General Knowledge - Indian History - Discussion

No, the use of the Kharosthi script in ancient India is not due to contact with Greece, but rather due to contact with Persia (Iran).

However, Greek influence in India did lead to:

Greek-style art (e.g., Gandhara School of Art)
Greek script influence on coins and inscriptions during Indo-Greek rule
Spread of Hellenistic culture after Alexander the Great’s invasion
But the Kharosthi script specifically came from Aramaic, which was used in the Persian Empire, not Greek.

Answer C is correct.

It is believe that Kharoshti was used during the late-3rd century BC (In Afghanistan, Pakistan and North India), that is south Asia. During that period The Indo-Greek Kingdom or Graeco-Indian Kingdom was established over there.

Graeco-Bactrian king Demetrius invaded the subcontinent early in the 2nd century BC and followed by Alexander the great. Hence, Kharoshiti relates India's contact wih Greece.

The Kharoshti script was deciphered by James Prinsep (1799-1840) using the bilingual coins of the Indo-Greek Kingdom. This in turn, led to the reading of the Edicts of Ashoka, some of which, from the northwest of South Asia, were written in the Kharoshti script.

I agree with @Utkarsh. It is less ambiguous or controversial because Ashokan scripts are generally in the local scripts and kharoshthi script was used widely in northwestern India, in the region near Peshawar which was derived from Aramaic used in Iran.

The Kharosthi script was deciphered by James Prinsep (1799-1840) using the bilingual coins of the Indo-Greek Kingdom (obverse in Greek, reverse in Pali, using the Kharosthi script). From this, it is very clear that the answer is Greece.

Iran is the correct answer. Iranians or Persians were who stepped on the land of Indus. Greeks {alexander from macedonia} were followed after them. The scribes of Iran brought Kharoshti script which was written from right to left.

The Iranian scribes brought into India a form of writing which came to be known as the " Kharosthi".there time period 588-500BC, but Greece ruler Alexander comes India in 326BC.

Then, how the ans is "Greece?

If we are talking about contact, it is little ambiguous. Though it is Iranian contact, it is believed to be introduced around 500 BCE, and script is also found in Indo-Greek Coins. And most famous Ashoka Edicts and Pillars.

The Kharosthi script is an ancient script used by the ancient Gandhara culture of South Asia primarily in modern-day Afghanistan and Pakistan to write the Gandhari language (a dialect of Prakrit) and the Sanskrit language.

A is the Correct Answer!

The Kharosthi script is an ancient Indic script used by the Gandhara culture of ancient Northwest India (primarily modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and North India.