BharatNotes Epigraphy
noun (uncountable)Usage in a UPSC answer
Much of what we reliably know about the administrative reach and welfare ethos of the Mauryan state is reconstructed not from courtly chronicles but from epigraphy, for the rock and pillar edicts of Ashoka, scattered from Kandahar to Karnataka, remain our most contemporaneous testimony to its dhamma-driven governance.
Synonyms
Word Family
epigraph (n), epigraphic (adj), epigraphist (n), epigraphical (adj), epigraphically (adv)
Root
Greek epigraphē = inscription; epi- = upon; graphein = to write
Etymology
From Ancient Greek epigraphe ("inscription"), from epigraphein ("to write upon"), from epi- ("upon") + graphein ("to write").
Memory Hook
Break it as EPI ("upon") + GRAPH ("writing") - the science of what is written UPON stone and metal; an epigrapher reads epitaphs carved upon graves.
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