1896.] Nageudranatha Basu — Nar/nras and the Ndgari-AlpJiahet. 63 



India, but all over the civilised world, wherever Sanskrit language has 

 made its progi'ess. Hence, considering its wide-spread circulation and 

 use, it is worthwhile enquiring into the origin of the name, by which 

 this form of character is recognised by the civilised world, besides the 

 origin of the form itself. This I have tried to explain to some extent 

 in my article entitled ' The origin of the Nagaras and the Nagari- 

 alphabet.' 



The abstract of my article is as follows : — 



As the Gaurjara language and the Gaurjara character originated 

 from Gurjara, as Vaijga-bhasa and Vai)ga-lipi derived their names from 

 Vagga (Bengal), so the Nagara language and the Nagari character 

 derived their names from a particular place called Nagara. This Nagara 

 was ancient Camat-kara-pnra (present Bada-nagar) mentioned in the 

 Nagara-khanda of the Skanda-purana, and described as having become 

 desolated by the havoc of the Nagas (snakes). A Brahmana named 

 Trijata by propitiating Mahadeva, drove away, by his favour all the 

 Nagas from this place and rendered it Na-gara, (poisonless) after which 

 it came to be known by the name of Nagara. There Trijata established 

 the Brahmanas who came from distant countries ; these Brahmanas 

 afterwards bore the common local title of Nagara for their residing 

 in the city called Nagara. 



In the Prakrfa-candrikn by f esa-krsna, Nagara is mentioned, with 

 others, as a corrupt dialect then current. 



During the prosperity of its Hindu kings, none of the other Brah- 

 manas of Gujarat attained to such high reverence before kings, as these 

 Nagara-Brahmanas. And the language they used was very probably 

 Nagara. 



The most ancient inscription in the Nagari character has been dis- 

 covered in Gujarat. Though various sorts of different characters were 

 then in vogue there, all the inscriptions, celebrating the gi'eatness of 

 these Nagara-Brahmanas, inscribed during the reigns of the Hindu kings 

 are written in the Nagari characters. Even now, some Nagara-Panditas 

 of Gujai^at boast of their ancestors as the devisers of the Nagari-alpha- 

 bet. The Nagara-Brahmanas, who long ago left their mother-country 

 (Bada-nagar) and travelling over several tracts, settled at Anagundi, 

 Vijaja-nagar and other places of the Deccan, though, during many 

 centuries of their residence among the people, they have quite lost their 

 mother-tongue, and adopted those of the natives, still adhere to their 

 ancient tribal character in writing religious books, while all the sur- 

 rounding people use a character of their own. 



Under such circumstances, I think the Nagari character to have 

 been the character devised or adopted by the Nagara-Brahmanas of 

 Qujarat and named after them. 



