In which of the minor rock edicts of Emperor Ashoka, found in Madhya Pradesh, is his personal name mentioned?

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Correct — B, Gurjara (Gujarra), in Datia district of Madhya Pradesh. Almost every Ashokan edict hides the king behind titles — Devanampiya ('Beloved of the Gods') and Piyadasi ('of pleasing appearance') — and never gives his name. The Gujarra version of Minor Rock Edict I is one of the rare exceptions: its opening formula spells the name out, Devanampiyasa Piyadasino Asokaraja, so the personal name Ashoka stands next to the titles. It is the only Ashokan record in Madhya Pradesh that names him; the other edict sites where the name occurs — Maski, Nittur and Udegolam — all lie in Karnataka.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) Rupnath, at the foot of the Kaimur hills in Katni district, is genuinely one of Madhya Pradesh's Ashokan sites and carries Minor Rock Edict I — but its text uses only the royal styles Devanampiya/Piyadasi. Being a famous MP edict is not the same as naming the king.  (c) The Saru-Maru rock-shelter inscriptions in Sehore district are Ashokan and important — one of them is read as recording a visit the king made to the spot while he was still a prince — but they identify him by title, not by personal name. Note also that Saru-Maru and Panguraria in option (d) are the same rock-shelter complex, which is a strong hint that neither can be the single intended answer.  (d) Panguraria is the village in Sehore district beside those same Saru-Maru shelters, which is why the record there is cited as the Panguraria/Saru-Maru inscription. It, too, uses the titles Devanampiya and Piyadasi rather than the name Ashoka.

Concept: Ashoka's inscriptions form the earliest large body of deciphered Indian writing: 14 Major Rock Edicts, a set of Minor Rock Edicts, 7 Pillar Edicts, Minor Pillar Edicts and cave dedications (Barabar). They are mostly in Prakrit written in Brahmi, with Kharoshthi in the north-west and Greek and Aramaic versions at Kandahar. In almost all of them the emperor calls himself only Devanampiya Piyadasi. James Prinsep deciphered Brahmi in 1837, but tying 'Devanampiya Piyadasi' to Ashoka rested on the Sri Lankan chronicles until the Maski edict (found 1915) supplied the personal name directly; Gujarra, found in the 1950s, confirmed it — and is the Madhya Pradesh example of that rare naming.

State PCS 2026 Q91 — Madhya Pradesh GK PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2026 Q91 — Madhya Pradesh GK PYQ with Answer