History

Historical Writing Systems

1,793 Questions

Historical writing systems represent the early methods of human communication and record keeping. This topic covers ancient scripts like Cuneiform, Brahmi, and Egyptian hieroglyphs, along with their historical usage. Knowledge of these scripts is essential for history and art culture preparation.

Ancient Indian scriptsCuneiform writingEgyptian hieroglyphsPhoenician alphabetGupta script

Historical Writing Systems Questions

Multiple choice

Which of the following statements is/are correct?

a. Al Biruni described Sanskrit as an easy language to master for someone who has learned Persian and Arabic. b. He remarked that Sanskrit was a language of an enormous range, both in words and inflections, something like Arabic. c. Al Biruni's works were circulted as manuscripts till the seventeenth century when they were finally published in 1670-71 and translated into English, Dutch, German and Italian within the next five years.

  1. a only

  2. b only

  3. c only

  4. a and c

  5. a, b and c
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

This is the correct answer as this statement is correct.

Multiple choice

The script of Indus Valley Civilization was

  1. Persian

  2. Dravidian

  3. Sanskrit

  4. Undeciphered
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

The Indus script remains undeciphered despite numerous attempts by scholars. While some researchers propose connections to Dravidian or other languages, none have been conclusively proven. The script consists of pictographic symbols whose meaning and language affiliation remain unknown.

Multiple choice

Which of the following statements is/are correct?

  1. The Greek conquest unveiled India for the first time to the Western world.
  2. The introduction of new scripts — Aramaic, Kharoshti and the alphabet style Yavanani by Panini— can be traced to Greek source.

  1. Only 1

  2. Only 2

  3. Both of these

  4. Neither of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

In 326 BC, Alexander (a Greek) invaded India. The Greek conquest unveiled India for the first time to the Western world and established contact between the people of both regions. The introduction of new scripts — Aramaic, Kharoshti and the alphabet style Yavanani by Panini— can be traced to Greek source.

Multiple choice

The script of the Harappan people consisted of

  1. a family of geometrical shapes

  2. a combination of both pictures and geometrical shapes

  3. a family of quasi-pictographic writings

  4. None of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Correct answwer is (3). 

Multiple choice

Hindi is written in _____ script.

  1. Persian

  2. Roman

  3. Devnagari

  4. Sanskriti
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Hindi is written in the Devanagari script, which is also used for several other Indian languages including Sanskrit, Marathi, and Nepali. Devanagari is an abugida (alphasyllabary) written from left to right and is characterized by the horizontal line running along the top of letters. Persian uses Arabic script, Roman is Latin script, and 'Sanskriti' is not a script but a word meaning culture.

Multiple choice

Chinese script was

  1. Pictographic

  2. Hieroglyphic

  3. Ideographic

  4. none of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The Chinese writing system is ideographic, where characters represent ideas or concepts rather than just sounds. Each character typically carries meaning and can stand alone as a word. This distinguishes Chinese from purely phonographic or alphabetic scripts where symbols primarily represent speech sounds. While early Chinese characters had pictographic origins, the modern system is fundamentally ideographic.

Multiple choice

In which language did Kalidas compose his works?

  1. Pakrit

  2. Sanskrit

  3. Pali

  4. Brahmi
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Kalidasa, the greatest poet and dramatist of Classical Sanskrit, composed all his works in Sanskrit. His famous works include Abhijnanasakuntalam, Meghaduta, and Raghuvamsa.