Kaithi Vowel Sign U

It supplies the syllable’s short-u vowel. The Kaithi short-u mark attaches to a consonant. Print distinguishes it from long u; handwriting may use the long form for both lengths.

Kaithi developed from Brahmi through the Gupta and Kutila scripts. A copper-plate inscription linked to ruler Baj Bahadur Chandradeva, active around 1090, has been proposed as the earliest Kaithi example; its identification as Kaithi is uncertain.

From the 16th century to the early 20th, Kaithi served northern Indian courts, administration, trade, and personal letters before it was gradually replaced by Devanagari. Kaithi copies of Mirigavati and Padmavat, along with religious manuscripts, show its literary use. The Unicode proposal describes ties with Gujarati and parallel development with Devanagari, not a simple cursive descent.