Tirhuta Letter Da

It is a d consonant, usually followed by a short a.

Tirhuta consonant letters carry a built-in vowel. A vowel sign changes that vowel; the virama, a mark that suppresses it, leaves only the consonant.

Where did Tirhuta come from?

Tirhuta grew from Gauḍī, itself descended from Kuṭila Brahmi.

By the 10th century, it had emerged from Gauḍī. The earliest identified records are temple inscriptions in Bihar and Nepal from the 13th century; by the 14th century, Tirhuta had distinct letterforms alongside related Bengali, Newari, and Odia traditions.

Tirhuta was used for Maithili and Sanskrit scholarship, religious writing, family genealogies, and correspondence.

Why can Tirhuta resemble Bengali?

Both descend from Gauḍī, but each has its own letters and spelling.

The corresponding Bengali letter is দ. It is the Bengali-script counterpart to Tirhuta da, but the two are separate characters and cannot be substituted for one another.

As of 2026, Tirhuta is used in religious and literary manuscripts, personal correspondence, signage in north Bihar, and as an optional script in Bihar civil-services examinations. Devanagari had replaced it for most Maithili writing by the late 20th century.