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'''Modi''' ({{langx|mr|मोडी}}, 𑘦𑘻𑘚𑘲, {{IAST|Mōḍī}}, {{IPA-|mr|moːɖiː}})<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KnPoYxrRfc0C&q=%22mudiya+script%22&pg=PA3898 |title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature Volume V|last=Sahitya |first=Akademi |publisher=Sahitya Akademi New Delhi |year=1992 |isbn=81-260-1221-8 |page=3898}}</ref> is a script used to write the [[Marathi language]], which is the primary language spoken in the state of [[Maharashtra]], [[western India|India]]. There are multiple theories concerning its origin.<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 October 2017 |title=Krishnaji Mhatre – A life dedicated to Modi |url=https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/mumbai/other/krishnaji-mhatre-a-life-dedicated-to-modi/articleshow/61192544.cms |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810173220/https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/mumbai/other/krishnaji-mhatre-a-life-dedicated-to-modi/articleshow/61192544.cms |archive-date=10 August 2020 |access-date=10 August 2020 |website=Mumbai Mirror |language=en}}</ref> The Modi script was used alongside the [[Devanagari|Devanagari script]] to write Marathi until the 20th century when the [[Balbodh]] style of the [[Devanagari|Devanagari script]] was promoted as the standard writing system for Marathi.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sohoni |first=Pushkar |date=May 2017 |title=Marathi of a Single Type: The demise of the Modi script |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/modern-asian-studies/article/marathi-of-a-single-type-the-demise-of-the-modi-script/184EC94C15CF5A58E6CD0CA39A83DB64 |journal=Modern Asian Studies |language=en |volume=51 |issue=3 |pages=662–685 |doi=10.1017/S0026749X15000542 |s2cid=148081127 |issn=0026-749X|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
== Etymology ==
==== Creation subtheory ====
HemāḍpantHemāḍapanta created the Modi script.<ref name="ref_Gurinder_Singh_Mann_Sikh3"/>
==== Refinement subtheory ====
=== Proto-Modi ===
The proto-Modi, or ''ādyakālīn (आद्यकालीनआद्यकालीन्)'' style appeared in the 12th century.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}
=== Yādava Era ===
The Yādava Era style, or ''yādavakālīn (यादव कालीनयादवकालीन्)'', emerged as a distinct style in the 13th century during the [[Seuna (Yadava) dynasty|Yādava Dynasty]].{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}
=== Bahamanī Era ===
The Bahamanī Era style, or ''bahamanīkālīn (बहमनी कालीनबहमनीकालीन्)'', appeared in the 14th–16th centuries during the years of the [[Bahmani Sultanate]].{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}
=== Chatrapati Shivaji Era ===
During the rule of [[Shivaji]], the Shivaji style, or ''shivakālīn (शिव कालीनशिवकालीन्)'', which was during the 17th century, the Chitnisi style of the Modi script developed.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}
=== Peshwa Era ===
In the [[Peshwa|Peshwa Era]], or ''peshvekālīn (पेशवे कालीनपेश्वेकालीन्)'', various Modi styles proliferated during the time of the Maratha Empire and lasted until 1818. The distinct styles of Modi used during this period were Chitnisi, Bilavalkari, Mahadevapanti, and Ranadi. Even though all of these were quite popular, [[Chitnis]]i was the most prominent and frequently used script for Modi writing.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}
=== Post-independence Era ===
=== Cursive features ===
The Modi script has several characteristics that facilitate writing, minimising having to lift the pen from the paper for dipping in ink while moving from one character to the next. Some characters are "broken" versions of their Devanagari counterparts, and many characters are more circular in shape. These characteristics make Modi a sort of [[cursive]] style of writing Marathi. The Modi script does not have the short 'i' (इ) and long 'ū' (ऊ) of Devanagari.<ref name="prop" /> The cursive nature of the script also allowed scribes to easily make multiple copies of a document if required.<ref name=":2" />
[[File:Modi script glyphs.png|thumb|left|Shown here is a picture showing all the Modi script characters in the kotem1 clip font.]]
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