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

How many pillars with inscriptions of Asoka’s edicts still survive?

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the given question.

Asoka's edicts are to be found scattered in more than 30 places throughout India, Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Most of them are written in Brahmi script from which all Indian scripts and many of those used in Southeast Asia later developed. The language used in the edicts found in the eastern part of the sub-continent is a type of Magadhi, probably the official language of Asoka's court. The language used in the edicts found in the western part of India is closer to Sanskrit although one bilingual edict in Afghanistan is written in Aramaic and Greek. Asoka's edicts, which comprise the earliest decipherable corpus of written documents from India, have survived throughout the centuries because they are written on rocks and stone pillars. These pillars in particular are testimony to the technological and artistic genius of ancient Indian civilisation. Originally, there must have been many of them, although only 10 with inscriptions still survive. Averaging between  40 and 50 feet in height, and weighing up to 50 tonnes each, all the pillars were quarried at Chunar, just south of Varanasi and dragged, sometimes hundreds of miles, to where they were erected. Each pillar was originally capped by a capital, sometimes a roaring lion, a noble bull or a spirited horse, and the few capitals that survive are widely recognised as masterpieces of Indian art. Both the pillars and the capitals exhibit a remarkable mirror-like polish that has survived despite centuries of exposure to the elements.

  1. Two

  2. Four

  3. Ten

  4. Three

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The sixth sentence of the passage answers this. ‘Only ten with inscriptions still survive.’

Multiple choice

Ashoka's edicts were written in______ script.

  1. Prakrit

  2. Hindi

  3. Brahmi

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

Most of Ashoka's edicts found in the Indian subcontinent were written in the Brahmi script, while those in the northwest were in Kharosthi.

Multiple choice

What is the name of the script of Hindi language?

  1. Devnagri

  2. Khari Boli

  3. Gurumukhi

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

Hindi is written in the Devanagari script (also spelled Devnagari). This script is used for several Indian languages including Hindi, Marathi, Nepali, and Sanskrit. Khari Boli is a dialect of Hindi, not a script.

Multiple choice

The autobiography of Babar was written in?

  1. Persian

  2. Turki

  3. Arabic

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

Babar's autobiography, the Baburnama, was written in the Chagatai Turkic language, which was his native tongue.

Multiple choice

The Indus script decipherment remains problematic due to which reason?

  1. Contradictory nature of the cultural finds

  2. Shortness of available specimens

  3. Different opinions of the historians worldwide

  4. Non-concordance with the other ancestral languages
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The primary obstacle to deciphering the Indus script is the lack of long inscriptions; most specimens are very short, consisting of only a few symbols, which makes linguistic analysis extremely difficult.

Multiple choice

The Harappan script is basically :

  1. Boustrophedon (the writing of alternate lines in opposite directions, one line from left to right and the next from right to left.)

  2. Pictographic

  3. Both 1 and 2

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

The Harappan script is primarily pictographic (using symbols to represent objects or ideas) and has been observed in some instances to follow a boustrophedon pattern.

Multiple choice

Which of the following is incorrect?

  1. A piece of woven cotton cloth has been recovered at Kalibangan and textile impressions have been found on several objects.

  2. Bead-making was an important occupation.

  3. The standard Harappan seal was a square or oblong usually made of Steatite.

  4. Although the earliest specimen of the Harappan script was noticed in 1853,the complete script was discovered by 1923.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

A piece of woven cotton cloth has been recovered at Mohenjodaro(not at Kalibangan)

Multiple choice

“Boustrophedon” the style of script is

  1. written from right to left in first line and left to right in second line

  2. left to right in first line and right to left in the second

  3. always written from right to left

  4. always written from left to right
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Boustrophedon is a writing style where lines alternate direction; the first line is written from right to left, and the second from left to right, or vice versa.