MCQ: What Books & Burials tell us - UPSC MCQ

Rigveda was composed in an ancient form of Sanskrit, while most of the modern books are either in English or in any other modern languages. The Rigveda contains hymns in praise of gods and goddesses.

Battles in ancient times were fought to capture cattle. People fought to gain more cattle because it was considered a valuable form of wealth back then. Cattle provided milk, meat, and other resources that were important for survival.

Sanskrit belongs to the Indo-European family of languages. It is one of three ancient documented languages that arose from a common root language now referred to as Proto-Indo-European language: Vedic Sanskrit (c. 1500 – 500 BCE).

Megaliths are stone boulders used to mark burial sites. They were prevalent around 3000 years ago in the Deccan, South India, in the northeast and in Kashmir. Some megaliths are seen on surface and some are underground.

The four Vedas are Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda, and Atharvaveda. Upanishads are spiritual texts that come later and are not part of the four Vedas. They contain profound spiritual knowledge and teachings.

Megaliths were not only used for marking burial sites. They were also used to indicate signposts to find burial sites and sometimes had more than one skeleton, which suggests that families might have been buried in the same place. So, megaliths had more purposes than just marking burials.

Correct option is A. Vedic Sanskrit

The correct answer is Cotton clothes.

• Cotton clothes have not been found from the Harappan graves.

Key Points

• The people of Harappan Civilization probably believed in life after death, as they offered materials as grave offerings.
• The offerings buried with the dead usually included pottery and grain.
• Some skeleton of a woman that was found wearing ornaments like bangles, necklaces and others.
  • A graveyard has been found in Farmana, Haryana. Where the dead bodies were buried with ornaments.
• Indus people used cotton clothes. But, No evidence of cotton clothing has been found from graves of Harappans . This can also happen due to the deterioration of cotton clothes. Hence, option 3 is correct.
• We have also found some evidence that the dead were buried with copper mirrors.
• The main items found in the graves of Harappans are:
  • Pottery
  • ornaments
  • jewelry
  • shell rings
  • beads
  • Copper mirrors