Takri

Takri alphabet  
Takri alphabet (Ṭākarī)

The Takri alphabet is a Brahmic alphabet related
to the Sharada, Landa and Gurmukhi alphabets, descended from the
Devāśeṣa alphabet, which developed from the Sharada
alphabet in the 14th century. The Takri alphabet emerged as a distinct
script during the 16th century.

Takri was as an official script in parts of north and northwest
India from the 17th century until the mid-20th century. A version
of Takri was the official script of Chamba State, which is now part of
Himachal Pradesh, and was used to write Chambeali. In Jammu and
Kashmir a version of Takri known as Dogra Akkhar was used to write
Dogri. It was offically adopted in the 1860s, and was replaced by
Devanagari in 1944.

Takri was also used on postage stamps and postmarks; for translations
of Sanskrit texts into Dogri; for official records, letters and decrees;
in inscriptions; for translations of Christian religous texts into
Chambeali; on Pahari paintings. It has also been used to write the
Gaddi, Jaunsari, Kashtwari, Kulvi and Mandeali languages.

Other names for Takri include Takari, Takkari Tankri and
Ṭākarī. The origins of the name are uncertain:
one theory is that it is derived from ‘ṭaṅkā
(coin). Another theory suggests that the name is connected to ṭakka,
the old landed class of Punjab, or that it is the alphabet of
the Ṭakkas.

Since Takri fell out of use, efforts have been made to revive it
for Dogri Kishtwari and Kulvi in the states of Jammu, Kashmir
and Himachal Pradesh, where the local government has set up a
programme to train Takri specialists in association with the
Indira Gandhi National Open University.

There is considerable regional variation in the Takri alphabet
with each state or region have its own version. The version below
is are mainly Chambeali versions.

Notable features

  • Type of writing system: syllabic alphabet / abugida
  • Direction of writing: left to right in horizontal lines
  • Used to write: Dogri, Chambeali, Gaddi, Jaunsari, Kashtwari, Kulvi, Mandeali and a number of other languages.

Takri alphabet

Consonants

Takri consonants

Vowels

Takri vowels

Numerals

Takri numerals

Links

Information about the Takri alphabet
http://www.ancientscripts.com/takri.html
http://std.dkuug.dk/JTC1/SC2/WG2/docs/n3758.pdf
http://www.proel.org/index.php?pagina=alfabetos/takri

Philatelic Glossary: Dōgrī-Takrī Scripts
http://www.kashmirstamps.ca/DogriGloss.html

Information about the Dogri language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogri_language
http://www.koshur.org/Linguistic/4.html

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