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 2021 GS-IWhich one of the following ancient towns is well-known for its elaborate system of water harvesting and management where a series of bunds created check-dams and canals carried the water to connected reservoirs?
How to approach this Prelims question
Approach: Recall which Harappan town is famed for an elaborate water-harvesting and reservoir system.
Trap to watch: Dholavira, in the Rann of Kutch, is the site of the great stone reservoirs and check-dams; Kalibangan, Rakhigarhi and Ropar are known for other things.
Key facts to recall:
- Dholavira had a series of bunds, check-dams and channels feeding connected reservoirs.
- Dholavira is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Rann of Kutch.
Answer signal: Dholavira.
- UPSC Prelims 1998 GS-IWhich of the following pairs are correctly matched?
- Lothal: Ancient dockyard
- Sarnath: First Sermon of Buddha
- Rajgir: Lion capital of Asoka
- Nalanda: Great seat of Buddhist learning
Select the correct answer using the codes given below: Codes:
How to approach this Prelims question
Approach: Test each pair; the Harappan pair (Lothal-dockyard) is the one this part secures.
Trap to watch: Lothal-dockyard, Sarnath-first sermon and Nalanda-learning are correct; the Lion capital of Ashoka is at Sarnath, not Rajgir, so the third pair is wrong.
Key facts to recall:
- Lothal is the site of the ancient Harappan dockyard.
- The Lion capital of Ashoka is at Sarnath, not Rajgir.
Answer signal: I, II and IV.
The Harappan civilisation is known almost entirely through a handful of great sites, and the most important task in studying it is to fix which site gave which famous find. Mohenjo-daro and Harappa were the two first-discovered cities, on the Indus and the Ravi; Dholavira, Lothal and Surkotada lie in Gujarat, with Lothal's brick dockyard the most famous; and Kalibangan, Banawali and the great mound of Rakhigarhi lie along the dried Ghaggar-Hakra. Each carries a signature finding, from the Great Bath to the earliest ploughed field, that the examiner repeatedly tests.
Reading the Map: The Sites Across the Indus and Saraswati Basins
How the Great Sites Are Distributed
What is the significance of the distribution: the Harappan sites are not scattered at random but cluster along the rivers that gave the civilisation its water. Reading their distribution is the quickest way to hold the whole map in mind.
Distinguishing the clusters: the two first cities, Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, lie on the Ravi and the Indus in present-day Pakistan. A second cluster, Kalibangan, Banawali and the great mound of Rakhigarhi, lies along the dried Ghaggar-Hakra in Rajasthan and Haryana, and a third, Dholavira, Surkotada and Lothal, lies in Gujarat. Ropar on the Sutlej and Sutkagan Dor on the far western coast mark the edges.
Mohenjo-daro and Harappa: The Two First Cities
Mohenjo-daro: The Great Bath and the Mound of the Dead
What is the significance of Mohenjo-daro: the largest and best-preserved Harappan city, on the Indus in Sindh, its name means the Mound of the Dead. It has yielded more of the civilisation's masterpieces than any other site.
Distinguishing its finds: Mohenjo-daro gave the famous Great Bath, a large watertight brick tank on the citadel, along with a great granary, the bronze Dancing Girl, the stone Priest-King and the Pashupati seal. These, studied in later parts, make it the showpiece of the civilisation.
Harappa: The Granaries, Cemetery R-37 and the Type-Site
What is the significance of Harappa: as the first site excavated, in 1921, Harappa is the type-site that gives the whole civilisation its name. It stands on the Ravi in Punjab.
Distinguishing its finds: Harappa is known for its rows of brick granaries near the citadel, for the working platforms where grain was threshed, and for the cemetery known as R-37, whose graves tell us much of how the Harappans buried their dead. Much of the upper city was damaged when its bricks were carried off to build a railway in the nineteenth century.
The Gujarat Sites: Dholavira, Lothal and Surkotada
Dholavira: Water Reservoirs, the Three-Part City and the Signboard
What is the significance of Dholavira: standing on an island in the Rann of Kutch, Dholavira is famed for the most advanced water management of any Harappan site, and it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2021.
Distinguishing its finds: Dholavira had a series of great stone-built reservoirs that caught and stored every drop of seasonal water; a city divided unusually into three parts, a citadel, a middle town and a lower town; and a famous ten-sign signboard in large letters of the Indus script, set above a gateway.
Lothal and Surkotada: The Dockyard and the Horse Question
What is the significance of Lothal: on the Gujarat coast near the Gulf of Khambhat, Lothal was a port and workshop town, and its great brick basin is widely described as the earliest known dockyard in the world.
Distinguishing its finds: besides the dockyard, Lothal had a busy bead-making industry, fire altars and a warehouse, marking it as a centre of craft and overseas trade. Nearby Surkotada, also in Kutch, is known chiefly for a much-debated find of what may be the bones of a horse, an animal otherwise absent from the Harappan world.
The Ghaggar-Hakra Sites and the Western Outposts
Kalibangan, Banawali and Rakhigarhi
What is the significance of the Ghaggar sites: the dense cluster of sites along the dried Ghaggar-Hakra, the river often identified with the Saraswati, shows how important that now-vanished river once was.
Distinguishing the finds: Kalibangan in Rajasthan gave the world's earliest attested ploughed field and rows of fire altars; Banawali in Haryana is known for a fortified town laid out on a chessboard plan and a terracotta model of a plough; and Rakhigarhi in Haryana, the largest of all Harappan sites, has lately become famous for the recovery of ancient human DNA, discussed in the part on decline.
Chanhudaro, Ropar and the Western Outpost of Sutkagan Dor
Distinguishing the other sites: Chanhudaro in Sindh was a great workshop town, the only major Harappan city without a citadel, famous for making carnelian beads. Ropar, in Punjab, has the distinction of being the first Harappan site to be excavated in independent India, in the early nineteen-fifties.
What is the significance of Sutkagan Dor: far to the west on the Makran coast near the Iran border, Sutkagan Dor was the westernmost Harappan site, a fortified outpost that guarded the sea route by which Harappan goods travelled to the Persian Gulf and Mesopotamia.
| Site | Today / river | Famous for |
|---|---|---|
| Mohenjo-daro | Sindh, on the Indus | The Great Bath, the granary, the Dancing Girl |
| Harappa | Punjab, on the Ravi | Granaries, the cemetery R-37, the type-site |
| Dholavira | Gujarat, Rann of Kutch | Water reservoirs, three-part city, the signboard |
| Lothal | Gujarat coast | The dockyard and the bead industry |
| Kalibangan | Rajasthan, on the Ghaggar | The earliest ploughed field and fire altars |
| Banawali | Haryana, on the Ghaggar | Chessboard town plan, terracotta plough |
| Rakhigarhi | Haryana, Ghaggar plain | The largest Harappan site; ancient DNA |
| Chanhudaro | Sindh, on the Indus | Bead factory; the only city without a citadel |
| Surkotada | Gujarat, Kutch | Disputed horse remains |
| Ropar | Punjab, on the Sutlej | First Harappan site dug in free India |
| Sutkagan Dor | Makran coast (west) | The westernmost site, a trade outpost |
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 matching of Harappan sites with their findings is one of the most frequently repeated patterns in the Prelims, often as a match-the-pairs question.
For Prelims, hold the signature finds: Mohenjo-daro and the Great Bath; Lothal and the dockyard; Kalibangan and the ploughed field; Dholavira and its reservoirs; Rakhigarhi the largest site; and Ropar the first site dug in independent India.
For Mains, the sites supply the concrete evidence for answers on Harappan urban life, water management and overseas trade.
Recurring linked concepts an aspirant should keep in working memory:
- Mohenjo-daro: the Great Bath and the Mound of the Dead.
- Lothal: the earliest known dockyard.
- Kalibangan: the earliest ploughed field and the fire altars.
- Rakhigarhi: the largest Harappan site.
A common Prelims trap is to confuse the finds: the dockyard is at Lothal, the ploughed field at Kalibangan, and the Great Bath at Mohenjo-daro, and these must not be swapped.
A common Mains trap is to treat the cities as identical. Dholavira's stone reservoirs, Lothal's dockyard and Chanhudaro's bead workshops show real variety of function across the sites.
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 Great Bath, a large watertight brick tank, was found at which Harappan site?
- Harappa
- Mohenjo-daro
- Lothal
- Kalibangan
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Mohenjo-daro
Explanation.
Option (b) is correct. The Great Bath was found on the citadel at Mohenjo-daro. Harappa is known for its granaries, Lothal for its dockyard and Kalibangan for the ploughed field. Hence option (b).
Q2. The earliest known dockyard of the Harappan civilisation was discovered at:
- Sutkagan Dor
- Lothal
- Dholavira
- Chanhudaro
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Lothal
Explanation.
Option (b) is correct. The brick dockyard is at Lothal on the Gujarat coast. Sutkagan Dor was a western outpost, Dholavira is famed for reservoirs and Chanhudaro for bead-making. Hence option (b).
Q3. The earliest attested ploughed field in the Harappan world was found at:
- Banawali
- Kalibangan
- Ropar
- Surkotada
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Kalibangan
Explanation.
Option (b) is correct. Kalibangan in Rajasthan gave the earliest ploughed field, along with fire altars. Banawali had a terracotta plough model, Ropar was the first site dug in free India and Surkotada is known for disputed horse remains. Hence option (b).
Q4. Which Harappan site, the largest yet known, lies in present-day Haryana and is famous for recent ancient-DNA research?
- Banawali
- Rakhigarhi
- Kalibangan
- Chanhudaro
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Rakhigarhi
Explanation.
Option (b) is correct. Rakhigarhi in Haryana is the largest Harappan site and the source of the famous ancient-DNA study. Banawali and Kalibangan are smaller Ghaggar sites and Chanhudaro is in Sindh. Hence option (b).
Q5. With reference to the Harappan site of Dholavira, consider the following statements:
- It lies in the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat and is known for its elaborate water reservoirs.
- It is a UNESCO World Heritage 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. Dholavira lies in the Rann of Kutch and is famed for its water reservoirs, and it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2021. Hence option (c).
Q6. Which one of the following Harappan sites was the first to be excavated in independent India?
- Ropar
- Lothal
- Kalibangan
- Dholavira
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Ropar
Explanation.
Option (a) is correct. Ropar (Rupnagar) in Punjab was the first Harappan site excavated in independent India, in the early 1950s. Lothal, Kalibangan and Dholavira were dug later. Hence option (a).
Sources and Further Reading
Editorial Disclaimer
This article is for UPSC preparation. Site attributions follow the Archaeological Survey of India and standard histories; a few finds, such as the Surkotada horse, remain debated, and positions on the map are indicative. Verify specific details before relying on them.
