RAS question
The Barnala Yupa Inscription (3rd century CE) found in Rajasthan provides evidence of:
Correct answer: (D) Vedic sacrificial rituals (yajnas).
The Barnala Yupa Inscription from Rajasthan is evidence for the performance of Vedic sacrificial rituals, or yajnas, in the 3rd century CE.
Explanation
The Barnala yupa record belongs to the wider group of early Rajasthan yupa inscriptions, where stone pillars preserved evidence for sacrifices that had otherwise centred on perishable wooden sacrificial posts. Jain Quantum - Religious Conditions in S. E. Rajasthan from Early Inscriptions places Barnala in Jaipur district and treats it as part of ancient Matsya country. The first Barnala yupa inscription was dedicated in Malava-Vikrama year 284, corresponding to 227-228 CE, and records the erection of yupas connected with sacrifice. Available evidence shows these Rajasthan sacrifices were srauta sacrifices, and yupa pillars commemorated the completion of Vedic sacrifices. That is why the inscription is cited for Vedic sacrificial ritual practice, not for temples, trade, or monasteries.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Jain temples are not the point of this inscription; the record concerns yupa pillars erected in connection with sacrificial ritual.
- (B) Trade with Rome is outside the evidence supplied here, because the Barnala yupa material does not link the inscription to trade.
- (C) Buddhist monasteries do not fit this record, which is explained through yupa pillars and srauta sacrifice rather than monastic institutions.
Concept
This tests epigraphic evidence for religious practice in early Rajasthan, especially how inscriptions are used to identify Vedic ritual traditions. It recurs in RAS because Rajasthan history questions often ask what a specific inscription proves, not merely where it was found.