U+10A30 "𐨰" Kharoshthi Letter Za Unicode Character

U+10A30 "𐨰" Kharoshthi Letter Za is a glyph from the ancient Kharoshthi script, which was used primarily in the regions of modern-day Pakistan, Afghanistan, and parts of Central Asia from roughly the 3rd century BCE to the 3rd century CE to write languages such as Gandhari Prakrit and Sanskrit. This specific character represents the voiced alveolar fricative sound /z/, a consonant that was essential for transcribing foreign names and loanwords, particularly from Greek and other Central Asian languages, reflecting the script’s role in the multilingual and trade-rich environment of the Indo-Greek and Kushan empires. As part of the Kharoshthi block in the Unicode Standard, it helps preserve and digitally enable this historical writing system for academic research, digital typography, and cultural heritage initiatives.