History Test - 1

The correct answer is Kalibangan.

Key Points

• Sites of Indus Valley Civilization:

The correct answer is Fire Altars.

Key Points

• Mohenjodaro is one of the most well-known sites of the Indus Valley Civilization.
• The settlement was divided into two sections- the citadel and the lower town.
• The Great Bath was found at the citadel which was a rectangular tank used for ritualistic purposes.
• Along with the Great Bath, the Great Granary was also present in Mohenjodaro.
• Mesopotamian seals, miniature pots of fiance were also found at the site.

 Thus, we can say that fire altars were not found at the site of Mohenjodaro.

Additional Information

• Fire altars were found in Lothal and Kalibangan.

The correct answer is Humped bull.

Key Points

• The humped bull is one of the animal motifs found on the cylindrical seal of the Indus region.
• The humped bull figurine had a molded head that was twisted to the side, and a mold was used to make the head. The body was made by hand, and the head was connected. As with the enormous hollow bull statues, the eyes were crafted with applique pupils.

Important Points

• The Indus Cylinder Seals are cylindrical in shape and have a completely different shape than the majority of seals found in the Indus valley; however, three cylindrical specimens have been discovered at Mohenjo-Daro, all of them in the city's upper levels, suggesting that they were also used by the inhabitants.

Additional Information

• The Indus Valley Civilisation was a Bronze Age civilization in northeastern South Asia that lasted from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and from 2600 BCE to 1900 BCE in its mature form. 
• It was one of three early civilizations of the Near East and South Asia, together with ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, and it was the most widespread of the three, with sites reaching from northeast Afghanistan to much of Pakistan and western and northwestern India.

The correct answer is A - 2, B - 4, C - 3, D - 1.

Key Points 

• The Indus Valley Civilization was a civilization that was mostly founded in the Indus River Valley.
• The time period of the Indus Valley Civilization was from 2600 BC to 1900 BC.
• The term Indus valley civilization was coined by John Marshall.
• This civilization was spread over Sindh, Baluchistan, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Western Uttar Pradesh, and Northern Maharashtra.
• The important sites of the Indus Valley Civilization were Harappa, Mohenjodaro, Chanhudaro, Lothal, Kalibanga, Banawali, Dholavira, and Rangpur, etc.

Kalibangan

• Kalibangan means the bangles of black colour.
• It was first excavated by Amalanand Ghosh in 1951 and later B.V.Lal and B.K. Thapar in 1961.
• It was excavated in Hanumangarh, Rajasthan.
• The evidence of a ploughed field was found here the first time.

Banawali

• Banawali site was excavated by R.S.Bist in 1973 in Fatehabad, Haryana.
• The Replica of the plough was field found in the Banawali district.
• The clay figure of the mother goddess was also found there.

Mohenjodaro

• ​Mohenjodaro site was excavated by R.D.Banerjee in 1922.
• It was situated on the Indus river.
• It was excavated in Sindh, Pakistan.
• A great bath and a great granary were excavated there.

Rangpur

• ​Rangpur is an archaeological site in Gujarat, western India.
• It belongs to the period of the Indus valley civilization.
• The excavation was started by the Archeological Survey of India during 1931 led by M.S.Vats.

Additional Information

Lothal Site

• Lothal was excavated by S.R.Rao in 1954 in Gujarat.
• It was a port city as evidence shows.
• The evidence of ​the dockyard was found at Lothal.

Dholavira Site

• It was excavated by J.P.Joshi in 1967 near the Kutchh area of Gujarat.
• A unique water harnessing system was founded at the Dholavira site.
• Dholavira has yielded the longest inscription comprising ten large-sized signs of the Harappan script.
• It was embedded on a three-meter-long board.

The correct answer is Palaeolithic → Mesolithic → Neolithic → Harappan civilisation.

Key Points

• Palaeolithic
  • The term 'Palaeolithic' is derived from the Greek word 'paleo which means old and 'lithic' meaning stone.
  • The old stone age or palaeolithic culture of India developed in the Pleistocene period or the Ice Age, which is a geological period of the age when the earth was covered with ice and the weather was so cold that humans or plant life could not survive.
  • They were food gatherers, ate wild fruits and vegetables, and lived on Hunting.
  • Humans used unpolished, rough stones like hand axes, choppers, blades, burins and scrapers.
  • The Indian people are believed to have belonged to the 'Negrito' race, and lived in the open air, river valleys, caves and rock shelters.
  • In the upper palaeolithic age, there is evidence of art in the form of paintings.
• Mesolithic
  • The term Mesolithic is derived from two Greek words - meso and lithic. In Greek, meso means middle and lithic means stone.
  • Both Mesolithic and Neolithic phases being to the Holocene era. IN this era, there was a rise in temperature, the climate became warm which resulted in the melting of ice and also brought changes in flora and fauna.
  • The people of this age lived on hunting, fishing and food gathering initially but later on they also domesticated animals and cultivated plants, thereby paving the way for agriculture.
  • The Mesolithic people lived in semi-permanent settlements along with occupying caves and open grounds.
• Neolithic
  • The term Neolithic is derived from the Greek word neo which means new and lithic meaning stone.
  • It is also termed as 'Neolithic revolution since it introduced a lot of important changes in man's social and economic life.
  • The Neolithic age saw a man turning into a food producer from a food gatherer.
  • The people of the Neolithic age cultivated land and grew fruits and corn like ragi and horse gram (kulati). 
  • The people of the Neolithic age lived in rectangular or circular houses which were made of mud and reeds.
• Harappan Civilization
  • The history of India begins with the birth of the Indus Valley Civilization (IVC), also known as the Harappan Civilization.
  • Prof. Daya Ram Sahani was the founder of the Harappan Civilization.
  • The IVC is one of the oldest civilizations of the world along with Mesopotamia in Iraq on the banks of River Tigris & The Ancient Egypt civilization the banks of the river Nile.
  • It flourished around 2,500 BC, in the western part of the Indus Valley civilization, also known as Harappan Civilization.
  • The Harappan villages, mostly situated near the flood plains, produced sufficient foodgrains.
  • Wheat, barley, rai, peas, sesame, lentil chickpea and mustard were produced Millets are also found from sites in Gujarat.

The correct answer is Shortughai.​Key Points

• Economic Life and Trade during Harappan Civilisation:-
  • The economic life of the people was very prosperous.
  • The main occupations of the people were agriculture and the domestication of animals.
  • Trade was well developed.
  • Both internal and external trade was carried out with the contemporary civilization such as China, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Sumer. 
  • Trade evidence was discovered from the Hittani and Mittani inscriptions of Iran.
  • Shortughai(Afghanistan) was the trading outpost of Harrapans with other civilizations. 
  • Harappan seals and materials were found in Sumerian, Mesopotamian Oman, Bahrain, and Iran.
  • Pictures of ships, boats have also been found on seals that throw light on Harappan contacts in far-off places. 
  • The mode of exchange was the barter system.

The correct answer is The use of cosmetics was common.

Key Points

• Beads were worn by women and men.
  • ​Hence statement 1 is not correct.
• The use of cosmetics was common.
  • ​Hence statement 2 is correct.

Additional Information

• Economy
  • The importance of trade in the life of the Indus people is witnessed by the presence of numerous seals, uniform script, and regulated weights and measures in a wide area.
  • The Harappans carried on a considerable trade in stone, metal, shell, etc. Hence statement 3 is not correct.
  • Metal money was not used and trade was carried by the barter system.
• Agriculture
  • The Harappan villages, mostly situated near the flood plains, produced sufficient foodgrains.
  • Wheat, barley, rai, peas, sesame, lentil, chickpea, and mustard were produced.
    • Millets are also found at sites in Gujarat. While rice uses were relatively rare.
  • The Harappan people were the earliest people to produce cotton. ​Hence statement 4 is not correct.
  • While the prevalence of agriculture is indicated by finds of grain, it is more difficult to reconstruct actual agricultural practices.
  • Traces of canals have been found at the Harappan site of Shortughai in Afghanistan, but not in Punjab or Sindh.

• Bead-making factories or workshops including furnaces have been identified in various sites of Harappan civilization.
• The Lower Town of Lothal incorporated workshops of faience and stone bead manufacturers, coppersmiths, shell cutters, and potters. The Lothal was mostly known for micro-beads in the Indus Valley Civilization. It is also famous for its Dock.
• Several sites such as Harappa, Chanhudaro, and Dholavira reveal the stages involved in the production of these beads. Specialized drills have been found at these sites.
• The beads from the Harappan civilization are of various materials such as terracotta, shell, steatite, agate-carnelian, lapis lazuli, turquoise, faience, jasper, onyx, and others.
• Techniques for making beads differed according to the material. Steatite, a very soft stone, was easily worked. Some beads were moulded out of a paste made with steatite powder. This permitted making a variety of shapes, unlike the geometrical forms made out of harder stones.
• Archaeologists’ experiments have revealed that the red color of the carnelian was obtained by firing the yellowish raw material and beads at various stages of production. Nodules were chipped into rough shapes, and then finely flaked into the final form. Grinding, polishing, and drilling completed the process.
• Finished products (beads) from Chanhudaro and Lothal were taken to the large urban centers such as Mohenjodaro and Harappa.

Hence, it is clear from the above point that the Bead-making workshop has been found at Lothal.

Extra info-

Amri lies on the western bank of the Indus, in Sindh (Pakistan). The early occupation at Amri has been dated between 3600 and 3300 BCE. It belonged to the Pre-Harappan stage of the Indus Valley Civilization.

Banwali is on the dry bed of the ancient river Sarasvati. It is marked by the presence of a well-planned fortified township laid in a radial pattern. This site was excavated by Dr. R.S.Bhist of the Archaeological Survey of India. Terracotta models of the plough have been found in Banawali (Haryana).

The Post Urban Harappan period in Gujarat is represented by cultural periods Rangpur. It was identified by three periods, period I - Microlithic Culture, period II - Harappan culture, period III - Lustrous Red Ware, or Post Harappan Culture. Thus, Rangpur for the first time revealed a stratigraphical relation between the Late Harappan Phase and the Mature Harappans.

MAP REFERENCE- NCERT

The correct answer is Surkotada.

Key Points

Burial Sites

• Cemeteries are generally located around the perimeter of the settlements.
• These forms of burials were found at Mohenjodaro viz. complete burials, fractional burials (burial of some bones after exposure to wild beasts and birds), and post-cremation burials.
• The general practice was extended inhumation, the body lying on its back, with the head generally to the north.
• A number of graves took the form of brick chambers or cists as in the case of those found at Kalibangan.
• The most common method of burial was found in Kalibangan, it was to place the body of the deceased in an extended position, with the head towards the north, in a simple pit or brick chamber.
• At Harappa, traces of a wooden coffin and bodies covered by a reed shroud were found.
• In Harappa, a cemetery is present in which graves are not situated on the usual Noth-West axis but are situated on the East-West axis.
• From Surkotada comes the evidence of the practice of pot burial.
• Evidence of double burial (burying a male and a female in a single grave) has been found in Lothal.

Harappa is an archaeological site in Punjab, Pakistan, about 24 km (15 mi) west of Sahiwal.

• The site takes its name from a modern village near the Ravi River's former course which now runs 8 km (5.0 mi) to the north.
• The current village of Harappa is less than 1 km (0.62 mi) from the ancient site.

Fortified citadel and town planning were two common features in Harappan city because according to city planning, the city was divided into upper city and lower city. 

• The citadel was built on a raised platform while the lower town was located on the lower part of the town.
• The lower town was larger than the citadel.
• Public buildings like the Great Bath were built in the citadel, the lower town usually had only residential buildings. 
• Another feature that suggests the Citadel is of higher importance is that the fortifications around the area were bigger and stronger than those around the rest of the city.
• Common features of the Indus Valley Civilization are the development of irrigation systems, personal sanitation, town planning, the construction of burnt brick houses, foundries, the manufacture of metals, ceramics, cotton, and woolen textiles.

Hence, the correct answer is Harappa.

Additional Information

Hampi: It is an ancient village in the south Indian state of Karnataka. It’s dotted with numerous ruined temple complexes from the Vijayanagara Empire.

Magadha: It was an ancient Indian kingdom in southern Bihar, and was counted as one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas, 'Great Kingdoms' of ancient India.

Mathura: Mathura is a sacred city in Uttar Pradesh, northern India. The deity Lord Krishna is said to have been born on the site of Sri Krishna Janma Bhoomi, a Hindu temple.