Kharoshti, writing system used in northwestern India before about 500 ce. The earliest extant inscription in Kharoshti dates from 251 bce, and the latest dates from the 4th–5th century ce. The system is believed to have derived from the Aramaic alphabet while northwestern India was under Persian rule in the 5th century bce. Aramaic, however, is a Semitic alphabet of 22 consonantal letters, while Kharoshti is syllabic and has 252 separate signs for consonant and vowel combinations. A cursive script written from right to left, Kharoshti was used for commercial and calligraphic purposes. It was influenced somewhat by Brahmi, the other Indian script of the period, which eventually superseded it.