Ma in Brahmi script

Over time, as the practice of documentation started becoming a normal practice around the world, almost 2500 years ago (5th Century BC), Indians developed an indigenous script called “Brahmi script”, which was then used for documenting some of the Sanskrit works. However, the script was more of a formality, while in reality, priority was more towards the spoken language, with special emphasis on the correct pronunciations, because Sanskrit has been such a rich language, with a wide spectrum of sounds, that no script could capture it in entirety, and hence a one-to-one teaching mode was always necessary.

Brahmi Script

Image courtesy:
http://www.ancientscripts.com/brahmi.html

Despite the limitations of the Brahmi script, it was popularly used for basic communication purposes, like conveying information and/or preserving information for posterity. In fact, most of the inscriptions commissioned by rulers of ancient India, were in Brahmi script. Among them, the Edicts of Emperor Ashoka (Ashokan Inscriptions), dating back to 3rd Century BC, were spread throughout India, and they were all invariably in Brahmi script.

http://guruprasad.net/posts/sanskrit-native-script/