Gurmukhi

Gurmukhi is an abugida originating within the northwestern branch of the Brahmic writing systems and formalised in the sixteenth century by Guru Angad, the second Sikh Guru. Widely regarded as the script of the Sikhs, it is the official writing system for Punjabi in the Indian state of Punjab. Its most important literary and religious role lies in its use for recording the Guru Granth Sahib, the central scripture of Sikhism, which incorporates compositions in a wide range of medieval Indo-Aryan dialects collectively identified as Sant Bhasha.

Linguistic Context and Structure

Gurmukhi comprises thirty-five basic letters, traditionally referred to as the paintī or ‘thirty-five’, with additional consonants, vowel signs and diacritics. As an abugida, each consonant contains an inherent vowel, which can be modified or suppressed by the application of vowel diacritics placed above, below, before or after the consonant. When vowels occur at the start of a syllable, they are represented by independent vowel-bearing letters.
The script includes nine vowel signs, two nasalisation marks, a diacritic for consonant gemination and a set of subscript forms used to produce consonant clusters. Unlike many Brahmic scripts, Gurmukhi avoids forming complex conjunct ligatures. Instead, subscripts indicate secondary consonants, aligning the orthography more closely with the spoken language.
Punjabi is a tonal language, featuring three phonemic tones. These are conveyed in the script largely through the use of letters that historically represented voiced aspirated consonants, as well as through the placement of h in specific positions within words. Certain letter forms reflect earlier phonological mergers, including the convergence of Sanskrit ś and ṣ with s, and the blending of older distinctions such as ḵ and k within Punjabi phonology.

Historical Development

Gurmukhi’s ancestry can be traced through the Sharada script, a member of the northwestern group of Brahmic scripts, itself ultimately descended from Brahmi and, much earlier, from Proto-Sinaitic. Sharada developed across the northwestern Indian subcontinent, encompassing regions of present-day Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir. Over time, significant regional variation emerged.
By the early thirteenth century, Sharada inscriptions begin to diminish, and its forms diversify into regional variants. The style that evolved in the Punjab from the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries is often termed Proto-Gurmukhi or Pritham Gurmukhi. This script displayed many of the key features that later defined fully developed Gurmukhi.
During the fourteenth to eighteenth centuries, Sharada further evolved into derivative scripts such as Takri in the western Himalayan states, where local variants acquired official usage for administrative and literary purposes. In Jammu, one such variant developed into Dogri script, which in the nineteenth century was partially reshaped under the influence of Gurmukhi though it did not replace Takri in general use.

Distinctive Orthographical Features

Gurmukhi’s evolution reflects the cultural and linguistic independence of Sikh tradition, which was not bound to classical Sanskrit as strongly as many other regional literary cultures. This independence fostered several unique orthographical characteristics:

• Streamlined vowel representation: Three basic vowel-bearing characters substitute for a larger set of independent vowel letters found in scripts such as Devanagari, with diacritics handling most vowel distinctions.
• Reduced reliance on conjuncts: Like early Brahmi, Gurmukhi minimises consonant ligatures, enhancing clarity and simplicity.
• Distinct ordering of letters: The arrangement of characters departs from the classical vargīya system, placing vowels and fricatives in unconventional positions.
• Adaptation to vernacular Punjabi: Historical sibilants absent from spoken Punjabi were omitted; new letters were devised to represent contemporary sounds; tonal distinctions were encoded through existing consonantal forms.
• Geminative marker: A unique diacritic marks gemination, an important feature in Punjabi phonology.

These adaptations made the script particularly efficient for writing the Punjabi language.

Relationship with Landa and Other Mercantile Scripts

Alongside the evolution of Proto-Gurmukhi, Punjab was home to a diverse group of mercantile scripts collectively called Landa, meaning ‘script without tails’—a reference to their omission of vowel notation. Mahajani was among the most widely used Landa scripts for commercial purposes. Though practical for bookkeeping, Landa scripts lacked the precision required for literary or religious composition. Gurmukhi, by contrast, incorporated mandatory vowel notation and a clear diacritic system, making it suitable for sacred texts and formal writing.

Adoption in Sikh Tradition

Gurmukhi was adopted by the Sikh Gurus as the script for composing and compiling hymns in the Adi Granth, the precursor to the Guru Granth Sahib. This adoption not only safeguarded the linguistic record of Old Punjabi but also standardised the script for religious purposes. The wide range of dialects and languages within the scripture—from Sanskrit and Prakrit to various forms of Old Hindi, Marathi, Lehndi, Persian and regional dialects—are all preserved in Gurmukhi orthography.

Expansion and Modern Usage

Under the Sikh Empire, Gurmukhi grew in administrative and cultural importance. It spread through state patronage, local education and literary activity, becoming central to Sikh identity and Punjabi literary tradition. After the partition of India in 1947, Gurmukhi became the official script of Indian Punjab, while Shahmukhi, a Perso-Arabic script, became prevalent in Pakistani Punjab.