Question

What is ‘Prashastis’?

Answer 1

Hint: Prashastis were written by Brahmans in Sanskrit or any regional language.
Prashastis tells us how the rulers wanted themselves to be depicted.

Complete answer:
Prashastis are metal plates (mostly copper) which contain details about the ruler who ruled at that point of time.
These Prashastis were written by Brahmans in Sanskrit or any regional language. The details written in them may or may not be literally correct. They were basically written in praise of the ruler. Prashastis tells us how the rulers wanted themselves to be depicted, i.e. victorious, achievers, valiant warriors etc. Hence the name, ‘Prashasti’ which in Sanskrit means, ‘in praise’.
Prashastis have been written in the 1st millennium and onwards and were written in the form of prose or poetry.
An example of prashasti is a Sanskrit poem written by Harishena in praise of the King Samudragupta. This poem was composed 1700 years ago and is inscribed on the Ashoka pillars in Allahabad. The prashastis written by Harishena tells us about the nine Aryavarta rulers that were uprooted by Samudragupta. It also talks about twelve Dakshinapatha rulers that surrendered to him and that Samudragupta allowed them to rule again. The circle of neighbouring states like Assam and Nepal brought tributes for him, followed his orders and attended his court.

Note:The first long inscription in Sanskrit that has survived into the modern era is the Junagadh Rock Inscription.
It was also considered as the prototype for the poetic prashastis of the Gupta dynasty. No evidence of poetic prashastis was found until those of the Gupta dynasty.
Their similar style of writing makes it more evident that the former was definitely a prototype for the latter.