From Brahmi to modern Tamil
Four scripts tell the written story of the Tamil lands. Each one below has a converter, short lessons and a free font. The word shown in every card is the same: தமிழ் (Tamil).
Brahmi
The parent script. Tamil-Brahmi, a version with extra letters for Tamil sounds (ழ ற ன ள), appears on cave inscriptions and pottery across Tamil Nadu. It has no vowel-killing dot in the early texts, so Old Tamil added a dot (pulli) later.
Vatteluttu
A rounded script that grew out of Tamil-Brahmi. It was used mainly in the southern Tamil country and in Kerala, in temple and royal records.
Grantha
Grew from Brahmi in south India to write Sanskrit in Tamil lands, next to Tamil texts. Its letters shaped many later Tamil and Malayalam forms.
Modern Tamil
The script used today. It descends from Tamil-Brahmi through the Pallava-era script, and was made regular by printing in recent centuries.
Note: the dates are rounded, and scholars still debate the earliest ones. Vatteluttu is not in Unicode, so its font shows Vatteluttu shapes when you type ordinary Tamil. Read the licence and status notes on each font page.