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Click here to view the evolving Bengali script at different stages of history.

The Bengali  script  is an Abugida system of  writing belonging to the Brahmic family of scripts. Bangla Script grew out of Kutila, which was a reformed version of Brahmi. Although the Brahmi script is believed to have evolved in the ancient past, its earliest specimens are two inscriptions, dating from the 5th century BC, discovered at Pipraba and Bali. From 350-100 BC the Brahmi script, now known as Ashoka or Maurya script, underwent certain transformations. Asoka script or Maurya script can be divided into two stages: ancient and modern. Ancient Maurya script had two forms: uttari and daksini. Modern script evolved through seven stages. The second stage in the evolution of the Brahmi script is into the Kushan script, named after the Kushan royal dynasty and in use upto 100-300 AD. The third stage of its evolution was into the Gupta script, named after the Gupta royal dynasty, and current between the 4th and 5th centuries AD. During this period, some letters of the Gupta script took the shape of modern Bangla letters. For instance, in Maharaja Jayanatha's grant, B and M are similar to the Bangla letters today.
The next stage in the evolution of the Brahmi script was into the Kutila script, current between the 6th to 9th centuries. The name perhaps comes from the fact that Kutila letters and vowel symbols are rather complex (Kutila, meaning complicated). Almost all modern scripts of Indic languages have grown out of the two main forms of the Kutila script. Devanagari evolved from the west regional form of north-Indian Kutila, while Bangla evolved from its eastern or Magadha form. The transformation of eastern Kutila script began in the 6th century AD. Some time during the reign of the Gurjara kings, most possibly during the reign of Mahendrapala I, son of Bhoja, Kutila script entered Bengal. The copperplate inscriptions of his son Vinayakapala, dating from the 10th century AD, are in the Kutila script. Kutila script evolved further, finally developing into the basic Bangla script towards the end of the 10th century AD. Specimens of this writing are to be found in the Bangad grant of King Mahipala I (980-1036) and the Irdar grant of King Nayapaladeva (1036-1053). The Bangad grant shows the following fully developed modern Bangla letters: অ৴ উ৴ ক৴ খ৴ গ৴ চ৴ ঢ৴ ব৴ হ৴ ও,  and জ.

Click here to view the evolving Bengali script at different stages of history.

While it looks similar to Devanagari, it is less blocky and presents a more sinuous  shaping. The modern script was formalized in 1778 when it was first typeset.

Clusters of consonants are represented by different and sometimes quite irregular characters; thus, learning to read the script is complicated by the sheer size of the full set of characters and character combinations, numbering about 500.

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