James Prinsep deciphered the Brahmi and Kharoshthi scripts. James Prinsep was an English scholar, orientalist and antiquary. He was the founding editor of the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. The first evidence for the use of Brahmi script in India comes from around 250 B.C. It was used to write several different languages, including Sanskrit and Prakrit. Over 200 modern Indian scripts are based on Brahmi script. Brahmi script is written from left to right and was used to write on a variety of materials such as stone, terracotta and metal. Kharosthi was a script used in the north-western region of India between about the fifth century B.C. and the third century A.D. It was used to write many different local languages like Prakrit.