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UPSC Prelims 2026 GS Paper 1, question 7

Topic: Ancient history

Q7

Consider the following statements relating to the use of the place-value system in India :

  1. The earliest epigraphic use of the place-value system in India is found in the Mankani plates from Gujarat (AD 595 – 596).

  2. In the ninth century, place-values become general in inscriptions all over India.

  3. The place-values have been found in Sanskrit inscriptions in South-east Asia as early as the seventh century.

Which of the statements given above are correct ?

  1. (a) 1 and 2 only
  2. (b) 1 and 3 only
  3. (c) 2 and 3 only
  4. (d) 1, 2 and 3Correct answer

Solution.

Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

  1. Statement 1 is correct: historians of Indian mathematics (such as A.L. Basham) cite the Sankheda/Mankani copper-plate grant from Gujarat dated Kalachuri year 346 (AD 595-596) as the earliest epigraphic record of decimal place-value notation in India.
  2. Statement 2 is correct: by the 9th century CE, decimal place-value numerals had become standard in inscriptions across India.
  3. Statement 3 is correct: Sanskrit inscriptions in South-east Asia (such as at Sambor in Cambodia and Palembang in Sumatra, dated Saka 605 / AD 683) used decimal place-value figures as early as the 7th century.

Trap: Although some epigraphists later debated the authenticity of the Mankani grant, standard historical surveys explicitly cite all three statements together.