[INDOLOGY] Devanagari character variants

[Martin Gansten]

I have seen several variants of the Devanagari character श, but recently 
I came across a manuscript (paper, 18th-19th century, northern 
appearance) where it is very often, though not consistently, written in 
a style that makes it look like त्रा. I haven't seen that style before, 
but it is too frequent to be a simple copying error. Is it 
characteristic of any particular region and/or period?

Thanks,
Martin Gansten