Chapter – 1

Bricks, Beads, and Bones

In this post, we have given the Important Questions of Class 12 History Chapter 1 (Bricks, Beads, and Bones) in English. These Important Questions are useful for the students who are going to appear in class 12 board exams.

Board	CBSE Board, UP Board, JAC Board, Bihar Board, HBSE Board, UBSE Board, PSEB Board, RBSE Board
Textbook	NCERT
Class	Class 12
Subject	History
Chapter no.	Chapter 1
Chapter Name	(Bricks, Beads, and Bones)
Category	Class 12 History Important Questions in English
Medium	English

1 Marks Questions

Q1. Which of the following name is appropriate, Indus valley civilization or Harappan Culture?

Ans: Harappan Culture.

Q2. Which was the first site of the Indus valley civilization where this unique culture was discovered?

Ans: Harappa.

Q3. Where was evidence of ploughed field found in the Indus Valley Civilization?

Ans: Kalibangan.

Q4: Terracotta models of the plough have been found at which sites in Indus valley Civilization?

Ans: 1. Cholistan 2. Banawali = Haryana

Q5. From which traces of canals have been found in Indus valley Civilization.

Ans: Shortughai = Afganistan

Q6. Where was water reserve found in Indus valley Civilization .

Ans: Dhaulavira = Gujrat

Q7. Name any two structures which were found in the Citadel?

Ans:

1. The warehouse – in Harappa

2. The great bath – in Mohenjodaro

Q8. In Mesopotamians texts Dilmun Meluhha and Magan words are used for which centres?

Ans :

• Dilmun for Bahrain
• Meluhha for Harappa
• Magan for Oman.

Q9. The longest signs containing inscription contains how many signs?

Ans: 26 Signs

Q10. Harappa Script was written from which side?

Ans: From Right to left.

Q11: Weights were usually made of which stone in Indus valley Civilization.

Ans: Chert.

Q12. Weights were generally made in which form?

Ans: Cubical with No markings.

Q13.What was the type of the lower denomination of weights?

Ans: Binary (1,2,4,8,16, 32 upto 12,800)

Q14: what was the type of the higher denominations of weights?

Ans: Decimal System

Q15: Who was the first Director General of A. S. I.?

Ans: Cunningham.

Q16: What was the time period of Cunningham’s main interest in history?

Ans: 600 B.C.E. to 400 C. E.

Q17: Who announced the discovery of a new civilization in the Indus valley?

Ans: John Marshall.

Q.18. Who has written “The story of India Archaeology”

Ans: S.N.Roy

Q.19. Who was the first professional archaeologist to work in India?

Ans: John Marshall

Q.20. What was the new technique that was followed by R.E.M. Wheeler?

Ans: To Follow the stratigraphy of the round rather than digging horizontal lines.

Q.21 How did the Harappans obtain red colour of carnelian?

Ans: Harappans obtained red colour of carnelian by firing the yellowish raw material and beads at various stages of production.

Q.22 How do we know about the social differences among the Harappans?

Ans: By study of the structure of burials and things found from these burials. By classifying artifacts into useful and luxurious things.

Q.23 What were the animals of Harappans civilization?

Ans: Pet animals :- Cattle , Sheep , Goat , Buffalo , Pig – Wild animal: – Boar, Deer, Ghariyal.

Q.24 List the food items available to the people in Harappan civilization?

Ans: Products taken from plants; Fish and flesh; wheat, millet, pulses, rice etc.

3 Marks Questions

Q.25 Our Knowledge about the Indus Valley Civilization is poorer than that of other civilizations, why?

Ans: Because –

• We could not read the script of that age till now.
• Dependency on only archaeological sources .i.e. buildings, seal, beads etc.
• For other civilizations literary sources are available unlike Indus Valley Civilization.

Q.26 List the raw material required for craft production in Indus Valley Civilization and how these might have been obtained?

Ans: Stone -like carnelian, jasper, crystal, quartz, and steatite.

• Metal – like- copper, bronze, gold.
• Shell , faience and terracotta
• Method of procuring material for craft production-

(A)They established settlement near the source of material -eg Nageshwar, Balakot.

(B)They might have sent expeditions to areas such as the Khetri region of Rajasthan (for copper) and south India (for gold).

Q.27 What was the confusion in the mind of Cunningham while studying Harappan Civilization?

Ans:

• He used the accounts left by Chinese Buddhist pilgrims who had visited India between the fourth and seventh century.
• He thought that Indian history began with the first cities in the Ganga Valley.

Q.28 What were the differences in techniques adopted by Marshall and wheeler in studying Indus Valley Civilization.

Ans:

• Marshall tended to excavate along regular horizontal units, measured uniformly throughout the mound ignoring the stratigraphy of the site. Due to this technique valuable information about the context of these finds was irretrievably lost.
• Wheelers recognized that it was necessary to follow the stratigraphy of the mound rather than digging mechanically along uniform horizontal lines.

Q.29 What were the features of settlements of pre- Harappa period?

Ans:

• They had no large buildings.
• There was a prevalence of agriculture and cattle rearing. Some people were also engaged in sculpture.
• There was no well-planned network of roads and drainage system.

Q.30. How you can say that the people of Mohenjodaro were concerned about their privacy?

Ans:

• On the basis of residential buildings & special structures.
• The main entrance of the houses was made in such a way that it did not give a direct view of the interior or the courtyard.
• There were no windows in the walls along the ground level.

Q.31. Mention any four items found in the graves of the Harappans?

Ans: Jewellary of both men and women ornaments consisting of three shell rings, a jasper (Semi precious Stones) Beads and copper mirror.

Q.32. How you can say that there was a break between the early Harappan and the late Harappan Civilization?

Ans: There is evidence of large scale burning at some places or sites.

• The abandonment of certain settlements.
• Some drastic change we can see in town planning, drainage system and other patterns.

Q.33. Why is Harappan script considered an enigmatic script or mysterious script?

OR

What are the main characteristics of Harappan Script?

Ans:

• Because it is yet to be deciphered. Its mystery has still not been solved yet.
• It was not alphabetical. It had too many signs; all the signs symbolized certain things.
• The sign of this script were of the period 375 to 400.
• The script has been found on a variety of objects.

Q.34. Write a note on the agriculture technology of Harappans?

Ans:

• The prevalence of agriculture is indicated by finds of grains in various sites of civilization. Archaeologists have found evidence of a ploughed field at seals and terracotta sculpture indicates that the bull was known and oxen were used for ploughing.
• Two different crops were grown together.
• Canals and wells were constructed for irrigation. Traces of canals have been found in all the Harappan sites of Shortughai in Afghanistan; Water reservoirs have been found in Dhaulavira.

Q.35. How can you say that the Harappan culture was an urban one?

Ans:

• The cities were well planned into upper and lower town.
• The roads were straight and wide.
• The houses were made of burnt bricks and contained more than one storey. Every house had a well and bathroom.
• The Drainage system was excellent with house drains emptying into street drains.
• Existence of public buildings.
• Lothal had a dockyard and was an important trading Centre.

Q.36. Write a note on the drainage system of Harappa?

Ans:

• The drainage was made of mortar lime and gypsum.
• They were covered with big bricks and stones which could be lifted easily to clean the drain .
• Smaller drains from houses on both the sides were laid on the main channel.
• Pits were provided for sewage for the houses.

Q.37. Discuss the functions that may have been performed by rulers in Harppan civilization?

Ans:

• Some archaeologists say that Harappan society had no rulers and that everybody enjoyed equal status.
• Others feel there were no single ruler but several.
• Under the guidance and supervision of the rulers, plans and layout of the city were prepared.
• Big buildings, palaces, forts, tanks, wells, canals, granaries etc were constructed under the supervision of rulers.
• Roads, drains were also constructed and cleanliness was maintained under the overall supervision of ruler.
• The ruler might have taken interest in promoting the farmer to increase production and the craftsmen to promote different handicrafts
• He maintained and controlled extra ordinary uniformity of Harappa’s artefacts like – Seals, Weight and bricks.
• During foreign attack and natural disaster he used to play an active role by providing security and food,
• He used to issue common acceptable coins or seals, weight and measurements.

Q 38- Write a short note on the seals of Indus valley people.

Ans:

• More than 2000 seals have been found at the various sites.
• They are made up of various materials such as steatite, faience, ivory, pottery etc.
• They are very informative regarding dress, ornaments, hair styles etc.
• By the seals we know about the religions, commercial activities, etc.

Q 39. What do you know about trade and commerce of Indus valley civilization?

Ans:

Internal Trade:

• Was advanced Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa were main trade Centre. Heavy and small weight has been found at these sites. These are made up in the multiple of two as 1:2:4:8:16 upto 12,800.
• There was strict control on weight and measure.

International Trade:

• They had trade relation with other countries such as Egypt, Oman.
• The trade was carried both by sea and land
• Probably the metals like gold, silver, Tin and copper and precious stones were imported from the other countries,

Q 40- How did Harappan civilization come to an end?

Ans:

• Some schools have tried to explain the important causes which led to the abandonment of the mature Harappan sites by 1800 B.C. E. Some of them are as follows:-
• By Floods – It is speculated that a sudden flood might have submerged the various town and buried them under the thick layer of mud.
• Due to the change in the course of Indus River.
• Climatic change – It is also possible that there was climate change and drought took place due to deforestation.
• Earthquakes – It is also probable that the nature itself turned the whole land upside down.
• Aryan Invasion – Some scholars say that Aryans were responsible.

Value-Based Questions

Q 41:- What value do you attach to the work of Sir John Marshall in leaving India three thousand years older than he had found her?

Ans:

• He was the director general of Archaeological Survey of India
• By his effort it was proved that there existed a great civilization in India which was contemporary of Mesopotamia.
• For this great – work we attach the value of thank fullness, indebtedness

Long Answer (8 Marks)

Q.42: How do archaeologists reconstruct the past?

Ans:

• Recovering artefacts through excavation.
• Classification of finds that finds are whether tools or weapons or ornaments or both or something meant for ritual use.
• An understanding of the function of an artifact is often shaped by it resemblance with present day things. Beads, pots are obvious examples.
• Archaeologists reconstruct religious beliefs and practices by examining seals, some of which seem to depict ritual scenes
• Archaeologists often move from known to unknown that is from present to past regarding the reconstruction of religious practices.
• Remains of crops or pits are studied to identify food.
• By observing the different layers of sites they try to find out different things for the information of Socio-economic conditions, religious and cultural life of past people.
• Archaeologists also try to identify the function of an artefact by investigating the context in which it was found.
• Use of indirect evidence eg. for clothing they depend on indirect evidence like description in sculpture.

 

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