**What is a Civilisation?**
An advanced society with: government, cities (urbanism), crafts, trade (internal and external), writing, art and culture, and productive agriculture.
**Key Dates and Names:**
**Major Harappan Cities:**
Mohenjo-daro, Harappa (Pakistan), Dholavira (Gujarat), Rakhigarhi (Haryana), Kalibangan (Rajasthan), Lothal (Gujarat)
**Geography:**
Fertile plains of Punjab, Sindh, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Gujarat watered by Indus and Sarasvatī rivers → Good for farming → Villages grew to cities.
**Town Planning Features:**
**First Urbanisation of India:**
Transition from villages (3500 BCE) → towns → cities (2600 BCE).
**Key Terms:**
Metallurgy = extracting and studying metals. Tributary = river flowing into a larger river.
**Diagrams to Remember:** Map of Indus basin with rivers and city locations; city layout with fortifications, streets, and divided sections.
**Don't Confuse:** Harappan (ancient people) ≠ Haryana (modern state). Sarasvatī (ancient river) ≠ Ghaggar-Hakra (its modern dry form).
Q1. Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of a civilisation?
Answer: C — Civilisations need productive agriculture, not hunting and gathering; all other options are characteristics of civilisation listed in the chapter.
Q2. The Indus-Sarasvatī civilisation existed from approximately _____ BCE.
Answer: B — The chapter clearly states that the civilisation flourished from about 2600 to 1900 BCE, marking the First Urbanisation of India.
Q3. Why is the earliest Indian civilisation called 'Harappan'?
Answer: B — The textbook explains that archaeologists named it 'Harappan' because Harappa was the first city of this civilisation to be discovered and excavated over a century ago.
Q4. Which two rivers were most important for the growth of the Harappan civilisation?
Answer: C — The chapter states that the Indus River with its tributaries and the Sarasvatī River watered the fertile plains where Harappan cities grew.
Q5. The transition from villages to cities in the Indian Subcontinent is called the _____.
Answer: B — The textbook explicitly refers to this development as 'First Urbanisation of India,' occurring around 2600 BCE when towns grew into cities.
Q6. Looking at the map (Fig. 6.3), which modern state is Dholavira located in?
Answer: C — The chapter and the map clearly show that Dholavira, one of the major Harappan cities, is located in present-day Gujarat.
Q7. What does 'metallurgy' mean in the context of Harappan civilisation?
Answer: B — The textbook defines metallurgy as techniques of extracting metals from nature, purifying or combining them, and the scientific study of metals and their properties.
Q8. If a smaller river joins a larger river, the smaller river is called a _____.
Answer: B — The chapter defines a tributary as a river that flows into a larger river, giving the example of Yamuna flowing into the Ganga.
Q9. Based on the Harappan city layout, where did the common people likely live?
Answer: B — The text states that Harappan cities had two distinct parts: the 'upper town' where the local elite lived and the 'lower town' where common people lived.
Q10. The modern name of the ancient Sarasvatī River in Pakistan is _____.
Answer: C — The chapter explains that the Sarasvatī River is now called Ghaggar in India and Hakra in Pakistan, and flows only during the rainy season.
What is a civilisation?
An advanced stage of human society with government, cities, writing, trade, crafts, agriculture, and cultural ideas working together.
Name the earliest civilisation of the Indian Subcontinent.
The Indus-Sarasvatī (or Harappan) civilisation, which existed from about 2600 to 1900 BCE.
Why is this civilisation called 'Harappan'?
Because Harappa was the first city of this civilisation to be discovered and excavated in 1920–21.
Which two rivers made the region fertile for the Harappan civilisation?
The Indus River (with its tributaries) and the Sarasvatī River provided water for farming in the plains of Punjab, Sindh, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Gujarat.
What is meant by 'First Urbanisation of India'?
The transition from villages to towns and cities that happened around 2600 BCE in the Indus region, marking the beginning of city life in India.
Name three major cities of the Harappan civilisation.
Mohenjo-daro and Harappa (in Pakistan) and Dholavira (in Gujarat) are three important Harappan cities.
What was special about the town planning in Harappan cities?
Cities were built with wide streets facing cardinal directions, had drainage systems, fortifications, and were divided into upper town (for the elite) and lower town (for common people).
What is metallurgy?
Metallurgy includes techniques of extracting metals from nature, purifying or combining them, and studying metals and their properties.
What is a tributary river?
A smaller river that flows into a larger river, such as the Yamuna flowing into the Ganga.
What happened to the Sarasvatī River over time?
The ancient Sarasvatī River gradually dried up and now flows only during the rainy season as the Ghaggar River in India and Hakra River in Pakistan.
What is a civilisation? (1 mark) [1 mark]
List the seven key characteristics: government, cities, crafts, trade, writing, culture, and agriculture. Pick any two or three main ones for a 1-mark answer.
Why was the ancient Indus civilisation called 'Harappan'? (1 mark) [1 mark]
Focus on: Harappa was the first city discovered and excavated in 1920–21. That's why archaeologists named the entire civilisation after it.
Name any three characteristics of Harappan civilisation. (2 marks) [2 marks]
Choose three from: planned cities with wide streets, drainage systems, fortifications, two-part town layout (upper and lower), warehouses, writing system, or trade networks.
Explain how the fertile river plains helped the growth of Harappan cities. Give one example. (3 marks) [3 marks]
Link: Indus and Sarasvatī rivers → water and fertile soil → good farming → extra food → people moved to cities → trade and crafts grew. Example: Dholavira grew near water sources for farming and trade.
Describe the town planning of a major Harappan city like Mohenjo-daro or Dholavira. (5 marks) [5 marks]
Explain: precise plan with wide streets facing cardinal directions (N-S-E-W), fortifications around city, two sections (upper town for elite, lower town for common people), drainage systems, warehouses, and water management. Draw a simple diagram if possible.
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