Abstract:
Writing is one of the most important inventions of humankind. There are
few main languages in the ancient world. Among these ancient languages
Sanskrit was used in the Indo region. Brahmi script is one of the most
important ancient letters in South Asia. It became the matrix of
Debanagari character used for Sanskrit and Hindi. The people of Sri
Lanka are fortunate that some of the writing of their ancestors is
preserved on various inscriptions found throughout the country. These
inscriptions have been discovered under the drip ledges of caves, rocks,
pillars and slabs. Inscribed gold, silver and copper plates have been
discovered as well. On the decipherment of these inscriptions, historical,
linguistic and paleographical conclusions could be arrived at.
The source data of this study is already published as gray scale images of
early Brahmi script. These images are taken from the paper copies of
inscriptions called as estampages (rubbed copy). Up to the present,
reading and analyzing these inscriptions are done manually. The aim of
this study was to develop algorithms based on image data of these
estampages and implement a digital data repository. The process of this
study can be divided into several stages as follows: (1). Producing precise
alphabet fonts of early Brahmi scripts from photographic data, (2).
Development of a precise method of identification of ancient letters with
the aid of the alphabet fonts, which leads to automatic reading of ancient
inscriptions by computers, (3). Database implementation for the analysis,
(4). Development of web based interface for scholars over KISSEL
network to share the knowledge and experience among the KISSEL users.
