‘Epigraphy
i. There are technical limitations in studying the Inscriptions. In some inscriptions letters are very faintly engraved.
ii. Some inscriptions are damaged and in some inscriptions letters are missing. So reconstructions are uncertain.
iii. Besides, it is not always easy to be sure about the exact meaning of the words used in inscriptions, some of which may be specific to a particular place or time. This has to be done carefully, to ensure that the intended meaning of the author is not changed.
iv. Several thousand inscriptions were made but only some hundreds have been discovered in which all are not deciphered, published and translated.
v. There is another more fundamental problem. Politically and economically significant matters are recorded in inscriptions but routine agricultural practices and the joys and sorrows of daily existence are not found in inscriptions.
vi. Historians and Epigraphists have to constantly assess statements made in inscriptions to judge whether they are true, plausible or exaggerations.
