Communication

Ancient India had several languages. One included Brahmi.

Brahmi

• Brahmi is a language that originated in India some time between 900 B.C. and 800 B.C.
• Indian Merchants discovered this language from people that lived in southwest Asia.
• It became widely used in India.
• Many people spoke Brahmi, but few could write it. Only certain priests knew how to write in Brahmi.
• Because of this, most ancient Indian religous writings were in Brahmi.
• It became the official religous language of India.
• King Asoka used Brahmi to write his laws on large, stone monuments.
• The symbols in the Brahmi stood for syllables.
• Each symbol stood for a consonant followed by the long a sound. 
• Brahmi was also written from left to right.

 A Stone Temple Built by King Asoka                                                   

The Symbols of Brahmi

Brahmi and India Today

• Brahmi still plays an important role in today's world.
• Almost all the written languages in India today originated from Brahmi.
• Brahmi shaped languages used in other countries.
• Other languages like Japanese, Thai, and Tibetan also come from Brahmi.
• The alphabet in Thailand came from Brahmi.