Consider the following statements about ancient Indian inscriptions :

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The earliest inscriptions are in Sanskrit.
Kharosthi script, used in inscriptions in the north-west, was deciphered with the help of coins of Indo-Greek kings who ruled over the area.
Most of the inscriptions mention grand, unique events, and routine agricultural practices do not find mention.

How many of the above statements is/are correct ?

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Answer is Wrong!

This question was previously asked in

UPSC NDA-1 – 2024

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Statement 2 is correct. The Kharosthi script, used in the northwestern parts of ancient India, was successfully deciphered by James Prinsep in the 1830s with the crucial assistance of bilingual coins issued by Indo-Greek kings who ruled over the region. These coins typically had inscriptions in both Greek and Kharosthi scripts, allowing Prinsep to correlate the characters and sounds.

Decipherment of ancient scripts like Brahmi and Kharosthi was pivotal for understanding the history and society of ancient India, particularly the period of the Mauryas and post-Mauryas. James Prinsep played a key role in this process.

Statement 1 is incorrect. The earliest deciphered inscriptions in ancient India, such as the Ashokan edicts (3rd century BCE), are primarily in Prakrit languages written in the Brahmi or Kharosthi scripts. Sanskrit inscriptions became prominent later, notably from the Gupta period (4th century CE) onwards.
Statement 3 is incorrect. While many inscriptions record significant political and religious events, they also provide valuable information about administrative regulations, land grants, irrigation systems, economic activities, and social practices, which are often directly or indirectly related to agriculture and daily life. It is not true that routine agricultural practices find no mention at all; aspects of land management, taxation, and water usage relevant to agriculture are documented.

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