Brahmi is the modern name given to the oldest members of the Brahmic family of scripts. The best-known Brahmi inscriptions are the rock-cut edicts of Ashoka in north-central India; dated to the 3rd century BCE. These are traditionally considered to be the earliest known examples of Brahmi writing; though recent discoveries suggest that Brahmi may be somewhat older. The script was deciphered in 1837 by James Prinsep; an archaeologist; philologist; and official of the British East India Company. Like its contemporary in what is now Afghanistan and Pakistan; Kharo??hi; Brahmi was an abugida. Brahmi was ancestral to most of the scripts of South Asia and Southeast Asia; several Central Asian scripts such as Tibetan and Khotanese; and possibly; in part; Korean Hangul.