Sharada Letter Ca

It is the Sharada consonant ca, not a standalone word.

Here, ca is a scholarly spelling for a sound like the “ch” in “chair.”

In Sharada, a consonant normally carries an unwritten “a.” A vowel sign changes it; a virama (a mark that cancels the vowel) removes it, and consonants can join in combined forms.

Where did Sharada come from?

Sharada developed from earlier Brahmi-derived writing.

It descends from Gupta Brahmi through Kutila. Sharada proper developed in the 8th–9th century and continued changing through the 13th century. Early evidence is disputed: some specialists accept coins from the 9th–10th century, while others treat the Hund slab, dated 774–775 CE, as the oldest record.

Sharada recorded Sanskrit and Kashmiri in inscriptions, scholarship, and manuscripts across northern South Asia. The Bakhshali mathematical treatise, from the 12th century, is the earliest known Sharada manuscript; the oldest found in Kashmir is Muni-mata-maṇi-mala, from the 14th century. In some regions Sharada gave way to Devāśeṣa and Takri, and it is historically related to Gurmukhi and Landa. Its role shifted from broad literary writing to specialized or ceremonial use. As of 2026, Unicode describes its surviving use among Kashmiri Pandits as limited to horoscopes and rituals.