![]() By the time Kūkai learned this script, the trading and pilgrimage routes over land to India had been closed by the expanding Abbasid Caliphate. Kūkai introduced the Siddhaṃ script to Japan when he returned from China in 806, where he studied Sanskrit with Nalanda-trained monks including one known as Prajñā ( Chinese: 般若三藏 pinyin: Bōrě Sāncáng 734– c. The practice of writing using Siddhaṃ survived in East Asia where Tantric Buddhism persisted. This led to the retention of the Siddhaṃ script in East Asia. At the time it was considered important to preserve the pronunciation of mantras, and Chinese was not suitable for writing the sounds of Sanskrit. Importantly it was used for transmitting the Buddhist tantra texts. This continued to evolve, and minor variations are seen across time, and in different regions. Many Buddhist texts taken to China along the Silk Road were written using a version of the Siddhaṃ script. The Siddham script evolved from the Gupta Brahmi script in the late 6th century CE.
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