The Indus Valley Civilisation
The Indus Valley Civilisation
Part-III Social Science carries 80 questions, and history alone accounts for around 30 of them. The Indus Valley opens that block and gives 3 questions. It is examined through sites, town planning and the two great unknowns of the civilisation.
Discovery and Extent
| Site | Excavated by | Year | Now in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harappa | Dayaram Sahni | 1921 | Pakistan (Punjab) |
| Mohenjodaro | R. D. Banerji | 1922 | Pakistan (Sindh) |
| Lothal | S. R. Rao | 1955 | Gujarat |
| Kalibangan | B. B. Lal | 1953 | Rajasthan |
| Dholavira | R. S. Bisht | 1985 | Gujarat |
| Rakhigarhi | — | — | Haryana |
The civilisation is also called the Harappan Civilisation after the first site excavated, and it belongs to the Bronze Age. Its people knew copper and bronze but not iron — a fact asked directly, because iron belongs to the later Vedic period.
✗ The Harappans used iron tools | ✓ They knew copper and bronze but not iron; iron comes with the later Vedic period
Town Planning
Town planning is the civilisation's most distinctive achievement and the area asked most often.
- Streets cut each other at right angles, in a grid pattern.
- Houses were of baked brick, and most had a private well and bathroom.
- A covered drainage system ran under the streets — the feature that most impresses historians.
- Each city had a raised citadel and a lower town below it.
- The Great Bath at Mohenjodaro and the dockyard at Lothal are the two most cited structures.
Lothal is significant for Bihar candidates only as a contrast, but its dockyard is asked because it shows maritime trade. Dholavira is known for its water-conservation system and its signboard.
Society, Economy and Religion
| Aspect | What is known |
|---|---|
| Economy | Agriculture, cattle rearing, trade with Mesopotamia |
| Crops | Wheat, barley, cotton — the first people to grow cotton |
| Seals | Steatite seals, often showing a humped bull or a unicorn |
| Weights | Standardised, in multiples of sixteen |
| Worship | Mother Goddess, Pashupati figure, peepal tree, humped bull |
| Not found | Temples, palaces, weapons of war, horses in the mature phase |
The absence of temples, palaces and clear evidence of warfare is what makes this civilisation unusual, and it is asked as a reasoning question. Cotton was first grown here, which is why the Greeks later called it sindon, from Sindh.
The Two Unknowns
Two things remain undeciphered or unsettled, and both are examinable.
- The script has not been read. It is pictographic and written boustrophedon — right to left on one line, left to right on the next.
- The cause of the decline is disputed. Theories include flooding, a change in the course of rivers, climate change, declining trade and Aryan invasion, and no single one is accepted.
A question asking for the cause of decline usually offers one theory as if settled. The honest answer, and often the correct option, is that the cause is not conclusively known.
हड़प्पा सभ्यता कांस्य युग की थी — लोहे का ज्ञान नहीं था।
TRE pointer: Part-III Social Science gives 80 questions against roughly 8 for the whole of General Studies in Part-II, so history here is examined at proper depth rather than as general knowledge. The site-and-excavator table is the single highest-yield item. Remember that the Harappans did not know iron and that the script remains undeciphered. Note the choice rule too: if you take History in Section-I, Section-II must be Geography, Economics or Political Science.
60-Second Recap
- Harappa excavated by Dayaram Sahni in 1921; Mohenjodaro by R. D. Banerji in 1922.
- A Bronze Age civilisation — copper and bronze known, iron not.
- Grid streets, baked brick houses, covered drains, citadel and lower town.
- Great Bath at Mohenjodaro; dockyard at Lothal; water systems at Dholavira.
- First people to grow cotton; standardised weights in multiples of sixteen.
- The script is undeciphered and the cause of decline is not settled.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who excavated Harappa and Mohenjodaro?
Dayaram Sahni excavated Harappa in 1921 and R. D. Banerji excavated Mohenjodaro in 1922. The civilisation takes its alternative name, Harappan, from the site found first. The two names and years are regularly interchanged in options.
Did the Harappans know iron?
No. They used copper, bronze, stone and gold, which places them in the Bronze Age. Iron appears in India only in the later Vedic period. Any option describing Harappan iron tools is wrong by definition, which makes this a fast elimination.
Why is Harappan town planning considered remarkable?
Because streets met at right angles in a planned grid, houses were built of standardised baked brick, and a covered drainage system ran beneath the streets. Such systematic urban sanitation was not matched anywhere else in the ancient world at that time.
What caused the decline of the Indus Valley Civilisation?
No single cause is established. Flooding, a shift in river courses, climate change, deforestation, declining trade and invasion have all been proposed. When a question offers one theory as settled fact, the safer reading is that the cause remains disputed.