Unicode Block - Kharoshthi
Kharoshthi is a historic script used primarily in the region of Gandhara, in what is now northwestern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan, from roughly the 3rd century BCE to the 4th century CE. It was written from right to left and is closely associated with the early dissemination of Buddhism, appearing in inscriptions, coins, and manuscripts such as the Gandharan Buddhist texts. The script encodes consonants and vowels, including inherent vowel notation and various diacritical marks, and it also includes punctuation and numeral signs. Its characters reflect a cursive, angular style that evolved from Aramaic, and the block provides a digital representation for this ancient writing system, aiding in scholarly research and preservation of the language’s heritage.