Question

Which script was prevalent in Kerala during the medieval period?
A. Devanagari Script
B. Vattezhuthu Script
C. Gurmukhi Script
D. Shahmukhi Script

Answer 1

Hint: The script prevalent in Kerala at that time was developed from Tamil-Brahmi. It’s also the common script for writing Tamil.

Complete answer: Vattezhuthu was the writing system of South India and Sri Lanka in the medieval period. It was used for writing Tamil and Malayalam languages. In many inscriptions in Tamil Nadu from the 6th century AD, we can distinctly see Vattezhuthu script.
The characters in Vattezhuthu are more cursive than the modern Tamil and the script is written left to right.
Option A - Devanagari Script - It is also called Nagari and is written from left to right. It is based on the ancient Brahmi script.
Option C - Gurmukhi Script - It is a writing system (abugida) which was standardized and used by Guru Angad, the second Sikh Guru. It is developed from the Landa scripts.
Option D - Shahmukhi Script - It is used by Punjabi Muslims to write Punjabi. It is a modified Persi-Arabic alphabet. Perso-Arabic is one of two scripts used for Punjabi, the other being Gurmukhi.
Therefore the correct answer is option B.

Note: The modern Malayalam script is a modified form of the Southern Pallava Grantha script. The medieval script of Kerala developed into a script known as Koleluttu which was in use till the 19th century.