5 High-Yield Inscription Charts You Must Memorize for Ancient India

Why Inscriptions Are Near-Guaranteed Questions

Inscriptions are precisely datable, precisely attributable to one ruler, and written in a specific script — three qualities that make them ideal for clean, objective questions. Use this page as a working reference chart, not a one-time read.

The Complete Comparative Chart (Memorize This First)

Inscription 1: Junagarh (Girnar) — Rudradaman I

• Date: c. 150 CE
• Dynasty: Western Kshatrapa (Saka)
• Standout feature: Among the earliest long inscriptions in chaste Sanskrit prose — before this, inscriptions were overwhelmingly in Prakrit.
• Also records: Repair of the Sudarshana lake, originally built under Chandragupta Maurya’s governor Pushyagupta, later improved under Ashoka’s governor Tushaspa.
• Why it matters twice: Same inscription = source for Rudradaman’s reign AND for administrative continuity across three dynasties (Maurya → Western Kshatrapa).

Inscription 2: Allahabad Pillar (Prayag Prashasti) — Samudragupta

• Composed by: Harishena, court poet/minister
• Genre: Prashasti (eulogistic composition)
• What it details: Samudragupta’s conquests and administrative reach — THE key primary source for Gupta Empire’s extent.
• Four categories of defeated/subordinate rulers listed:
  • Aryavarta (north India) kings — violently uprooted, territory annexed
  • Dakshinapatha (Deccan/south) kings — defeated but reinstated as tributaries
  • Frontier/forest kingdoms (atavika rajas) — paid tribute, no direct conflict
  • Distant foreign powers — maintained friendly relations via gifts/matrimonial alliances
• Trivia worth knowing: Inscribed on the same physical pillar that also carries Ashokan edicts — two different eras, one pillar.

Inscription 3: Hathigumpha — Kharavela

• Location: Udayagiri hills, near Bhubaneswar, Odisha
• Script/Language: Prakrit
• Dynasty: Chedi (Mahameghavahana)
• Standout feature: A year-by-year record of Kharavela’s reign — military campaigns, public works, patronage of Jainism.
• Why it’s unusual: Richest, most narratively complete biographical inscription surviving from ancient India.
• Worth knowing: Its exact dating is still contested among scholars — this fact itself can appear in an analytical question.

Inscription 4 & 5: Ashoka’s Edicts

Classified two ways — questions test both:

By medium/scale:

• Major Rock Edicts
• Minor Rock Edicts
• Major Pillar Edicts
• Minor Pillar Edicts
• ~33 edicts total, first deciphered by James Prinsep in 1837

By script/language:

• Brahmi script (Prakrit) — most of the empire
• Kharosthi script — northwest regions (modern Pakistan/Afghanistan border)
• Greek and Aramaic (bilingual) — Kandahar, Afghanistan

Chronology: Rock edicts generally came earlier in his reign; Pillar edicts closer to its end.

A Detail Most Aspirants Miss on the Allahabad Pillar

The four-category breakdown above (annexation vs. reinstatement vs. tribute vs. diplomacy) is far more testable than “Samudragupta conquered a lot.” A strong answer names which category a specific region/ruler fell into — not just that conquest happened.

A Detail Worth Knowing on Hathigumpha

Because the inscription covers many distinct years in one continuous record, questions occasionally ask which regnal year a specific event belongs to. Know at least two or three specific year-entries, not just “it’s Kharavela’s biography.”

The Pattern Behind Every Inscription Question

Regardless of which inscription, questions almost always target the same four attributes:

1. Who composed/commissioned it
2. What script and language it uses
3. What specific content it records
4. Where it was found / its physical location

Rarely tested: the surrounding political narrative (why the ruler went to war, etc.) — focus revision on the four attributes above instead.

Key Takeaways

• Inscriptions are predictable exactly because they’re precisely attributable — ruler, script, content are fixed facts.
• Junagarh, Allahabad Pillar, Hathigumpha, and Ashoka’s edicts cover most inscription-based questions.
• Ashoka’s edicts need two-axis classification: medium/scale AND script/language.
• Revise using the four-attribute framework (composer, script, content, location) for any inscription you encounter.

Get All Five, Already Charted and PYQ-Mapped

If you’d rather revise from a chart that’s already built this way — with previous year questions attached to each inscription — the Itihaaskar Ancient India Module organizes exactly this kind of source material for fast, repeated revision.