Maharashtra SSC Pahlavi L2/L3 (MSBSHSE) study guide
Maharashtra SSC Pahlavi L2/L3 (MSBSHSE) · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Maharashtra SSC Pahlavi Level 2/Level 3 examination is a written, paper-based language examination conducted under the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE), Pune - "महाराष्ट्र राज्य माध्यमिक व उच्च माध्यमिक शिक्षण मंडळ, पुणे". It is a classical-language subject offered within the board's SSC (Std. X) framework, aimed at candidates who wish to be examined in Pahlavi (Middle Persian) as an additional or optional language rather than in a modern Indian language. Candidates are typically school-registered Std. The Maharashtra SSC Pahlavi L2/L3 (MSBSHSE) study guide has 4 sections and about 1,047 words.
01Pahlavi Script, Reading and Writing (Level 2/3)
The exam checks whether you can recognise Book Pahlavi letters, read right-to-left, and distinguish phonetic writing from Aramaic heterograms. Pahlavi is an Aramaic-derived script used for Middle Persian; its Book Pahlavi form is cursive and consonantal, so vowels are usually unwritten and one sign may serve several sounds.
253 words, about 1 min02Pahlavi Grammar and Vocabulary
The grammar section tests Middle Persian forms rather than New Persian: noun plurals, the ezafe linker, pronouns, prepositions, and present/past verb stems. Middle Persian has no grammatical gender, and case endings are largely lost; relationships are shown by prepositions, the ezafe, and word order.
285 words, about 1 min03Pahlavi Comprehension and Translation
This section asks you to move from written signs to meaning: transliterate, transcribe, expand heterograms, parse the clause, then translate. The exam favours short formulae, titles, and simple descriptive sentences, so recognising high-frequency vocabulary and syntactic markers matters more than guessing long passages.
250 words, about 1 min04Pahlavi Literature and Cultural Context
The literature section tests knowledge of Middle Persian works, genres, and the transmission setting. Most surviving Pahlavi books were copied in the 9th–10th centuries CE by Zoroastrian priests, after the Arab conquest, and preserve Sassanian-era religious and court traditions.
259 words, about 1 min