English · हिन्दी · తెలుగు · தமிழ் · മലയാളം · मराठी · ಕನ್ನಡ

The Harappan civilisation: economy, society, religion, script and decline

తెలుగులో వివరణ

Prehistory and the Harappan civilisation · Part 3 / 3 · Fact-checked on 8 November 2026 · how we check

Written with AI from the sources listed at the bottom of this page, then fact-checked by a separate AI.

How the Harappan cities fed themselves (wheat, barley, cotton, the Kalibangan field and Banawali plough), their animals and the question of the horse, crafts and the lost-wax method, seals and standard weights, trade with Afghanistan, Oman and Mesopotamia (Meluhha, Dilmun, Magan), the open question of who ruled, beliefs, the undeciphered script, and the decline after about 1900 BCE with the Late Harappan cultures.

Each idea is explained first in Telugu (తెలుగు), ending with the English and Hindi exam terms, followed by the same point in exam English. UPSC Prelims is in English or Hindi, so understand it in Telugu and revise it in English.

రెండో భాగంలో హరప్పా నాగరికత ఏం కట్టిందో చూశాం. ఇప్పుడు ఆ పట్టణాలు ఎలా బతికాయో చూద్దాం: తిండి, పనిముట్లు, వ్యాపారం, అధికారం, పూజ, రాత, చివరికి క్షీణత. లిపి చదవలేం కాబట్టి అన్నీ వస్తువులు, ఇళ్ళు, ఎముకలు, గింజల నుంచే తెలుసుకుంటాం. ఊహించుకోండి: ఉత్తరాలు లేకుండా ఒక పాత ఇంటి సామాన్ల నుంచే ఆ కుటుంబం కథ చెప్పాలి — కొన్ని విషయాలు ఖచ్చితం, కొన్ని ఊహలు మాత్రమే. (→ English: Harappan civilisation · हिन्दी: हड़प्पा सभ्यता)

In exam EnglishPart 2 showed what the Harappan civilisation built: its towns, streets, drains and great public structures. This part asks how those towns actually lived. Where did their food come from, what did their workshops make, whom did they trade with, who held authority, what did people worship, how did they write, and why did the cities empty out after about 1900 BCE? Because the script cannot be read, everything we know comes from objects, buildings, bones and plant remains, plus a few mentions in Mesopotamian records. Some points are firm facts dug out of the ground; others are interpretations that scholars still argue over.

నగరాలకు తిండి పొలాల నుంచే. ప్రధాన ధాన్యాలు గోధుమ, బార్లీ; పప్పులు బఠాణీ, శనగ; నూనె గింజలు నువ్వులు, ఆవాలు. పత్తి పండించి బట్ట నేశారు — ప్రపంచంలో అలా చేసిన తొలి ప్రజల్లో వీళ్ళు. గుజరాత్‌లోని లోథల్, రంగ్‌పూర్‌లో వరి పొట్టు దొరికింది, కానీ వరి అందరి ముఖ్య ఆహారం కాదు. బనావలిలో నాగలి బొమ్మ, కాలిబంగన్‌లో రెండు దిశల్లో దున్నిన అసలు పొలం — మన ఊళ్ళో ఒకే పొలంలో రెండు పంటలు కలిపి వేసినట్టు. (→ English: plough · ploughed field · cotton · हिन्दी: हल · जुता हुआ खेत · कपास)

In exam EnglishFarming fed the cities. The main food grains were wheat and barley, along with pulses such as field peas and chickpeas, and oilseeds such as sesame and mustard. The Harappans also grew cotton and wove it into cloth, among the earliest people anywhere known to have done so. Rice husks have been found at a few sites in Gujarat, Lothal and Rangpur among them, but rice was never a staple of the civilisation as a whole. A terracotta model of a plough comes from Banawali in Haryana, and at Kalibangan in Rajasthan archaeologists uncovered an actual field marked by furrows running in two directions at right angles, a sign that two crops were sown together. That field belongs to the Early Harappan level, before the cities reached their height.

పొలాలకు నీళ్ళు ఎక్కువగా వాన, నదుల వరద నుంచే — వరద వెళ్ళాక మిగిలే తడి మట్టిలో విత్తినట్టు. పెద్ద కాలువల వ్యవస్థ దొరకలేదు. అఫ్గానిస్తాన్‌లోని షోర్తుగైలో కాలువలు, ఎండిన కచ్‌లోని ధోలావీరాలో పెద్ద రాతి జలాశయాలు మాత్రం ఉన్నాయి. జంతువుల్లో పశువులే ముఖ్యం — ముద్రల మీద మూపురం ఉన్న ఎద్దు అందంగా ఉంటుంది. ఏనుగు, పులి, ఖడ్గమృగం కూడా ముద్రల మీద ఉన్నాయి. కానీ గుర్రం ముద్రల మీద లేదు; సుర్కోటడా ఎముకలపై వివాదం ఉంది. (→ English: irrigation · humped bull · horse · हिन्दी: सिंचाई · कूबड़ वाला बैल · घोड़ा)

In exam EnglishWater and animals completed the farm economy. No large network of irrigation canals has been found in the Harappan heartland; most fields probably depended on rain and on the floods of the Indus and its neighbours. Shortugai, the trading outpost in northern Afghanistan, used channels to water its fields, and Dholavira in dry Kutch built a chain of large stone reservoirs to catch and store run-off. Among animals, cattle were the most important, including the humped bull that appears so finely carved on seals, along with buffalo, sheep, goats and pigs. The elephant, tiger and rhinoceros also appear on seals. The horse is the odd one out. It does not appear on the seals, and the few bones reported as horse from sites like Surkotada are disputed. This matters later, because the horse is central to the Vedic culture of the next chapter.

హరప్పా వర్క్‌షాపుల్లో పని చాలా నైపుణ్యంగా, ఒకేలా ఉండేది. రాగి, కంచుతో గొడ్డళ్ళు, కత్తులు, చేపల గాలాలు; మొహెంజొదారో 'నర్తకి' బొమ్మను మైనపు నమూనా కరిగించి లోహం పోసే పద్ధతిలో చేశారు. పూసల పనివాళ్ళు గొప్ప నిపుణులు — పొడవైన కార్నీలియన్ పూసకు రంధ్రం వేయడానికి రోజులు పట్టేది. చన్హుదారో, లోథల్‌లో పూసల కర్మాగారాలు. ఎరుపు కుండలపై నల్ల రావి ఆకుల బొమ్మలు. చక్రాల బండి, ఈల వంటి టెర్రకోట బొమ్మలతో పిల్లలు ఆడుకునేవారు — మన తిరునాళ్ళ మట్టి బొమ్మల్లా. (→ English: terracotta · lost-wax method · हिन्दी: टेराकोटा · लुप्त-मोम विधि)

In exam EnglishHarappan workshops turned out goods of remarkable skill and sameness. Metal smiths worked copper and bronze into axes, chisels, knives, fish-hooks and vessels; the bronze 'dancing girl' from Mohenjo-daro was cast by the lost-wax method, in which a wax model is coated in clay, melted out and replaced by molten metal. Stone blades were struck from chert quarried in the Rohri hills of Sindh. Bead makers were perhaps the most accomplished craftsmen: they shaped carnelian, agate, lapis lazuli, steatite, shell and faience, and drilled long carnelian beads end to end with fine drills, work that took days per bead. Chanhudaro and Lothal had bead workshops. Potters made red pots on the wheel and painted them in black, often with pipal leaves. terracotta toys, including carts with wheels, whistles and animals with movable heads, show what children played with.

ముద్రలు, తూనికలు — ఇవి వ్యవస్థీకృత వ్యాపారానికి గట్టి సాక్ష్యం. ముద్ర అంటే మెత్తటి స్టియటైట్ రాయిపై చెక్కి, కాల్చి గట్టిపరిచిన చిన్న చతురస్రం; పైన ఒక జంతువు, కొన్ని గుర్తులు. ఎక్కువగా ఒంటికొమ్ము జంతువు (యూనికార్న్). తడి మట్టిపై నొక్కితే సంచి, కుండకు 'సీలు' — ఈ రోజు పార్సెల్‌పై లక్క ముద్ర వేసినట్టు. తూనికలు చెర్ట్ రాతి ఘనాలు, అన్ని చోట్లా ఒకే పద్ధతి: 1, 2, 4… 64 వరకు రెట్టింపు, పెద్దవి పదుల గుణకాల్లో. లోథల్‌లో దంతపు కొలబద్ద. (→ English: seal · sealing · weights · हिन्दी: मुहर · मुहर की छाप · बाट)

In exam EnglishSeals and weights show an organised economy most clearly. A typical seal is a small square of steatite, a soft stone that was carved and then fired to harden it, bearing an animal and a short line of signs. The animal most often shown is a one-horned beast usually called the unicorn; others include the humped bull, elephant, rhinoceros and tiger. Pressed into wet clay, a seal left a sealing that could close a bag, jar or door, so seals probably marked ownership or authority over goods. Weights were cubes, usually of chert, made to a single system across the whole civilisation. Small weights doubled in steps from one to sixty-four units, and larger ones rose in multiples of ten. Measuring scales also survive, among them a marked shell fragment from Mohenjo-daro and an ivory scale from Lothal.

వ్యాపారమే ఈ పెద్ద ప్రపంచాన్ని కలిపింది. మైదానాల్లో లోహం, మంచి రాయి లేవు — దూరం నుంచి తెచ్చారు: అఫ్గానిస్తాన్ లాపిస్ లజూలీ కోసం షోర్తుగై, రాజస్థాన్ ఖేత్రి నుంచి రాగి, గుజరాత్ నుంచి కార్నీలియన్, శంఖాలు. ఎద్దుల బండ్లు, పడవల్లో రవాణా. మెసపొటేమియా రాతల్లో మూడు దేశాలు: దిల్మున్ (బహ్రెయిన్), మగన్ (ఒమన్), మెలూహా (హరప్పా ప్రాంతం). ఉర్‌లో హరప్పా ముద్రలు, లోథల్‌లో గల్ఫ్ ముద్ర. నాణేలు లేవు — వస్తు మార్పిడి, ధాన్యం ఇచ్చి బట్ట తీసుకున్నట్టు. (→ English: Meluhha · Dilmun · Magan · barter · हिन्दी: मेलुहा · दिलमुन · मगन · वस्तु-विनिमय)

In exam EnglishTrade tied this wide world together. The river plains lacked metal and fine stone, so raw materials were brought in from far away: Shortugai sits near the lapis lazuli of Badakhshan in Afghanistan, copper came from the Khetri area of Rajasthan and probably from Oman, and carnelian and shell came from the coasts and hills of Gujarat. Goods moved on bullock carts and on river and sea boats. Mesopotamian records in cuneiform speak of three trading lands: Dilmun, usually identified with Bahrain, Magan, the Oman coast, and Meluhha, which most scholars take to be the Harappan region. The Akkadian king Sargon boasted that ships from these lands moored at his capital, and Mesopotamian texts mention carnelian and timber from Meluhha. Harappan seals and etched carnelian beads have been found at Mesopotamian cities such as Ur, and a round seal of the Persian Gulf type was found at Lothal. There were no coins; exchange was probably by barter, measured with the standard weights.

Where Harappan raw materials came from
Material	Source area	Used for
Lapis lazuli	Badakhshan (Afghanistan); outpost at Shortugai	Beads, inlay
Copper	Khetri area (Rajasthan); probably Oman	Tools, weapons, vessels
Carnelian	Gujarat	Beads, also sent to Mesopotamia
Chert	Rohri hills (Sindh)	Blades, weights
Shell	Coasts of Gujarat	Bangles, inlay

హరప్పాను ఎవరు పాలించారు? ఇది ఇప్పటికీ జవాబు లేని ప్రశ్న. ఈజిప్ట్‌లా రాజభవనం, రాజ సమాధి, పేరున్న రాజు విగ్రహం దొరకలేదు; మొహెంజొదారో 'పూజారి-రాజు' అనేది ఒక పేరు మాత్రమే. ఆయుధాలు కూడా తక్కువ. కానీ ఒకేలాంటి ఇటుకలు, తూనికలు చూస్తే ఎవరో సమన్వయం చేశారని తెలుస్తుంది — ఊరి పెద్దలు లేకుండా అన్ని వీధులూ ఒకే కొలతలో ఎలా కడతారు? ఒకే రాజ్యం, అనేక నగర-రాజ్యాలు, పూజారులు లేదా వ్యాపారుల పాలన — ఏదీ రుజువు కాలేదు. శవాలను తల ఉత్తరం వైపు పెట్టి పూడ్చారు. (→ English: priest-king · city-state · burial · हिन्दी: पुरोहित-राजा · नगर-राज्य · शवाधान)

In exam EnglishWho governed the Harappans is one of the great open questions. Unlike Egypt and Mesopotamia, the cities have yielded no palace that can be identified with certainty, no grand royal tomb and no statue of a king with an inscription naming him; even the famous bearded stone bust from Mohenjo-daro is called the 'priest-king' only as a label. Weapons are fairly rare and simple. Yet someone must have coordinated the uniform bricks, weights and town plans. Scholars have proposed several answers: a single state with Mohenjo-daro or Harappa as capital; several city-states, each with a large centre such as Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, Dholavira, Ganweriwala or Rakhigarhi; or rule by a class of priests or merchants rather than kings. None is proven. Differences in house size and in grave goods show that some people were richer than others. The dead were mostly buried lying at full length, usually with the head to the north, together with pots and ornaments.

హరప్పా మతాన్ని బొమ్మల నుంచే ఊహించాలి. చాలా టెర్రకోట స్త్రీ బొమ్మలు — మాతృదేవత పూజ అని భావన, కొన్ని ఆట బొమ్మలు కూడా కావచ్చు. మొహెంజొదారో ముద్రపై యోగ భంగిమలో కూర్చున్న కొమ్ముల కిరీటం ఉన్న రూపం, చుట్టూ ఏనుగు, పులి, ఖడ్గమృగం, దున్న — మార్షల్ దీనిని 'పశుపతి' అన్నారు, ఇంకా వివాదమే. రావి చెట్టు బొమ్మలు, కాలిబంగన్, లోథల్‌లో అగ్ని వేదికలు. కానీ గుడి అని ఖచ్చితంగా చెప్పగల కట్టడం ఒక్కటీ లేదు — గ్రామదేవత గుడి లేని ఊరిని ఊహించండి. (→ English: terracotta · mother goddess · Pashupati seal · fire altar · हिन्दी: टेराकोटा · मातृदेवी · पशुपति मुहर · अग्नि-वेदिका)

In exam EnglishReligion has to be read from images, and every reading is cautious. Large numbers of terracotta female figurines have been taken as signs of the worship of a mother goddess, though some may have been toys or household charms. A seal from Mohenjo-daro shows a figure seated in a yoga-like posture, wearing a horned headdress and surrounded by an elephant, a tiger, a rhinoceros and a buffalo, with deer below; John Marshall called it a 'proto-Shiva' or Pashupati, lord of animals, an idea that is still debated. Trees, especially the pipal, appear on seals and pots, suggesting sacred trees. Fire altars, which are pits with ash and remains of animal bone, have been found at Kalibangan and Lothal. The Great Bath at Mohenjo-daro may have been used for ritual bathing. What is missing is as important: no building has been firmly identified as a temple.

హరప్పా లిపి వల్లే ఈ కాలాన్ని 'ఆద్య చరిత్ర' అంటారు — రాత ఉంది కానీ చదవలేం. ముద్రలు, కుండలు, ధోలావీరా పెద్ద బోర్డు మీద గుర్తులు. సుమారు నాలుగు వందల గుర్తులు — అక్షరమాలకు చాలా ఎక్కువ, కాబట్టి పదాల గుర్తులు, శబ్దాల గుర్తులు కలిపి ఉండొచ్చు. సాధారణంగా కుడి నుంచి ఎడమకు రాశారు — ఎడమ చివర గుర్తులు ఇరుకుగా ఉంటాయి, గోడపై చోటు సరిపోక చివర అక్షరాలు కుదించి రాసినట్టు. రాతలు చిన్నవి (సుమారు ఐదు గుర్తులు), రెండు భాషల శాసనం దొరకలేదు, అందుకే ఇంకా అర్థం కాలేదు. (→ English: Harappan script · undeciphered · right to left · हिन्दी: हड़प्पाई लिपि · अपठित · दाएँ से बाएँ)

In exam EnglishThe Harappan script is the main reason the civilisation counts as protohistory rather than history. Its signs have been found on seals, sealings, small tablets, pottery, copper objects and, at Dholavira, on a large signboard. Scholars count roughly four hundred distinct signs, far too many for an alphabet and too few for a script with one sign per word, so it probably mixed word signs with sound signs. It was usually written from right to left: on many seals the signs are crowded at the left end, and where strokes overlap the later stroke lies to the left. Most inscriptions are very short, often only about five signs. The script has not been deciphered, mainly because the texts are so brief and because no bilingual inscription, pairing it with a known script, has ever been found.

క్రీ.పూ. 1900 తర్వాత పెద్ద నగరాలు నెమ్మదిగా ఖాళీ అయ్యాయి — దీనినే పట్టణ క్షీణత అంటారు. పట్టణ ప్రణాళిక, తూనికలు, ముద్రలు, లిపి, దూర వ్యాపారం మాయమయ్యాయి; కానీ పల్లెల్లో వ్యవసాయం సాగింది. పెద్ద పట్టణం నుంచి కుటుంబాలు నీళ్ళున్న చిన్న ఊళ్ళకు వెళ్ళిపోయినట్టు. సింధ్‌లో క్షీణత, హర్యానా, పశ్చిమ యూపీ, గుజరాత్‌లో కొత్త ఊళ్ళు. తర్వాతి దశ 'చివరి హరప్పా': పంజాబ్‌లో సిమెటరీ హెచ్, సింధ్‌లో ఝూకర్, గుజరాత్‌లో రంగ్‌పూర్ చివరి దశ. ఒకే దెబ్బకు కాదు, నెమ్మదిగా విడిపోయింది. (→ English: deurbanisation · Late Harappan · Cemetery H · हिन्दी: विनगरीकरण · उत्तर हड़प्पाई · क़ब्रिस्तान एच)

In exam EnglishAfter about 1900 BCE the great cities shrank and were gradually abandoned. This process is called deurbanisation: the features that defined city life, such as town planning, standard weights, seals, the script and long-distance trade, faded, while village farming carried on. Mohenjo-daro and the cities of Sindh declined, while settlements multiplied in the east, in Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, and in Gujarat, where people moved towards areas with steadier water. The cultures that followed are called Late Harappan. Examples include the Cemetery H culture of Punjab, named after a cemetery at Harappa with distinctive painted burial jars; the Jhukar culture of Sindh; and the late phases of Rangpur in Gujarat. So the civilisation did not vanish in a single disaster; it broke up into regional village cultures.

నగరాలు ఎందుకు పడిపోయాయి? వీలర్ 'ఆర్యుల దండయాత్ర' అన్నారు — మొహెంజొదారో వీధుల్లో అస్థిపంజరాలు, ఇంద్రుడు కోటలు కూల్చాడన్న ఋగ్వేద శ్లోకాలు చూపారు. కానీ అస్థిపంజరాలు వేర్వేరు కాలాలవి, ఒకే హత్యాకాండ గుర్తు లేదు, అందుకే ఆ సిద్ధాంతం వదిలేశారు. ఇతర కారణాలు: వరదలు (బురద పొరలు), నదుల దారి మారడం, ఘగ్గర్-హక్రా ఎండిపోవడం, బలహీన రుతుపవనం, మెసపొటేమియా వ్యాపారం తగ్గడం, ఇటుకల కోసం అడవులు నరకడం. ఒక రైతు నష్టపోవడానికి కరువు, అప్పు, ధర పతనం కలిసి వచ్చినట్టు — చాలా కారణాలు కలిసి పనిచేశాయి. (→ English: Aryan invasion theory · floods · drying of the Ghaggar-Hakra · climate change · हिन्दी: आर्य आक्रमण सिद्धांत · बाढ़ · घग्गर-हकरा का सूखना · जलवायु परिवर्तन)

In exam EnglishWhy did the cities decline? The oldest explanation, put forward by Mortimer Wheeler, was an invasion by Aryans from the north-west. He pointed to skeletons found in the streets and houses of Mohenjo-daro and to Rig Vedic hymns praising Indra as a destroyer of forts. The theory has been abandoned: the skeletons come from different levels and periods, show no sign of a single massacre, and the cities were already declining before any Vedic presence can be traced. Repeated floods may have damaged Mohenjo-daro, where layers of silt are found. Rivers shifted their courses, and the Ghaggar-Hakra system dried up, leaving its towns without water. A weakening of the monsoon may have reduced harvests. Trade with Mesopotamia fell away around the same time. Heavy use of wood for baking bricks and of land for grazing may have strained the environment. Most historians now think several of these causes worked together, in different mixes in different regions.

Explanations for the Harappan decline
Explanation	Evidence cited	Present view
Aryan invasion (Wheeler)	Skeletons at Mohenjo-daro; Indra as destroyer of forts	Rejected: skeletons from different levels, decline began earlier
Floods	Layers of silt at Mohenjo-daro	Possible locally
Rivers shifting and drying	Ghaggar-Hakra settlements abandoned	Widely accepted as one cause
Weaker monsoon	Signs of a drier climate	Possible, debated
Fall in trade	Fewer Mesopotamian links after c. 1900 BCE	Contributing factor

మూడు భాగాలు కలిపి ఒక పెద్ద ప్రయాణం: రాతి పనిముట్ల వేటగాళ్ళ నుంచి మెహర్‌గఢ్ పల్లెలు, రాగి సంస్కృతుల మీదుగా ప్రణాళికాబద్ధ నగరాల వరకు. ఈ భాగంలో నగరాలను నిలబెట్టినవి: గోధుమ, బార్లీ, పత్తి సాగు, నైపుణ్యమైన చేతిపనులు, ఒకే ముద్రలు-తూనికలు, దూర దేశాల వ్యాపారం. కానీ పాలకులు, భాష, ముద్రల అర్థం తెలియవు — 'పశుపతి', 'మాతృదేవత' ఊహలే. నగరాలు ఒక యుద్ధంలో కాదు, పట్టణ క్షీణతతో మసకబారాయి. తర్వాతి అధ్యాయం వేద యుగం — అక్కడ చదవగల గ్రంథాలు ఉన్నాయి, తవ్వడానికి నగరాలు తక్కువ. (→ English: deurbanisation · हिन्दी: विनगरीकरण)

In exam EnglishPut together, the three parts of this chapter trace a long journey: from stone-tool hunters, through the first farming villages of Mehrgarh and the copper-using cultures, to planned cities with a script of their own. This part has shown what held those cities up: a farming base of wheat, barley and cotton, skilled crafts, a uniform system of seals and weights, and trade networks that reached Afghanistan, Oman and Mesopotamia. It has also shown the limits of our knowledge. We do not know who ruled, what language was spoken or what the seals say, so ideas such as the 'priest-king', the 'mother goddess' and 'proto-Shiva' should be treated as interpretations. The cities faded through deurbanisation, not a single conquest, and village life carried many skills forward. The next chapter, on the Vedic age, begins with a very different kind of evidence: texts that can be read but few cities to dig.

Exam traps

Meluhha in Mesopotamian records is usually identified with the Harappan region; Dilmun is Bahrain and Magan is the Oman coast. Do not swap them.
Wheat and barley were the staple grains; rice husks come from only a few Gujarat sites such as Lothal and Rangpur.
The plough model is from Banawali and the furrowed field from Kalibangan (Early Harappan level).
The horse is not shown on Harappan seals; bones reported from Surkotada are disputed. The most common seal animal is the 'unicorn'.
The script is undeciphered, has roughly 400 signs, is not an alphabet, and was usually written from right to left; no bilingual inscription has been found.
'Priest-king', 'mother goddess' and 'proto-Shiva' (Pashupati, John Marshall) are interpretations, not proven identities; no building has been firmly identified as a temple or palace.
Fire altars are reported from Kalibangan and Lothal; the Great Bath is at Mohenjo-daro.
Wheeler's Aryan invasion theory of the decline is rejected; the decline after c. 1900 BCE was gradual deurbanisation, and Cemetery H is a Late Harappan culture, not the Mature phase.

Recap

Crops: wheat and barley (staples), peas, chickpeas, sesame, mustard, cotton; rice at Lothal and Rangpur.
Ploughing: terracotta plough model (Banawali); criss-cross furrowed field (Kalibangan, Early Harappan).
Water: mostly rain and floods; canals at Shortugai, reservoirs at Dholavira. Animals: humped bull, buffalo, sheep, goat; horse not on seals.
Crafts: copper and bronze, lost-wax 'dancing girl', Rohri chert blades, carnelian beads (Chanhudaro, Lothal), painted red pottery, terracotta toys.
Seals: square steatite, animal (often the 'unicorn') with signs; weights: chert cubes, doubling up to 64, then multiples of ten.
Trade: lapis (Shortugai), copper (Khetri, Oman), carnelian and shell (Gujarat); Meluhha, Dilmun (Bahrain), Magan (Oman); Harappan seals at Ur; no coins.
Rule: no certain palace, temple or royal tomb; single state, city-states or priest or merchant rule all unproven.
Belief: terracotta female figurines, 'Pashupati' seal, pipal, fire altars (Kalibangan, Lothal). Script: about 400 signs, right to left, undeciphered.
Decline after c. 1900 BCE: deurbanisation; Late Harappan (Cemetery H, Jhukar, late Rangpur); invasion theory rejected, several causes together.

Practice questions

Q1. In Mesopotamian cuneiform records, the land called 'Meluhha' is generally identified with

Bahrain
The Oman coast
The Harappan region
The kingdom of Akkad

Show answer

Answer: C. The Harappan region

Most scholars identify Meluhha with the Harappan region. Bahrain (a) is usually identified with Dilmun and the Oman coast (b) with Magan; Akkad (d) was Sargon's own Mesopotamian kingdom, whose capital received ships from these lands.

Q2. Consider the following statements about the Harappan script:
1. It was usually written from right to left.
2. It was deciphered with the help of a bilingual inscription found at Dholavira.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1 only
2 only
Both 1 and 2
Neither 1 nor 2

Show answer

Answer: A. 1 only

Statement 1 is correct: signs crowd at the left end of many seals and later strokes overlap on the left. Statement 2 is wrong: the script is undeciphered and no bilingual inscription has been found; Dholavira gave a large signboard, not a bilingual text. So (b), (c) and (d) are wrong.

Q3. Consider the following pairs:
Place : Associated with
1. Shortugai : Lapis lazuli
2. Khetri : Copper
3. Rohri hills : Chert
4. Lothal : Copper mines
How many of the pairs given above are correctly matched?

Only one
Only two
Only three
All four

Show answer

Answer: C. Only three

Pairs 1, 2 and 3 are correct. Lothal was a port with a dockyard and bead workshop, not a copper-mining site, so pair 4 is wrong and 'all four' (d) fails; with three pairs right, 'only one' (a) and 'only two' (b) are also wrong.

Q4. Consider the following statements about the so-called 'Pashupati' seal:
1. It was found at Mohenjo-daro.
2. It shows a seated figure surrounded by an elephant, a tiger, a rhinoceros and a buffalo.
3. It shows a horse beside the seated figure.
Which of the statements given above are correct?

1 and 2 only
2 and 3 only
1 and 3 only
1, 2 and 3

Show answer

Answer: A. 1 and 2 only

Statements 1 and 2 are correct. Statement 3 is wrong: the seal shows deer below the figure, and the horse does not appear on Harappan seals. So every option containing 3, namely (b), (c) and (d), is wrong.

Q5. Which one of the following is NOT among the explanations offered for the decline of the Harappan cities?

Repeated floods at Mohenjo-daro
Drying of the Ghaggar-Hakra river system
Decline of trade with Mesopotamia
Conquest by the Mauryan army

Show answer

Answer: D. Conquest by the Mauryan army

The Mauryas ruled more than fifteen centuries after the Harappan cities declined, so (d) is not an explanation anyone offers. Floods (a), the drying of the Ghaggar-Hakra (b) and the fall in Mesopotamian trade (c) are all among the causes historians discuss.

Q6. Consider the following statements about Harappan weights:
1. They were mostly cubes made of chert.
2. The smaller weights doubled in steps from one to sixty-four units.
3. Each city used its own different system of weights.
Which of the statements given above are correct?

1 and 2 only
2 and 3 only
1 and 3 only
1, 2 and 3

Show answer

Answer: A. 1 and 2 only

Statements 1 and 2 are correct. Statement 3 is wrong: a single system was used across the civilisation, which is one of the strongest signs of its uniformity. Options (b), (c) and (d) include statement 3, so they are wrong.

Q7. Which of the following pairs are correctly matched?
Late Harappan culture : Region
1. Cemetery H culture : Punjab
2. Jhukar culture : Sindh
3. Late phase of Rangpur : Rajasthan
Select the correct answer using the code given below.

1 only
1 and 2 only
2 and 3 only
1, 2 and 3

Show answer

Answer: B. 1 and 2 only

Pairs 1 and 2 are correct. Rangpur is in Gujarat, not Rajasthan, so pair 3 is wrong, which rules out (c) and (d); (a) leaves out the correct pair 2.

Q8. Consider the following statements:
1. No structure at a Harappan site has been identified with certainty as a royal palace.
2. The Harappans used stamped copper coins in trade with Mesopotamia.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1 only
2 only
Both 1 and 2
Neither 1 nor 2

Show answer

Answer: A. 1 only

Statement 1 is correct: who ruled remains an open question partly because no palace or royal tomb has been identified. Statement 2 is wrong: there were no coins, and exchange was probably by barter measured with standard weights. So (b), (c) and (d) are wrong.

← Part 2 All parts Quick recap →

Study this in the Upscore app to keep notes, save it for revision, track your practice scores and follow a plan to the exam date. It's free.

Study this in the app →

Sources

Archaeological Survey of India: Indian Archaeology – A Review and excavation reports on Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, Kalibangan, Banawali, Lothal, Dholavira, Surkotada and Rangpur; the ASI's site notes — https://asi.nic.in
UNESCO World Heritage Centre: Dholavira: a Harappan City (inscribed 2021) and Archaeological Ruins at Moenjodaro (inscribed 1980), nomination files — https://whc.unesco.org