CBSE Class 12 · Kings, Farmers and Towns: Early States and Economies (c. 600 BCE-600 CE)

Inscriptions and James Prinsep: How Epigraphy Rewrote Early Indian History (Class 12)

Updated 15 October 2026 · Fact-checked

James Prinsep, an officer in the East India Company's mint, deciphered Brahmi and Kharosthi in the 1830s, reading Asokan Brahmi in 1838. Inscriptions naming king Piyadassi, or Devanampiya, were then linked to Asoka, opening up early Indian political history, though inscriptions have technical and fundamental limitations.

Prinsep's 1838 reading of Brahmi showed Piyadassi was Asoka, opening political history, but worn letters and a ruler's viewpoint limit inscriptions.

Illustration drawn for QuestionBuddy.

Understand Inscriptions and James Prinsep

Why this topic matters. Theme 2 opens with Prinsep and closes with the limits of inscriptions. CBSE uses the topic both for factual items (who deciphered what, when) and for 8-mark questions on what epigraphy can and cannot tell historians.

1. What inscriptions are. Epigraphy is the study of inscriptions. An inscription is text cut into a hard surface: stone, metal or pottery. It records the achievements, activities or ideas of those who commissioned them: the exploits of kings, or donations by women and men to religious institutions. They are virtually permanent records. Some carry dates; others are dated by palaeography, the style of writing (the letter 'a' looked different in c. 250 BCE and c. 500 CE). The earliest inscriptions were in Prakrit, the languages of ordinary people; Pali, Tamil and Sanskrit were also used.

2. Prinsep and Piyadassi (1830s).

James Prinsep, who worked in the East India Company's mint, cracked Brahmi and Kharosthi, the two scripts found on the earliest inscriptions and coins.
Most inscriptions mentioned a king called Piyadassi ('pleasant to behold'); a few also called him Asoka, a ruler known from Buddhist texts.
Result: European and Indian scholars used inscriptions and texts to reconstruct the lineages of major dynasties; the broad outline of political history was in place by the early twentieth century. Scholars then asked how political change was connected with economic and social change, and found the links were not always simple or direct.

3. Deciphering Brahmi. Most scripts of modern Indian languages derive from Brahmi, the script of most Asokan inscriptions. From the late eighteenth century, European scholars helped by Indian pandits worked backwards from Bengali and Devanagari manuscripts, comparing letters with older specimens. Some wrongly assumed the inscriptions were in Sanskrit; they were actually in Prakrit. After decades of work by several epigraphists, Prinsep deciphered Asokan Brahmi in 1838.

4. Reading Kharosthi. Kharosthi was used in the north-west. Coins of Indo-Greek kings (c. second-first centuries BCE) carried kings' names in Greek and Kharosthi. Scholars who read Greek compared letters, for example the 'a' in names such as Apollodotus. Once Prinsep identified the language as Prakrit, longer inscriptions could be read.

5. Asokan inscriptions: languages and titles.

Most were in Prakrit; those in the north-west were in Aramaic and Greek. Most Prakrit inscriptions used Brahmi; some in the north-west used Kharosthi; Aramaic and Greek scripts were used in Afghanistan.
Some inscriptions do not name Asoka but use his titles: devanampiya ('beloved of the gods') and piyadassi. Because these match other inscriptions that do name Asoka in content, style, language and palaeography, epigraphists conclude the same ruler issued them.
Asoka was the first ruler to inscribe messages to subjects and officials on natural rocks and polished pillars.

6. How historians read an inscription critically.

*Claims must be tested*: in one inscription Asoka says earlier rulers had no arrangements for regular reports and appoints pativedakas (reporters) to report to him at all times. Historians judge whether such claims are true, plausible or exaggerated.
*Brackets*: epigraphists add words in brackets to clarify meaning, taking care not to change it.
*Audience*: were people literate? Did everyone understand the Prakrit of Pataliputra? Were orders obeyed?
*The Kalinga inscription*: it records that after the conquest of Kalinga, 'one hundred and fifty thousand' were deported and 'a hundred thousand' killed, and expresses the king's repentance. Yet this inscription is missing in Orissa, the conquered region, which raises questions about how to read it.

7. The limitations of inscriptional evidence.

1. Technical: letters faintly engraved, inscriptions damaged or letters missing, so reconstructions are uncertain.
2. Meaning: words may be specific to a place or time; scholars keep debating readings.
3. Coverage: several thousand inscriptions found, but not all deciphered, published and translated; many never survived, so we have only a fraction.
4. Selection: routine farming and the joys and sorrows of daily life are not recorded; inscriptions focus on grand, unique events.
5. Perspective: they project the view of whoever commissioned them, so they must be set beside other perspectives.

So epigraphy alone cannot give a full picture of political and economic history. Historians' interests also change: kings (late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries) → economic change and social groups (from the mid-twentieth century) → marginalised groups (recent decades), leading to fresh readings of old sources.

Timeline of epigraphy (NCERT Timeline 2). 1784 Asiatic Society (Bengal) founded; 1810s Colin Mackenzie collects over 8,000 inscriptions; 1838 Prinsep deciphers Asokan Brahmi; 1877 Cunningham publishes Asokan inscriptions; 1886 Epigraphia Carnatica; 1888 Epigraphia Indica; 1965-66 D.C. Sircar's Indian Epigraphy and glossary.

Key quotations

Short lines worth knowing by heart: who says them, when, and why they matter.

Epigraphy is the study of inscriptions.
NCERT, Theme 2, margin note: Definition at the start of the theme.
A safe one-line definition for 1- and 2-mark items.
Inscriptions are virtually permanent records, some of which carry dates.
NCERT, Theme 2, box 'Inscriptions': Why inscriptions are valuable sources.
The strength of the source; pair it with its limits.
Thus speaks king Devanampiya Piyadassi
Asokan inscription (Source 10, NCERT): The opening of the order about pativedakas.
Shows the titles used instead of the name Asoka.
epigraphy alone does not provide a full understanding of political and economic history
NCERT, Theme 2, section 8: Conclusion on the limitations of inscriptions.
The thesis line for any 'limits of epigraphy' answer.

Inscriptions and James Prinsep: key facts

Prinsep: Officer in the East India Company's mint; deciphered Brahmi and Kharosthi in the 1830s; Asokan Brahmi in 1838; Found the king Piyadassi in most inscriptions.
How Brahmi was read: Work backwards from Bengali and Devanagari manuscripts; compare letters with older specimens; realise the language is Prakrit, not Sanskrit; European scholars aided by Indian pandits.
How Kharosthi was read: 1.Indo-Greek coins with names in Greek and Kharosthi
2.compare letters (e.g. Apollodotus)
3.language identified as Prakrit; North-west of the subcontinent.
Asokan titles: Devanampiya: beloved of the gods; Piyadassi: pleasant to behold; Matched to Asoka by content, style, language and palaeography.
Languages and scripts of Asokan inscriptions: Prakrit in Brahmi (most) or Kharosthi (north-west); Aramaic and Greek in Afghanistan; Rocks and polished pillars.
Five limits of inscriptions: Faint or damaged letters; uncertain meanings; only a fraction survives or is published; daily life ignored; commissioner's perspective; So inscriptions must be read with other sources.

How to answer Inscriptions and James Prinsep questions

Items range from 1-mark facts (Prinsep's post, the year 1838, meaning of piyadassi) and assertion-reason pairs, to 3-mark questions on decipherment or limitations, source questions on Asokan edicts, and 8-mark answers on 'the limits of epigraphy'.

1Identify the angle: decipherment (how), value (what inscriptions tell), or limitation (what they cannot tell).
2For decipherment, give the method step by step and separate Brahmi from Kharosthi.
3For value, mention lineages of dynasties, administration, dhamma, land grants.
4For limitations, use all five headings, each with a brief example.
5In 8-mark answers, end with the shift in historians' interests and the need to combine sources.

Inscriptions and James Prinsep in real life

The idea, met in an everyday situation. Answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.

An inscription reflects its commissioner's perspective

Suppose a company puts a plaque on a new bridge saying it was 'completed in record time for the people'. The plaque says nothing about workers who were injured or the cost overruns.

What does this show about using inscriptions as historical sources?

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

The plaque was commissioned by the company, so it praises the company.
It records a grand event, not daily problems or other views.
A historian would check it against newspaper reports, workers' accounts and accounts books.

Answer: Like the plaque, inscriptions project the view of those who commissioned them and focus on grand events; they must be juxtaposed with other sources.

Memory hook: A plaque praises whoever paid for it.

Deciphering with a bilingual key

Imagine you see a shop sign in a script you cannot read, with the shop's name also written in English beneath it.

How could you start learning the unknown script, and which decipherment does this resemble?

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Match each English letter of the name with signs in the unknown script.
Repeated letters in the name help fix the value of repeated signs.
Scholars did this with Indo-Greek coins that had kings' names in Greek and Kharosthi.

Answer: By comparing the two versions letter by letter; this is how Kharosthi was read from bilingual Indo-Greek coins, using names such as Apollodotus.

Memory hook: Two scripts, one name: a key to both.

Tricks to remember Inscriptions and James Prinsep

Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.

Prinsep's Mint in '38
Prinsep worked in the Mint; Brahmi read in 1838 (think 'B-38').
Use it when: Who, where, when.
B for Back, K for Koins
Brahmi: worked Backwards from Bengali and Devanagari. Kharosthi: read from Indo-Greek Koins.
Use it when: Two decipherment methods.
FMFDP: five limits
Faint letters, Meanings unclear, Fraction survives, Daily life missing, Perspective of commissioner.
Use it when: Limitations of inscriptions.

Inscriptions and James Prinsep: solved examples

Ordered from board level to HOTS. Try each one before you open the solution.

Example 1: Meaning of a title · 1 mark · MCQBoard level

The title 'Piyadassi' used in Asokan inscriptions means
(a) beloved of the gods
(b) pleasant to behold
(c) lord of the earth
(d) protector of dhamma

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Piyadassi means 'pleasant to behold'; devanampiya means 'beloved of the gods' (1 mark).

Answer: (b) pleasant to behold

Example 2: Prinsep's contribution · 3 marks · Short answerBoard level

Explain the contribution of James Prinsep to the study of early Indian history. (3 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Prinsep, an officer in the East India Company's mint, deciphered Brahmi and Kharosthi in the 1830s (Asokan Brahmi in 1838) (1 mark).
He found most inscriptions mentioned king Piyadassi, and a few named him Asoka, a ruler known from Buddhist texts (1 mark).
This gave a new direction to political history: scholars reconstructed dynastic lineages, and the broad outline was ready by the early twentieth century (1 mark).

Answer: James Prinsep, who worked in the mint of the East India Company, deciphered Brahmi and Kharosthi, the scripts of the earliest inscriptions and coins; he read Asokan Brahmi in 1838 and identified the language of Kharosthi inscriptions as Prakrit. He found that most inscriptions referred to a king called Piyadassi and a few to Asoka, known from Buddhist texts. This opened a new direction: scholars used inscriptions and texts to reconstruct the lineages of major dynasties, and by the early twentieth century the broad contours of political history were in place.

Example 3: Assertion and reason on languages · 1 mark · Assertion-reasonHarder board level

Assertion (A): Most Asokan inscriptions were in the Prakrit language.
Reason (R): Inscriptions in Afghanistan used the Aramaic and Greek scripts.
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
(b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
(c) A is true but R is false.
(d) A is false but R is true.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Both are true facts from NCERT, but the use of Aramaic and Greek in Afghanistan does not explain why most inscriptions were in Prakrit (1 mark).

Answer: (b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.

Example 4: How Brahmi and Kharosthi were deciphered · 3 marks · Short answerHarder board level

Compare the ways in which Brahmi and Kharosthi were deciphered. (3 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Brahmi: from the late eighteenth century, European scholars with Indian pandits worked backwards from Bengali and Devanagari manuscripts, comparing letters with older forms (1 mark).
Early mistake: assuming Sanskrit; it was Prakrit; Prinsep read Asokan Brahmi in 1838 (1 mark).
Kharosthi: Indo-Greek coins bore names in Greek and Kharosthi; comparing letters (e.g. in Apollodotus) and identifying the language as Prakrit made longer texts readable (1 mark).

Answer: Brahmi was deciphered by working backwards: European scholars aided by Indian pandits compared letters in Bengali and Devanagari manuscripts with older specimens. Some wrongly assumed the inscriptions were in Sanskrit, but they were in Prakrit, and after decades of work Prinsep read Asokan Brahmi in 1838. Kharosthi, used in the north-west, was read with a bilingual key: coins of Indo-Greek kings gave the kings' names in Greek and Kharosthi, so scholars matched letters, such as the 'a' in Apollodotus, and once Prinsep identified the language as Prakrit, longer inscriptions could be read.

Example 5: Source-based: the pativedakas · 4 marks · Source-basedHarder board level

Read the source (summarised for this page from an Asokan order given in NCERT) and answer.

The king, using the titles Devanampiya Piyadassi, declares that in earlier times there were no arrangements for handling affairs or receiving regular reports. He has therefore appointed officials called pativedakas, who must report on the people's affairs to him at any time and place, whether he is eating, in the inner apartment, in the cow pen or in the garden.

(i) Who issued this order, though his name is not mentioned? (1)
(ii) What were the duties of the pativedakas? (1)
(iii) How should a historian treat the king's claim about earlier rulers? (2)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

(i) Asoka; the titles match other inscriptions that name him (1 mark).
(ii) To report the affairs of the people to the king at all times and places (1 mark).
(iii) Test it against the political history before Asoka; decide whether it is true, plausible or an exaggeration, since inscriptions project the commissioner's view (2 marks).

Answer: (i) Asoka, identified through the titles Devanampiya and Piyadassi, which appear with his name in other inscriptions matching in content, style, language and palaeography. (ii) They reported on the affairs of the people to the king at any time and place. (iii) The claim that earlier rulers had no system for reports should not be accepted at face value; the historian must check it against what is known of earlier states such as Magadha and judge whether it is true, plausible or exaggerated, because an inscription presents its author's point of view.

Example 6: Long answer: limits of epigraphy · 8 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency

"Inscriptions are valuable but cannot by themselves give a complete history." Justify the statement. (8 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Value: permanent records, often dated or dated by palaeography; Prinsep's decipherment built the outline of dynastic history (1 mark).
Value: Asokan inscriptions reveal administration (provincial centres, officials), dhamma, the Kalinga war (1 mark).
Technical limits: faint or damaged letters, missing letters (1 mark).
Meaning: words specific to a time or place; debated readings (1 mark).
Survival: only a fraction survived; not all deciphered, published and translated (1 mark).
Selection: daily life and routine farming missing; focus on grand events (1 mark).
Perspective: commissioner's view; example of the Kalinga inscription missing in Orissa; claims to be tested (1 mark).
Conclusion: combine with texts, coins, archaeology; changing questions of historians (1 mark).

Answer: Inscriptions are writings on hard surfaces that are virtually permanent; some carry dates and others can be dated by palaeography. After James Prinsep deciphered Brahmi and Kharosthi in the 1830s, scholars used them to reconstruct the lineages of dynasties, and Asokan inscriptions in particular tell us of provincial centres, officials, dhamma and the Kalinga war. Yet they cannot give a complete history.

First, there are technical problems: letters may be faintly engraved, damaged or missing, so reconstructions are uncertain. Second, the meaning of words, some specific to a place or period, is often debated. Third, only a fraction of what was inscribed survives, and of several thousand inscriptions found, not all have been deciphered, published and translated. Fourth, inscriptions record grand and unique events; routine agricultural practices and the joys and sorrows of daily life are absent. Fifth, they project the perspective of those who commissioned them: Asoka's claim that earlier rulers had no reporting system must be tested, and the inscription expressing his anguish over Kalinga is not found in Orissa, the conquered region, which complicates any face-value reading. Historians must also ask whether people could read them or understand the Prakrit used in Pataliputra.

Hence inscriptions must be juxtaposed with texts, coins and archaeological evidence. As historians' interests have moved from kings to economic change and to marginalised groups, old inscriptions are being read afresh, showing that epigraphy is a vital but partial source.

Where students lose marks in Inscriptions and James Prinsep

The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.

Mistake: Calling Prinsep an archaeologist or a Director-General
Confusion with Cunningham.
Wrong working
James Prinsep, Director-General of the ASI, deciphered Brahmi.
Right working
James Prinsep, who worked in the East India Company's mint, deciphered Brahmi.
Do this: Prinsep = Mint.
Usually costs: 1 mark.
Mistake: Swapping the two titles
Both are unfamiliar words.
Wrong working
Piyadassi means beloved of the gods.
Right working
Devanampiya = beloved of the gods; Piyadassi = pleasant to behold.
Do this: Deva (god) is in devanampiya.
Usually costs: 1 mark.
Mistake: Saying early inscriptions were in Sanskrit
Sanskrit seems the 'classical' language.
Wrong working
Asoka's inscriptions were in Sanskrit, written in Brahmi.
Right working
The earliest inscriptions, including most of Asoka's, were in Prakrit; early scholars made exactly this mistake.
Do this: Prakrit = people's language.
Usually costs: 1 mark.
Mistake: Listing limitations without examples
Bare lists look memorised.
Wrong working
Inscriptions are biased.
Right working
Inscriptions project the commissioner's view, e.g. Asoka's claim that earlier rulers lacked any reporting system must be tested.
Do this: One example per limitation.
Usually costs: Half the marks in 3- and 8-mark answers.

Exam tips

Asked in: 2026 board paper 61/1/1 Q28(a) (8 marks, limits of epigraphy); 2025 board paper 61/4/1 Q29(a) (8 marks, challenges of inscriptional evidence); 2023-24 sample paper Q23 (3 marks, limitations of inscriptional evidence); 2025 board paper 61/5/1 Q3 (assertion-reason on Prinsep); 2026 board paper 61/3/1 Q2 (assertion-reason on Prakrit). The answers here are our own.
Write '1838' and 'mint of the East India Company' in any Prinsep answer.
For limitations, the five-heading structure fits 3-mark (pick three) and 8-mark (all five plus examples) answers.
Link to the map list: Asokan pillar inscriptions at Sanchi, Topra, Meerut and Kaushambi are on the 2026-27 map list.

Practice questions on Inscriptions and James Prinsep

Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.

Q1 · 1 mark · MCQBoard level
In which year did James Prinsep decipher Asokan Brahmi?
(a) 1784
(b) 1838
(c) 1877
(d) 1888
Hint
The 1830s.
Answer
(b) 1838.
Q2 · 2 marks · Very short answerBoard level
What is palaeography, and how does it help date inscriptions? (2 marks)
Hint
Styles of writing.
Answer
Palaeography is the study of styles of writing. Since letters changed shape over time (the 'a' of c. 250 BCE differs from that of c. 500 CE), an undated inscription can be dated fairly precisely by its letter forms.
Q3 · 2 marks · Very short answerHarder board level
How did epigraphists conclude that inscriptions using only the titles devanampiya and piyadassi were issued by Asoka? (2 marks)
Hint
Four kinds of match.
Answer
Some inscriptions name Asoka along with these titles. When all the inscriptions were compared, they matched in content, style, language and palaeography, so they were attributed to the same ruler.
Q4 · 3 marks · Short answerHarder board level
Give three reasons why historians cannot rely on inscriptions alone for the political and economic history of early India. (3 marks)
Hint
Technical, coverage, perspective.
Answer
Any three: letters may be faint, damaged or missing, so readings are uncertain; meanings of words may be specific to a place or time and are debated; only a fraction of inscriptions survive and not all are deciphered or published; daily life and routine farming are not recorded because inscriptions focus on grand events; they present the view of the person who commissioned them, so they need to be checked against other sources.
Q5 · 1 mark · Assertion-reasonHarder board level
Assertion (A): Prinsep's decipherment gave a new direction to the study of early Indian political history.
Reason (R): After decipherment, scholars could reconstruct the lineages of major dynasties from inscriptions and texts.
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
(b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
(c) A is true but R is false.
(d) A is false but R is true.
Hint
What did decipherment allow?
Answer
(a) Both true, and R explains A.
Q6 · 3 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency
Suppose you find that the Asokan inscription expressing remorse over Kalinga is absent in Orissa. Suggest two possible explanations and say what this teaches about reading inscriptions. (3 marks)
Hint
NCERT itself asks this.
Answer
Possible explanations: the memory of the recent conquest may have been too painful in that region for the ruler to address it there; or the remorse was meant for an audience elsewhere in the empire, perhaps as part of propagating dhamma. It teaches that inscriptions cannot be read at face value: where an inscription was placed, and where it was not, is also evidence of the commissioner's intentions.
Q7 · 4 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency
"Recent decades have seen historians ask new questions of old inscriptions." Explain how historians' interests have changed and why this matters. (4 marks)
Hint
Kings → economy and society → marginalised groups.
Answer
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries scholars were mainly interested in kings and dynasties. From the mid-twentieth century, economic change and the emergence of social groups became more important. Recent decades have focused on marginalised groups. This matters because the same inscriptions, read with new questions, can reveal land grants, donors, guilds or women's roles, leading to fresh investigations and new methods of analysis.

Test your recall

Answer in your head or on paper first, then open the card. Pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than re-reading.

1.What is epigraphy?Show answer
The study of inscriptions.
2.Where did James Prinsep work?Show answer
In the mint of the East India Company.
3.What does devanampiya mean?Show answer
Beloved of the gods.
4.Which coins helped read Kharosthi?Show answer
Coins of Indo-Greek kings with names in Greek and Kharosthi.
5.In which languages were Asokan inscriptions in Afghanistan?Show answer
Aramaic and Greek.
6.When was Epigraphia Indica first issued?Show answer
1888.

Inscriptions and James Prinsep: frequently asked questions

Who was James Prinsep?

An officer in the mint of the East India Company who deciphered Brahmi and Kharosthi in the 1830s; he read Asokan Brahmi in 1838.

Why was Prinsep's decipherment important?

It allowed scholars to read the earliest inscriptions, identify king Piyadassi with Asoka, and reconstruct the lineages of major dynasties, giving shape to early Indian political history.

What are the limitations of inscriptions?

Faint or damaged letters, uncertain meanings, survival of only a fraction, silence about daily life, and the one-sided view of whoever commissioned them.

In which language were most Asokan inscriptions written?

Prakrit, mostly in the Brahmi script; some in the north-west used Kharosthi, and those in Afghanistan used Aramaic and Greek.