# BanglaLekha-Isolated: A Comprehensive Bangla Handwritten Character Dataset

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1703.10661 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1703.10661/

## Key facts

- Cited by 4 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 22 Feb 2017.

## Built on by (most cited first, 4 of 4)

- [Unicode Normalization and Grapheme Parsing of Indic Languages](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.01743/) (2023)
- [CENSUS-HWR: a large training dataset for offline handwriting recognition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.16275/) (2023)
- [Isolated Bangla Handwritten Character Classification using Transfer Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.03061/) (2025)
- [BeHGAN: Bengali Handwritten Word Generation from Plain Text Using Generative Adversarial Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.21694/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Bangla handwriting recognition is becoming a very important issue nowadays. It is potentially a very important task specially for Bangla speaking population of Bangladesh and West Bengal. By keeping that in our mind we are introducing a comprehensive Bangla handwritten character dataset named BanglaLekha-Isolated. This dataset contains Bangla handwritten numerals, basic characters and compound characters. This dataset was collected from multiple geographical location within Bangladesh and includes sample collected from a variety of aged groups. This dataset can also be used for other classification problems i.e: gender, age, district. This is the largest dataset on Bangla handwritten characters yet.