The Harappan Civilisation
Select Correct Relationship
Question 1
(A) The period when man used both stone and copper tools is
known as the Chalcolithic Period.
(B) The Harappan Civilisation emerged in the Chalcolithic Period.
(B) contradicts (A)
(B) is the reason for (A)
(A) is true but (B) is false.
(A) and (B) are independent of each other.
Answer (A) is true but (B) is false.
Explanation — The Harappan Civilisation, also known as the Indus
Valley Civilisation, was a Bronze Age civilisation.
Question 2
(A) The Harappan Civilisation is considered as the first civilisation
that arose in the north-western regions of the Indian subcontinent.
(B) The Harappan civilisation is also known as the Indus Valley
Civilisation.
(B) contradicts (A)
(B) is the reason for (A)
(A) is true but (B) is false.
(A) and (B) are independent of each other.
Answer (A) and (B) are independent of each other
Explanation — The Harappan Civilisation, also known as the Indus
Valley Civilisation, was a Bronze Age civilisation in the
northwestern regions of South Asia.
Question 3
(A) The Harappan Civilisation is also known as the Harappan
Culture.
(B) The term ‘Culture’ refers to a group of distinctive objects such
as seals, weights, stone blades and baked bricks found within a
specific geographical area and time period.
(B) contradicts (A)
(B) is the reason for (A)
(A) is true but (B) is false.
(A) and (B) are independent of each other.
Answer (B) is the reason for (A)
Explanation — The terms “Harappan Civilisation” and “Harappan
Culture” are often used interchangeably to refer to the same
Bronze Age civilisation. The term ‘Culture’ refers to a group of
distinctive objects such as seals, weights, stone blades and baked
bricks that were found within the Harappan civilization.
Question 4
(A) One of the important sources of information about the Harappan
Civilisation are the seals.
(B) The script used for the letters engraved on seals has not been
deciphered.
(B) contradicts (A)
(B) is the reason for (A)
(A) is true but (B) is false.
(A) and (B) are independent of each other.
Answer (A) and (B) are independent of each other
Explanation — The seals often featured beautifully carved animal
and human figures, along with inscriptions. Despite many attempts,
the ‘script’ used in the Harappan Civilisation, also known as the
Indus script, has not yet been deciphered.
Question 5
(A) The Great Bath has a large rectangular tank in a courtyard
surrounded by a corridor on all four sides.
(B) The water for the Great Bath was provided by the Indus river.
(B) contradicts (A)
(B) is the reason for (A)
(A) is true but (B) is false.
(A) and (B) are independent of each other.
Answer (A) is true but (B) is false
Explanation — The water for the Great Bath was provided by a well
in adjacent room.
Question 6
(A) The Great Bath is one of the largest public buildings at Mohenjo-
daro.
(B) The massive structure of the Great Bath indicates the existence
of a ruling class.
(B) contradicts (A)
(B) is the reason for (A)
(A) is true but (B) is false.
(A) and (B) are independent of each other.
Answer (B) is the reason for (A).
Explanation — The massive structure of the Great Bath indicates
the existence of a ruling class which could mobilise labour,
collected taxes and build such a huge structure.
Question 7
(A) About 2000 Harappan seals have been discovered.
(B) The seals were mainly used for religious purposes.
(B) contradicts (A)
(B) is the reason for (A)
(A) is true but (B) is false.
(A) and (B) are independent of each other.
Answer (A) is true but (B) is false
Explanation — The seals were mainly used by traders to stamp their
goods.
Question 8
(A) The Bearded Man is a three-dimensional stone sculpture
discovered from Mohenjo-daro.
(B) According to some scholars it is a statue of a yogi or a priest.
(B) contradicts (A)
(B) is the reason for (A)
(A) is true but (B) is false.
(A) and (B) are independent of each other.
Answer (A) and (B) are independent of each other
Explanation — Some scholars believe that the Bearded Man might
represent a figure of authority, possibly a priest or yogi. The
sculpture is of high artistic value.
Question 9
(A) Overseas trade was carried out at Lothal.
(B) Lothal was a port with a dockyard.
(B) contradicts (A)
(B) is the reason for (A)
(A) is true but (B) is false.
(A) and (B) are independent of each other.
Answer (B) is the reason for (A)
Explanation — Lothal was the port city of Harappan civilization and
was used to carry out overseas trade.
Question 10
(A) The lower town had the residential buildings where people lived
and worked.
(B) The residential buildings were built on a high mound to protect
them from floods.
(B) contradicts (A)
(B) is the reason for (A)
(A) is true but (B) is false.
(A) and (B) are independent of each other.
Answer (A) is true but (B) is false
Explanation — The houses of ruling class were built on a high
mound to protect them from floods.
Short Answer Questions
Question 1
Name two important sources of information about the Harappan
Civilisation.
Answer The two important sources of information about the
Harappan Civilisation are:
The Great Bath which indicates the high degree of perfection of the
art of the building.
The Citadel which points to the planning and development of cities
in Harappan civilisation.
Question 2
Name one important public building of Indus Valley Civilisation and
its importance.
Answer The Great Bath is an important public building of Indus
Valley Civilisation. The importance of The Great Bath lies in the fact
that it indicates the perfection in the art of building, religious,
economic and social development of the society and efficient
planning of structures.
Question 3
Give any two characteristic features of the citadel.
Answer Two important characteristic features of the citadel are:
Citadel was built on mud brick platform and hence it was a raised
area.
Citadel had important buildings like the houses of ruling class, the
great bath, the granary and the assembly hall.
Question 4
How were seals used? What information do they give about
Harappan trade?
Answer The seals were used by the traders to stamp their goods.
The goods were packed and tied and the knot was covered with wet
clay and the seal was pressed on it.
The seals indicate that the Harappan trade had spread over a vast
area.
Question 5
Briefly describe granaries at Harappa.
Answer The granaries at Harappa were built on raised platforms to
protect them from floods. There were two rows of six granaries
each. To the south of granaries there were rows of circular floors
which probably were working platforms for threshing. The granaries
also had two-roomed barracks which possibly accommodated
labourers. The granary had ventilation to prevent grains from
becoming mildewed.
Question 6
Briefly describe the ornaments worn by the Harappans.
Answer Ornaments were worn by both men and women. The
ornaments were made up of gold, silver, precious stones and ivory.
Some common ornaments were necklaces, finger-rings, bangles,
armlets, anklets, fan-shaped head dress and earrings.
Question 7
Briefly describe the statue of the dancing girl.
Answer The statue of a dancing girl, made up of bronze was found
at Mohenjo-daro. The right hand of the dancing girl rests on the hip
and the heavily bangled left arm, holding a bowl rests on her left
leg. The statue is a masterpiece of art and shows the high degree of
development in field of art of sculpture. The figurine shows vigour,
variety and ingenuity.
Question 8
Mention the types of dress worn by the Indus Valley people.
Answer The Indus Valley men used to wear a dhoti and a shawl was
used to cover the upper part of the body. The women wore a skirt
and used a cloak to cover arms and shoulders. The discovery of
needles and buttons at some sites show that they wore stitched
clothes too.
Question 9
State two features of the internal trade in the Indus Valley
Civilization.
Answer The features of the internal trade in the Indus Valley
Civilization were:
All exchanges carried through barter system.
There were important centres of different products, for example
Lothal, Harappa and Mohenjo-daro were centres for metallurgy;
Balakot and Chanundaro were centres for bangle-making.
Question 10
State any two evidences that show the Harappans also had trade
relations with foreign countries.
Answer The evidences that show the Harappans also had trade
relations with foreign countries are:
The Mesopotamian records from about 2350 BC onwards refer to
trade relations with Meluha, which is the ancient name given to
Indus region.
The depictions of ships and boats on seals also indicate foreign
trade. Mesopotamian texts refer to Meluha as a land of seafarers.
Question 11
Name the four animals depicted on the Pashupati seal.
Answer The four animals depicted on the Pashupati seal are an
Elephant, a Tiger, a Buffalo and a Rhinoceros.
Question 12
State any two causes that led to the decline of the Harappan
Civilisation.
Answer Two causes that led to the decline of the Harappan
Civilisation were:
Floods and Earthquakes
Deforestation
Question 13
What types of weights and measures did the Indus people use?
Answer The Indus people used a set of cubical stone weights. The
basic unit was 16 (equal to 14 grams). Larger weights were
multiples of 16 like 32, 48, 64, 128 and so on. The smaller ones
were all fractions of 16.
Question 14
State any two ways to show the value of Indus script as a source of
historical information.
Answer The Indus script indicates that the script was pictographic
as it uses signs of birds, fishes and humans. Although not yet
deciphered, the script is found inscribed on a number of seals,
copper tools, rims of jar, copper and terracotta tablets, jewellery
and on an ancient signboard. This indicates that the Harappan
civilisation was an advanced urban civilisation.
Question 15
In what two respects is Harappan Civilisation our greatest heritage?
Answer Harappan Civilisation is our greatest heritage as:
The Harappan way of making baked pottery, bricks, beads,
jewellery, textiles, etc. was adopted by the later civilisations.
Cultivation of cotton was the biggest achievement of Harappan
civilisation which adopted by Egyptians after several centuries.
In the religious sphere, the worship of Pashupati Shiva, the female
deity as Mother Goddess, sacred trees, animals, serpents, religious
symbols, etc. which were prevalent during the Harappan period,
some of them have continued to this day.
Question 16
How did Indus pottery reflect the potter's artistic skill?
Answer Harrappans produced their own characteristic pottery which
was made glossy and shining. Earthen vessels and pottery, crafted
on the potter's wheel, were decorated with black geometrical
designs. The large jars with narrow necks and red pots with black
decoration bear evidence of potters's artistic skill.
Question 17
Name and briefly describe the process by which sculpture in metal
was done.
Answer The sculpture in metal was done through the special lost
wax process. In this process wax figures were covered with a
coating of clay. Then the wax was melted by heating and the hollow
mould thus created was filled with molten metal which took the
original shape of the object.
Question 18
Briefly describe the social classification of Harappans as pointed out
by the citadel.
AnswerThe city of Harappans were divided into two parts — the
raised area called citadel and the lower town. The Citadel had the
houses of the ruling class and all important buildings like the Great
Bath, the granary, the assembly hall and the workshops. The lower
town had the residential buildings where the people lived and
worked. This shows some sort of political organisation and social
classification of Harappans.
