Critically examine the limitations of the …

Limitations of inscriptional evidence are:

Technical Limitations: Sometimes letters are very faintly engraved and thus doubts arise for inscriptions may be damaged or letters missing.

Damaged or Missing Letters: Sometimes important letters are damaged or missing in the inscription. It makes the work for epigraphists more difficult.

Lack of Clarity: It is not always easy to be sure about the exact meaning of the words used in the inscriptions, some of which may be specific to a particular place or time. So, scholars are constantly debating on alternative ways to read inscriptions.

Undeciphered Inscriptions: Thousands of inscriptions have been discovered, but not all have been deciphered, published and translated. Many inscriptions were destroyed and what we have today’ probably a fraction of it.

Non-relevance of Inscriptions: Inscriptions were composed in praise of kings and patrons in general. Not everything that is economically or politically important was recorded in the inscriptions, e.g. routine agricultural practice, the joys and sorrow of common man were not mentioned in the inscriptions. Thus, it is difficult for the epigraphists to give the complete picture of a society by relying on inscriptions only.