Brahmi Script Reader

There is an interesting short article in The Hindu about Sri Parabrahma Sastri. Apparently he is one of the few who read Brahmi script - the language spoken during Gautama Buddha life.

Parabrahma Sastry is one of the very few, if not the only, living epigraphists who can decipher the Brahmi script (Prakrit language), the archaeological DNA code to the hoary past of Telugus.

The article says Telugu, Kannada, and Tamil originated from Brahmi and Telugu and Kannada had a common script until 12th century - to me they seem lot closer.

He deciphered many epigraphs, particularly those in Brahmi, Sanskrit, Telugu and Kannada. Until the 12th century AD, Kannada and Telugu had a common script. Dr. Sastry says Telugu and Tamil had evolved from the inscriptions on crystal caskets in which the Buddha's relics were preserved at Bhattiprolu in Guntur district. But Telugu eventually developed into the current form from the Brahmi script. [The Hindu]