Match List-I with List-II:
| List-I | List-II | ||
| (A) | Megaliths | (I) | Decipherment of Brahmi and Kharoshti |
| (B) | James Prinsep | (II) | Emerged in first millennium BCE |
| (C) | Piyadassi | (III) | Study of inscriptions |
| (D) | Epigraphy | (IV) | Means pleasant to behold |
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → (A)-(II), (B)-(I), (C)-(IV), (D)-(III)
(A) Megaliths — this matches (II) Emerged in first millennium BCE. Megaliths, elaborate stone structures made in the disposal of the dead, emerged in central and south India from the first millennium BCE.
(B) James Prinsep — this matches (I) Decipherment of Brahmi and Kharoshti. In the 1830s Prinsep, an officer in the mint of the East India Company, deciphered Brahmi and Kharosthi, the two scripts used in the earliest inscriptions and coins.
(C) Piyadassi — this matches (IV) Means pleasant to behold. Most of the inscriptions Prinsep read mentioned a king called Piyadassi, meaning “pleasant to behold”; a few also called him Asoka.
(D) Epigraphy — this matches (III) Study of inscriptions. Epigraphy is the study of inscriptions, and its most momentous developments in India came in the 1830s with Prinsep’s work.
NCERT (2025-26): “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. 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.… Early States and Economies (c. 600 BCE - 600 CE) … New modes of disposal of the dead, including the making of elaborate stone structures known as megaliths, emerged in central and south India from the first millennium BCE. In many cases, the dead were buried with a rich range of iron tools and weapons.…” |