BharatNotes Edict
nounUsage in a UPSC answer
When the colonial state governed through edict rather than consent, it hollowed out the deliberative institutions on which durable legitimacy ultimately rests.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Word Family
edicts (n pl), edict (n), dictate (v), diction (n), dictum (n)
Root
Latin edicere = to proclaim; e- = out + dicere = to say; edictum = something proclaimed
Etymology
From Latin edictum ("something proclaimed"), the neuter past participle of edicere ("to proclaim"), from e- ("out") + dicere ("to say").
Memory Hook
"E-DICT" — something "dictated" OUT (e-/ex- = out) to all; a ruler dictates an edict that everyone must obey.
How This Word Works in UPSC Writing
An official proclamation issued by a sovereign. Ashoka's inscriptions are the earliest deciphered written records of Indian history and the anchor of Mauryan chronology. The corpus is conventionally counted at 33, comprising 14 Major Rock Edicts, a set of minor rock edicts, 7 Pillar Edicts and minor pillar edicts, together with the separate Kalinga edicts addressed to officials in the conquered province. Language and script both matter: most are in Prakrit written in Brahmi, those in the north-west use Kharosthi, and the Kandahar inscriptions are in Greek and Aramaic, which demonstrates both the reach of the empire and a deliberate choice to address each population in a medium it could read. James Prinsep's decipherment in 1837 unlocked the whole corpus, and his reading of the royal title Devanampiya Piyadasi is what eventually connected these texts to Ashoka. Rock Edict XIII, recording remorse after the Kalinga war, is the most cited of them.
Don’t Confuse It With
An edict is a proclamation carrying the force of command. The Major Rock Edicts are the fourteen longer texts cut into rock surfaces, while the Pillar Edicts are the seven inscribed on polished monolithic columns, the minor edicts of both kinds being shorter and generally earlier. Brahmi is the script in which most were written and the ancestor of most later Indian scripts, whereas Kharosthi, used in the north-west, derives from Aramaic and is written right to left. Prakrit is the language rather than the script, a distinction routinely blurred in answers.
Hindi Meaning
राजाज्ञा (rājāgyā); अभिलेख (abhilekh) for an inscription.
Common Questions
- In what languages and scripts were Ashoka's edicts written?
- Mostly in Prakrit using the Brahmi script, with Kharosthi in the north-west and Greek and Aramaic at Kandahar.
- Who deciphered the Ashokan edicts?
- James Prinsep, in 1837, who read the royal title Devanampiya Piyadasi that was later identified with Ashoka.
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