Identify the ruler referred to in the inscriptions as “piyadassi”?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Asoka
In the 1830s James Prinsep, an officer in the mint of the East India Company, deciphered Brahmi and Kharosthi, the scripts of the earliest inscriptions and coins. He found that most of these inscriptions mentioned a king called Piyadassi, meaning ‘pleasant to behold’. A few inscriptions also called the king Asoka, one of the most famous rulers known from Buddhist texts, and so Piyadassi was found to be Asoka.
NCERT (2025-26): “1. Prinsep and Piyadassi … Some of the most momentous developments in Indian epigraphy took place in the 1830s. This was when James Prinsep, an officer in the mint of the East India Company, deciphered Brahmi and Kharosthi, two scripts used in the earliest inscriptions and coins. He found that most of these mentioned a king referred to as Piyadassi – meaning ‘pleasant to behold’; there were a few inscriptions which also referred to the king as Asoka, one of the most famous rulers known from Buddhist texts.…” |