Ancient Indian History Test 20

It would be completely wrong if we say that Harappan economy was DEPENDENT on imports from West Asia. The trade was not limited to West Asia, they traded with South Asia and Central Asia. They also traded with few African civilizations such as Egypt.
The trade networks of Indus Valley Civilization had covered portions of Afghanistan, coastal regions of Persia, Northern and Western India and Mesopotamia. It was also extended to Crete and Egypt.

The second point is correct and the answer is not present in the given multiple choice answers.

1. They possessed great palaces and temples.
The 1st statement is the wrong statement.

No temples or religious places have been discovered from Harappan cities.
No building has been discovered at any Harappan site that can be positively identified as a temple, but the Great Bath at Mohenjodaro may have been used for ritual purposes

2. They worshiped both male and female deities.
The 2nd statement is the correct statement.

They worshipped Mother Goddess as a symbol of fertility, as suggested by figurines resembling female deity.

They worshipped Shiva, as suggested by a seal with a male figure sitting in a yogic posture with a trident-like headgear, surrounded by animals, which has a lot of similarities with Shiva.

Another seal with carvings of a seated figure of a male god suggests the traditional image of Pasupati Mahadeva.

3. They employed horse-drawn chariots in warfare.

The 3rd statement is the wrong statement.

According to Indus seals, domesticated animals were mostly goats, buffaloes, oxen, elephants, dogs, and camels, but Harappans were not familiar with the horse.

According to the stockbreeding section of TMH general studies manual, chapter history of India, page 7, the camel was rare and the horse was probably not known to the Harappans.

The Harappan culture was distinguished by its system of town planning. The drainage system of Mohenjodaro was very impressive. In almost all cities every big or small house had its own courtyard and bathroom. The street drains were equipped with manholes. Perhaps, no other Bronze Age civilization gave so much attention to health and cleanliness as the Harappans did.

Indus valley civilization lacks any monumental palaces, even though they had the engineering knowledge. The religious ceremonies were largely confined to individual homes or small temples or in the open air. Though the religious elements were present, there are no pieces of evidence of religious dominance in any discovered settlement.

According to Marshall, the use of cotton for textiles was exclusively restricted to India during Indus Valley Civilization period and was not extended to the western world until 2000 or 3000 years late.

Bhumisparsha Mudra gesture represents the moment of the Buddha's awakening as he claims the earth as the witness of his enlightenment.

Just before he realized enlightenment, it is believed that the demon Mara tried to frighten him with the armies of demons and monsters including his daughters who tried to tempt him to get out of meditation under the Bodhi tree. While the demon king Mara claimed the throne of enlightenment for himself, his demon army claimed to be the witness for Mara's enlightenment. 

Upon challenge from Mara,  Prince Siddhartha reached his hand out to reach the earth for the witness. That was the moment of Buddha's Awakening.

Hence, it is believed that the Bhumisparsha Mudra, or "the earth witness" mudra commemorates the Buddha's victory over the temptation by the demon-king Mara.

Fire altar was from the Harappan period, similar to those at Lothal, not pre-Harappan period.

The lower town was a fortified parallelogram. The Fort was made of mud bricks and three or four structural phases have been recognized.  It had north and west gates.

Hydrological evidence suggests the abandonment of the Mature Kalibgan settlement took place on account of drying up of the Saraswati (Ghaggar). This theory was established by the work of Raikes who was Italian Hydrologist and his Indian collaborators.

According to B.B. Lal, the former DG of ASI, the Kalibgan had given the pieces of evidence of the earliest ploughed agricultural field ever revealed through an excavation.

The standard Harappan seals were made of Steatite. The inhabitants of Harappa had knowledge of both copper and bronze. But they were most probably unaware of the use of iron. The Harappan civilization was mainly urban-based. A piece of woven cotton has been recovered from Mohenjodaro which was an evidence for the cotton cultivation in the Indus Valley. So only statement D is incorrect.

The Indus Valley civilization was discovered first in 1921 at the modern site of Harappa situated in the province of West Punjab in Pakistan. The city lies on the banks of the river Ravi, a left bank tributary of river Indus. 

• A Harappan site being surrounded by flood barriers in order to protect it with the aid of UNESCO funds is Mohenjo-Daro.
• Mohenjo-Daro- The Archaeological Ruins at Mohenjo-Daro are the best preserved urban settlement in the Indian sub-continent dating back to 3000-2000 BC.
• The foundations of the harappan site Mohenjo-Daro was threatened by saline action due to a rise of the water table of the Indus River. This was the main theme of UNESCO international campaign in the 1970s.
• The international campaign and aid of UNESCO had partially mitigated the attack on the mud brick buildings.
• The Archaeological Ruins at Mohenjo-Daro are being protected by National and Regional laws as well.
  

• Manda- It was discovered in 1976. It is the northern most site of harappan civilization. This site was used to collect wood for the harappan people.
• Daimabad- It was discovered in 1958. It is the southern most site of harappan civilization. Many bronze goods were recovered from this site,
• Sutkagendor- This is the trading post located in the Baluchistan area bordering Iran(current map of the world). This trading post was supporting the trade with Persian gulf.
  
• Alamgirpur- It was discovered in 1959. This site shows the presence of Harappan civilization to the east of Yamuna river.