Tankri: The lost script of Pahadi languages

The Pahadi speakers of Himachal and nearby hill regions are often told that Pahadi is not a language but rather a dialect. The argument given in support is that a dialect doesn’t have a script, while a language has a definite script. But what is often not known to many, even to the Pahadi speakers, is that Pahadi languages used to have their own script, that too very well defined. The script is called ‘Tankri’ or ‘Takri’. The Tankri script was employed for predominantly Pahadi languages stretched from the region of Jammu to Uttarakhand, along with Himachal, of course. Himachal’s Pahadi languages like Chambyali, Mandeali, Kullvi, Kangri, Mahasuvi, Sirmauri, etc., were written in the Tankri script, with slight variations according to regions. The Tankri script is derived from the Sharda script of Kashmir, which itself is derived from Brahmi, one of the oldest deciphered scripts in South Asia. It came to the hills in the 13th century and became a distinctive script in the 16th century. It was widely used in revenue records, temple inscriptions, tantra treatises, memorial stones, etc., all over Himachal.
Kulluvi Tankri inscription on face of a local Deity
According to Sir G.A. Grierson in his 1916 Linguistic Survey of India: “All over the Western Pahari area, the written character is some form or other of the Takri alphabet, but the Nagari and Persian characters are also used by the educated.” According to Shri Jagdish Kapoor, a retired banker and Tankri researcher, people used to sign in Tankri as late as the 1970s. Then, how come this glorious script lost its shine is a question to ask? Himachal, as a state, came into existence in 1971. Since the creation of Himachal didn’t involve linguistic considerations like Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, etc., much focus was not given to the preservation of Language and Script. Such is the state of Tankri that hardly a handful of people know Tankri in today’s time. It is for the efforts of people like Late Khubram Khushdil (Kullu), Late Dr. Rita Sharma, Jagdish Kapoor (Mandi), Yatin Pandit (Kullu), Parul Arora (Mandi), Vijay Sharma (Chamba), Harikrishna Murari (Kangra), and organizations like Sambh that Tankri is being made popular again. Due to the efforts of many people, now the Tankri script was added to the Unicode Standard in 2012. A standard system of alphabets has been adopted to avoid regional variations.One might question the purpose of revitalizing a forgotten script. Why should one revive a forgotten script? A script is not a collection of a few letters. It holds immense history, a continued tradition, indigenous knowledge systems of medicine, tantra, art, literature, and philosophy. A lost script means the loss of an entire heritage. And what is the identity of a culture that is devoid of its heritage? The people of the Himalayas are rooted in their culture and are immensely proud of their heritage, so shouldn’t it be great if a script was again made popular to revive the lost glory of Pahadi languages?
Tankri inscription at Shamshar Mahadev Temple, Anni
One might question the purpose of revitalizing a forgotten script. Why should one revive a forgotten script? A script is not a collection of a few letters. It holds immense history, a continued tradition, indigenous knowledge systems of medicine, tantra, art, literature, and philosophy. A lost script means the loss of an entire heritage. And what is the identity of a culture that is devoid of its heritage? The people of the Himalayas are rooted in their culture and are immensely proud of their heritage, so shouldn’t it be great if a script was again made popular to revive the lost glory of Pahadi languages?
18th century Pahadi miniature showing birds like Magpie, Robin, White-eye, Common Sparrow and Great Tit with names written in Tankri Script(Govt. Museum, Chandigarh)

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