Overview
Previous Year UPSC-CSE Questions By the end you will be able to draft model answers for the following UPSC questions. Each question carries a collapsible framework showing how to approach it in the exam.
- UPSC Prelims 2011 GS-IRegarding the Indus Valley Civilization, consider the following statements:
- It was predominantly a secular civilization and the religious element, though present, did not dominate the scene.
- During this period, cotton was used for manufacturing textiles in India.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
How to approach this Prelims question
Approach: Judge each statement against the known character of the Harappan civilisation.
Trap to watch: Both statements are correct: the civilisation was largely secular with no dominating temple cult, and the Harappans did use cotton.
Key facts to recall:
- The Harappan civilisation was a planned, largely secular urban civilisation with no great temples.
- The Harappans were among the first in the world to use cotton for textiles.
Answer signal: Both 1 and 2.
- UPSC Prelims 2019 GS-IWhich one of the following is not a Harappan site?
How to approach this Prelims question
Approach: Identify which named site does not belong to the Harappan civilisation.
Trap to watch: Sohgaura is a Mauryan site (famous for a copper-plate inscription), not a Harappan one; Chanhudaro, Kot Diji and Desalpur are Harappan.
Key facts to recall:
- Chanhudaro, Kot Diji and Desalpur are Harappan sites.
- Sohgaura in Uttar Pradesh is a Mauryan-period site, not a Harappan one.
Answer signal: Sohgaura.
The Indus Valley Civilisation, also called the Harappan civilisation after the first site dug, was the earliest urban civilisation of the Indian subcontinent. It belonged to the Bronze Age, flourishing in its mature form between about 2600 and 1900 BCE, before iron was known. It was the largest of the Bronze Age civilisations of the world, spread over more than a thousand sites across the north-west of the subcontinent, and it was lost and forgotten for over three thousand years until the spade of the archaeologist brought it back to light in the nineteen-twenties.
Meaning, Definition and the Sources for the Harappan Civilisation
What the Harappan Civilisation Was
What is the significance of the Harappan civilisation: it was the first cities of the Indian subcontinent, a Bronze Age civilisation that built large, carefully planned towns at a time when most of the world still lived in villages. With it, the history of urban India begins.
Distinguishing its character: the civilisation is called both the Indus Valley civilisation, after the great river along which its first cities were found, and the Harappan civilisation, after Harappa, the first site excavated. It was a Bronze Age culture, working copper and bronze but not iron, which was still unknown.
Distinguishing the sources: because its writing cannot be read, the Harappan world is known almost entirely from archaeology, the patient digging of its mounds. Its bricks, drains, seals, pottery and skeletons, not any book or inscription we can understand, are the evidence from which its story is reconstructed.
Discovery of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro and the Birth of Indian Archaeology
From Scattered Ruins to a Lost Civilisation
What is the significance of the discovery: until the nineteen-twenties, India's recorded history was thought to begin with the Vedic age. The discovery of the Harappan cities pushed the origins of Indian civilisation back by more than a thousand years and revealed a great urban past no one had suspected.
Distinguishing the early notices: the brick mounds of Harappa had been seen long before they were understood. Charles Masson noted the ruins in 1829, and Alexander Cunningham, the first head of the Archaeological Survey of India, surveyed the site in the eighteen-seventies, though neither grasped its great age.
Distinguishing the excavations: the real discovery came in the nineteen-twenties. In 1921 Daya Ram Sahni began excavating Harappa, and in 1922 Rakhaldas Banerji began excavating Mohenjo-daro in Sindh. Recognising that the two distant sites belonged to one civilisation, John Marshall, the Director-General of the Survey, announced its discovery to the world in 1924.
The Four Phases: From Mehrgarh to the Late Harappan
The Neolithic Roots at Mehrgarh
What is the significance of Mehrgarh: the great cities did not appear from nowhere. They grew out of a long village past, of which the most important witness is Mehrgarh, a Neolithic settlement on the western edge of the Indus plains.
Distinguishing Mehrgarh: from about 7000 BCE the people of Mehrgarh farmed wheat and barley, herded animals and lived in mud-brick houses, thousands of years before the cities. It shows that farming, settled life and the crafts of the region grew up locally, providing the deep roots from which the Harappan civilisation later rose.
The Early, Mature and Late Harappan Phases
What is the significance of the phases: historians divide the civilisation into phases to mark its rise, its urban peak and its decline. Knowing them prevents the common error of imagining the Harappan world as unchanging across its long life.
Distinguishing the phases: in the Early Harappan phase, from about 3300 to 2600 BCE, farming towns grew and the first pottery, writing and trade appeared. The Mature Harappan phase, from about 2600 to 1900 BCE, was the great urban age of the large planned cities. In the Late Harappan phase, from about 1900 to 1300 BCE, the cities declined and the people returned to a simpler village life.
Geographical Extent and the Spread of the Sites
The Largest of the Bronze Age Civilisations
What is the significance of the extent: the Harappan civilisation covered a far larger area than its contemporaries in Egypt or Mesopotamia, making it the largest of the Bronze Age civilisations and a remarkable case of cultural uniformity across a vast land.
Distinguishing the spread: more than a thousand sites are known, clustered along two river systems: the Indus and its tributaries, and the now-dry bed of the Ghaggar-Hakra, often identified with the lost Saraswati of tradition. After the partition of 1947, most of the discovered sites lay in present-day India, which redirected much of the search to Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab.
Distinguishing the four limits: the reach of the civilisation is fixed by its four farthest sites: Manda in Jammu to the north, Daimabad in Maharashtra to the south, Alamgirpur in Uttar Pradesh to the east, and Sutkagan Dor near the Iran border to the west. A famous examination trap is that Sohgaura in Uttar Pradesh is not a Harappan site but a later, Mauryan one.
| Direction | Farthest site | Modern region | Setting |
|---|---|---|---|
| North | Manda | Jammu | On the river Chenab |
| South | Daimabad | Maharashtra | On the river Pravara |
| East | Alamgirpur | Uttar Pradesh | On the river Hindon |
| West | Sutkagan Dor | Balochistan (near Iran) | On the Makran coast |
Naming the Civilisation: Indus, Harappan or Indus-Saraswati
What is the significance of the name: how the civilisation is named reflects a real debate about its heartland, and the name an aspirant uses should be chosen with care.
Distinguishing the names: it is called the Indus Valley civilisation after the river, but because its sites spread far beyond the Indus, many scholars prefer Harappan, after the first city dug, as the more accurate term. Some, pointing to the dense cluster of sites along the dried Ghaggar-Hakra, call it the Indus-Saraswati civilisation, a name that remains debated because the identification of that river with the Vedic Saraswati is not settled.
UPSC Relevance and Exam Focus
Where This Fits in the UPSC-CSE Syllabus
This topic belongs to General Studies Paper I: ancient Indian history and culture, where the Indus Valley Civilisation is one of the most frequently examined themes in the Prelims, especially the discovery, the dating and the sites.
For Prelims, hold the key facts: Harappa was dug by Daya Ram Sahni in 1921 and Mohenjo-daro by Rakhaldas Banerji in 1922; the Mature phase ran from about 2600 to 1900 BCE; the civilisation was a Bronze Age one that did not know iron; and its four limits are Manda, Daimabad, Alamgirpur and Sutkagan Dor.
For Mains, the civilisation is a rich example for questions on early urbanisation, on India's deep antiquity and on the methods by which a forgotten past is recovered.
Recurring linked concepts an aspirant should keep in working memory:
- Mature Harappan: the urban peak, about 2600 to 1900 BCE.
- Mehrgarh: the Neolithic root of the civilisation, about 7000 BCE.
- The four limits: Manda, Daimabad, Alamgirpur and Sutkagan Dor.
- The naming debate: Indus, Harappan or Indus-Saraswati.
A common Prelims trap is to count Sohgaura among the Harappan sites: it is a Mauryan site, not a Harappan one.
A common Mains trap is to treat the civilisation as a static block. It had a clear rise, a Mature urban peak and a Late decline, and a strong answer respects that chronology.
Prelims MCQ practice
Each question below tests one specific concept on the topic. Click to reveal the answer and a full option-wise explanation.
Q1. The site of Harappa was first excavated in 1921 under the direction of:
- Rakhaldas Banerji
- Daya Ram Sahni
- John Marshall
- Alexander Cunningham
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Daya Ram Sahni
Explanation.
Option (b) is correct. Daya Ram Sahni excavated Harappa in 1921. Rakhaldas Banerji dug Mohenjo-daro in 1922, John Marshall announced the civilisation in 1924, and Cunningham had only surveyed the ruins earlier. Hence option (b).
Q2. The Mature Harappan (urban) phase of the Indus Valley Civilisation is generally dated to:
- c. 3300-2600 BCE
- c. 2600-1900 BCE
- c. 1900-1300 BCE
- c. 1,000-600 BCE
Show answer and explanation
Answer: c. 2600-1900 BCE
Explanation.
Option (b) is correct. The Mature, urban phase ran from about 2600 to 1900 BCE. The range 3300-2600 BCE is the Early Harappan, 1900-1300 BCE is the Late Harappan, and 1,000-600 BCE is the later Vedic age. Hence option (b).
Q3. Which of the following marks the northernmost limit of the Indus Valley Civilisation?
- Sutkagan Dor
- Daimabad
- Manda
- Alamgirpur
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Manda
Explanation.
Option (c) is correct. Manda, in the Jammu region on the Chenab, is the northernmost site. Sutkagan Dor is the westernmost, Daimabad the southernmost and Alamgirpur the easternmost. Hence option (c).
Q4. With reference to the Indus Valley Civilisation, consider the following statements:
- It belonged to the Bronze Age and did not know the use of iron.
- It was the largest of the Bronze Age civilisations in area.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- 1 only
- 2 only
- Both 1 and 2
- Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Both 1 and 2
Explanation.
Both statements are correct. The Harappan civilisation was a Bronze Age culture that did not use iron, and it covered a larger area than any other Bronze Age civilisation. Hence option (c).
Q5. The Neolithic site that is regarded as the precursor or root of the Harappan civilisation is:
- Mehrgarh
- Mohenjo-daro
- Lothal
- Kalibangan
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Mehrgarh
Explanation.
Option (a) is correct. Mehrgarh, a Neolithic farming village from about 7000 BCE, is the precursor of the Harappan civilisation. Mohenjo-daro, Lothal and Kalibangan are Harappan cities of the later urban phase. Hence option (a).
Q6. The term 'Harappan civilisation' is often preferred to 'Indus Valley civilisation' because:
- Harappa was the largest city
- the civilisation's sites spread well beyond the Indus valley
- the Indus did not exist then
- Harappa was the capital
Show answer and explanation
Answer: the civilisation's sites spread well beyond the Indus valley
Explanation.
Option (b) is correct. Because the sites extend far beyond the Indus valley (into Gujarat, Rajasthan and Haryana), many scholars prefer 'Harappan', after the first site excavated, as the more accurate name. The civilisation had no single capital. Hence option (b).
Sources and Further Reading
Editorial Disclaimer
This article is for UPSC preparation. The dating of the Harappan phases is approximate and is refined as new excavations and scientific dates appear; verify specific figures against standard histories before relying on them.
