Which language and script were primarily used in Ashoka's edicts?
- A.Sanskrit and Devanagari
- B.Pali and Kharoshti
- C.Prakrit and Brahmi
- D.Greek and Latin
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is C, Prakrit and Brahmi. Most of Ashoka's edicts were written in Prakrit, the language people spoke, in the Brahmi script, so that ordinary subjects could understand his message of Dhamma. Brahmi was first deciphered by James Prinsep in 1837, and the edicts call the king 'Devanampiya Piyadasi', beloved of the gods. In the north-west, near today's Pakistan, the same Prakrit was written in the Kharosthi script, and at Kandahar in Afghanistan edicts were written in Greek and Aramaic. A is wrong because Ashoka did not use Sanskrit for his edicts, and the Devanagari script developed many centuries later. B is wrong because Kharosthi was used only in a few north-western edicts such as Shahbazgarhi and Mansehra, and Pali is the language of the Buddhist canon, not of the edicts. D is wrong because Greek appears only at Kandahar and Latin was never used. Exam tip: Ashoka's edicts, Prakrit language in Brahmi script; Prinsep read them in 1837.
Practice Questions
View allThe Ryotwari experiment in land revenue was started by
- A.Henry Dundas
- B.Alexander Reed
- C.David Ricardo
- D.Mountstuart Elphinstone
Show answer
Captain Alexander Read (the name is also spelt Reed) began the Ryotwari experiment in 1792 in the Baramahal region, which the Company had taken from Tipu Sultan, with Thomas Munro as one of his assistants.
Read the full explanation →Who deciphered the Brahmi and Kharoshthi scripts?
- A.Piyadassi
- B.Colin Mackenzie
- C.Alexander Cunningham
- D.James Prinsep
Show answer
Prinsep, an official of the East India Company's mint and secretary of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, deciphered the Brahmi script in 1837 and also made the key breakthrough in reading Kharoshthi.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following statements about the Justice Party is not correct?
- A.It clamoured for the same kind of separate communal representation for the Non-Brahmins as had been granted to the Muslims by the Morley-Minto Reforms.
- B.It was patronized mainly by richer landowning and urban middle class Non-Brahmins.
- C.It succeeded in getting the provision for 28 reserved seats for the Non-Brahmins in the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms.
- D.It supported the call given by the Congress to boycott elections in 1920.
Show answer
The Justice Party did not join the Congress boycott of the 1920 elections; it contested them, won a majority in the Madras Legislative Council and formed the first ministry under the new reforms.
Read the full explanation →Which organization was started at the Haridwar Kumbh Mela in 1915?
- A.Sanatan Dharma Sabha
- B.Dev Samaj
- C.Brahmin Sabha
- D.Hindu Mahasabha
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The All-India Hindu Mahasabha held its founding session at Haridwar during the Kumbh Mela of 1915, bringing together the provincial Hindu Sabhas that had grown up, first in Punjab, since 1909.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following statements about the All India Depressed Classes Association is not correct?
- A.The All India Depressed Classes Association was formed in Nagpur with M. C. Rajah as its first elected President.
- B.The All India Depressed Classes Association was not attended by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar in 1926.
- C.Ambedkar resigned from the All India Depressed Classes Association and formed his own All India Depressed Classes Congress in 1930.
- D.The All India Depressed Classes Association favoured Ambedkar's demand for separate electorate for the depressed classes.
Show answer
The All India Depressed Classes Association did not back Ambedkar's demand for a separate electorate; under M. C. Rajah it supported joint electorates with seats reserved for the depressed classes.
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