The Tokhar script is a letter used to record the Tokhar languages and recorded in fragments of manuscripts dating mainly from the 8th century (there are several earlier examples) and written on palm leaves, wooden tablets and Chinese paper. Writing monuments are well preserved due to the dry climate of the Tarim basin .
Writing comes from the Brahmi alphabet (from which all modern scripts used to write Indian languages also originate), and is a syllabic letter such as Abugida . Most of the surviving examples of writing are translations of Buddhist texts from Sanskrit , some of them are bilingual, which greatly facilitated the decoding of Tochar languages. In addition to religious texts, writing was also used for the correspondence of monasteries, settlements, business documents, passes for caravans, medical and other texts.
Writing ceased to be used most likely around the year 840, when Uighurs came to the lands of the Tarim Basin, assimilating most of the local population. Translations of Tochar texts into the Uyghur language were discovered. The existence of Tochar languages and letters was discovered only at the beginning of the 20th century.