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Takri 𑚔𑚭𑚊𑚤𑚯
The word 'Takri' written in Chamba Takri
Script type	Abugida
Time period	c. 16th century CE to present
Direction	Left-to-right
Region	India, Pakistan
Languages	Dogri, Kangri, Chambeali, Mandeali, Bilaspuri, Kullui, Bhateali, Churahi, Kishtwari, Gaddi, Mahasui, Sirmauri, Pangwali, Bhadarwahi, Sanskrit
Related scripts
Parent systems	Egyptian Proto-Sinaitic Phoenician Aramaic Brahmi Gupta Sharada Devashesha-Tankri Takri
Child systems	Dogri
Sister systems	Landa
ISO 15924
ISO 15924	Takr (321), ​Takri, Ṭākrī, Ṭāṅkrī
Unicode
Unicode alias	Takri
Unicode range	U+11680–U+116CF
This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between , / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

The Tākri script (Takri (Chamba): 𑚔𑚭𑚊𑚤𑚯; Takri (Jammu/Dogra): 𑠔𑠬𑠊𑠤𑠮; sometimes called Tankri 𑚔𑚭𑚫𑚊𑚤𑚯) is an abugida writing system of the Brahmic family of scripts. It is derived from the Sharada script formerly employed for Kashmiri. It is the sister script of Laṇḍā scripts. It has another variant Dogra Takri (also known as Dogra Akkhar) employed in Jammu region. There are numerous varieties present throughout Himachal Pradesh. Until the late 1940s, the adapted version of the script (called Dogri, Dogra or Dogra Akkhar) was the official script for writing Dogri in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. Throughout the history, different kingdoms of what now forms Himachal Pradesh used their own variety to maintain their records. The Takri script used in Sirmour in Himachal Pradesh and in the adjacent region of Jaunsar-Bawar in Uttarakhand has some distinction.

History

The Takri alphabet developed through the Devāśeṣa stage of the Sharada script from the 14th-18th centuries and is found mainly in the Hill States such as Chamba and surrounding areas. The local Takri variants got the status of official scripts in some of the Punjab Hill States, and were used for both administrative and literary purposes until the 19th century. After 1948, when Himachal Pradesh was established as an administrative unit, the local Takri variants were replaced by Devanagari.

Takri itself has historically been used to write a number of Western Pahari Languages in the Western Himalaya, such as Gaddi or Gaddki (the language of the Gaddi ethnic group), Kishtwari (a language, or possibly a highly idiosyncratic dialect of Kashmiri, spoken in the Kishtwar region of Jammu and Kashmir) and Chambeali (the language of the Chamba region of Himachal Pradesh). Takri used to be most prevalent script for business records and communication in various parts of Himachal Pradesh including the regions of Kangra & Bilaspur. The shift to Devanagari can be traced to the early days of Indian independence (1950s−80s).

Revival movement

Since Takri fell into disuse, there have been sporadic attempts to revive the script in Himachal Pradesh. Recent efforts have been made to teach the script to Himachalis.

The Takri (Tankri) script was also used in cinema. The first film in Himachali dialects of Western Pahari called Saanjh directed by Ajay K Saklani released in April 2017 used Takri script in its title and beginning credits. Workshops are being conducted in small scale in the state of Himachal Pradesh, in districts like Chamba and Kullu, Kangra and Shimla. An organization named Sambh (Devanagari: सांभ) based at Dharamshala has decided to develop fonts for this script.

A Western Pahari Corridor from Shimla to Murree has also been proposed under the Aman ki Asha initiative to link the similar Western Pahari language-based regions of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu, Azad Kashmir and Pothohar Plateau and revive the script.

The Himachal Pradesh government under the National Manuscript Mission Yojana has set up a Manuscript Resource Centre and so far 1.26 lakh (1,26,000) manuscripts, including those in Takri, have been catalogued and has decided to be digitised.

Varieties

There are several regional varieties of Takri, “with each Hill State or tract having its own style ”. There is considerable variation in the spellings of the names of the regional forms and the languages they represent. The names of languages have also changed, so that the names used in Grierson and other sources differ from current practices. In order to assist in the identification of languages and the forms of Takri associated with them, the language names below are denoted using ISO639-3 codes. Specimens of Takri representative of the regional form is also indicated.

• Bhattiyali : Bhateali, Bhatiali
• Chambeali : Chambiali, Chameali, Chamiali
• Dogra , : Dogri
• Gaddi : Bharmauri, Gadi
• Gahri : Bunan
• Jaunsari
• Kangri : Kangri
• Kinnauri : Kanauri
• Kishtwari : Kashtwari
• Kulvi : Kullu, Kului, Kullvi
• Mahasu : Kochi, Kiunthali
• Mandeali : Himachali, Mandi
• Sirmauri

The Chambeali version was selected to be the standard for the Unicode.

A variety of Takri which was used for Sirmauri and Jaunsari has been proposed to be encoded in the Unicode.

Numerals

In Unicode

Takri script was added to the Unicode Standard in 2012 (version 6.1).

References

1. Grierson, George A. (1904). "On the Modern Indo-Aryan Alphabets of North-Western India". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland. Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. p. 67.
2. Pandey, Anshuman (6 April 2009). "Proposal to Encode the Takri Script in ISO/IEC 10646" (PDF). Working Group Document, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
3. ^ Pandey, Anshuman (25 March 2009). "N3545: Proposal to Encode the Sharada Script in ISO/IEC 10646" (PDF). Working Group Document, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
4. Magotra, Shika; Kaushik, Baijnath; Kaul, Ajay (2020). "A Comparative analysis for identification and classification of text segmentation challenges in Takri Script". Sādhanā. 45 (146). doi:10.1007/s12046-020-01384-4.
5. Brara, Sarita (26 July 2019). "Breathing new life into forgotten scripts". The Hindu Business Line.
6. "Tankri once the language of royals, is now dying in Himachal Pradesh". Hindustan Times. 27 January 2006. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
7. "Ancient scripts of Indian Mountains fights for survival". Zee News. 16 February 2006. Archived from the original on 9 January 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
8. "Reviving 'Takri' script of the yore". The Tribune (India). 8 February 2020. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
9. "Workshop at Shimla".
10. Thakur, Naresh K (9 March 2015). "Ancient delight: Heritage enthusiasts develop fonts for fading 'Takri' script". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
11. "Dreaming of peace dividends: Revival of Shimla-Murree linkages". Aman Ki Asha. 14 July 2019. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
12. Sharma, Vishal (7 June 2019). "Dreaming of peace dividends: Revival of Shimla-Murree linkages". The Wire. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
13. Bodh, Anand (21 August 2016). "Himachal makes efforts to save its cultural heritage". Times of India. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
14. Pandey, Anshuman (28 March 2018). "Preliminary proposal to encode Sirmauri in Unicode" (PDF). Retrieved 11 March 2024.

External resources

• Takri at Aksharamukha
• Takri at Omniglot
• Comparative examples of Takri and related scripts (Spanish language website)
• A discussion of the Gaddi, with a reference to Takri

• Brahmic scripts
• Sarada scripts
• Dogri language
• Obsolete writing systems