AldusPageMaker Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 (edited) @ Sreekumar I have read your history of writing instruments and materials with keen interest.Absolutely wonderful and I like to thank you for such a comprehensive histoty study! I do have a question with the hope that you are able to give me your educated guess as an answer.I am working on a translation (from English into German) of a Bengali Text from the 16th century. It was written down in Orissa (Puri). At the beginning the author writes that he is picking up his “pen.” That is the English translation I use for translating into German. I do have one more English reference that includes the original Bengali verses along with Roman transliteration and word-for-word translation. The original Bengali term in the book used for the “pen” is “lekhanī.” In my rudimentary knowledge of Indian languages “lekhanī” would be a generic term for “writing instrument” or “stylus” as opposed to “kalam(a)” for “pen”. Now, from another book that was written during the same era I have proof positive that a contemporary and acquaintance of the above-mentioned author used palm leaves as his writing material.So my question is: It is safe to assume that the author’s “lekhanī” was a sharpened metal or hard wood stylus to write on palm leaves? Edited May 13, 2019 by AldusPageMaker Link to post Share on other sites
PENSPAPERTINESLOVE Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 Excellent read, wonderful effort. Am always curious as to why India with such a deep history in education and arts does not have a globally recognized Pen brand (e.g. Pilot from Japan etc), or am I merely misinformed. Link to post Share on other sites
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