The Pallava script, or Pallava Grantha, is a style of Grantha script named after the Pallava dynasty of Southern India and is attested to since the 4th century CE. In India, the Pallava script evolved from the Sanskrit in Brahmi. The Grantha script originated from the Pallava script. Pallava also spread to Southeast Asia and evolved into scripts such as Balinese, Baybayin, Javanese, Kawi, Khmer, Lanna, Lao, Mon–Burmese, New Tai Lue, Sundanese, and Thai. This script is the sister of the Vatteluttu script which was used to write Tamil and Malayalam in the past.
Epigrapher Arlo Griffiths argues that the name of the script is misleading as not all of the relevant scripts referred to have a connection with the Pallava dynasty. He instead advocates that these scripts be called Late Southern Brāhmī scripts.