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{{Short description|Writing systems of northwestern Indian Subcontinent}}
{{For|the proposed Western Punjabi linguistic group|Lahnda}}
{{Infobox writing system
|name = Laṇḍā scripts
|type = [[Alphabet]],{{sfn|Shackle|2007|p=594|ps=: "These scripts are alphabetical on the restricted Semitic model of Ugaritic cuneiform...."}} with some abugida descendents
|languages=
|fam1 = [[Egyptian hieroglyphs]]
|fam2 = [[Proto-Sinaitic alphabet]]
|fam3 = [[Phoenician alphabet]]
|fam4 = [[Aramaic alphabet]]
|fam5 = [[Brahmi script]]
|fam6 = [[Gupta script]]
|fam7 = [[Sharada script]]
|sisters = [[Takri script]]
|children = [[Gurmukhi]], [[Khojki script|Khojki]], [[Khudabadi script|Khudabadi]], [[Mahajani]], [[Multani script|Multani]], others
|iso15924 =
|sample = Landha Script.jpg
|imagesize= 400px
|caption = Landa script chart
|time = 10th-11th century CE
}}
{{Brahmic}}
{{Contains special characters|Indic}}
The '''Laṇḍā scripts''', from the term ''laṇḍā'' meaning "without a tail", is a [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] word used to refer to writing systems used in Punjab and adjoining areas.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/writingsystemsof00naka/page/50|title=Writing systems of the world: alphabets, syllabaries, pictograms|author=中西亮(Nakanishi, Akira)|date=1980-01-01|publisher=C.E. Tuttle Co.|isbn=0804812934|location=Rutland, Vt.; Tokyo, Japan|pages=[https://archive.org/details/writingsystemsof00naka/page/50 50-51]|language=en|url-access=registration}}</ref> In [[Sindhi language|Sindhi]], it was known as 'Wāṇiko' or 'Baniyañ'.<ref name=pollock/>

==Development==
Laṇḍā is a script that evolved from the [[Sharada script]] during the 10th century. It was widely used in the northern and northwestern [[Indian subcontinent]], in the Indus River plain, and adjoining areas, comprising [[Punjab]], [[Sindh]], [[Kashmir]], and some parts of [[Balochistan]] and [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]]. It was used to write languages including [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] in its various dialects and registers, languages of Haryana,<ref>{{cite journal |author1=India Census Commissioner |title=Census of India, 1901 |journal=Census of India |date=1902 |volume=17 |issue=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mSUUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA266 |publisher=Government Central Press |pages=266–267 |quote=Landa, literally the docked or tailless script.... is taught by ''padhas'', in a sort of nursery rhyme, of which the following is the Rohtak version.}}</ref> [[Sindhi language|Sindhi]], [[Balochi language|Balochi]], [[Kashmiri language|Kashmiri]], and [[Pashto]].

The Laṇḍā scripts form a "typologically distinct group," and are closer in norms to its predecessor [[Brahmi|Brāhmī]] than they are to the Nāgarī scripts to the east, in their general avoidance of conjunct glyphs or marking of the [[Middle Indo-Aryan]] geminations distinctive of Panjābī. While possessing full sets of consonants, even separate letters for the common [[Lahnda|Lahndā]] consonant clusters ''tr'' and ''dr'', their indication of vowels is less regular; they possess three vowel letters to indicate initial /ə ɪ ʊ/, but no letters or signs in other positions, thus being "alphabetical on the restricted Semitic model of [[Ugaritic alphabet|Ugaritic cuneiform]]."<ref name="shackle"/>

===Functions===
Landa scripts were originally used as [[wikt:mercantile#English|mercantile]] shorthand for commercial purposes in the [[Punjab|Punjab region]] and [[Sindh]]; they often lacked the full set of vowel sounds, as well as often imperfect correspondence of consonants. This made them liable to misreadings, frequently recognized by the local population through local proverbs referring to its usefulness only to the original writer. Various technical improvements would make certain descendant scripts fully suitable for literary use, primarily motivated by interest in recording religious scripture, particularly in the cases of Gurmukhī in Punjab, and Khojkī in Sindh.<ref name=pollock>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ak9csfpY2WoC&pg=623|last1=Pollock|first1=Sheldon|title=Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia|last2=Raghunathan|first2=Arvind|publisher=University of California Press|year=2003|isbn=9780520228214|pages=623}}</ref>

==Variants==
The Laṇḍā scripts was first classified by [[George Abraham Grierson]].<ref name=asani>{{cite journal | last = Asani | first = Ali A. | title= The Khojkī Script: A Legacy of Ismaili Islam in the Indo-Pakistan Subcontinent | journal= Journal of the American Oriental Society | year = 1987 | volume=107 | issue=3 | pages=440–441 | jstor = 603464 }}</ref> Pandey (2010) further classifies Laṇḍā scripts into "Panjābī" and "Sindhī" regional subclasses:<ref name="Pandey2010"/>

*Panjābī: Gurmukhī, Bahāwalpurī, Lamawasī (in [[Pindi Bhattian]] and [[Chunian]]),<ref name=specimens>{{cite book |last1=Leitner |first1=Gottlieb Wilhelm |author1-link=Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner |title=A Collection of Specimens of Commercial and Other Alphabets and Handwritings as Also of Multiplication Tables Current in Various Parts of the Panjab, Sind and the North West Provinces |date=1883 |publisher=Anjuman-i-Panjab Press |location=Lahore |pages=8–9 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Collection_of_Specimens_of_Commercial/DnQIAAAAQAAJ}}</ref> Lundas (in [[Sialkot]] and [[Wazirabad]])<ref name=specimens/> Multānī (also known as Kiṛakkī and Sarāī), Parachi (in [[Bhera]] and [[Khushab]]),<ref name=specimens/> Thul, Sarika (both in [[Derajat]]), Uch (in Massan, [[Jhang]])<ref name=specimens/>
*Sindhī (named after the various regions, communities, or occupations with which they were associated): Aroṛā, Baniyā, Bhatiā, Haidarābādī, Karadī, Khudāwādī, Khwājā (Khojkī), Haṭāī, Haṭavāṇikā, Laraī, Lohāṇākī (Lohāṇā), Maimon, Rajaī, Sakkar, Shikārpurī, Sewhanī Bhabhira, Thatta (Thattai), Vaniyā, Wangaī, Wāṇiko

Grammarians of the 19th century variously identified as many as six Laṇḍā forms used in Punjab and as many as twelve in Sindh.<ref name="Pandey2010"/> Further typological differences used in this subclassification include:<ref name="Pandey2010"/>

*''character repertoire'': the Laṇḍā character sets of the Sindhī class possess characters for the [[implosive]] consonants of the language;
*''character shapes'': common letters can be identified by subclass depending on shape;
*''collation'': Panjābī Laṇḍā shares Gurmukhī's sorting order, starting with vowels, then fricatives ''sa'' and ''ha'', then the 5×5 set of occlusives, then sonorants, while Sindhī Laṇḍā follows Devanāgarī more closely; and
*''orthographic norms'': Panjābī Laṇḍā do not use dependent vowel diacritics, the approximate vowel letter is written after the consonant letter, e.g. the syllable /ki/ is written with the letter 'k' followed by the letter 'i'. After standardization, dependent vowel diacritics were introduced into Sindhī Laṇḍā.

Even within these subclasses, the scripts exhibit further differences.

===Fully attested===
{{Gallery
|title=[[Ephemera]] in Landa scripts
|width=120 |height=100
|align=right
|File:Punjabi postcard dispatched from Jagraon, Ludhiana written in a Landa script, December 1866.jpg|Punjabi postcard dispatched from [[Jagraon]], [[Ludhiana]] written in a Laṇḍā script, December 1866
|File:Postcard from Afghanistan written in a Landa script, ca.1871–72.jpg|Postcard from Afghanistan written in a Laṇḍā script, ca.1871–72
|File:Page written in a Landa script possibly containing the numeral "ik" at the top.jpg|Page written in a Laṇḍā script
}}
Currently, five Laṇḍā-descended scripts have enough information to be supported in Unicode.

#[[Gurmukhi|Gurmukhī]] is used for [[Punjabi language|Panjābī]] and sometimes for [[Sindhi_language|Sindhī]]. Originally used in Sikh scripture and writings, it is the only major Laṇḍā-descended script in modern day usage.<ref name="Pandey2010">Pandey, Anshuman. (2010). L2/10-011R [http://std.dkuug.dk/JTC1/SC2/WG2/docs/n3766.pdf ''A Roadmap for Scripts of the Landa Family''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315085943/http://std.dkuug.dk/JTC1/SC2/WG2/docs/n3766.pdf |date=2023-03-15 }}</ref> It has preserved the distinctive names of letters (''kakkā'', ''khakkhā'', etc.) and collation order of Laṇḍā (vowels→ fricatives→ occlusives→ sonorants).<ref name=shackle>{{cite book|last=Shackle|first=Christopher|author-link=Richard G. Salomon (professor of Asian studies)|year=2007|chapter=Writing Systems of the Indo-Aryan Languages| editor1-last= Cardona| editor1-first= George| editor2-last= Jain| editor2-first= Dhanesh|title=The Indo-Aryan Languages|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-79711-9|pages=594–595}}</ref> In keeping with Laṇḍā's proximity to Brāhmī, it has retained a particularly close resemblance to Brāhmī among living scripts.<ref>{{cite book |last=Masica |first=Colin |author-link=Colin Masica |year=1993 |title=The Indo-Aryan Languages |place= Cambridge, U.K. |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-29944-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J3RSHWePhXwC&pg=145 |page=145 |quote= (It may be noted in passing, and should be apparent from the samples in Table 6.1, that the Nagari script is one that has gone furthest from Brahmi, at least among the "Northern" scripts. The other scripts, particularly Gurmukhi, often retain letters more similar to those of Brahmi.)}}</ref> Helping to foster a distinct Sikh culture and contributing to the consolidation of the Sikh religion, as well as first being a vehicle of Sikh religious literature, Gurmukhi became particularly important in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries when the Sikhs established political hegemony over Punjab and Kashmir.<ref name=asani/>
#[[Khojki|Khojkī]], also known as ''caliha akhari'' or "the forty letters,"<ref name=boivin>{{cite book |last1=Boivin |first1=Michel |title=Devotion, Religious Authority, and Social Structures in Sindh: Khojas, Vanyos, and Faqirs |date=2024 |publisher=Brill | page = 33 |isbn=9789004695290 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Devotion_Religious_Authority_and_Social/utH7EAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA33}}</ref> an [[wikt:ecclesiastical#English|ecclesiastical]] script of the [[Khoja|Isma'ili Khoja]] community, is considered to be a refined version of Lohāṇākī. Originally developed for Sindhi, it had also been used for Punjabi, Saraiki, and Gujarati as it spread, as well as for Arabic and Persian. Shifts in correspondences of letters most commonly included implosive letters for the tenuis consonants, and tenuis letters for aspirated stops. Such shifts was partly because as Khojkī spread to languages without Sindhī's implosives, the corresponding letters lost their original values, leading to shifts and ambiguity in usage.<ref name="Khojki2011">Pandey, Anshuman. (2011). L2/11-021 [http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n3978.pdf ''Final Proposal to Encode the Khojki Script'']</ref> It remained in general use by the community until the early 20th century, as the printing press facilitated its increasing replacement by the [[Gujarati script]] for Ismāʿīlī literature.<ref name=moir/> By the 1940s, its printing and instruction were confined to its native Sindh, where it survived until the early 1970s,<ref name=daftary/> continuing to be taught in community schools<ref name=moir>{{cite book |last1=Shackle |first1=Christopher |last2=Moir |first2=Zawahir |title=Ismaili Hymns from South Asia: An Introduction to the Ginans |date=2000 |publisher=Curzon |isbn=9780700711468 |pages=34–42 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Ismaili_Hymns_from_South_Asia/FR-Cbho0VUsC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA34}}</ref> until it was superseded by Perso-Arabic.<ref name=daftary>{{cite book |last1=Daftary |first1=Farhad |title=Historical Dictionary of the Ismailis |date=2012 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=9780810861640 |pages=96–97 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Historical_Dictionary_of_the_Ismailis/FdLeEkAUoGIC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA96}}</ref>
#Standard [[Khudabadi script|Khudābādī]], formerly used for [[Sindhi language|Sindhī]], was derived in the 1860s from Khudāwādī, the script associated with merchant communities of [[Hyderabad, Sindh]], the [[Lohana|Lohāṇā]] type of which Khojkī was "very close" to,<ref name=boivin/> being supplemented with characters from Shikārpurī. It is now obsolete.<ref name="Khudawadi2011">Pandey, Anshuman. (2011). L2/11-022 [https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2011/11022-khudawadi.pdf ''Final Proposal to Encode the Khudawadi Script'']</ref> Through official government initiative and encouragement, it developed into a vehicle for literary expression.<ref name=asani/>
#[[Mahajani|Mahājanī]], a script previously used for [[Punjabi language|Panjābī]] and [[Marwari language|Mārwāṛī]], was taught to students from merchant and trading classes for business, and was similar to other accounting scripts like Sarrāfī ("of bankers"), Koṭhīvāl, and Baniauṭī ("of merchants"). Attested mostly from merchant documents, bills of exchange, and letters. It had five vowel letters, ''a, e, i, o, u,'' with the letter for ''i'' also used for ''ī, e, ai'' and the letter for ''u'' also used for ''ū, o, au''. It had neither a dedicated nasalization diacritic, instead using the letter for ''n'', nor script-specific numerals, instead using those of Devanāgarī or Gujarātī, though it does have fraction signs and unit marks, nor script-specific punctuation besides section marks and abbreviation. There are variants of certain letters, and generally did not space between words. It "may not be entirely obsolete."<ref name="Mahajani2011">Pandey, Anshuman. (2011). L2/11-274 [https://unicode.org/L2/L2011/11274-n4126-mahajani.pdf ''Proposal to Encode the Mahajani Script'']</ref>
#[[Multani script|Multānī]], former writing system of [[Saraiki language|Sarāikī]], is now obsolete. While classed by Pandey (2012) in the Punjabi subclass, it contains implosive characters and clusters similar to those of the Sindhi subclass, that other Punjabi Landa scripts lack. It had 4 vowel letters, ''a, i, u, e''; ''a'' was used for ''ā'' as well; ''i'' was also used for ''ī'' as well as commonly as a semivowel in place of the letter ''y''; ''u'' was used for ''ū'' and ''o'', and ''e'' for ''ai'' as well as ''o'' in some sources. Shifts in sound representation meant that some letters often represented more than one sound, most often with tenuis letters used for aspirated stops, and implosive letters for tenuis sounds, as well as variants of certain letters. Pandey (2012) proposes an "idealized" form for encoding, with more regular correspondences, as well as the usage of Gurmukhī numerals for Multānī, as their numerals are "nearly identical."<ref name="Multani2012">Pandey, Anshuman. (2012). L2/12-316 [https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2012/12316-multani.pdf ''Proposal to Encode the Multani Script'']</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|+Comparison of attested characters of Laṇḍā-descended scripts
|-
! rowspan="2" style="text-align: center" {{vertical header|←Class}} || Script↓ || colspan="33" | Common letters || colspan="4" | Implosives || ''Nuqtā'' || Gemination
|-
! [[IAST]]
|| ''sa'' || ''ha'' || ''ka'' || ''kha'' || ''ga'' || ''gha'' || ''ṅa'' || ''ca'' || ''cha'' || ''ja'' || ''jha'' || ''ña'' || ''ṭa'' || ''ṭha'' || ''ḍa'' || ''ḍha'' || ''ṇa'' || ''ta'' || ''tha'' || ''da'' || ''dha'' || ''na'' || ''pa'' || ''pha'' || ''ba'' || ''bha'' || ''ma'' || ''ya'' || ''ra'' || ''la'' || ''va'' || ''ṛa'' || ''śa'' || ''g̠a'' || ''j̄a'' || ''ḍ̠a'' || ''ḇa'' || ||
|-
! rowspan="3" style="text-align: center" {{vertical header|Panjābī}}|| [[Gurmukhi]]
|| ਸ || ਹ || ਕ || ਖ || ਗ || ਘ || ਙ || ਚ || ਛ || ਜ || ਝ || ਞ || ਟ || ਠ || ਡ || ਢ || ਣ || ਤ || ਥ || ਦ || ਧ || ਨ || ਪ || ਫ || ਬ || ਭ || ਮ || ਯ || ਰ || ਲ || ਵ || ੜ || ਸ਼ || || || || || ਼ || ੱ
|-
! [[Mahajani]]
|| 𑅰 || 𑅱 || 𑅕 || 𑅖 || 𑅗 || 𑅘 || || 𑅙 || 𑅚 || 𑅛 || 𑅜 || 𑅝 || 𑅞 || 𑅟 || 𑅠 || 𑅡 || 𑅢 || 𑅣 || 𑅤 || 𑅥 || 𑅦 || 𑅧 || 𑅨 || 𑅩 || 𑅪 || 𑅫 || 𑅬 || || 𑅭 || 𑅮 || 𑅯 || 𑅲 || || || || || || 𑅳 ||
|-
! [[Multani script|Multani]]
|| 𑊥 || 𑊦 || 𑊄 || 𑊅 || 𑊆 || 𑊈 || || 𑊊 || 𑊋 || colspan="2" | 𑊌 || 𑊏 || 𑊐 || 𑊑 || 𑊒 || 𑊔 || 𑊕 || 𑊖 || 𑊗 || 𑊘 || 𑊙 || 𑊚 || 𑊛 || 𑊜 || 𑊝 || 𑊟 || 𑊠 || 𑊡 || 𑊢 || 𑊣 || 𑊤 || 𑊧 || (𑊥) || (𑊆) || 𑊍 || 𑊓 || (𑊝) || ||
|-
! rowspan="2" style="text-align: center" {{vertical header|Sindhī}}|| [[Khojki]]
|| 𑈩 || 𑈪 || 𑈈 || 𑈉 || 𑈊 || 𑈌 || 𑈍 || 𑈎 || 𑈏 || colspan="2" | 𑈐 || 𑈓 || 𑈔 || 𑈕 || 𑈖 || 𑈗 || 𑈘 || 𑈙 || 𑈚 || 𑈛 || 𑈝 || 𑈞 || 𑈟 || 𑈠 || 𑈡 || 𑈣 || 𑈤 || 𑈥 || 𑈦 || 𑈧 || 𑈨 || || 𑈩𑈶 || 𑈋 || 𑈑 || 𑈜 || 𑈢 || 𑈶 || 𑈷
|-
! [[Khudabadi]]
|| 𑋝 || 𑋞 || 𑊺 || 𑊻 || 𑊼 || 𑊾 || 𑊿 || 𑋀 || 𑋁 || 𑋂 || 𑋄 || 𑋅 || 𑋆 || 𑋇 || 𑋈 || 𑋋 || 𑋌 || 𑋍 || 𑋎 || 𑋏 || 𑋐 || 𑋑 || 𑋒 || 𑋓 || 𑋔 || 𑋖 || 𑋗 || 𑋘 || 𑋙 || 𑋚 || 𑋛 || || 𑋜 || 𑊽 || 𑋃 || 𑋉 || 𑋕 || 𑋩 ||
|-
|}

Multānī used the character 𑊥 for both ''sa'' and ''śa'', and commonly used the characters 𑊆 ''ga'' and 𑊝 ''ba'' for their implosive counterparts as well.<ref name="Multani2012"/> Both Multānī and Khojkī commonly used one letter in any given writing for both ''ja'' and ''jha'', which are "anyway rather weakly contrasted phonemes,"<ref name=moir/>{{rp|36}} at least in the case of Khojkī. While both scripts each have two characters used interchangeably for both phonemes, they were conflated to the extent that the lesser-used letters of each, while attested, are not currently supported in Unicode. According to Pandey, "it is possible that a distinct letter for ''jha'' exists in a style of Multani. For this reason, space has been reserved for *''jha'' in the [Unicode] block."<ref name="Multani2012"/> In both cases, the unsupported letter shares a resemblance with Gurmukhī ਜ ''ja''.

While Laṇḍā did not have dependent vowel signs, several descendent scripts like Gurmukhī, Khojkī and Khudābādī have developed them. Earlier Khojkī represented diphthongs in a manner more similar to Laṇḍā.<ref name=moir/>{{rp|37}} Khojkī 𑈂 was typically used for both ''i'' and ''ī''.<ref name="Khojki2011"/>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|+Comparison of vowels of Laṇḍā-descended scripts
|-
! rowspan="2" style="text-align: center" {{vertical header|←Class}} || Script↓ || colspan="10" | Independent Vowels || colspan="9" | Vowel Diacritics
|-
! [[IAST]]
|| ''a'' || ''ā'' || ''i'' || ''ī'' || ''u'' || ''ū'' || ''e'' || ''ai'' || ''o'' || ''au'' || ''ā'' || ''i'' || ''ī'' || ''u'' || ''ū'' || ''e'' || ''ai'' || ''o'' || ''au''
|-
! rowspan="3" style="text-align: center" {{vertical header|Panjābī}}|| [[Gurmukhi]]
|| ਅ || ਆ || ਇ || ਈ || ਉ || ਊ || ਏ || ਐ || ਓ || ਔ || ਾ || ਿ || ੀ || ੁ || ੂ || ੇ || ੈ || ੋ || ੌ
|-
! [[Mahajani]]
| colspan="2" | 𑅐 || colspan="2" | 𑅑 || colspan="2" | 𑅒 || 𑅓 || 𑅑 || 𑅔 || 𑅒 || colspan="10" |
|-
! [[Multani script|Multani]]
| colspan="2" | 𑊀 || colspan="2" | 𑊁 || colspan="2" | 𑊂 || colspan="2" | 𑊃 || 𑊂 || || colspan="10" |
|-
! rowspan="2" style="text-align: center" {{vertical header|Sindhī}}|| [[Khojki]]
|| 𑈀 || 𑈁 || (𑉀) || 𑈂 || colspan="2" | 𑈃 || 𑈄 || 𑈅 || 𑈆 || 𑈇 || 𑈬 || 𑈭 || 𑈮 || colspan="2" | 𑈯 || 𑈰 || 𑈱 || 𑈲 || 𑈳
|-
! [[Khudabadi]]
|| 𑊰 || 𑊱 || 𑊲 || 𑊳 || 𑊴 || 𑊵 || 𑊶 || 𑊷 || 𑊸 || 𑊹 || 𑋠 || 𑋡 || 𑋢 || 𑋣 || 𑋤 || 𑋥 || 𑋦 || 𑋧 || 𑋨
|-
|}

These scripts developed further adaptations as necessity arose. Gurmukhī has developed supplementary and subscript letters to accommodate loansounds and certain consonant clusters respectively. Mahājanī had the ligature 𑅶 ''śrī'' and various accounting signs. Multānī had the character 𑊨 ''ṛha'', and Khudābādī had the character 𑋓𑋩 ''fa''. Khojkī had the characters 𑈫 ''ḷa'' and 𑈿 ''qa'', as well as conjuncts for ''kṣa'', ''jña'', ''tra'', and ''dra'', often borrowing such orthography from easterly scripts.<ref name=moir/>{{rp|37}} It also made extensive use of its ''nuqtā'' to accommodate the emphatics, uvulars, and pharyngeals of Arabic. Letters of the unstandardized scripts often had glyphic variants; for instance, a variant of Multānī 𑊗 ''tha'' resembles its Gurmukhī counterpart ਥ.

=== Other attested, similar, and related scripts ===
[[File:Punjabi-language manuscript of the 'Ekadashi Mahatam' written in a Punjabi variant of Sharada script, ca.1200–1300.jpg|thumb|Punjabi-language manuscript of the 'Ekadashi Mahatam' written in a Punjabi variant of Sharada script, ca.1200–1300]]
Other Laṇḍā-linked scripts have been documented. The ones below do not have enough information to be supported in Unicode.

* Bhaṭṭākharī, also spelt ''bhaṭ(ṭ) ākhrī'' or ''bhaṭākshrī'', was used to write the ''[[Bhat Vahis|Bhat Vahi]]'' literature and was employed by historical [[Bhatra Sikhs|Bhatt]] writers.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |title=Punjab History Conference: Proceedings |publisher=Department of Punjab Historical Studies, Punjabi University |year=1989 |volume=22 |page=86}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=McLeod |first=W. H. |title=The A to Z of Sikhism |date=July 16, 2009 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=9780810863446 |pages=37 |url=https://archive.org/details/the-a-to-z-of-sikhism/page/37/mode/2up |quote=These they wrote in a script called Bhatakshri, which was a family code such as Lande and Mahajani.}}</ref> It was a "family code such as Laṇḍā and Mahājanī,"<ref name=":1"/><ref>{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Karnail |title=Fragments of Half a Century |publisher=Institute of Sikh Studies |year=2005 |isbn=9788185815251 |pages=96 |chapter=24: Bhatt Wahis}}</ref> and like Laṇḍā lacked vowel signs.<ref>{{cite book |title=Punjab History Conference, Thirty-seventh Session, March 18–20, 2005: Proceedings |publisher=Department of Punjab Historical Studies, Punjabi University |year=2005 |isbn=978-81-7380-990-3 |editor=Sukhdial Singh |page=198 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Proceedings_Punjab_History_Conference/5jRuAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=bhattakhri&dq=bhattakhri&printsec=frontcover }}</ref>
* [[Langdi|Laṅgaṛī]], historically used by bookkeepers in the [[Haryana]] region, possibly a subtype of Mahājanī.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Anshuman |first=Pandey |date=12 July 2011 |title=Proposal to Encode the Mahajani Script in ISO/IEC 10646 |url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2011/11274-n4126-mahajani.pdf |access-date=14 May 2024 |website=www.unicode.org}}</ref>
* [[Mundi script|Mundī]], merchant script used by [[Marwari people|Marwari]] and [[Gujarati people|Gujarati]] businessmen and bookkeepers for recording accounts and correspondences.<ref name=":03">{{Cite book |last1=Kaushik |first1=Kshama V. |title=India Means Business: How the elephant earned its stripes |last2=Dutta |first2=Kaushik |date=Jan 23, 2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199088515 |chapter=Bahi-Khata and Parta System |quote=The language used for writing depends on the business; since most of the Indian business was in the hands of Marwaris and Gujaratis in the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, ''mundi'' was the language of choice for bookkeeping. The other accounting language was found among Punjabi businessmen which was called ''langdi'' Hindi.}}</ref> Its name derives from the Hindi term ''mundā'' denoting bare-headedness, referring to its lack of ''śirorekhā'', or top line characteristic of many abugidas of the area.<ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last=Garg |first=Vipin K. |title=Trade Practices and Traditions: Origin and Development in India |publisher=Allied |year=1984 |isbn=9780836414349 |pages=v, 107–109 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hc0vAAAAMAAJ&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=mundi |quote=For many centuries past, the merchant class in India had been using a special script for recording accounts and for correspondence. This script acquired different names in different areas like Mundi, Mudiya, Modi, Mahajani, and Sarrafi.... The name Munda also signifies its relationship with the Hindi dialect of the area. In Hindi, the word 'Munda' is used to denote bare-headedness. Since the alphabet for writing Mundi did not have the bar on top of the alphabet...}}</ref>
* Landi-Mundi, historically used to record information [[Bahi genealogy registers|''bahi'' genealogical registers]], such as at [[Hindu genealogy registers at Haridwar|Haridwar]]<ref name=":02">{{Cite news |last=Chakrabarty |first=Sreeparna |date=6 April 2023 |title=Ancestry records of pilgrim centres to shed light on India's past |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/now-ancestry-records-to-be-used-in-the-telling-of-history/article66680686.ece |access-date=11 June 2025 |work=The Hindu}}</ref>
* Scripts classified as Laṇḍā in the nineteenth century have been attested further east, including Mudia in [[Awadh]], [[Garhwal District|Garhwal]], and towns in the [[North-Western Provinces]], and [[Bisati]] Laṇḍā by Muslim traders in the North-Western Provinces.<ref name=specimens/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*Pandey, Anshuman. (2010). L2/10-271R [https://www.unicode.org/wg2/docs/n3871.pdf ''Proposal to Encode the Sindhi Script'']
*Pandey, Anshuman. (2010). L2/10-013R [https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2010/10013r-landa.pdf ''Preliminary Proposal to Encode the Landa Script'']
*Pandey, Anshuman. (2009). L2/09-424 [https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2009/09424-takri.pdf ''Proposal to Encode the Takri Script'']
*{{cite book |last1=Leitner |first1=Gottlieb Wilhelm |author1-link=Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner |title=History of indigenous education in the Punjab since annexation and in 1882 |date=1882 |publisher=Superintendent of Government Printing, India |location=Calcutta |pages=28–45 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.515365/page/n43/mode/2up |chapter=Vernacular indigenous education in the Panjab}}
*{{cite book |last1=Hutchinson |first1=C. W. |title=Specimen of Various Vernacular Characters Passing Through the Post Office in India |date=1877 |publisher=Surveyor General's Office |location=Calcutta |pages=28–29 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Specimen_of_Various_Vernacular_Character/NzjyY568NUYC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA28&printsec=frontcover}}

{{list of writing systems}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Landa}}
[[Category:Brahmic scripts]]
[[Category:Sarada scripts]]

Laṇḍā scripts - Revision history

Shubhamsaini9 at 23:29, 14 March 2026