Chapter 1

Ancient River Valley Civilisation:

The Indus Valley
Class 6 - Frank History & Civics Solutions

Multiple Choice Questions

Question 1

The Mesopotamian Civilisation flourished along the:

1. river Nile.
2. rivers Tigris and Euphrates.
3. the rivers Yangtze Kiang and Huang He.

Answer

rivers Tigris and Euphrates.

Question 2

The Indus Valley Civilisation is best known for its:

1. towering castles.
2. rich burials.
3. spectacular city planning.

Answer

spectacular city planning.

Question 3

The excavations by this archaeologist in 1921 led to the discovery of large city of
Mohenjodaro:

1. RD Banerjee
2. Daya Ram Sahni
3. Alexander Cunningham

Answer
RD Banerjee

Question 4

This Indus Valley city had a substantial dockyard:

1. Kalibangan
2. Banawali
3. Lothal

Answer

Lothal

Question 5

A three-faced figure, seated in a yogic posture, surrounded by various animals, engraved on

Indus Valley seals, is believed by some historians to be:

1. the Mother Goddess.

2. an earlier form of Pashupati.
3. the Harappan king.

Answer

an earlier form of Pashupati.

Question 6

Choose one option to match the items given in Column I with those in Column II.

Column I Column II

i. Alexander Cunningham a. Pictographic

ii. RD Banerjee b. Played a role in discovery of Mohenjodaro

iii. Mohenjodaro c. Director General of Archaeological Survey of British India

iv. Great Bath d. Sind

v. Harappan script e. Located at Mohenjodaro

1. i-c, ii-b, iii-d, iv-e, v-a

 2. i-b, ii-c, iii-d, iv-e, v-a
3. i-c, ii-b, iii-e, iv-d, v-a

Answer

i-c, ii-b, iii-d, iv-e, v-a

Question 7

Choose the correct option to complete the given table.

Features of Harappan Civilisation Descri

town planning well-planned

script pictographic

long distance trade ?

1. China
2. South America
3. Mesopotamia

Answer

Mesopotamia

Answer the following questions

Question II

The Indus Valley Civilisation comprises many sites spread across the north-western part of
the Indian subcontinent. In this context, answer the following questions:

1. What was the Indus Valley Civilisation also known as? What is the reason for this.
2. Name three important sites where this civilisation flourished.

Answer

1. The Indus Valley Civilisation is also known as the Harappan Civilisation since
Harappa was the first city to be unearthed.
2. Three important sites where Indus Valley civilisation flourished are — Harappa,
Mohenjodaro and Dholavira.

Question III
Excavations at various sites of the Indus Valley Civilisation showcase elaborately planned
cities and a thriving economy. In this context, answer the following questions:

1. State four salient features of town planning in Harappan times.

2. What do you know about agriculture in the Harappan times?
3. How were metals used by the Harappan people?
4. Write a note on trade conducted by the Harappan people.

Answer

1. Four salient features of town planning in Harappan times are:

i. The world's earliest planned cities had well-defined sanitary and drainage
systems.
ii. There were well-developed roads, houses and large public buildings.
iii. The main roads ran parallel to each other. Smaller streets intersected the main
roads at right angles. The entire city was divided into rectangular blocks.
iv. The roads were wide, and the corners were rounded off for easy movement of
carts. Many roads were paved with baked bricks.
2. The main occupation of the people of the Harappan Civilisation was agriculture.
Wheat and barley were the main crops grown. Mustard was also cultivated, along
with fruits and vegetables. The people of the Indus Valley were probably the first in
the world to grow cotton.
3. The Harappan people knew the art of using some metals. The goldsmiths made
jewellery, coppersmiths made utensils, and bronzesmiths made tools and weapons.
4. The people of Harappa traded within India and with Mesopotamia, Persia (present-
day Iran), and Afghanistan. Mesopotamian seals were found in Harappan cities, and
Indus Valley seals and pottery were found in ancient Sumerian cities. This shows
trade by land and sea, using boats and ships, likely through barter. Various weights
and measures were also used for trade. These have been discovered at sites in
Mesopotamia.

Answer in brief

Question 1

What were the ornaments used by the Harappan people?

Answer

Both Harappan men and women wore ornaments. Men wore fillets, necklaces, finger rings,
and amulets, while women wore earrings, bangles, bracelets, necklaces, girdles, anklets, and
head-dresses. The rich wore ornaments made of gold, silver and ivory, while the poor wore
jewellery made of shell, bone and copper.

Question 2

State two features of the religion of the Harappan people.

Answer

Two features of the religion of the Harappan people are:

1. Numerous clay figures of a female deity have been found. This was probably the
Mother Goddess. A three-faced figure, seated in a yogic posture, surrounded by
various animals, is engraved on some seals. Some historians believe it to be an earlier
form of Pashupati (Lord Shiva). Hence, it is evident that the Harappan people
believed in Mother Goddess and Pashupati.
2. The people of Harappa believed in life after death. This is evident from the fact that
excavated graves contain pottery, jewellery and other articles, which they thought
would be needed in the afterlife.

Question 3

What do you know about the Harappan script?

Answer

It is believed that their writing was pictographic. The script seems to have 250 to 400
pictographs. Writing was from right to left. The Harappan writing can be seen in inscriptions
found on seals.

Question 4

State three causes for the decline of the Harappan Civilisation.

Answer

Three causes for the decline of the Harappan Civilisation are:

1. Ecological changes led to the decline of agriculture. Shifts in the monsoon pattern and
changes in temperature made the area more arid. This forced the people to move to
other areas.
2. Natural calamities, such as floods or earthquakes, may have destroyed the cities.
3. Changes in the course of the river Indus may have left the land dry and infertile, and
not fit for agriculture.

Reflective Learning

Question 1

Swasti sees the Harappan script written on a seal. She wonders why historians have not been
able to decipher such simple pictures. She concludes that the Harappan script must be very
advanced and complex.

(a) What assumption is Swasti making about the Harappan script?

(b) Explain why this assumption might be incorrect.

Answer

(a) Swasti is assuming that the Harappan script is advanced and complex because historians
have not been able to understand or decipher the simple pictures on the seals.

(b) This assumption might be incorrect because historians have not been able to decipher the
Harappan script mainly because the script is very short and pictographic, usually with only a
few symbols, and there is no bilingual inscription to help understand its meaning. So, the
difficulty in reading the script is not necessarily because it is complex, but because there is
not enough information to decode it.

Question 2

Which of the following statements might best explain why changes in the course of the river
Indus led to the decline of the Indus Valley Civilisation?

1. The wild animals moved away to find another source of water and there was nothing
left to hunt for the Indus Valley people.
2. The land was left dry and infertile, and not fit for agriculture.
3. New plants that required less water began to grow in the region, and the Indus Valley
people did not have knowledge about these plants.

Answer

The land was left dry and infertile, and not fit for agriculture.

Picture Study

Question 1

This is a picture of a fragment of an artefact found at one of the Harappan sites.

(a) What kind of material is the artefact made of?

(b) What kind of an artefact does this fragment belong to?

(c) What can you tell about the craft skills of the Indus people by looking at the fragment?

Answer

(a) The artefact appears to be made of terracota (reddish-brown baked clay).

(b) The fragment likely belongs to a Painted and Glazed pot of Harappan times.

(c) This artefact shows that the Harappan people were expert potters. They could create
symmetrical and durable pots in various shapes and sizes using the potter's wheel. The pots
were generally glazed and painted.