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 2013 GS-IWhich of the following characterizes/characterize the people of Indus Civilization?
- They possessed great palaces and temples.
- They worshipped both male and female deities.
- They employed horse-drawn chariots in warfare.
Select the correct statement/statements using the codes given below.
How to approach this Prelims question
Approach: Judge each statement against the known character of the Harappans.
Trap to watch: Only statement 2 is correct: the Harappans worshipped male and female deities; they had no great palaces or temples (1) and no horse-drawn chariots (3).
Key facts to recall:
- The Harappans had no great palaces or temples and no horse-drawn chariots.
- They worshipped both male and female deities, the Mother Goddess and the Pashupati proto-Shiva.
Answer signal: 2 only.
The society of the Harappans is one of the most intriguing of the ancient world, for it seems to have been remarkably equal: there are no great palaces, no royal tombs and no sign of a king, which makes the question of who ruled, the Harappan polity, a famous debate. Their religion, known only from seals and figurines, centred on a Mother Goddess of fertility and a male god, the seated horned figure of the Pashupati seal often read as a proto-Shiva, along with the worship of the pipal tree and sacred animals. They built no great temples, and buried their dead with simple grave goods.
Social Structure and the Egalitarian Character of Indus Cities
A Relatively Equal Society
What is the significance of Harappan society: the most striking thing about Harappan society is how equal it seems to have been. Unlike Egypt or Mesopotamia, it has left no great palaces, no royal tombs and no giant statues of rulers, which suggests that wealth and power were not piled up in a few hands.
Distinguishing the groups: the people fell into broad groups, the priests and officials who may have run the granaries and trade, the merchants who carried the goods of the cities, the many skilled artisans, and the farmers and labourers of the land. Yet the houses of the lower town are mostly similar in size, and there is little sign of slavery, so the differences between people seem to have been modest.
Theories of Harappan Polity: City-States, Priest-Kings or a Unified State
Who Ruled the Harappans?
What is the significance of the polity: because no king, palace or royal tomb has ever been found, the question of who ruled the Harappans is one of the great unsolved puzzles of the civilisation, and the examiner is fond of it.
Distinguishing the theories: three main theories compete. The first, going back to John Marshall, holds that priest-kings ruled as in Mesopotamia, a view linked to the famous Priest-King statue. The second holds that there was no single ruler at all, but many self-governing communities. The third holds that the great uniformity of the weights, the bricks and the script argues for a single, unified state.
Distinguishing the verdict: the truth is simply not known. What is certain is the absence of the trappings of kingship that every other early civilisation displayed, and that absence is itself the most important fact about the Harappan polity.
Religious Beliefs: Pashupati, the Mother Goddess and Nature Worship
The Worship of Both Male and Female Deities
What is the significance of Harappan religion: with no scripture we can read, the religion of the Harappans is glimpsed only through their seals and figurines, yet what we see is fascinating, for it seems to foreshadow much of later Hinduism.
Distinguishing the deities: the Harappans worshipped both male and female deities. The many terracotta figures of a woman point to a Mother Goddess, worshipped in a fertility cult. The most famous male figure is the seated, horned god of the Pashupati seal, surrounded by animals, whom John Marshall read as a proto-Shiva, an early form of the later god, though the reading is debated.
Sacred Animals, the Pipal Tree, Fire Altars and the Absence of Temples
Distinguishing nature worship: alongside the gods, the Harappans revered nature. The pipal, or peepal, tree appears on the seals as sacred, and animals were holy too, above all the humped bull and the one-horned unicorn that fills so many seals. The swastika and other symbols were used as auspicious marks.
What is the significance of the fire altars and the missing temple: at Kalibangan and Lothal rows of fire altars suggest a ritual of fire, a hint of practices that recur in later India. Yet, strikingly, no great temple or idol-house has ever been found, which sets the Harappans apart from the temple-building peoples of Egypt and Mesopotamia.
Burial Practices and the Evidence for Harappan Belief
How the Harappans Buried Their Dead
What is the significance of the burials: how a people treats its dead reveals much of its belief, and the Harappan cemeteries, such as the R-37 cemetery at Harappa, are an important source.
Distinguishing the practice: the usual practice was to bury the dead in a grave, often laid out extended with the head to the north, together with pots, ornaments and other grave goods for use in another life. There were no grand royal tombs, in keeping with the equal character of the society, and this care for the dead, with goods buried alongside, hints at a belief in a life after death.
| Aspect of Harappan religion | What the evidence shows |
|---|---|
| Female deity | Terracotta Mother Goddess figures (a fertility cult) |
| Male deity | The Pashupati seal, a seated horned proto-Shiva |
| Tree worship | The pipal (peepal) tree shown as sacred on seals |
| Animal worship | The humped bull and the one-horned unicorn |
| Fire ritual | Fire altars at Kalibangan and Lothal |
| Temples | None found; no idol-house or great shrine |
| The dead | Buried with grave goods; no royal tombs |
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, and the Harappan religion, especially the Pashupati seal, the Mother Goddess and the absence of temples, is among the most frequently examined themes in the Prelims.
For Prelims, hold the key facts: the Harappans worshipped both male and female deities; the Pashupati seal shows a proto-Shiva; they revered the pipal tree and the bull; they built fire altars but no temples; and no king or palace has been found.
For Mains, the egalitarian society and the proto-Hindu religion of the Harappans are good points for answers on the roots of Indian civilisation and continuity into later times.
Recurring linked concepts an aspirant should keep in working memory:
- Pashupati seal: the seated horned figure read as a proto-Shiva.
- Mother Goddess: the female deity of the fertility cult.
- No temples or king: the absences that define the Harappans.
- Fire altars: found at Kalibangan and Lothal.
A common Prelims trap is to credit the Harappans with great palaces and temples, or with the horse and the chariot: they had none of these, but they did worship both male and female deities.
A common Mains trap is to read the Pashupati seal as certainly Shiva: it is a proto-Shiva at most, and the interpretation is debated.
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 Pashupati seal of the Harappan civilisation depicts a seated horned figure that is often interpreted as a:
- Mother Goddess
- Proto-Shiva
- Buddha
- Tirthankara
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Proto-Shiva
Explanation.
Option (b) is correct. John Marshall read the seated horned figure of the Pashupati seal as a proto-Shiva. The Mother Goddess is a separate female deity; Buddha and the Tirthankaras belong to much later ages. Hence option (b).
Q2. Which of the following is true of the Harappan civilisation?
- It had great royal palaces
- It built large temples to its gods
- No king or palace has been found
- It had pyramidal royal tombs
Show answer and explanation
Answer: No king or palace has been found
Explanation.
Option (c) is correct. No king, palace or royal tomb has been found, which is why Harappan polity is debated. The Harappans built no great palaces, temples or pyramidal tombs. Hence option (c).
Q3. The terracotta female figurines found in large numbers at Harappan sites are generally taken to represent the worship of:
- A Mother Goddess
- A war god
- The Buddha
- A river god
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A Mother Goddess
Explanation.
Option (a) is correct. The many terracotta female figures point to the worship of a Mother Goddess in a fertility cult. Hence option (a).
Q4. Rows of fire altars, suggesting a fire ritual, have been found at the Harappan sites of:
- Harappa and Mohenjo-daro
- Kalibangan and Lothal
- Ropar and Banawali
- Sutkagan Dor and Surkotada
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Kalibangan and Lothal
Explanation.
Option (b) is correct. Fire altars have been found notably at Kalibangan and Lothal. Hence option (b).
Q5. The tree most often shown as sacred on the Harappan seals is the:
- Banyan
- Pipal (peepal)
- Neem
- Mango
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Pipal (peepal)
Explanation.
Option (b) is correct. The pipal, or peepal, tree appears as sacred on the Harappan seals, a reverence that continued into later India. Hence option (b).
Q6. With reference to Harappan religion, consider the following statements:
- The Harappans worshipped both male and female deities.
- No large temple or idol-house has been found at any Harappan site.
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 Harappans worshipped both male and female deities, and no large temple has been found at any Harappan site. Hence option (c).
Sources and Further Reading
Editorial Disclaimer
This article is for UPSC preparation. The religion and polity of the Harappans are reconstructed from seals and figurines and remain debated; the reading of the Pashupati seal as Shiva, in particular, is not settled. Verify specific details before relying on them.
