Sharada Letter Jha

It is a Sharada consonant letter, conventionally written “jha.”

The spelling “jha” represents its consonant sound; the “h” marks an extra puff of breath. Sharada is an abugida: each consonant carries a default vowel, “a,” unless a dependent vowel sign changes it. The virama removes that vowel, so this letter takes its value from the syllable around it.

Where did Sharada come from?

Sharada is a Brahmi-based script used across northwestern South Asia.

Records of Sharada inscriptions begin in the 8th century, on stone, copper, and other surfaces. By the 12th century, scribes also used it for manuscripts of Vedic and classical Sanskrit. Around the 13th century, its written form changed substantially: scholars distinguish earlier inscriptional Sharada from the later manuscript style. Sharada carried inscriptions, scholarship, and Kashmiri and Sanskrit texts. Manuscripts include writing on science, mathematics, erotica, and older Kashmiri literature. Sharada is related to Devanagari. Takri descended from Sharada through Devāśeṣa, an intermediate script used for religious and official writing from the 14th century. In the 19th century, growing use of Arabic-script Kashmiri and Devanagari helped marginalize Sharada. As of 2026, Unicode describes continued use among Kashmiri Pandits for horoscopes and rituals.

Why does 𑆙 look different?

Fonts control how its strokes appear.

Sharada scribes varied in whether headstrokes joined, and Unicode leaves that choice to font design. A Sharada font can therefore change the visible outline. A font without suitable shaping support may also mishandle stacked consonants.