Answer Key to Exercise
A. Fill in the blanks.
1. The Indus Valley Civilisation existed between 3000 BCE and 1800 BCE
2. Harappa and Mohenjo Daro were two main sites of the Indus
ValleyCivilisation.
3. The script of the Harappans remains undeciphered.
4. A seal representing a male deity has been identified as the ancestor of god
Shiva.
5. Seal is the most distinctive artefact of the Indus Valley Civilisation.
B. Match the following.
Column A column B
1. Seals inscribed clay tablets
2. Citadel a raised part of the city surrounded by wall.
3. Lapis lazuli blue coloured precious gem stone
4. Mother goddess terracotta figurines
5. Lothal a port city
c. Answer the following questions very briefly.
1. Daya Ram Sahni
2. Pakistan
3. Farming, pottery, weaving, bead making, seal making, trade and metallurgy.
4. Granaries were used for storing surplus food grains.
5. At Kalibangan in Rajasthan we have found fire altars.
d. Answer the following questions in brief.
1. Indus valley civilisation is also known as Harappan civilisation
because Harappa was the first site of the civilisation to be
discovered.
2. Harappan people used to procure their materials from the
neighbouring areas such as Copper from Khetri mines in
Rajasthan, tin from Afghanistan and lapis lazuli from distant
places.
3. The Indus Valley Civilisation was an urban culture as
• Most of the people lived in cities and carried out various
occupations other than agriculture, e.g. – metal work,
bead making, seal making, pottery, etc.
• They were also engaged in distant trade as can be
evidenced from the Harappan seals found at
Mesopotamia.
4. The surplus food was stored in granaries and transported to the nearby
villages.
5. Lothal is located in the Bhal region of modern Gujarat state. Lothal was
a port city during Indus valley civilisation.The world earliest dock has been
found at this site.
E. Answer the following questions in detail.
1. Seals were tablets made of steatite or faïence. They furnish a lot
of information on the religious beliefs of the people, about the
trade relations, probably they were used for stamping by people
in authority. Some seals were also used as ornaments such as
amulets.
2. Cities were well planned, roads cut each other at right angles,
There was proper drainage and sanitation system
• Both at Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro we find special
structures like the Citadel, which was a raised
platform with houses of ruling class.
• Great Bath – probably used for religious or
community bathing,
• Granary which was a storehouseof surplus grains.
3. Harappans worshipped many things.
• Female figurines believed mother Goddess, a
seal representing a male deity has been identified
as an ancestor of God Shiva.
4. Because of an undeciphered script two problems that we
face in the construction of history are :
a. The social and religious life of the people.
b. Also difficult to reconstruct the political life of the state.
5. Decline of Indus Valley Civilisation has many reasons.
• Some historians believe that civilisation ended
due to the drying up of a River,
• Some attribute it to a situation of drought and
deforestation which may have led to some
environmental disaster.
• Skeletal remains show that many people died from
malaria
• There is no evidence of war or mass killing.
