Previous Year Question
Which one of the following is not true about the Barabar hill caves?
There are in all four caves on the Barabar hill.
Inscriptions of Ashoka are found on the walls of three caves.
These inscriptions inform us about the dedication of these caves to the Ajivikas.
These inscriptions date back to 6th century B.C.
Correct Answer: D
Detailed Solution
The correct answer is (d), because the Ashokan cave inscriptions at Barabar belong to the third century BCE, not the sixth century BCE.
Statement (a) is correct. The Barabar hill group near Gaya in Bihar contains four artificial rock-cut caves. These include the Sudama, Karna Chaupar, Visva Jhopri and Lomas Rishi caves. The three caves on the nearby Nagarjuni hill form a separate group and are not counted among the four Barabar caves.
Statement (b) is correct. Of the four Barabar caves, three contain inscriptions of Ashoka. Ashokan inscriptions have been found at Sudama, Visva Jhopri and Karna Chaupar. The Lomas Rishi cave does not contain an inscription of Ashoka.
Statement (c) is correct. Ashoka's Barabar cave inscriptions establish the association of these caves with the Ajivika sect. The inscriptions of Sudama and Visva Jhopri explicitly record the grant of caves for the use of the Ajivikas. They therefore provide important epigraphic evidence of royal patronage extended to the Ajivika sect during the Mauryan period.
The three caves on the nearby Nagarjuni hill were later also dedicated to the Ajivikas by Ashoka's grandson Dasaratha Maurya. This provides evidence that Mauryan royal patronage of the Ajivikas continued even after Ashoka.
Statement (d) is incorrect. The Ashokan inscriptions in the Barabar caves belong to the third century BCE. For example, the inscriptions at Sudama and Visva Jhopri belong to the reign of Ashoka and are written in Brahmi script and Prakrit language. Therefore, assigning them to the sixth century BCE would place them almost three centuries too early.
The Barabar caves are also regarded among the earliest surviving examples of Indian rock-cut architecture. The extremely smooth and lustrous surfaces of their interiors are a distinctive example of Mauryan polish.