Kharoshthi Unicode Script

Kharoshthi, an ancient script used in the Indian subcontinent, is inherently tied to the region’s cultural and religious history. Originating around the middle of the 3rd century BCE, it was employed primarily in the Gandhara region, in what is now modern-day Pakistan and Afghanistan. Kharoshthi is known for its association with the spread of Buddhism, with many of its inscriptions found on religious artifacts, including manuscripts, coins, and rock edicts. Structurally, it is a semi-syllabary, meaning it combines features of both alphabets and syllabaries, which makes it distinct from other scripts of its time. The script is written from right to left, a feature it shares with Semitic scripts, and this might suggest influences from Persian or Aramaic writing systems, likely due to the historical context of the Achaemenid Empire and its interactions with the region.

The Unicode representation of Kharoshthi was added to the standard to facilitate the digital preservation and study of texts that are valuable for understanding early Buddhist literature and other historical documents. In the Unicode block, Kharoshthi is allocated the range from U+10A00 to U+10A5F, covering a variety of characters needed to represent the phonetic sounds of the language. This script's inclusion in Unicode underscores the modern effort to safeguard intangible cultural heritage, allowing scholars and linguists worldwide to access and analyze historical texts. By enabling greater accessibility, it simultaneously supports and enhances the study of ancient scripts and languages, thereby contributing to our understanding of historical human communication and its evolution.

Below you will find all the characters that are in the 'Kharoshthi' unicode script category. Currently there are 68 characters in this category.