Editing Palaeography (section)

=== South India ===
The earliest attested form of writing in [[South India]] is represented by inscriptions found in caves, associated with the [[Chalukya]] and [[Chera dynasty|Chera]] dynasties. These are written in variants of what is known as the [[Cave character]], and their script differs from the Northern version in being more angular. Most of the modern scripts of South India have evolved from this script, with the exception of [[Vatteluttu]], the exact origins of which are unknown, and [[Nandinagari]], which is a variant of [[Devanagari]] that developed due to later Northern influence. In south India from the 7th century of the common era onwards, a number of inscriptions belonging to the dynasties of Pallava, Chola and Pandya are found. These records are written in three different scripts known as [[Tamil language|Tamil]], [[Vattezhuttu]] and [[Grantha script]]s, the last variety being used to write Sanskrit inscriptions. In the [[Kerala]] region, the Vattezhuttu script developed into a still more cursive script called [[Kolezhuthu]] during the 14th and 15th centuries. At the same time, the modern [[Malayalam]] script developed out of the Grantha script. The early form of the [[Telugu-Kannada script]] is found in the inscriptions of the early [[Kadamba Dynasty|Kadambas]] of [[Banavasi]] and the early [[Chalukyas of Badami]] in the west, and [[Salankayana]] and the early Eastern Chalukyas in the east who ruled the Kannada and Telugu speaking areas respectively, during the 4th to 7th centuries.

====List of South Indian scripts====
[[File:Coin of Vikramaditya Chandragupta II with the name of the king in Brahmi script 380 415 CE.jpg|thumb|right|Coin of Vikramadytia Chandragupta II with the name of the king in Brahmi script, 5th century]]
* [[Brahmi script]]
* [[Chalukya dynasty|Chalukya]] and [[Chera Dynasty|Chera cultures]]
* [[Grantha script]]
* [[Kannada script]]
* [[Malayalam script]]
* [[Nāgarī script]] and [[Nandinagari]]
* [[Tamil script]] (cf. also [[Abagada]] [[writing system]])
* [[Telugu script]]