Editing Brahmi script (section)

=== Calligraphic evolution (3rd century BCE – 1st century CE) ===
[[File:Brahmi script between the3rd century BCE and the 1st century CE.jpg|thumb|upright=1.38|{{center|1=Calligraphical evolution: 3rd century BCE calligraphy (top), and a sample of the new calligraphic style introduced by the [[Indo-Scythians]] (bottom, fragment of the [[Mirzapur stele inscription]], in the vicinity of [[Mathura]], {{circa|15 CE}}).<ref>Buddhist art of Mathurā, Ramesh Chandra Sharma, Agam, 1984 Page 26</ref><ref name="TPV" /><br> The text is ''Svāmisya Mahakṣatrapasya Śudasasya''<br>"Of the Lord and Great Satrap [[Sodasa|Śudāsa]]"<ref name="RCS">{{cite book |last1=Sharma |first1=Ramesh Chandra |title=Buddhist art of Mathurā |date=1984 |publisher=Agam |page=26 |isbn=9780391031401 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5OvVAAAAMAAJ |language=en |access-date=2022-01-26 |archive-date=2022-01-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220126073612/https://books.google.com/books?id=5OvVAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref>}}]]
The calligraphy of the Brahmi script remained virtually unchanged from the time of the [[Maurya Empire]] to the end of the 1st century BCE.<ref name="TPV">{{cite book |last1=Verma |first1=Thakur Prasad |title=The Palaeography Of Brahmi Script |date=1971 |pages=82–85 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.130329/page/n91}}</ref> Around this time, the [[Indo-Scythians]] ("[[Northern Satraps]]"), after their establishment in northern India introduced "revolutionary changes" in the way Brahmi was written.<ref name="TPV" /> In the 1st century BCE, the shape of Brahmi characters became more angular, and the vertical segments of letters were equalized, a phenomenon that is clearly visible in coin legends and that made the script visually more similar to the [[Greek script]].<ref name="TPV" /> In this new typeface, the letter were "neat and well-formed".<ref name="TPV" /> The probable introduction of ink and pen writing, with the characteristic thickenned start of each stroke generated by the usage of ink, was reproduced in the calligraphy of stone inscriptions by the creation of a triangle-shaped form at the beginning of each stroke.<ref name="TPV" />{{sfn|Salomon|1998|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=XYrG07qQDxkC&pg=PA34 34]}} This new writing style is particularly visible in the numerous dedicatory inscriptions made in [[Mathura]], in association with devotional works of art.<ref name="TPV" /> This new calligraphy of the Brahmi script was adopted in the rest of the subcontinent of the next half century.<ref name="TPV" /> The "new-pen-style" initiated a rapid evolution of the script from the 1st century CE, with regional variations starting to emerge.<ref name="TPV" />