Question : Discuss the patterns of trade during the Indus Valley Civilization. How for did it affect the nature of contemporary settlements in the Indian sub-continent?
(1994)
Answer : The near-sophisticated life led by the people in the cities of Harappa and Mohenjodaro as well as the urbanized living in most of Indus valley sites, speaks of the prosperity of its people. Apart from the evidence of raw material used by the Harappan people, the Harappan seals found in Sumeria and the Sumerian seals in the Indus region, confirm the trading and commercial pursuits of the Harappan people. And the discovery of a dockyard ....
Question : The decline of Harappa civilization was caused by ecological degradation rather than external invasion. Discuss
(2015)
Answer : The theory that the civilization was destroyed by the Aryan invaders was put forward by Ramprasad Chanda in 1926. It was later elaborated by Mortimer Wheeler in 1947.
This idea was supported by the references in the Rig Veda to various kind of forts, attacks on walled cities, and the epithetPurandara (destroyer of forts) given to the god Indra. He also identified a place called Hariyupiya in the Rig Veda with Harappa, where Aryan fought the ....
Question : Do you think the Harappan civilization had a diversity of subsistence base?
(2014)
Answer : It is generally believed that economy of the Harappan people was mainly based on external trade. It is true to the extent that the Harappan urban centres were supported by the external trade but actually agriculture was the backbone of the civilization. Agriculture was supported and supplanted by the animal husbandry. The economy of the Harappan civilization was based on domestic animals, particularly on zebu cattle, and on variable agriculture of growing cereals, pulses and ....
Question : Discuss the water management and its conservation planning in the Harappan (Indus-Saraswati) cities.
(2013)
Answer : The Indus Valley Civilization, that flourished along the banks of the river Indus and other parts of western and northern India about 5,000 years ago, had one of the most sophisticated urban water supply and sewage systems in the world. The fact that the people were well acquainted with hygiene can be seen from the covered drains running beneath the streets of the ruins at both Moen-Jo-Daro and Harappa.
Another very good example is the well-planned ....
Question : Evaluate the significance of seals and sealings in the reconstruction of socio-economic and religious life of the Harappan people.
(2012)
Answer : Seals were used to make a sealing or positive imprint. Indus seal was found between 1927 and 1931 during the initial excavation at Mohanjodoro and Indus valley site in Sindh province of modern Pakistan. Seals were used for both internal and external trade. A number of Indus seals have been found in ancient Mesopotamia.
More than 500 seals have been discovered at various places. These are made of terracotta and are small in size. These seals ....
Question : Discuss the extent, settlement pattern and subsistence economy of the megalithic cultures.
(2012)
Answer : The peninsular part of India comprises the Kaveri delta, the Deccan plateau and such places as Vidharba constitute South India, and this belt was part of megalithic culture. The megalithic applied to tombs built with large stones either in natural form or dressedas a grave marked with crude stone or an excavation in rock cave containing remains of the dead. In various parts at the old world, the practice of erecting megaliths ona large scale ....
Question : Analyse the elements of urban civilisation in the Harappan Culture. What factors were responsible for its decline?
(2002)
Answer : Harappan civilisation was a bronze age culture which has been known to the world for its urbanism. Very special for its planned cities, drainage system and use of klin bricks for making massive structures. This was the largest civilisation in geographical extent during its own period. Till now thousands of sites have been discovered. Majority of sites are situated in India. According to recent discoveries, it has been found that the largest concentration of the ....
Question : Discuss salient features of the Indus Valley Civilization. Mention important places from where relices of Civilization have been recovered so far. Examine causes of its decline.
(1999)
Answer : The Harappan culture covered parts of Punjab, Sind, Balushistan, Gujarat, Rajasthan and the fringes of western Uttar Pradesh. It extended from Jammu in the north to the Narmada estuary in the South, and from the Makran coast of Baluchistan in the west to Meerut in the north-east. The area formed a triangle and accounted form about 1,299,600 square kilometres. Recent Carbon-14 datings indicate the period of the mature Harappan civilization to be from C.2,800/2,900-1,800 B.C. ....
Question : “The continuity of the Indus civilization into later ages was not confined to the religious and spiritual fields alone.” Analyse the statement.
(1997)
Answer : A great number of features including concepts of the Harappan civilization did reappear in later Indian civilization but the principal question of how and when them came to be resurrected to become part and parcel of the later day Indian civilization, are not answered till today. But the continuity of the Indus civilization into later ages was not confined to the religious and spiritual fields alone. The Harappan civilization was basically based on cities. Their ....
Question : The Religion of the Indus civilization.
(1996)
Answer : The various articles discovered at different sites in the Indus valley suggest that these people indulged in some sort of image-worship. The most commonly found figurine is that of a female deity who has generally been identified with “Shakti” or “the Mother goddess”. The people of India, in fact, have always held a belief in a female energy as the source of all creation. Side by side with the worship of the Mother goddess the ....
