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How is the Tibetan writing system connected to ancient Indian scripts?

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Lhasa, Tibet: Potala Palace — Tibet Potala Palace, Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, China.

The Tibetan writing system is fundamentally rooted in ancient Indian scripts, specifically evolving from the Gupta script, which was a northern derivative of the Brahmi script.12

The development of the Tibetan script, which was formalized around 639 CE, was heavily influenced by cultural and religious exchanges with neighboring regions, including ancient northwestern India, Nepal, and the states of the Takla Makan. Because these regions utilized scripts of Indian origin, Tibetans adapted these systems to better suit the unique phonetic requirements of the Tibetan language.31

This connection is further reflected in the physical presentation of Tibetan texts. Historically, Tibetan manuscripts and block-printed books have maintained an elongated shape, directly imitating the form of ancient Indian palm-leaf manuscripts. While the Tibetan script has remained fixed since its inception, it serves as the foundation for other writing systems, such as the ’Phags-pa and the Lepcha script.312