Indus Valley Civilization - Ciya Alex

Which was the only city of the Indus Valley Civilization without fortification?

• Kalibangan

• Mohanjodaro

• Harappa

• Chanhudaro

Answer explanation

Chanhudaro is the only Harappan city which does not have a fortified citadel. Chanhudaro 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.

Which was the backbone of Indus Economy?

• Agriculture

• Trade

• Pottery

• Carpentry

Answer 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.

In Indus Valley Civilization, Dholavira is famous for which of the following?

• Rock cut architecture

• Sea port

• Water Conservation

• Pottery

Answer 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.

How do archaeologists know that cloth was used in the Harappan civilisation?

Answer explanation

Archaeologists have found spindles from the excavation sites. Presence of spindles shows that people knew how to make cloths. This shows that people in the Harappan Civilization used cloth. 

Why were metals, writing, the wheel, and the plough important for the Harappans?

Answer explanation

Metals, writing, the wheel and the plough were important for the Harappans in many ways. Metals were used for making various tools, utensils, jewelry and seals. Writing was useful for maintaining the records; related to trade and for various other purposes. The wheel was used in carts to ferry people and goods. Wheel was also used as potter's wheel. Plough was used for tilling the land so that farming could be done 

The people of the Indus Valley Civilization usually built their houses with?

• Burnt bricks

• Stone

• Wood

• Mud

Answer 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.

At which Indus Valley site the Dockyard was found?

• Lothal

• Ropar

• Kalibangan

• Banawali

Answer 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.

Make a list of what the Harappans ate, and put a tick mark against the things you eat today.

Answer explanation

The people of Harappa ate various kinds of grains (rice, wheat, barley, pulses, mustard, etc.), fruits (ber), fish, meat and milk. Most of these things we eat even today. At present; we eat rice, wheat, pulses, fish, meat and milk. Barley is used barely by us. 

(a)   was divided into three parts, and each part was surrounded with massive stone walls, with entrances through gateways

What are the possible causes for the decline of the Indus Valley Civilization ?

Answer explanation

Some scholars suggest that the rivers dried up. Others suggest that there was deforestation. This could have happened because fuel was required for baking bricks, and for smelting copper ores. Besides, grazing by large herds of cattle, sheep and goat may have destroyed the green cover. In some areas there were floods.