Sharada Letter Va

It is a consonant with inherent “a.” Its standard Latin transliteration is va. A vowel mark changes it; the virama cancels it.

Sharada grew from Gupta Brahmi, an Indian writing system, through Kutila, an intermediate script; its forms shifted from the 8th–9th to the 11th–13th centuries. From the 8th to the 20th century, it was Kashmir’s main script for Sanskrit and Kashmiri inscriptions and literature, as well as scientific and religious texts. Early evidence is debated: a 774–775 CE Hund inscription and 9th–10th-century Utpala coins are candidates; the 12th-century Bakhshali mathematical manuscript is another witness.

Takri descended from Sharada through Devāśeṣa, an intermediate script from the 14th century; Landa and Gurmukhi are related northwestern scripts. In the 19th century, Kashmiri writing in the Arabic script and Devanagari’s growth helped marginalize Sharada.