Indus Valley (Harappan) Civilisation
Domain focus
The Indus Valley or Harappan Civilisation section tests the Bronze Age urban culture of the north-west and its material remains: town planning, seals, script, crafts, trade, religion and decline. Questions often ask you to infer society from objects rather than from deciphered texts.
Core concepts
- Mature Harappan cities such as Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, Dholavira, Lothal and Kalibangan show grid streets, drains, brick houses, granaries and reservoirs.
- Seals with animal motifs and short signs; the script remains undeciphered.
- Standardised weights, chert blades, carnelian beads, shell and metalwork indicate craft specialisation.
- Trade links reached Mesopotamia, Oman and Central Asia; Lothal is associated with a dockyard.
- Agriculture used wheat, barley, cotton and pulses; cattle, sheep and buffalo were domesticated.
- Decline models include river shifts, floods, drought and trade disruption; no single agreed cause.
Worked example
A statement says Harappan society is known from its royal inscriptions. Reasoning: false. The script is undeciphered, so kings and laws are not read from texts. Inference comes from seals, architecture, burials and trade goods.
Traps
Do not call the script Vedic or Dravidian as a proven fact. Do not say there were no religious practices; figurines, altars and baths suggest ritual. Do not treat all sites as identical; Dholavira and Lothal differ. Avoid a single-cause decline.