Identify the correct statements about the ’Inscriptions’:

(A) Routine agricultural practices and events of daily life are the subject-matter of inscriptions.

(B) Record the achievements, activities or ideas of those who commissioned them.

(C) Writings are engraved on hard surfaces such as stone, metal or pottery.

(D) The earliest inscriptions were in Prakrit.

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

The correct option is (B), (C) and (D) only.

Let us analyze each statement step-by-step to understand why this option is correct:

Statement (A): "Routine agricultural practices and events of daily life are the subject-matter of inscriptions."
This statement is incorrect. Inscriptions were typically commissioned by kings, wealthy merchants, or influential individuals. Due to the high cost and effort required to engrave on hard materials, they were reserved for major public announcements, royal decrees, religious donations, and significant political achievements. Routine daily activities and common agricultural practices of ordinary people were rarely recorded in inscriptions.

Statement (B): "Record the achievements, activities or ideas of those who commissioned them."
This statement is correct. Inscriptions served as permanent records of the victories, achievements, ideas, and donations of the rulers or patrons who commissioned them (for example, the Ashokan edicts or various royal land grants).

Statement (C): "Writings are engraved on hard surfaces such as stone, metal or pottery."
This statement is correct. By definition, an inscription is text carved, engraved, or incised onto durable, hard surfaces like rock cliffs, stone pillars, copper plates, walls of temples, or clay pottery.

Statement (D): "The earliest inscriptions were in Prakrit."
This statement is correct. In the Indian subcontinent, the earliest deciphered inscriptions (such as those of Emperor Ashoka dating back to the 3rd century BCE) were written in Prakrit, which was the language of the common people at the time, alongside regional scripts like Brahmi and Kharosthi.

Therefore, statements (B), (C), and (D) are correct, while statement (A) is incorrect.