For the purpose of the project, we tried to come up with a transliteration system that is easy to read and yet accurate. We based the system on the recognised ISO 15919 which is an international standard for the romanization of Indic scripts. The most notable change to the standard is the use of “ch” for ISO 15919 “c” which represents Gujarati ચ and Devanagari च. The nasal sound is mostly transliterated as ṁ, which can seem strange to the reader in words such as nahīṁ (for नहीं), yet in this case, accuracy was given priority.
The case of Arabic scripts used in the project needs to be mentioned. We provided an Urdu version, written in Nast’aliq script, of those poems whose language is Urdu and a Persian version written in Naskh script of those poems whose language is Persian. Yet the transliteration of the Persian will follow the Indo-Persian transliteration system, not the ISO 15919 nor any other Urdu transliteration system.
As far as possible, the original source manuscript or manuscripts of a work is or are provided. Then a faithful transcription of the manuscript. This transcription is transliterated into Roman script and Devanānagarī scripts. Then, an edited version is provided in the script for the language corresponding to the poem, and Devanāgarī and Roman transliterations of this edited version are also provided.
For example, if a source manuscript of a poem is written in Gujarātī script, but in Persian language, the transcription will be in Gujarātī script, the transliterations in Devanāgarī and Roman scripts. Then the poem will be edited and the edited version will be provided in Arabo-Persian Naskh script, for which a transliteration into Roman and Devanāgarī will also be provided. In the case of a Gujarātī poem written in Gujarātī script, the transcription will be in Gujarātī script, the transliterations in Devanāgarī and Roman scripts. Then the poem will be edited and the edited version will be provided in Gujarātī script, for which a transliteration into Roman and Devanāgarī will also be provided. In the case of a work originally written in English, no transliteration will be provided.
Gujarātī and other Indian scripts transliteration tables [pdf]