedic tradition relied on the learning and preservation of texts in oral form. The first written monuments of India were Ashoka’s inscriptions of the 3rd century B. C. Four scripts were used in them: Aramaic, Greek, Kharoshthi and Brahmi. The Aramaic writing came to Gandhara in the late 6th century B. C. The Greek alphabet appeared in India after Alexander’s campaign. Kharoshthi was probably created on the basis of the Aramaic script in the 5th and 4th centuries B. C., while Brahmi was a later invention. Both scripts were elaborated by erudite Brahmans on the king’s service. The position of scribes remained high in the following centuries. Epigraphic finds show that literacy became widespread after the Maurya period. At the turn of the Common Era, the Buddhist canon and the epics were put down in writing. The Shastra’s of the first centuries A. D. (from Arthashastra up to Narada-smriti) often mention written documents, and we can suppose that the principles of diplomatics had been laid down at that time. The Sanskrit texts of the Late Antiquity and the Middle Age show an extremely negative attitude to scribes (kayastha), to be explained by their role in the collection of duties.