View source for Tirhuta script

{{cleanup|reason=References need to be checked|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox writing system
| type        = [[Abugida]]
| name        = Tirhuta
| altname     = 𑒞𑒱𑒩𑒯𑒳𑒞𑒰
| sample      = Tirhuta script.svg
| image size  = 160px
| languages   = [[Maithili language|Maithili]], [[Sanskrit]]
| time        = c. 7th century&ndash;present day<ref name="s9789"/>
| fam1        = [[Proto-Sinaitic script]]
| fam2        = [[Phoenician alphabet]]
| fam3        = [[Aramaic alphabet]]
| fam4        = [[Brahmi script|Brāhmī]]
| fam5        = [[Gupta script|Gupta]]
| fam6        = [[Siddhaṃ alphabet|Siddhaṃ]]<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Daniels |first1=Peter T. |title=Writing systems of major and minor languages |date=January 2008}}</ref>
| fam7        = [[Gaudi script|Gaudi]]<ref name="salomon">{{cite book |last1=Salomon |first1=Richard |title=Indian Epigraphy |url=https://archive.org/details/indianepigraphyg0000salo |date=1998 |page=[https://archive.org/details/indianepigraphyg0000salo/page/n66 41]}}</ref>
| sisters     = [[Bengali–Assamese script|Bengali–Assamese]], [[Odia script|Odia]]
| iso15924    = Tirh
| unicode     = [https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U11480.pdf U+11480&ndash;U+114DF]<br />
[https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2011/11175r-tirhuta.pdf Final&nbsp;Accepted&nbsp;Script&nbsp;Proposal]
| note        = none
}}

'''Tirhuta''', also called '''Mithilakshar''' or '''Maithili''' script, was traditionally used to write the [[Maithili language]], spoken by about 35 million people in the [[Mithila]] region. It was also used for writing [[Sanskrit]]. Tirhuta belongs to the same script family as [[Bengali–Assamese script|Bengali–Assamese]], Newari, [[Odia language|Odia]], and [[Tibetan script|Tibetan]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=An overview of Tirhuta script of Maithili language of India and Nepal|url=https://scriptsource.org/cms/scripts/page.php?item_id=script_detail&key=Tirh|website=Script Source}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=12 February 2019|title=Ancient language Maithili is on the verge of decline, government takes steps to revive its importance|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/news/story/ancient-language-maithili-is-at-the-verge-of-decline-government-takes-steps-to-revive-its-importance-1454163-2019-02-12|website=India Today}}</ref>

== History ==
[[File:Tirhuta_Script_at_Mandar_Hills_of_Banka_District.jpg|left|thumb|Mandar Parvat inscriptions of 7th century AD, showing '''Tirhuta''' script]]
The ''Lalitavistara'', an old Buddhist text, mentions the Vaidehi script. Around the late 600s AD, big changes happened in the writing style used in the northeast of India. This change first appeared in the writings of King Adityasena. Over time, the eastern version of this new script became the Maithili script, which later became popular in places like Assam, Bengal, and Nepal.<ref name="s9789">{{Cite web|last=Chaudhary|first=Radha Krishna|date=1976|title=A Survey Of Maithili Literature|url=https://archive.org/details/aqar_a-survey-of-maithili-literature-by-radha-krishna-chaudhary-1976-deoghar-shanti-devi-deoghar/page/26/mode/2up?view=theater|website=Archive.org}}</ref>

The earliest written evidence of the Maithili script comes from the 7th century AD. It appears in inscriptions by King Adityasena on the Mandar Hill Stone in Bounsi, Banka district, Bihar. These inscriptions are now kept in the Baidyanath Temple in Deoghar and are important for understanding the early form of the Maithili script.<ref name="s9789">{{Cite web|last=Chaudhary|first=Radha Krishna|date=1976|title=A Survey Of Maithili Literature|url=https://archive.org/details/aqar_a-survey-of-maithili-literature-by-radha-krishna-chaudhary-1976-deoghar-shanti-devi-deoghar/page/26/mode/2up?view=theater|website=Archive.org}}<cite class="citation web cs1" data-ve-ignore="true" id="CITEREFChaudhary1976">Chaudhary, Radha Krishna (1976). [https://archive.org/details/aqar_a-survey-of-maithili-literature-by-radha-krishna-chaudhary-1976-deoghar-shanti-devi-deoghar/page/26/mode/2up?view=theater "A Survey Of Maithili Literature"]. ''Archive.org''.</cite></ref> The script has been used throughout [[Mithila]] from [[Champaran]] to [[Deoghar]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|last=Press Information Bureau Government of India Ministry of Education|date=11 February 2019|title=The MHRD constituted a Committee in the year 2018 for making a report for the Promotion and Protection of Maithili Language and its scripts.|url=https://pib.gov.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=1563907}}</ref>
[[File:12th_century_Stone_Inscription_from_Simroungarh_in_Tirhuta_script.jpg|thumb|''12th Century'' Stone inscription from ''Simroungarh'' showing early Tirhuta writing ]]

== Current status ==
[[File:Sahodara_Inscription.jpg|alt=Location of it is Sahodara temple in West Champaran Bihar.|left|thumb|''Sahodara'' Inscription in Maithili script of 950 AD]]
The use of the Maithili script has been declining over the past 100 years, which has also led to a decline in the culture. Even though Maithili is recognized by the constitution, its growth is held back because the script is not widely used today.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|last=Press Information Bureau Government of India Ministry of Education|date=11 February 2019|title=The MHRD constituted a Committee in the year 2018 for making a report for the Promotion and Protection of Maithili Language and its scripts.|url=https://pib.gov.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=1563907}}<cite class="citation web cs1" data-ve-ignore="true" id="CITEREFPress_Information_Bureau_Government_of_India_Ministry_of_Education2019">Press Information Bureau Government of India Ministry of Education (11 February 2019). [https://pib.gov.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=1563907 "The MHRD constituted a Committee in the year 2018 for making a report for the Promotion and Protection of Maithili Language and its scripts"].</cite></ref>

Today, the Maithili language is mostly written in the [[Devanagari]] script, but the Tirhuta script is still occasionally used by religious pundits and culturally aware families for ceremonial letters (pātā), documents, and cultural events, with ongoing efforts to revive and expand its use.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=An overview of Tirhuta script of Maithili language of India and Nepal|url=https://scriptsource.org/cms/scripts/page.php?item_id=script_detail&key=Tirh|website=Script Source}}<cite class="citation web cs1" data-ve-ignore="true">[https://scriptsource.org/cms/scripts/page.php?item_id=script_detail&key=Tirh "An overview of Tirhuta script of Maithili language of India and Nepal"]. ''Script Source''.</cite></ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=India Mysore|first=CIIL|title=SCRIPT AND SPELLING of Maithili language|url=http://lisindia.ciil.org/Maithili/Maith_Script.html|website=LIS-India}}</ref>

Maithili was officially recognized as one of Nepal’s 14 provincial languages and was added to the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution in 2003, confirming its status as an independent language. However, only the Devanagari script is officially used today.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=India Mysore|first=CIIL|title=SCRIPT AND SPELLING of Maithili language|url=http://lisindia.ciil.org/Maithili/Maith_Script.html|website=LIS-India}}<cite class="citation web cs1" data-ve-ignore="true" id="CITEREFIndia_Mysore">India Mysore, CIIL. [http://lisindia.ciil.org/Maithili/Maith_Script.html "SCRIPT AND SPELLING of Maithili language"]. ''LIS-India''.</cite></ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Languages Included in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution|url=https://rajbhasha.gov.in/en/languages-included-eighth-schedule-indian-constitution|website=Raj bhasa Vibhag [[Government of India]]}}</ref>

== Letters ==

=== Consonant letters ===
{{Brahmic}}
Tirhuta script uses its own signs for the [[Place value|positional]] [[Decimal|decimal numeral system]].
== Image Gallery ==
<gallery widths="250" heights="150" perrow="3">
File:Mandar_parvat_inscriptions_of_Tirhuta.jpg|''7th Century AD,'' Mandar Parvat inscriptions of '''Tirhuta'''
File:Tirhuta_script_found_on_Mandar_parbat.jpg|Tirhuta script found on Mandar Parvat
File:Tirhuta_inscriptions_at_Mandar_Parvat.jpg|Image showing early '''Tirhuta''' writing in 7th century AD, Mandar Hills inscriptions
File:Table_showing_various_alphabets_used_in_Mithila.png|Table showing various alphabets used in Mithila
File:Varṇa_Ratnākara_manuscript_in_the_Library_of_Royal_Asiatic_Society_of_Bengal.jpg|'''Varṇa Ratnākara''' ''manuscript in'' '''Maithili''' ''script''
File:Three_scripts_of_Mithila.png|A [[Sanskrit]] Shloka written in three [[Alphabet|characters]] of Mithila
File:Mithilakshara_Scripts_hand_writting.jpg|Hand written Mithilakshara scripts
File:Inscription_of_King_Narsimha_of_the_Oinwar_dynasty_of_Mithila.jpg|Inscription of King Narasimha of the Oinwar dynasty in the Tirhuta script at the ''Kandaha Sun Temple'' in Saharsa district, (c. 1435 A.D.)
</gallery>

== Unicode ==
Tirhuta script was added to the [[Unicode]] Standard in June 2014 with the release of version 7.0.{{Unicode chart Tirhuta}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Brahmic scripts]]
[[Category:Scripts with ISO 15924 four-letter codes]]
[[Category:Pages with unreviewed translations]]