The study of inscriptions is known as _____.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Epigraphy
Option (1) Numismatics — Incorrect. Numismatics is the study of coins, including their scripts and images, their metals and the places where they have been found.
Option (2) Palaeography — Incorrect. Palaeography is the study of styles of writing, that is, how letters were shaped in different periods. Historians use it to date an inscription that carries no date, but it does not mean the study of inscriptions as a whole.
Option (3) Epigraphy — Correct. Epigraphy is the study of inscriptions, writings engraved on hard surfaces such as stone, metal or pottery.
Option (4) Archaeogenetics — Incorrect. Archaeogenetics studies the genetic history of past peoples from ancient DNA, as in the research at Rakhigarhi, where DNA was extracted from the skeletal remains of Harappans.
NCERT (2026-27): “1. Prinsep and Piyadassi Epigraphy is the study of inscriptions. 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.… …Inscriptions are writings engraved on hard surfaces such as stone, metal or pottery. They usually record the achievements, activities or ideas of those who commissioned them and include the exploits of kings, or donations made by women and men to religious institutions. Inscriptions are virtually permanent records, some of which carry dates. Others are dated on the basis of palaeography or styles of writing, with a fair amount of precision.… Numismatics is the study of coins, including visual elements such as scripts and images, metallurgical analysis and the contexts in which they have been found. Evidence of an “invasion” … In order to study the genetic history of the Harappans, DNA was extracted from the skeletal remains excavated at Rakhigarhi.…” |