The Ariyaka script ( th, อักษรอริยกะ) is an obsolete

alphabet An alphabet is a standardized set of basic written graphemes (called letters) that represent the phonemes of certain spoken languages. Not all writing systems represent language in this way; in a syllabary, each character represents a syll ...

, invented by King

Mongkut Mongkut ( th, มงกุฏ; 18 October 18041 October 1868) was the fourth monarch of Siam (Thailand) under the House of Chakri, titled Rama IV. He ruled from 1851 to 1868. His full title in Thai was ''Phra Bat Somdet Phra Menthora Ramathibod ...

as an alternative to transcribing

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...

, the liturgical language of

Theravada Buddhism ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

. The script, inspired by the Greek and Burmese-Mon scripts, did not come into popular use and eventually fell out of usage.

History

During religious reforms in mid-nineteenth century Rattanakosin Kingdom, King Mongkut discouraged use of the Khom Thai script, in religious works for reason that its exclusivity gave wrong impression that Khom Thai Script was holy and magical, ordering the monks to switch to the Thai script in recording Buddhist canon. In the 1840s, Mongkut invented the Ariyaka script to promote printing of

Tripiṭaka ''Tipiṭaka'' () or ''Tripiṭaka'' () or ''තිපිටක'' (), meaning "Triple Basket", is the traditional term for ancient collections of Buddhist sacred scriptures. The Pāli Canon maintained by the Theravāda tradition in ...

, instead of traditionally inscribing on

palm leaf manuscripts Palm-leaf manuscripts are manuscripts made out of dried palm leaves. Palm leaves were used as writing materials in the Indian subcontinent and in Southeast Asia reportedly dating back to the 5th century BCE. Their use began in South Asia and sp ...

. The script was adapted from both the Greek and Burmese-Mon scripts, and was intended to supplant other existing scripts for transcribing Pali, including Khom Thai and

Tai Tham Tai Tham script ('' Tham'' meaning "scripture") is the name given to an abugida writing system used mainly for a group of Southwestern Tai languages i.e., Northern Thai, Tai Lü, Khün and Lao; as well as the liturgical languages of Buddhism ...

References

External links

{{List of writing systems Constructed scripts Obsolete writing systems Writing systems introduced in the 19th century Writing systems of Asia Pali Buddhism in Thailand Publishing in Thailand Thai language Thai inventions