Match List I with List II:
| List I | List II | ||
| (A) | Piyadassi | (I) | Mahajanapadas |
| (B) | James Prinsep | (II) | Asoka |
| (C) | Magadha | (III) | Brahmi |
| (D) | Ganas | (IV) | Oligarchies |
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → (A)-(II), (B)-(III), (C)-(I), (D)-(IV)
(A) Piyadassi — this matches (II) Asoka. Most inscriptions mention a king referred to as Piyadassi, meaning “pleasant to behold”; a few also call the king Asoka.
(B) James Prinsep — this matches (III) Brahmi. In the 1830s 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.
(C) Magadha — this matches (I) Mahajanapadas. Magadha was one of the sixteen mahajanapadas named in early Buddhist and Jaina texts, and among the most important of them.
(D) Ganas — this matches (IV) Oligarchies. While most mahajanapadas were ruled by kings, some, known as ganas or sanghas, were oligarchies, where power was shared by a number of men.
NCERT (2026-27): “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.… 2.1 The sixteen mahajanapadas … Early Buddhist and Jaina texts (see also Chapter 4) mention, amongst other things, sixteen states known as mahajanapadas. Although the lists vary, some names such as Vajji, Magadha, Koshala, Kuru, Panchala, Gandhara and Avanti occur frequently. Clearly, these were amongst the most important mahajanapadas. While most mahajanapadas were ruled by kings, some, known as ganas or sanghas, were oligarchies (p. 30), where power was shared by a number of men, often collectively called rajas. Both Mahavira and the Buddha (Chapter 4) belonged to such ganas.…” |