Explanation:

• Some of the most momentous developments in Indianepigraphy took place in the 1830s.
• This was whenJames Prinsep, an officer in the mint of the EastIndia Company, deciphered Brahmi and Kharosthi,two scripts used in the earliest inscriptions andcoins.
• He found that most of these mentioned a kingreferred to as Piyadassi – meaning “pleasant tobehold”; there were a few inscriptions which also referred to the king as Asoka, one of the most famousrulers known from Buddhist texts.

Source: Themes in Indian History