The earliest manuscripts were written on—

The earliest manuscripts in India were written on palm leaves (tala-patra). The leaves were cut into rectangular strips, dried, polished, and then text was inscribed using a stylus or written with ink. Palm leaf manuscripts were widely used across South and Southeast Asia for centuries. Birch bark (bhurja-patra) was also used in northern India. Paper came much later, while stones and wood were used for inscriptions but not for manuscripts.