James Prinsep was an officer in the mint of the East India Company. His contribution considered as a major turning point in early Indian history due to the following reasons:

a. He contributed in the Indian epigraphy by deciphering 2 scripts- the Brahmi and Kharoshthi.in the earliest inscriptions and coins.

b. His study of inscriptions gave a lot of information about the rulers.

c. It gave a new sense of direction to investigations into the early Indian political history as Europeans and Indian scholars used the inscriptions and texts composed in different languages tor reconstruct the lineages of major dynasties that had ruled the subcontinent.