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Important Questions on Indus Valley Civilisation
1. The earliest city discovered in India was
A. Harappa
B. Punjab
C. Mohenjo Daro
D. Sindh
Answer
Answer: Option A
Explanation : The Indus Valley Civilization has its earliest roots in cultures such as that of Mehrgarh, approximately 6000 BC. The two greatest cities, Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, emerged circa 2600 BC along the Indus River valley in Punjab and Sindh.
2. Assertion (A): There is no conclusive proof of the presence of temples or public places of worship in the Indus civilization. ,Reason (R): To the Harappans, religion was perhaps more a personal and a private matter than a public affair
A. Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A
B. Both A and R are true but R is not a correct explanation of A
C. A is true but R is false
D. A is false but R is true
Answer
Answer: Option C
Explanation : The Indus Valley Civilization contained more than 1,000 cities and settlements. These cities contained well-organized wastewater drainage systems, trash collection systems, and possibly even public granaries and baths. Although there were large walls and citadels, there is no evidence of monuments, palaces, or temples. The uniformity of Harappan artifacts suggests some form of authority and governance to regulate seals, weights, and bricks.
3. The Indus or Harappan Civilisation is distinguished from the other contemporary civilisations by its
A. town planning
B. underground drainage system
C. uniformity of weights and measures
D. large agricultural surplus
Answer
Answer: Option B
Explanation : One of the most remarkable features of the Indus valley civilization is that the city was provided with an excellent closed drainage system. Each house had its own drainage and soak pit which was connected to the public drainage. Brick laid channels flowed through every street. They were covered and had manholes at intervals for cleaning and clearing purposes. Large brick culverts with corbelled roofs were constructed on the outskirts of the city to carry excess water. Thus Indus people had a perfect underground drainage system. No other contemporary civilization gave so much attention to cleanliness.
4. Which one of the following Harappan sites is NOT located in Gujarat?
A. Surkotada
B. Rangpur
C. Sutkagendor
D. Desalpur
Answer
Answer: Option C
Explanation : Sutkagan Dor (or Sutkagen Dor) is the westernmost known archaeological site of the Indus Valley Civilization. It is located about 480 km west of Karachi on the Makran coast near Gwadar, close to the Iranian border, in Pakistan’s Baluchistan Province. The site is near the western bank of the Dasht River and its confluence with a smaller stream, known as the Gajo Kaur. It was a smaller settlement with substantial stone walls and gateways.
5. Which of the following Indus Valley sites is presently in Pakistan?
A. Kalibangan
B. Harappa
C. Alamgirpur
D. Lothal
Answer
Answer: Option B
Explanation : It is located in Punjab Province, Pakistan, on an old bank / bed of the River Ravi.
6. The Great Bath of Indus Valley civilisation is found at
A. Harappa
B. Mohenjo-Daro
C. Ropar
D. Kalibangan
Answer
Answer: Option B
Explanation : The Great Bath is one of the best-known structures among the ruins of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization at Mohenjo-daro in Sindh, Pakistan. Archaeological evidence indicates that the Great Bath was built in the 3rd millennium BCE, soon after the raising of the “citadel” mound on which it is located.
7. The Social System of the Harappans was
A. Fairly egalitarian
B. Slave Labour based
C. Colour Varna based
D. Caste based
Answer
Answer: Option A
Explanation : The Social System of Harappans was fairly egalitarian (equality and equal rights). The archaeological record of the Indus civilization provides practically no evidence of armies, kings, slaves, social conflict, prisons, and other oft-negative traits that we traditionally associated with early civilizations. If there were neither slaves nor kings, a more egalitarian system of governance may have been practiced.
8. Which was the only Indus site with an artificial brick dockyard?
A. Lothal
B. Kalibangan
C. Harappa
D. Mohenjo Daro
Answer
Answer: Option A
Explanation : Lothal was the port city of Indus Valley Civilization. It was located at Saragwala, Gujarat. The dockyard was located away from the main current to avoid deposition of silt. It is speculated that Lothal engineers studied tidal movements, and their effects on brick-built structures, since the walls are of kiln-burnt bricks.
9. Which statement on the Harappan Civilization is correct?
A. Horse sacrifice was known to them
B. Cow was sacred to them
C. Pashupati’ was venerated by them
D. The culture was generally static
Answer
Answer: Option C
Explanation : The Pashupati Seal is a steatite seal that was discovered at the Mohenjo-daro archaeological site of the Indus Valley Civilization. The seal depicts a seated figure that is possibly tricephalic (having three heads). It was once thought to be ithyphallic, an interpretation that is now mostly discarded.
10. The Harappans did not know the use of
A. Copper
B. Bronze
C. Gold
D. Iron
Answer
Answer: Option D
Explanation : Iron was not used in the the Harappan cities. Harappan cities are the part of Indus Valley Civilisation, which was held after the Chalcolithic period of stone age. During the Chalcolithic period copper was first used to make tools, utensils and other objects.
11. There are similarities between the seals found at Mohenjo-Daro and __________
A. Egypt
B. China
C. Sumeria
D. Afghanistan
Answer
Answer: Option C
Explanation : One seal from Mohenjo-daro shows a half-human, half-buffalo monster attacking a tiger. This may be a reference to the Sumerian myth of a monster created by Aruru—the Sumerian earth and fertility goddess—to fight Gilgamesh, the hero of an ancient Mesopotamian epic poem. This is a further suggestion of international trade in Harappan culture.
12. What was the time period of Indus Civilization / Harappan Civilization?
A. 2400 BC – 1700 BC
B. 2500 BC – 1700 BC
C. 2400 BC – 1750 BC
D. 2500 BC – 1750 BC
Answer
Answer: Option D
Explanation : The Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) was a Bronze Age civilization (3300-1300 BCE; mature period 2600-1900 BCE) extending from what today is northeast Afghanistan to Pakistan and northwest India.
13. The organic relationship between the ancient culture of the Indus Valley and Hinduism of today is proved by the worship of
A. Pashupati Indra and the Mother Goddess
B. Stones trees and animals
C. Vishnu and Lakshmi
D. Siva and Sakti
Answer
Answer: Option B
Explanation : There has been evidence that the people of the Indus Valley Civilization believed in some form of animal, stone and nature worship.
14. Out of the following remains excavated in Indus Valley, which one indicates the commercial and economic development?
A. The Pottery
B. Seals
C. The boats
D. The houses
Answer
Answer: Option B
Explanation : The seals were pressed into soft clay to seal the mouths of jars and, as suggested by the imprint of fabric on the back of some seal impressions, were used to create clay tags for sacks of traded goods such as grain. Indus Valley seals have been found as far afield as Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq) in the cities of Umma and Ur, in Central Asia and on the coast of the Arabian Peninsula. A large number of seals have been found at the port of Lothal in western India. Finds of Mesopotamian weights in Indus Valley cities confirm that trading took place between these two civilisations. Some experts believe that Mesopotamian written records of trade in gold, copper and jewellery may be referring to the Indus Valley.
15. The Harappas had commercial relations with __________
A. China
B. Jawa
C. Mesopotamia
D. Burma (Now Myanmar)
Answer
Answer: Option C
Explanation : The trade relationship during the later 3rd millennium was a direct one: ships from Meluhha (the Indus) docked in Mesopotamian ports; some Meluhhans settled in Sumer; and there is a seal belonging to a Mesopotamian whose job it was to act as an interpreter of the Meluhhan language. On the other hand, there is nothing to suggest that people from Mesopotamia reached the Indus, so it is clear that the Harappans conducted the trade between the two civilizations. Mesopotamian ships sailed the length of the Gulf, as far as the western coast of Magan (Oman peninsula), trading directly with Magan and with Dilmun (Bahrain); ships from Magan and Dilmun also docked in Mesopotamian ports.
16. The granary discovered at Harappa was located
A. Within the citadel at Mohenjodaro
B. In the “Lower town’
C. Near the river Ravi
D. Beside the western gate of the city
Answer
Answer: Option C
Explanation : The so-called “granary” of Harappa is found on Mound F. It is a brick structure that was built on a massive brick foundation over 45 meters north south and 45 meters east- west. It was near the river Ravi.
17. The Indus Valley Civilisation type was found in
A. Sumer
B. Egypt
C. China
D. All the three
Answer
Answer: Option D
Explanation : The developments and features of the early civilizations of Mesopotamia (Sumer), Egypt, India (Indus River Valley, Harappa), China (Shang dynasty), and Mesoamerica (Olmec), starting from the creation of villages to the formation of civilizations. These civilizations appear to have developed in response to their environment and in reaction to their human need for survival and security.
18. The Indus Valley Civilization has been assigned the period 2500-1800 BC on the basis of
A. Mystical insight by modern seers
B. Markings on seals
C. Radio carbon dating
D. Travellers written accounts
Answer
Answer: Option C
Explanation : The Indus Valley Civilization has been assigned the period 2500-1800 BC on the basis of Radio carbon dating.
19. The most common animal figure found at all the Harappan sites is
A. unihorn bull
B. cow
C. bull
D. tiger
Answer
Answer: Option A
Explanation : The unihorn bull is a legendary creature that has been described since antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead. The unihorn bull was depicted in ancient seals of the Indus Valley Civilization and was mentioned by the ancient Greeks in accounts of natural history by various writers, including Ctesias, Strabo, Pliny the Younger, and Aelian.
20. One of the following Indus Valley site is in Pakistan
A. Lothal
B. Kalibangan
C. Alamgirpur
D. Harappa
Answer
Answer: Option D
Explanation : The Indus Valley Civilisation was a Bronze Age civilisation mainly in the northwestern regions of the South Asia, extending from what today is northeast Afghanistan to Pakistan and northwest India.
21. The Harappan civilizations do not have homogeneity or uniformity in
A. Weights and measures
B. Cereal crops
C. Burial practices
D. Both (B) and (C)
Answer
Answer: Option C
Explanation : In general, the burials in the Harappan period were all in brick or stone lined rectangular or oval pits. The body was usually interred clothed shrouded or in a wooden coffin in the north south direction in a straight direction. It was important that the body did not come into contact with the ground. The only evidence of wooden coffins is the presence of a wooden stain in the body of the corpse.
22. The local name of Mohenjodaro is
A. Mound of the living
B. Mound of the tree
C. Mound of the dead
D. Mound of the survivor
Answer
Answer: Option C
Explanation : Mohenjo-daro, the modern name for the site, has been variously interpreted as “Mound of the Dead Men” in Sindhi, and as “Mound of Mohan” (where Mohan is Krishna).
23. Which was the only city of the Indus without
fortification?
A. Kalibangan
B. Mohanjodaro
C. Harappa
D. Chanhudaro
Answer
Answer: Option D
Explanation : Chanhu Daro is the only harappan city which does not have a fortified citadel. The Chanhu Daro has given evidence of factories of various figurines, seals, toys, bone implements so it has been interpreted that it was a settlement with lots of artisans and was an industrial town.
24. Which of the following was common to both the Harappan society and the Rigvedic society?
A. Horse
B. Female deities
C. Urban centres
D. Iron implements
Answer
Answer: Option A
Explanation : Horse was common to both the Harappan society and the Rigvedic society.
25. Which among the following has not been found in the excavation of Harappan sites?
A. Drains and well
B. Fort
C. Reservoirs
D. Temple with Shikhar
Answer
Answer: Option D
Explanation : No temples have been excavated from the sites of Harappan Civilization. Harappan people used to worship ‘Mother and Pashupati Maharaj. Yoni and Lingam worship culture was also prevalent in Harappa.
26. Which was the biggest building in Mohanjodaro?
A. Great Bath
B. Granary
C. Huge Hall
D. Two Story Building
Answer
Answer: Option B
Explanation : Granary: A granary has been found which the largest building of the Mohenjo-Daro.
27. Cereal(s) grown by the people of the Harappan Civilisation was/were
A. Wheat
B. Rice
C. Millet
D. All the above
Answer
Answer: Option D
Explanation : Wheat kind of bread was their staple, perhaps baked in ovens or cooked over fire. In some places, particularly Gujarat, they also cultivated some native millets; and possibly rice does not become an important crop until Post-Harappan times.
28. Which of the following statements about the Harappan people is incorrect?
A. The Harappans were phallus worshippers
B. They worshipped gods in the form of human beings
C. They placed their gods in temples
D. They looked upon the earth as a fertility goddess
Answer
Answer: Option C
Explanation : Harappan people did not placed their gods in temples.
29. Harappan weapons were made of
A. Stone
B. Copper
C. Bronze
D. All the above
Answer
Answer: Option D
Explanation : The main weapon of war and hunting used by Harappans were axe, spear, dagger, bow and arrow, mace, sling, sword, shield and armour. Most of them are of copper and Bronze. However mace was always made of stone.
30. Which is the correct chronology of the excavation of the site in the Indus civilization?,I. Mohenjo-Daro,II. Chanhudaro,III. Harappa,IV. Lothal
A. III I II ; IV
B. I III II ; IV
C. II I III ; IV
D. III IV II ; I
Answer
Answer: Option A
Explanation : The correct chronology of the excavation of the site in the Indus civilization are Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro, Chanhudaro, Lothal.
31. The Harappan town considered to be a town of the artists and craftsmen was
A. Mohenjo-Daro
B. Chanhudaro
C. Harappa
D. Lothalmenials
Answer
Answer: Option B
Explanation : Chanhudaro is one of the most important sites of Indus Civilization. More than 2500 sites belonging to Indus Civilization are identified so far and Chanhudaro is one of the bigger sites where lot of scope is identified for excavation. However, of late, excavations in this site have not been in progress leading to a decline in contributions from this site.
32. Which was the backbone of Indus Economy?
A. Agriculture
B. Trade
C. Wheel Made
D. Carpentry
Answer
Answer: Option A
Explanation : As in most other contemporary civilizations, agriculture was the backbone of the Indus economy. The people made extensive use of the wooden plows. Barley and wheat were the main food crops. Agriculture sustained the rudimentary urban centers that emerged.
33. The Harappans were the earliest people to produce
A. Seals
B. Bronze implements
C. Cotton
D. Barely
Answer
Answer: Option C
Explanation : Farmers in the Indus valley were the first to spin and weave cotton. In 1929 archaeologists recovered fragments of cotton textiles at Mohenjo-Daro, in what is now Pakistan, dating to between 3250 and 2750 BCE. Cottonseeds founds at nearby Mehrgarh have been dated to 5000 BCE. Literary references further point to the ancient nature of the subcontinent’s cotton industry. The Vedic scriptures, composed between 1500 and 1200 BCE allude to cotton spinning and weaving.
34. Who is the excavator of Harappa site?
A. Daya ram sahni
B. Rakhal das Bannerji
C. Mackey
D.K. Thapar
Answer
Answer: Option A
Explanation : The first extensive excavations at Harappa were started by Rai Bahadur Daya Ram Sahni in 1920.
35. The Great bath was found at
A. Harappa
B. Lothal
C. Chanhudaro
D. Mohanjodaro
Answer
Answer: Option D
Explanation : The Great Bath is one of the best-known structures among the ruins of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization at Mohenjo-daro in Sindh, Pakistan.
36. What was the strength of Indus economy?
A. Agriculture
B. Business
C. Pottery
D. Crockery
Answer
Answer: Option A
Explanation : Cotton was one of the most important product of the Indus Valley trade. Their wealth was based on a subsistence economy of wheat and barley. Indus people were first to grow cotton in the world.
37. The language from which the term ‘India’ is derived is
A. English
B. Greek
C. Persian
D. Arabic
Answer
Answer: Option C
Explanation : The Persian ‘Hindustan’, and the Latin ‘India’, are both derived from the old-Persian term ‘Hindu’. Hindu is Persian for Sindhu, the name for the Indus River in ancient Sanskrit. Hindustan became a commonly used term to refer to the Mughal Empire, comprising primarily of north India, prior to British rule.
38. A prominent Harappan site, being surrounded by flood barriers in order to protect it with the aid of UNESCO funds, is
A. Mohenjodaro
B. Dholavira
C. Lothal
D. Rakhigarhi
Answer
Answer: Option A
Explanation : Mohenjodaro was the prominent Harappan site, being surrounded by flood barriers in order to protect it with the aid of UNESCO funds.
39. Which of the following civilisations is not associated with the Harappan Civilisation?
A. Mesopotamian
B. Egyptian
C. Sumerian
D. Chinese
Answer
Answer: Option D
Explanation : Chinese civilisations is not associated with the Harappan Civilisation.
40. Harappa is situated on the bank of the river
A. Ganga
B. Ravi
C. Yamuna
D. Sindhu
Answer
Answer: Option B
Explanation : Mohenjo-Daro or Mound of Dead is in ‘Larkana” district of Sind situated at the bank of river Indus. Harappa is situated in the Montgomery District of Punjab on the bank of river Ravi.
41. In Indus Valley Civilization, Kalibangan is famous for which of the following?
A. Rock cut architecture
B. Sea port
C. Cotton cultivation
D. Pottery
Answer
Answer: Option D
Explanation : Kalibangan pottery has close resemblance to the pottery of the Hakra ware in Cholistan, to other Early Harappan pottery from the Indus Valley Civilization and to the pottery of the Integration Era.
42. In Indus Valley Civilization, Dholavira is famous for which of the following?
A. Rock cut architecture
B. Sea port
C. Water Conservation
D. Pottery
Answer
Answer: Option C
Explanation : Dholavira is an archaeological site of immense importance to India as it is India’s most prominent archaeological site associated with the Indus Valley Civilization. It represents the ruins of an ancient city of the Harappan civilization that was inhabited over a period of 1,200 years from 3000 BCE through 1800 BCE. It is famous for water conservation.
43. The people of the Indus Valley Civilization usually built their houses of
A. Burnt bricks
B. Stone
C. Wood
D. All of the above
Answer
Answer: Option A
Explanation : Houses of Indus Valley Civilization were one or two stories high, made of baked (Pucca) bricks, with flat roofs. Each was built around a courtyard, with winddows overlooking the courtyard. The outside walls had no windows. Each home had its own private drinking well and its own private bathroom. Clay pipes led from the bathrooms to sewers located under the street.
44. The economy of the Indus Valley people was based on?
A. Agriculture
B. Trade and Commerce
C. Crafts
D. All the above
Answer
Answer: Option D
Explanation : Trade and Commerce. Intensive agricultural production and large-scale trade played significant roles in flourishing of the Harappan civilization. The elegant social structure and the standard of living must have been achieved by a highly developed system of communication and a strong economy.
45. Which of the following was not an Indus Valley site?
A. Pataliputra
B. Rangpur
C. Sukatagendor
D. Lothal
Answer
Answer: Option A
Explanation : Major sites in Pakistan of Harappan civilization are Harappa (on Ravi in W Punjab), Mohenjodaro (on Indus), Chanhu-Daro (on Sindh), etc. In India, major sites are Lothal, Rangpur and Surkotda (Gujarat), Kalibangan (Rajasthan), Banwali (Hissar), and Alamgirpur (Western UP).
46. At which Indus Valley site the Dockyard was found?
A. Lothal
B. Ropar
C. Kalibangan
D. Banawali
Answer
Answer: Option A
Explanation : Lothal had the world’s earliest known dock, which connected the city to an ancient course of the Sabarmati river on the trade route between Harappan cities in Sindh and the peninsula of Saurashtra when the surrounding Kutch desert of today was a part of the Arabian Sea.