INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION

Mohenjo Daro

Indus Valley Civilization is one of the four earliest civilization of the world along with Mesopotamia civilization (Tigris and Euphrates), Egypt (Nile) and China (Hwang Ho). The civilization forms part of the proto- history of India and belongs to the Bronze Age. The most accepted period is 2500 – 1700 BC. The first city to be discovered by excavation (digging up) was Harappa and therefore this civilization is also known as 'Harappa Civilization'. The Indus Civilization may have had a population of well over five million at its peak. The city Mohenjo-Daro is one of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

RD Banerjee

1. Who first described the ruins of Harappa in 1842?

Ans: Charles Masson.

2. The Indus Valley Civilization extended west to the Makran coast of Baluchistan, east to Uttar Pradesh, the north to northeastern Afghanistan and south to Maharashtra.

3. Who discovered Mohenjo-Daro?

Ans: RD Banerjee (1922).

4. Over 1056 and settlements have been found out of which 96 have been excavated mainly in the general region of the Indus and Ghaggar- Hakra rivers and its tributaries until 1999. The most settlements founded were the major urban centres of Harappa, Lothal, Mohenjo-Daro, Dholavira, Kalibanga and Rakhigarhi.

5. What is the other name of Mohenjo-Daro?

Ans: Mound of the Dead.

Jewels of Indus Valley Civilization

6. They were first to produce cotton in the world. Greek called the cotton as “Sindon” derived from Sind. A fragment of woven cotton cloth was found at Mohenjo-Daro.

7. In April 2006, the scientific journal Nature announced that the oldest evidence for the drilling of human teeth in a living person was found. Where?

Ans: Mehrgarh.

The Great Bath

8. The world’s first known urban sanitation system was included in the urban plan of Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro and the recently partially excavated Rakhigarhi. Among other things, they contain the world's earliest known system of flush toilets.

9. Who proposed that decline of the Indus Civilization was caused by the invasion of an Indo-European tribe from Central Asia called the Aryans but later rejected by scholars?

Ans: Sir Mortimer Wheeler (1953).

10. On 11 July, heavy floods hit Haryana in India and damaged the archaeological site of Jognakhera, where ancient copper smelting were found dating back almost 5,000 years. The Indus Valley Civilization site was hit by almost 10 feet of water as the Sutlej Yamuna link canal overflowed.