Arrange the following major advances in Indian Epigraphy in chronological order, beginning with the earliest to the most recent.

(A) Alexander Cunningham published a set of Ashokan inscriptions
(B) James Pinsep deciphers Ashokan Brahmi
(C) First issue of Epigraphia Indica
(D) First issue of Epigraphia Carnatica

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

(B), (A), (D), (C)

The correct answer is Option (4) → (B), (A), (D), (C)

Timeline of Events

• (B) James Prinsep deciphers Ashokan Brahmi (1837–1838): Working as the secretary of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, James Prinsep successfully deciphered the ancient Brahmi script, which allowed for the reading of the edicts of Emperor Ashoka.
• (A) Alexander Cunningham published a set of Ashokan inscriptions (1877): As the first Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Sir Alexander Cunningham published the first volume of Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum in 1877, which contained a comprehensive collection of Ashokan edicts.
• (D) First issue of Epigraphia Carnatica (1886): This monumental series, focused on the inscriptions of the Old Mysore region (Karnataka), was first published in 1886 by B. Lewis Rice.
• (C) First issue of Epigraphia Indica (1888): This official journal of the ASI, dedicated specifically to the publication of inscriptions, saw its first issue released in October 1888 under the editorship of James Burgess.

The correct order is: (B), (A), (D), (C)