Bricks, Beads and Bones: The Harappan Civilisation, Class 12 History

What Bricks, Beads and Bones: The Harappan Civilisation is about

Weightage: Themes in Indian History Part I carries 25 of the 80 theory marks; this chapter shares them with Kings, Farmers and Towns: Early States and Economies (c. 600 BCE-600 CE), Kinship, Caste and Class: Early Societies (c. 600 BCE-600 CE), Thinkers and Beliefs and Buildings: Cultural Developments (c. 600 BCE-600 CE). A separate 5-mark map question covers the map items of all three books.Source: CBSE History (027) syllabus 2026-27, course structure

Key concepts

Phases, sites and the five major cities

NCERT section Terminologies, Places and Time; Harappan Settlements

The name Harappan comes from Harappa, the place where the civilisation was first identified. It is also called the Indus Valley Civilisation.

• Early Harappan (6000-2600 BCE): the formative phase. Settlements were small, with almost no large buildings. Recent evidence links the rise of Harappan culture to early farming communities of about 7000 BCE.
• Mature Harappan (2600-1900 BCE): the urban phase and the most prosperous one. It grew gradually out of the early phase through internal development.
• Late Harappan (1900-1300 BCE): the phase of decline.

Harappan pottery, bricks, seals, weights and beads have been found from Afghanistan and Baluchistan, through Sind and Punjab in Pakistan, to Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra. More than 2000 sites are known. Most lie between the Indus and Saraswati basins, and nearly two-thirds are in the Saraswati basin. The five major cities are Rakhigarhi, Mohenjodaro, Harappa, Dholavira and Ganweriwala. Other sites are regional centres, farming villages, ports and manufacturing centres.

Worked example

Arrange the phases of the Harappan civilisation in order and state which one was urban. (2 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Early Harappan, 6000-2600 BCE: the formative phase.
2. Mature Harappan, 2600-1900 BCE: the urban and most prosperous phase.
3. Late Harappan, 1900-1300 BCE: the phase of decline.

Answer: Early Harappan, then Mature Harappan, then Late Harappan. The Mature Harappan phase (2600-1900 BCE) was the urban phase.

Subsistence: food and farming

NCERT section 2. Subsistence Strategies; 2.1 Agricultural technologies

The Harappans ate a wide range of plant and animal products, including fish. Historians know this because of two kinds of specialists.

• Archaeo-botanists study ancient plant remains. Charred grains and seeds show wheat, barley, lentil, chickpea and sesame. Millets come from sites in Gujarat. Rice is relatively rare.
• Archaeo-zoologists (zoo-archaeologists) study animal bones. Cattle, sheep, goat, buffalo and pig were domesticated. Bones of wild boar, deer and gharial, and of fish and fowl, are also found. We do not know if the Harappans hunted these wild animals themselves or got meat from hunting communities.

Farming technology is harder to rebuild:

• Seals and terracotta sculpture show the bull, so archaeologists infer that oxen pulled the plough.
• Terracotta plough models come from Cholistan and Banawali (Haryana).
• A ploughed field at Kalibangan (Rajasthan), from Early Harappan levels, had two sets of furrows at right angles, which suggests two crops were grown together.
• Most sites are in semi-arid land, so irrigation was probably needed. Traces of canals were found at Shortughai in Afghanistan but not in Punjab or Sind. Wells and the reservoirs at Dholavira (Gujarat) may also have supplied water.

Worked example

How do archaeologists know that the Harappans ploughed their fields, when no plough has survived? (3 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Seals and terracotta sculpture show the bull, from which archaeologists infer that oxen were used for ploughing.
2. Terracotta models of the plough have been found in Cholistan and at Banawali in Haryana.
3. A ploughed field with two sets of furrows at right angles was found at Kalibangan in Rajasthan, from Early Harappan levels.

Answer: Through indirect evidence: bull images (oxen for ploughing), terracotta plough models from Cholistan and Banawali, and the furrowed field at Kalibangan, which also suggests two crops were grown together.

Mohenjodaro: a planned urban centre

NCERT section 3. Mohenjodaro: A Planned Urban Centre; 3.1-3.3

Mohenjodaro is the best-known site, though Harappa was discovered first. Harappa was badly damaged by brick robbers: in 1875 Cunningham noted that its bricks had been enough for about 100 miles of railway between Lahore and Multan.

Mohenjodaro has two parts:

• The Citadel: smaller but higher, built on mud-brick platforms and walled off from the Lower Town. It had buildings for special public purposes: the warehouse (only its lower brick part survives; the upper part, probably wood, decayed) and the Great Bath.
• The Lower Town: much larger, also walled, with many buildings on platforms. Laying these foundations alone would have needed about four million person-days of labour.

Signs of planning:

• The settlement was planned first and then built: once platforms were in place, building was restricted to them.
• Bricks, sun-dried or baked, had a standard ratio: length four times and breadth twice the height. This ratio was used at all Harappan settlements.
• Streets ran on an approximate grid, crossing at right angles. Streets with drains seem to have come first, then houses along them.

Houses: many were built round a courtyard. There were no windows in ground-level walls and the entrance did not show the interior, which shows concern for privacy. Every house had a brick-paved bathroom with drains to the street. Mohenjodaro had about 700 wells.

The Great Bath: a large rectangular tank in a courtyard with a corridor on all four sides, steps on the north and south, made watertight with bricks set on edge and gypsum mortar. Its uniqueness and its setting on the Citadel suggest a special ritual bath.

Variations: at Dholavira and Lothal the whole settlement was fortified; at Lothal the Citadel was built at a height but not walled off.

Worked example

Give three features of Mohenjodaro that show the city was planned before it was built. (3 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Building activity was restricted to a fixed area on platforms that were laid first.
2. Bricks followed a standard ratio (length 4 times, breadth 2 times the height).
3. Streets with drains were laid out first on an approximate grid, and houses were built along them.

Answer: Platforms laid first with building restricted to them, a standard brick ratio of 4:2:1, and a grid of streets with drains laid out before houses.

The drainage system

NCERT section 3.1 Laying out drains; Source 2

The carefully planned drainage system was one of the most distinctive features of Harappan cities.

• Every house had at least one wall on a street, so that waste water could flow into street drains.
• Main channels were of bricks set in mortar, covered with loose bricks (sometimes limestone) that could be lifted for cleaning.
• House drains first emptied into a sump or cesspit, where solid matter settled; water then flowed into the street drain.
• Long channels had sumps at intervals for cleaning. Small heaps of sand found beside drains show that debris was not always carted away.
• Drains were not only in big cities. At Lothal, houses were of mud brick but drains were of burnt brick.

Ernest Mackay called it the most complete ancient drainage system yet discovered (Source 2, from *Early Indus Civilisation*, 1948).

Worked example

"The drainage system shows town planning." Give two arguments for this statement. (2 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Streets with drains appear to have been laid out first and houses built along them, so the drains were part of the original plan.
2. Every house had a wall on a street and its own drain connected to the street drain, which needed planning in advance.

Answer: Drains were laid before houses, and every house was connected to street drains through a street-facing wall: both point to a plan made before building.

Tracking social differences: burials and luxuries

NCERT section 4. Tracking Social Differences

Archaeologists use two strategies to look for social and economic differences.

1. Burials. The dead were generally laid in pits. Some pits were lined with bricks; whether this shows social difference is not certain. Some graves had pottery and ornaments, perhaps for use in the afterlife. Jewellery is found with both men and women. In the mid-1980s, an ornament of three shell rings, a jasper bead and hundreds of micro beads was found near a male skull at Harappa. Some burials had copper mirrors. On the whole, the Harappans did not bury precious things with the dead, unlike the royal pyramids of Egypt.

2. Artefacts. Archaeologists divide objects into:

• Utilitarian: daily-use objects made easily from stone or clay (querns, pottery, needles, flesh-rubbers). These are found all over settlements.
• Luxuries: rare, made of costly non-local materials or by complex techniques, such as little pots of faience (ground sand or silica mixed with colour and gum, then fired).

The distribution matters: rare objects of valuable materials are concentrated in big cities like Mohenjodaro and Harappa. Faience miniature pots, perhaps perfume bottles, are found mostly there and not at Kalibangan. All the gold jewellery found came from hoards (objects stored carefully, often in pots, and never recovered by their owners).

Worked example

Why is a faience spindle whorl hard to classify as utilitarian or luxury? (2 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. A spindle whorl is an article of daily use, which would make it utilitarian.
2. But it is made of faience, a rare material that was difficult to make, which would make it a luxury.

Answer: Its function is everyday but its material is rare and costly, so it fits both categories.

Craft production: beads and shell

NCERT section 5. Finding Out About Craft Production

Chanhudaro was tiny (under 7 hectares, against 125 hectares for Mohenjodaro) but almost entirely given to crafts: bead-making, shell-cutting, metal-working, seal-making and weight-making.

Bead materials: carnelian (red), jasper, crystal, quartz and steatite; copper, bronze and gold; shell, faience and terracotta. Some beads joined two or more stones; some were stone with gold caps. Shapes included disc, cylinder, sphere, barrel and segmented forms, decorated by incising, painting or etching.

Techniques:

• Steatite is very soft, so it was easy to work; some beads were moulded from steatite paste. How the steatite micro bead was made is still a puzzle.
• Carnelian got its red colour by firing the yellowish raw material at different stages. Nodules were chipped roughly, flaked finely, then ground, polished and drilled. Specialised drills come from Chanhudaro, Lothal and Dholavira.

Shell: Nageshwar and Balakot, both near the coast, made shell bangles, ladles and inlay that went to other settlements. Finished beads from Chanhudaro and Lothal probably went to Mohenjodaro and Harappa.

Identifying a craft centre: look for raw material (stone nodules, whole shells, copper ore), tools, unfinished objects, rejects and waste, which is one of the best indicators. Waste traces show that crafts were practised in big cities too.

Worked example

List four kinds of evidence an archaeologist looks for to identify a centre of craft production, and say which is the best indicator. (3 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Raw material such as stone nodules, whole shells or copper ore.
2. Tools, and unfinished objects.
3. Rejects and waste material; waste is one of the best indicators, because cut pieces are thrown away where the work is done.

Answer: Raw material, tools, unfinished objects and rejects/waste. Waste is one of the best indicators of craft work.

Procuring materials and contact with distant lands

NCERT section 6. Strategies for Procuring Materials

Clay was local, but stone, timber and metal had to come from outside the alluvial plain. Terracotta toy bullock carts suggest land transport; river routes along the Indus and coastal routes were probably used too.

Strategies within the subcontinent:

• Settlements near sources: Nageshwar and Balakot for shell; Shortughai in Afghanistan near the best source of lapis lazuli; Lothal near carnelian (Bharuch), steatite (south Rajasthan and north Gujarat) and metal (Rajasthan).
• Expeditions: to the Khetri region of Rajasthan for copper and to south India for gold. Steatite micro beads found there show contact. The Ganeshwar-Jodhpura culture in Khetri, with non-Harappan pottery and many copper objects, may have supplied copper.

Contact with distant lands:

• Oman: copper there and Harappan artefacts both carry traces of nickel, suggesting a common origin. A large Harappan jar coated with thick black clay has been found at Omani sites.
• Mesopotamia: texts of the third millennium BCE mention copper from Magan (perhaps Oman) and contact with Dilmun (probably Bahrain) and Meluhha (possibly the Harappan region). Meluhha's products: carnelian, lapis lazuli, copper, gold and wood. Meluhha is called a land of seafarers, and seals show ships and boats, so contact was probably by sea.

Worked example

What evidence suggests that the Harappans obtained copper from Oman? (3 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Chemical analysis shows traces of nickel in both Omani copper and Harappan artefacts, suggesting a common origin.
2. A large Harappan jar coated with thick black clay has been found at Omani sites; its contents may have been exchanged for copper.
3. Mesopotamian texts mention copper from Magan, perhaps Oman, and copper at Mesopotamian sites also has nickel traces.

Answer: Nickel traces common to Omani copper and Harappan artefacts, Harappan black-clay-coated jars in Oman, and Mesopotamian references to copper from Magan.

Seals, script and weights

NCERT section 7. Seals, Script, Weights

Seals and sealings: a bag of goods was tied, wet clay was put on the knot and a seal was pressed on it. An intact sealing on arrival meant the bag had not been tampered with; it also showed who sent it. Seals were mostly of steatite and carry animal motifs and a line of script, probably the owner's name and title.

The script:

• Still undeciphered.
• Most inscriptions are short; the longest has about 26 signs.
• Not alphabetical, because it has too many signs: between 375 and 400.
• Written right to left: some seals have wide spacing on the right and cramping on the left.
• Found on seals, copper tools, jar rims, tablets, jewellery, bone rods and even a signboard (Dholavira). This raises the question of how widespread literacy was.

Weights:

• Usually of chert, generally cubical, with no markings.
• Lower denominations were binary (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32); higher ones followed the decimal system (160, 200, 320, 640).
• Small weights were probably for jewellery and beads. Metal scale-pans have also been found.

Worked example

Give two reasons why historians conclude the Harappan script was not alphabetical and was written from right to left. (2 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Not alphabetical: it has between 375 and 400 signs, far too many for an alphabet.
2. Right to left: some seals show wide spacing on the right and cramping on the left, as if the engraver started at the right and ran out of space.

Answer: Too many signs (375-400) for an alphabet; cramped signs on the left show the writing ran from right to left.

Ancient authority: who ruled?

NCERT section 8. Ancient Authority

Complex decisions were clearly taken and carried out:

• Pottery, seals, weights and bricks were extraordinarily uniform, and bricks kept the same ratio from Jammu to Gujarat though not made at one centre.
• Settlements were set up in chosen locations for particular reasons.
• Labour was mobilised for bricks, massive walls and platforms.

But there is no clear centre of power. A large building at Mohenjodaro was called a palace but had no spectacular finds. A stone statue is still called the "priest-king" because archaeologists knew Mesopotamian priest-kings; Harappan ritual is not well understood, and we cannot tell if those who performed rituals also held political power.

Three views among archaeologists:
1. There were no rulers and everyone had equal status.
2. There were several rulers: one for Mohenjodaro, another for Harappa, and so on.
3. There was a single state, given the uniform artefacts, planned settlements, standard brick ratio and settlements near raw materials.

The NCERT text adds that the Harappans likely practised some sort of democratic system, and that some structures seem to have been built for utilitarian purposes.

Worked example

State the evidence used by archaeologists who argue that there was a single Harappan state. (3 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. The similarity of artefacts across the region (pottery, seals, weights).
2. The evidence for planned settlements and the standardised ratio of brick size.
3. The setting up of settlements near sources of raw material.

Answer: Uniform artefacts, planned settlements with a standard brick ratio, and settlements placed near raw materials together suggest a single state.

The end of the civilisation

NCERT section 9. The End of the Civilisation; Source 3

By about 1800 BCE most Mature Harappan sites in regions such as Cholistan were abandoned, while population moved into new settlements in Gujarat, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh.

What changed after 1900 BCE at sites still occupied: the distinctive weights, seals and special beads disappeared; writing, long-distance trade and craft specialisation disappeared; fewer materials were used to make fewer things; house building got worse and no large public structures were built. This rural way of life is called Late Harappan or the successor cultures.

Explanations offered: climatic change, deforestation, excessive floods, shifting or drying up of rivers, and overuse of the landscape. These may explain some sites but not the collapse of the whole civilisation. The text suggests that a strong unifying element, perhaps the Harappan state, came to an end, shown by the loss of seals, script, beads and pottery, the shift to local weights and the decline of cities.

The "invasion" debate (Source 3):

• Wheeler (1947) linked the Rigveda's *pur* (fort) and Indra as *puramdara* (fort-destroyer) with skeletons at Mohenjodaro, and suggested an Aryan invasion: "Indra stands accused."
• George Dales (1964) showed the skeletons were not from the same period, most were careless burials, and there was no destruction level, burning, armour or sign of a final defence.
• Rakhigarhi archaeogenetics (Vasant Shinde and others, 2019): DNA from skeletons indicates the Harappans were indigenous, with roots going back to 10,000 BCE; the text says this continuity rules out large-scale immigration of the so-called Aryans and shows unbroken continuity for 5000 years in the region.

Worked example

Why do historians reject a single cause such as floods for the end of the Harappan civilisation? (3 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Causes such as floods, climatic change, deforestation or drying rivers may explain what happened at certain settlements.
2. They do not explain why the entire civilisation collapsed across a huge area.
3. The loss of seals, script, standard weights and cities everywhere points to the end of a unifying element, perhaps the state.

Answer: Local causes explain individual sites, not the whole collapse; the disappearance of shared features everywhere suggests the end of a unifying authority.

Discovering the civilisation: Cunningham, Marshall and Wheeler

NCERT section 10. Discovering the Harappan Civilisation

Alexander Cunningham, first Director-General of the ASI (often called the father of Indian archaeology), used written texts as his guide, especially the accounts of Chinese Buddhist pilgrims of the fourth to seventh centuries CE. He was interested in the Early Historic period (c. sixth century BCE-fourth century CE). Harappa was not on the pilgrims' routes, so although he received a Harappan seal, he could not place it in time. Like others, he thought Indian history began with the first cities of the Ganga valley.

Discovery: Daya Ram Sahni found seals at Harappa in layers much older than Early Historic levels; Rakhal Das Banerji found similar seals at Mohenjodaro. In 1924, John Marshall, Director-General of the ASI, announced a new civilisation in the Indus valley. S.N. Roy wrote that Marshall left India three thousand years older than he found her. Similar seals at Mesopotamian sites showed it was contemporary with Mesopotamia.

Marshall's method: the first professional archaeologist in India, interested in everyday life, but he dug in uniform horizontal units and ignored stratigraphy, so the context of finds was lost.

R.E.M. Wheeler (Director-General from 1944) followed the stratigraphy of the mound and brought military precision.

After Partition, the major known sites went to Pakistan, so Indian archaeologists searched for sites in India: Kalibangan, Lothal, Rakhigarhi and Dholavira were found and excavated, with surveys in Kutch, Punjab and Haryana. Since the 1980s, international teams have worked at Harappa and Mohenjodaro.

Worked example

Why did Cunningham miss the significance of Harappa? (3 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. He used written sources, mainly the accounts of Chinese Buddhist pilgrims, to locate sites; Harappa was not on their itinerary.
2. His main interest was the Early Historic period, and Harappa was not known as an Early Historic city.
3. He believed Indian history began with the first cities of the Ganga valley, so he could not fit the Harappan seal into his time-frame.

Answer: His reliance on texts, his Early Historic focus and his belief that history began in the Ganga valley left no place in his framework for Harappa.

Problems of piecing together the past

NCERT section 11. Problems of Piecing Together the Past

Material evidence, not the script, reconstructs Harappan life. But it has limits:

• Survival: cloth, leather, wood and reeds decompose; stone, terracotta and metal survive.
• Accident: only broken or useless things were thrown away; the rest was recycled. Intact valuables were lost or hoarded, so they are accidental rather than typical finds.

Classifying finds: by material (stone, clay, metal, bone, ivory) and, harder, by function (tool, ornament, ritual object). Function is judged by resemblance to present-day objects and by context (house, drain, grave, kiln). Sometimes indirect evidence is needed: clothing is known from sculpture since only traces of cotton survive.

Interpreting religion is the hardest. Early archaeologists treated unusual objects as religious: jewelled female figurines as mother goddesses, the priest-king statue, the Great Bath and fire altars at Kalibangan and Lothal, seals with plant motifs (nature worship), the "unicorn", conical stones as lingas, and a cross-legged figure on seals as "proto-Shiva". Many of these rest on the assumption that later traditions mirror earlier ones. The Rigveda (c. 1500-1000 BCE) mentions Rudra, but Rudra is not shown as Pashupati or a yogi, so the seal does not match; some scholars suggest a shaman. Mackay noted the small cones might be lingas or pieces for board games.

Worked example

Why is the identification of the "proto-Shiva" seal described as speculative? (3 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. It assumes that later religious traditions give parallels for earlier ones, moving from the known present to the unknown past.
2. The Rigveda's Rudra, a name later used for Shiva, is not described as Pashupati or as a yogi.
3. So the seal figure does not match the earliest text, and some scholars suggest it may be a shaman instead.

Answer: Because it reads a later deity back into an earlier image, and the Rigvedic description of Rudra does not match the seal; other readings, such as a shaman, are possible.

Bricks, Beads and Bones: The Harappan Civilisation in real life

Each concept, met in an everyday situation. Read the situation, answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.

Topics in this chapter

• Harappan Craft Production and Trade
• Harappan Seals, Script and Weights
• Discovering the Harappan Civilisation

Bricks, Beads and Bones: The Harappan Civilisation: key facts

Phases of the civilisation

Early Harappan 6000-2600 BCE; Mature Harappan 2600-1900 BCE; Late Harappan 1900-1300 BCE

Mature = urban and most prosperous; Late = decline.

Five major cities

Rakhigarhi, Mohenjodaro, Harappa, Dholavira, Ganweriwala

Rakhigarhi (Hisar, Haryana) is described as the biggest Harappan city, about 550 hectares.

Brick ratio

Height : breadth : length = 1 : 2 : 4

Same ratio at all Harappan settlements, from Jammu to Gujarat.

Weights

Chert, cubical, unmarked; lower 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 (binary); higher 160, 200, 320, 640 (decimal)

Small weights probably for jewellery and beads.

Script

375-400 signs; longest inscription about 26 signs; right to left; undeciphered

Too many signs to be alphabetical.

Craft centres

Chanhudaro (beads, shell, metal, seals, weights); Nageshwar and Balakot (shell); Lothal and Dholavira (drills found)

Chanhudaro under 7 ha against Mohenjodaro 125 ha.

Sources of raw materials

Lapis lazuli: Shortughai; carnelian: Bharuch; steatite: south Rajasthan, north Gujarat; copper: Khetri, Oman; gold: south India

Ganeshwar-Jodhpura culture in Khetri may have supplied copper.

Mesopotamian names

Dilmun = probably Bahrain; Magan = perhaps Oman; Meluhha = possibly the Harappan region

Meluhha products: carnelian, lapis lazuli, copper, gold, woods.

Agricultural evidence

Bull motifs (oxen ploughing); plough models at Cholistan and Banawali; furrowed field at Kalibangan; canals at Shortughai; reservoirs at Dholavira

Kalibangan field is from Early Harappan levels.

Timeline of discovery (1)

1875	Cunningham's report on a Harappan seal
1921	Daya Ram Sahni begins at Harappa
1922	excavations begin at Mohenjodaro
1924	Marshall announces the civilisation

Marshall's announcement is in the chapter text (10.2).

Timeline of discovery (2)

1944	Wheeler becomes Director-General
1946	Wheeler excavates at Harappa
1955	S.R. Rao at Lothal
1960	B.B. Lal and B.K. Thapar at Kalibangan

Wheeler introduced stratigraphic digging.

Timeline of discovery (3)

1974	M.R. Mughal in Bahawalpur
1980	German and Italian team at Mohenjodaro
1986	American team at Harappa
1990	R.S. Bisht at Dholavira
1997	Amrendra Nath at Rakhigarhi
2013	Vasant Shinde's archaeogenetic research at Rakhigarhi

Timeline 2 of the chapter.

The end

c. 1800 BCE most Cholistan sites abandoned; new settlements in Gujarat, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh

Seals, script, weights, special beads disappear after 1900 BCE.

Invasion debate

Wheeler 1947	massacre, Indra accused
Dales 1964	skeletons of different periods, no destruction level
Rakhigarhi DNA 2019	Harappans indigenous

A classic example of re-examining data to reverse an interpretation.

Bricks, Beads and Bones: The Harappan Civilisation: map work

The places on the official CBSE map list for this chapter. Find each one on an outline map of India and practise marking it.

How the board asks Bricks, Beads and Bones: The Harappan Civilisation

The question patterns to expect, and the method that works for each.

Tricks to remember Bricks, Beads and Bones: The Harappan Civilisation

Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.

• Five big cities: R-M-H-D-G

  "Real Men Have Dark Glasses": Rakhigarhi, Mohenjodaro, Harappa, Dholavira, Ganweriwala.

  Use it when: MCQs on the five major cities.

• Brick ratio 1:2:4

  Height 1, breadth 2, length 4: each side doubles the last.

  Use it when: Planning answers and MCQs.

• Shell on the shore

  Shell centres sit on the shore: Nageshwar and Balakot are both near the coast. Beads at the busy craft town: Chanhudaro (and Lothal).

  Use it when: Map items and craft-centre questions.

• D-M-M for Mesopotamian names

  Dilmun = Bahrain (D-B), Magan = Oman (M-O), Meluhha = the Harappan region (the land of seafarers).

  Use it when: Matching questions on contact with West Asia.

• C-M-W order of Director-Generals

  Cunningham (confused, 1875), Marshall (1924, announced, ignored layers), Wheeler (1944, layers and military precision).

  Use it when: Chronology MCQs and 'how was it discovered' answers.

• Weights: small doubles, big tens

  Small weights double (1, 2, 4 ... 32); big ones go by tens (160, 200, 320, 640).

  Use it when: Statement-based MCQs on weights.

Bricks, Beads and Bones: The Harappan Civilisation: board-level solved questions

Ordered from board level to HOTS. Cover the solution, write your own, then compare step by step.

Case-study practice (Section E style)

Read the situation, then answer every part. In the board paper this is a 4-mark question split into 1 + 1 + 2 marks.

Where the marks are

How a typical answer is split into step marks. Show every step: a right final answer alone rarely earns full marks.

Where students lose marks in Bricks, Beads and Bones: The Harappan Civilisation

The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.

• ✗Mistake: Calling the Harappan script alphabetical or saying it was read left to right

  Students assume all scripts work like modern ones.

  Wrong working

  The Harappan script had letters and was written from left to right.

  Right working

  The script, still undeciphered, had 375-400 signs, so it was not alphabetical, and it was written from right to left.

  ✓Do this: Learn the three numbers together: 26 signs (longest), 375-400 signs, right to left.

  Usually costs: 1 mark in an MCQ; the accuracy point in a 3-mark answer.

• ✗Mistake: Mixing up the craft centres

  Several sites are linked with beads and shell.

  Wrong working

  Lothal and Chanhudaro made shell bangles near the coast.

  Right working

  Nageshwar and Balakot, near the coast, made shell objects; Chanhudaro and Lothal made beads.

  ✓Do this: Pair each site with its craft: shell = Nageshwar and Balakot; beads = Chanhudaro and Lothal; lapis = Shortughai.

  Usually costs: 1-2 marks in a map or short answer.

• ✗Mistake: Treating the 'priest-king' and 'palace' labels as proof of kingship

  The names sound definite.

  Wrong working

  The palace and the priest-king prove the Harappans were ruled by kings.

  Right working

  The 'palace' had no spectacular finds, and the 'priest-king' label comes from Mesopotamian parallels; archaeologists still debate whether there were rulers.

  ✓Do this: Always add 'so-called' and give the three views.

  Usually costs: 2-3 marks in an 8-mark answer on authority.

• ✗Mistake: Writing that an Aryan invasion destroyed the Harappan civilisation

  Students remember Wheeler's view but not the later evidence.

  Wrong working

  The Aryans invaded and massacred the people of Mohenjodaro.

  Right working

  Wheeler suggested this in 1947, but Dales showed the skeletons were from different periods with no destruction level; the Rakhigarhi DNA study indicates the Harappans were indigenous.

  ✓Do this: Present the invasion idea only as Wheeler's view, then give the evidence that overturned it.

  Usually costs: Up to 2 marks in a source question; the analysis marks in a long answer.

• ✗Mistake: Listing features of Mohenjodaro without evidence

  Students write 'good drainage, good houses' and stop.

  Wrong working

  Mohenjodaro had good drains and big houses.

  Right working

  Drains had removable covers and sumps; houses had courtyards, private entrances, bathrooms, and there were about 700 wells.

  ✓Do this: Attach one specific detail to every feature.

  Usually costs: 3-4 marks in an 8-mark answer.

• ✗Mistake: Answering a source question from memory instead of the passage

  Students recognise the topic and write everything they know.

  ✓Do this: For the 1-mark parts, quote or paraphrase the line from the source. Bring in chapter knowledge only for the 2-mark part.

  Usually costs: 1-2 marks of a 4-mark source question.

NCERT exercise guide: Bricks, Beads and Bones: The Harappan Civilisation

What each exercise in the NCERT chapter tests, how to approach it, and a question of the same kind solved step by step. Questions here are written in our own words.

Practice questions on Bricks, Beads and Bones: The Harappan Civilisation

Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.

1. Q1 · 1 mark · MCQBoard level

   Lapis lazuli, a highly valued blue stone, was obtained from the best source near which Harappan settlement?
   (a) Lothal
   (b) Shortughai
   (c) Nageshwar
   (d) Balakot

   Hint

   It is in far-off Afghanistan.

   Answer

   (b) Shortughai, in Afghanistan.

2. Q2 · 1 mark · MCQHarder board level

   Consider the statements:
   1. Harappan weights were usually made of chert and carried markings.
   2. The lower denominations of weights were binary.
   3. The higher denominations followed the decimal system.
   Which are correct?
   (a) 1 and 2
   (b) 2 and 3
   (c) 1 and 3
   (d) 1, 2 and 3

   Hint

   Check what the text says about markings.

   Answer

   (b) 2 and 3. The weights had no markings.

3. Q3 · 1 mark · Assertion-reasonBoard level

   Assertion (A): Archaeologists consider waste one of the best indicators of craft production.
   Reason (R): Pieces of shell or stone cut to make objects are discarded at the place of production.
   Choose the correct option (a)-(d) as in the standard A-R format.

   Hint

   Does R explain why waste points to a workshop?

   Answer

   (a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

4. Q4 · 1 mark · MCQHarder board level

   Arrange in chronological order: (i) Marshall announces a new civilisation; (ii) Wheeler becomes Director-General of the ASI; (iii) Cunningham reports on a Harappan seal; (iv) R.S. Bisht begins excavations at Dholavira.
   (a) iii, i, ii, iv
   (b) i, iii, ii, iv
   (c) iii, ii, i, iv
   (d) i, ii, iii, iv

   Hint

   1875, 1924, 1944, 1990.

   Answer

   (a) iii (1875), i (1924), ii (1944), iv (1990).

5. Q5 · 1 mark · MCQHarder board level

   Which of these was NOT a product that Mesopotamian texts associate with Meluhha?
   (a) Carnelian
   (b) Lapis lazuli
   (c) Cotton cloth
   (d) Varieties of wood

   Hint

   The list is carnelian, lapis lazuli, copper, gold and woods.

   Answer

   (c) Cotton cloth.

6. Q6 · 2 marks · Very short answerBoard level

   Name the archaeologist whose excavation method ignored the stratigraphy of the mound, and state one result. (2 marks)

   Hint

   He announced the discovery in 1924.

   Answer

   John Marshall. He dug in uniform horizontal units, so artefacts from different layers were grouped together and valuable information about their context was lost.

7. Q7 · 3 marks · Short answerBoard level

   Describe the process of making a carnelian bead. (3 marks)

   Hint

   Colour, then shaping, then finishing.

   Answer

   The red colour came from firing the yellowish raw material and the beads at various stages. The nodules were first chipped to a rough shape, then flaked finely to the final form. The bead was finished by grinding, polishing and drilling; specialised drills have been found at Chanhudaro, Lothal and Dholavira.

8. Q8 · 3 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency

   "The Harappans did not believe in burying precious things with the dead." Assess this statement using burial evidence. (3 marks)

   Hint

   Give the exceptions, then the overall pattern.

   Answer

   Some graves had pottery and ornaments, jewellery is found with both men and women, and some had copper mirrors; a male skull at Harappa had shell rings, a jasper bead and micro beads near it. Yet these are modest, and there are no rich royal burials like the Egyptian pyramids. So on the whole the statement holds, though burials are not completely bare, and whether brick-lined pits show social difference is uncertain.

9. Q9 · 3 marks · Short answerHarder board level

   Explain two strategies the Harappans used to procure raw materials from within the subcontinent. (3 marks)

   Hint

   Settlements and expeditions.

   Answer

   1. Settlements near sources: Nageshwar and Balakot for shell, Shortughai for lapis lazuli, Lothal near carnelian, steatite and metal. 2. Expeditions: to Khetri in Rajasthan for copper and to south India for gold; steatite micro beads there show contact, and the Ganeshwar-Jodhpura culture may have supplied copper.

10. Q10 · 8 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency

    Discuss the functions that may have been performed by rulers in Harappan society, and the views of archaeologists on whether there were rulers at all. (8 marks)

    Hint

    Functions inferred from uniformity, location and labour; then the three views.

    Answer

    Functions inferred: (1) standardising bricks (same ratio from Jammu to Gujarat), weights, seals and pottery; (2) planning settlements, laying platforms before building; (3) choosing locations for settlements near raw materials such as Shortughai and Lothal; (4) mobilising labour for platforms and walls (about four million person-days for Mohenjodaro's Lower Town); (5) organising long-distance exchange and expeditions to Khetri and south India. Views: some say there were no rulers and all had equal status; some say several rulers, one per city; others argue a single state from uniform artefacts, planned settlements, brick ratio and placement near raw materials. Evidence of a ruler is weak: the 'palace' had no spectacular finds and the 'priest-king' label comes from Mesopotamian parallels. The NCERT text notes the Harappans likely practised some sort of democratic system. Conclusion: decisions were clearly taken and implemented, but who took them remains debated.

11. Q11 · 3 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency

    Suppose a bilingual inscription with Harappan script were found. Which questions about the civilisation might it settle, and which might remain open? (3 marks)

    Hint

    The text says a bilingual inscription could help with language.

    Answer

    It could settle questions about the languages the Harappans spoke and help read seal inscriptions (names and titles of owners). Open questions would remain: the economy is already fairly well known from material evidence, and debates on whether the Great Bath was ritual, how widespread literacy was, why cemeteries show little differentiation and questions of gender would still need material evidence.

12. Q12 · 2 marks · Map workHarder board level

    On an outline map of India, mark and name: (a) the Harappan city in Hisar district of Haryana that is described as the biggest Harappan city; (b) the craft centre in Sind of less than 7 hectares. (2 marks)

    Hint

    One is in Haryana, one in Sind, Pakistan.

    Answer

    (a) Rakhigarhi, in Hisar district, Haryana. (b) Chanhudaro, in Sind, south of Mohenjodaro.

Test your recall

Answer in your head or on paper first, then open the card. Pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than re-reading.

1. 1.What is faience?Show answer

   Ground sand or silica, mixed with colour and gum, and then fired.

2. 2.Where were traces of canals found?Show answer

   At Shortughai in Afghanistan, not in Punjab or Sind.

3. 3.How many wells did Mohenjodaro have, by scholars' estimate?Show answer

   About 700.

4. 4.What made the Great Bath watertight?Show answer

   Bricks set on edge and a mortar of gypsum.

5. 5.What is a hoard?Show answer

   Objects kept carefully, often in containers like pots, which the owners never retrieved.

6. 6.Who said Marshall left India three thousand years older than he found her?Show answer

   S.N. Roy, in The Story of Indian Archaeology.

7. 7.What is archaeogenetics?Show answer

   The study of the DNA of ancient populations, using methods of molecular genetics to understand population history.

8. 8.Which culture in the Khetri region may have supplied copper to the Harappans?Show answer

   The Ganeshwar-Jodhpura culture.

9. 9.What is stratigraphy?Show answer

   The study of the layers of a site; generally the lowest layers are oldest and the highest most recent.

Quick revision checklist

The night before the exam: can you do each of these without looking?

• ☐Can you give the three phases with dates and say which was urban?
• ☐Can you name the five major cities and the 11 map sites by region?
• ☐Can you list three signs of planning at Mohenjodaro with the brick ratio?
• ☐Can you describe the Great Bath in four details?
• ☐Can you explain the two strategies for tracing social difference with one example each?
• ☐Can you list bead materials and the steps of making a carnelian bead?
• ☐Can you name the source of lapis lazuli, carnelian, steatite, copper and gold?
• ☐Can you explain how a sealing worked and give three facts about the script?
• ☐Can you state the three views on Harappan rulers?
• ☐Can you explain why Wheeler's invasion theory was rejected?
• ☐Can you place Cunningham, Marshall and Wheeler with their dates and methods?

Bricks, Beads and Bones: The Harappan Civilisation: frequently asked questions