Test: Indus Valley Civilization - Class 8 MCQ

• Banawali was excavated by R S Bisht in the year 1974 in Haryana.
• Important Findings:
  • Beads
  • Barley
  • Evidence of both pre-Harappan and Harappan culture.

• The main occupation of the people of the Indus Valley Civilization was Agriculture.
• Main Crops: Wheat, Barley, Rice, Dates, Mustard, and Cotton.
• Harrapan were the earliest people to produce Cotton.
• The Indus Valley Civilization was spread from present-day North-East Afghanistan to Pakistan and North-West India. The civilization flourished in the river basins of the Ghaggar-Hakra river and the Indus. Indus valley civilization is one of the four oldest civilizations in the world. It is also known as Harappan Civilization and is well-known for its organized planning based on the grid system. Important facts to be remembered.
• John Marshall was the first researcher to use the term, ‘Indus Valley Civilization’.
• Indus Valley Civilization spread from the year 2500 – 1750 BC according to radio-carbon dating.
• The most distinctive feature of the Harappan Civilization was its urbanization.
• Moreover, sheep and goats, dogs, humped cattle buffalo, and elephants were domesticated in the Indus Valley Civilization.
• The capital cities are Mohenjodaro and Harappa.
• The port cities are Sutkagendor, Balakot, Lothal, Allahdino, and Kuntasi.
• The Indus valley people were well-acquainted with the use of both cotton and wool.
• Name of the major cities are given below:
  • Mohenjodaro (Sind)-It is located on the right bank of the Indus.
  • Kalibangan (Rajasthan)-It was on the banks of the river Ghaggar river.
  • Chanhudaro - It lies on the left bank of the Indus in the south of Mohenjodaro.
  • Lothal(Gujarat) - It is located at the head of the Gulf of Cambay.
  • Surkotada (Gujarat) - It is at the head of the Rann of Kutch.
  • Banawali (Haryana) - It was situated on the banks of the now-extinct Sarasvati.
  • Dholavira (Gujarat) - It excavated is in the Kutch district.
• Social features:
  • Indus valley civilization is the first urbanization in India.
  • It has a well-planned drainage system, grid pattern, and town planning.
  • They have possessed equality in society.
• Religious Facts:
  • Matridevi or Shakti is the Mother goddess.
  • Yoni worship and Nature worship existed.
  • They worshipped trees like Peepal.
  • People also worshipped Fire worship called Havan Kund.
  • Pashupati Mahadeva is known as the lord of Animals.
  • The people of Indus Valley Civilization worshipped Animal worship like Unicorn and ox.
• Economic facts:
  • Indus valley civilization is based on agriculture.
  • Trade and commerce flourished in this period.
  • A dockyard has been found at Lothal.
  • There were export and import.
  • Production of cotton was there.
  • There was also the unit of measurement.
  • Weights and measures of truth existed in Harappan culture was seen at Lothal.
  • The weights were made of limestone, steatite, etc. and were usually cubical in shape. 

Given below is the list of Important Indus Valley civilization sites, year of excavation and River associated-

• Kalibangan:
  • Kalibangan is an archaeological site at Hanumangarh in Rajasthan near the Ghaggar river. 
  • Plough field, fire altars, bones of camel, burial in the circular and rectangular grave is found here. 
• Chahundaro:
  • Chahundaro is an archaeological site at Sindh in Pakistan near the Indus river.
  • we can find a bead factory and ornaments here which points towards good craftsmen in this area. 
  • No fortified structure in this place. 
  • It is the only Harappan city without a Citadel and evidence of human sacrifice is available here.
• Surkotda:
  • Surkotada is an Indus Valley Civilisation archaeological site located in Rapar Taluka of Kutch district, Gujarat. 
  • It is a smaller fortified Indus Valley Civilisation site with 1.4 hectares (3.5 acres) in area.
  • Bones of horse and graveyard are found at Surkotda in Gujarat. 
• Mohenjodaro:
  • It is a planned settlement that is divided into two sections, one smaller but higher (Citadel) and the other much larger but lower (Lower Town).
  • The Citadel owes its height to the fact that buildings were constructed on mud-brick platforms.
    • It was walled, which meant that it was physically separated from the Lower Town.
    • It had structures that were probably used for special public purposes.
  • The Lower Town was also walled. Several buildings were built on platforms, which served as foundations.

• Rakhigarhi site of Indus valley civilisation situated at Rakhigarhi village in Hisar district.
• The site is located in the Sarasvati river plain, some 27 km from the seasonal Ghaggar river.
• The Global Heritage Fund declared Rakhigarhi one of the 10 most endangered heritage sites in Asia.
•  A team of Indian and South Korean researchers carried out excavations in Rakhigarhi.
• The team unearthed a fire altar, parts of a city wall, drainage structures as well as a hoard of semi-precious beads.

Important Sites of Harappan Civilization:

Ravi river's Banks were situated on Harappa.

• The Indus Valley civilization was discovered first in 1921 at the modern site of Harappa situated in the province of West Punjab in Pakistan.
• The city lies on the banks of the river Ravi, a left-bank tributary of the river Indus.
• Harappan civilization is also known as Indus Valley Civilization for being situated on and around the banks of the Indus river.
• It flourished around 2,500 BCE in the western part of South Asia, in contemporary Pakistan, western India, and parts of Afghanistan.
• Hence, option d is correct.

• Harappa was an Indus civilization urban centre.
• It lies in Punjab Province, Pakistan, on an old bank/bed of the River Ravi.
• Harappa was the first site of the civilization to be excavated in 1921.
• The excavation team was led by Daya Ram Sahni.

• Mehrgarh is a neolithic site located near the Bolan pass on the Kacchi Plain of Balochistan, Pakistan, to the west of the Indus River Valley.
• It is the earliest known neolithic site in the Northwest Indian sub-continent, with early evidence of farming (wheat and barley), herding (cattle, sheep, and goats), and metallurgy.
• The oldest known example of the wax-lost techniques comes from a 6000-year-old wheel-shaped copper amulet found at Mehrgarh.

• Couple burial was found from Lothal at the Harappan sites.
• Lothal was one of the southernmost city of the ancient Indus valley civilisation located in the Bhal region of Gujarat.
• Burial or interment is the ritual act of placing a dead person or animals, sometimes with objects, into the ground.

The most interesting urban feature of the Harappan civilization is its town planning.

• The citadel contains large structures which might have functioned as administrative or ritual centres.
• In some cities of the Indus Valley Civilization, special buildings were constructed on the citadel.
  • For example, in Mohenjodaro, a very special tank, which archaeologists call the Great Bath, was built in the citadel area.
  • Perhaps important people took a dip in this tank on special occasions.
  • Other cities, such as Kalibangan and Lothal had fire altars, where sacrifices may have been performed.
  • And some cities like Mohenjodaro, Harappa, and Lothal had elaborate storehouses.
• The residential buildings are built in the lower town. Hence they are not part of the citadel.
• The streets intersect each other at right angles in a criss-cross pattern.
• It divides the city into several residential blocks. The main street is connected by narrow lanes.
• The doors of the houses opened in these lanes and not the main streets.
• The houses of common people, however, differed in size from single-room houses in Harappa to bigger structures. The houses were largely built of burnt bricks.