Read the passage and answer the questions:
Historical Evidence from Inscriptions
Most scripts used to write modern Indian languages are derived from Brahmi, the script used in most Asokan inscriptions. From the late eighteenth century, European scholars aided by Indian pandits worked backwards from contemporary Bengali and Devanagari (the script used to write Hindi) manuscripts, comparing their letters with older specimens. Scholars who studied early inscriptions sometimes assumed these were in Sanskrit, although the earliest inscriptions were, in fact, in Prakrit. It was only after decades of painstaking investigations by several epigraphists that James Prinsep was able to decipher Asokan Brahmi in 1838. The story of the decipherment of Kharosthi, the script used in inscriptions in the northwest, is different. Here, finds of coins of Indo-Greek kings who ruled over the area (c. second-first centuries BCE) have facilitated matters. These coins contain the names of kings written in Greek and Kharosthi scripts. European scholars who could read the former compared the letters. For instance, the symbol for "a" could be found in both scripts for writing names such as Apollodotus. With Prinsep identifying the language of the Kharosthi inscriptions as Prakrit, it became possible to read longer inscriptions as well. Note that the name of the ruler, Asoka, is not mentioned in the inscription. What is used instead are titles adopted by the ruler - devanampiya and piyadassi. The name Asoka is mentioned in some other inscriptions, which also contain these titles. After examining all these inscriptions, and finding that they match in terms of content, style, language and paleography, epigraphists have concluded that they were issued by the same ruler.
Which script was used in the northwest inscriptions?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Kharosthi
Kharosthi was the script used in inscriptions in the northwest, and it was read with the help of Indo-Greek coins that carry the kings’ names in both Greek and Kharosthi.
NCERT (2026-27): “7.2 How Kharosthi was read … The story of the decipherment of Kharosthi, the script used in inscriptions in the northwest, is different. Here, finds of coins of Indo-Greek kings who ruled over the area (c. second-first centuries BCE) have facilitated matters. These coins contain the names of kings written in Greek and Kharosthi scripts. European scholars who could read the former compared the letters. For instance, the symbol for ‘a’ could be found in both scripts for writing names such as Apollodotus.…” |