Karani script

Karani script (Odia: କରଣୀ ଅକ୍ଷର) (also Chata script ଛଟା ଅକ୍ଷର) was a cursive style variant of Odia script[2][3] developed by the Karana (କରଣ) community/ the scribes (professional writer-class) of the Odia royal courts. It was used in the pre-Independence Orissa (Odisha) region in South Asia and was primarily used by the Karana community who were working for administrative purposes, documentation and keeping records in the royal courts of the Odia princely states (Orissa Tributary States). The name Karani is derived from the metal stylus, Karani that was used for writing on palm leaf.[4][5]

Karani script Karaṇī akṣara କରଣୀ ଅକ୍ଷର
Karani script sample from Purnachandra Odia Bhashakosha
Type	Abugida
Languages	Odia language
Time period	c. 1800- mid 1900s CE[1]
Parent systems	Odia script cursive style Karani script
[a] The Semitic origin of the Brahmic scripts is not universally agreed upon.

Use in Odia script

Karani diacritic remnant in Odia script

Vowel Letter	Diacritic forms
For the vowel ଇ (short i), the standard Odia diacritic form is ି. Eg- For consonant କ (ka) - କି (ki) But for these consonants - ଖ (kha), ଥ (tha), ଧ (dha), the equivalent ଇ diacritic from Karani script is also used.	ଖି (khi) ଥି (thi) ଧି (dhi)

Gallery

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  Karani script sample from Jnanamandala
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  Karani script sample from Jnanamandala
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  Karani script letters
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  Karani script letters
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  Karani writing

References

1. "CHAPTER - IV: DEVELOPMENT OF ORIYA SCRIPT, LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE" (PDF). Shodhganga. 27 September 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
2. Chitararijan Behera (2012). "ପ୍ରାଚୀନ ସାହିତ୍ୟଗ୍ରନ୍ଥ ସଂପାଦନା-୧" (PDF). Shodhganga. Utkal University. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
3. Diringer, David (1948). Alphabet a key to the history of mankind. p. 366.
4. Rath, Saraju (2012). "The Oriya Script: Origin, Development and Sources". Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
5. "Purnachandra Odia Bhashakosha by Gopal Chandra Praharaj (Preface + All 7 Volumes)". archive.org. Retrieved 3 September 2020.