It is reported that the Boro and the
Dimasa languages used a script called
Deodhai that is no longer attested. The
Latin script was used first to write down the language, when a prayer book was published in 1843, and then extensively used by the missionary Sidney Endle beginning 1884 and in 1904, when the script was used to teach children. The first use of the Assamese/Bengali script occurred in 1915 (
Boroni Fisa o Ayen) and the first magazine,
Bibar (1924–1940) was tri-lingual in Boro, Assamese and Bengali, with Boro written in Assamese/Bengali script. In 1952, the Bodo Sahitya Sabha decided to use the Assamese script exclusively for the language. In 1963 Boro was introduced in schools as a medium of instruction, in which Assamese script was used. Into the 1960s the Boro language was predominantly written in Assamese/Bengali script, though the Christian community continued to use Latin for Boro. After a series of proposals and expert committees the
Bodo Sahitya Sabha reversed itself in 1970 and unanimously decided to adopt the
Latin script for the language in its 11th annual conference. In defiance of the Assam Government the BSS, in April 1974, went ahead and published
Bithorai, a Boro textbook, in Latin script and asked school teachers to follow it. Retaliating against the unilateral decision, the Assam Government withheld grants to schools using the Latin script. This triggered a phase of active movement that was joined by the All Bodo Students' Union (ABSU) and the PTCA. This led to a critical situation in November 1974 when fifteen volunteers of the movement died in a police firing, and many others were injured. Unable to resolve the issue, the Assam Government referred the matter to the Union Government. In the discussion, the Union Government suggested
Devanagari script as the solution to the problem, which the BSS accepted in the Memorandum of Understanding in April 1975, and adopted later year in the Annual Conference. This ended the Boro Script Movement.
Final Acceptance of Devanagari script The Devanagari script for Boro was an unexpected development and it was not immediately accepted by the wider Boro community. The BSS failed to implement the use of the Devanagari script, and writers continued to use the Assamese/Bengali and Latin scripts. In 1982, ABSU included the demand of the Latin script in Boro schools in its charter of Demands. Following an expert committee report, constituted by BSS, the Bodoland Autonomous Council adopted a resolution to use Latin script in its territory, which the Assam Government too accepted. Nevertheless, in the discussion with the
Bodo Liberation Tigers, the Union Government demanded the implementation of the earlier agreement with the BSS on the use of the Devanagari script if the Boro language was to be included in the Eighth Schedule of the
Indian Constitution. Following this, the ABSU and the BSS
surrendered and agreed to use the Devanagari script exclusively, and the matter was settled. ==Dialects==