CLASS-VII
- WRITE A SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 1 AND 2 OF YOUR HISTORY TEXTBOOK.
- SHOW THE FOLLOWING PLACES ON THE POLITICAL MAP OF INDIA. SURAT, AJMER, MASULIPATNAM, THANJAVUR AND HAMPI.
- WRITE DIFFERENT MEANS OF TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATION AND PASTE THEIR IMAGES.
- WRITE ABOUT DEMOCRACY, MONARCHY AND DICTATORSHIP.
- WHERE THE WATER YOU USE IN YOUR HOME AND SCHOOL COME FROM? MAKE A LIST OF DIFFERENT USES OF WATER IN OUR DAILY LIFE. (CCT BASED qUESTION)
- Read the given information and answer the following questions. (CCT BASED qUESTION)
Indus Valley Civilization
Indus civilization, also called Indus valley civilization or Harappan civilization, the earliest known urban culture of the Indian subcontinent. The nuclear dates of the civilization appear to be about 2500–1700 BC.
The civilization was first identified in 1921 at Harappa in the Punjab region and then in 1922 at Mohenjo-daro (Mohenjodaro), near the Indus River in the Sindh (Sind) region. Both sites are in present-day Pakistan, in Punjab and Sindh provinces, respectively. The ruins of Mohenjo-daro were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1980.
The Indus civilization is known to have consisted of two large cities, Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, and more than 100 towns and villages, often of relatively small size. The two cities were each perhaps originally about 1 mile (1.6 km) square in overall dimensions, and their outstanding magnitude suggests political centralization, either in two large states or in a single great empire with alternative capitals, a practice having analogies in Indian history. It is also possible that Harappa succeeded Mohenjo-daro, which is known to have been devastated more than once by exceptional floods. The southern region of the civilization, on the Kathiawar Peninsula and beyond, appears to be of later origin than the major Indus sites. The civilization was literate, and its script, with some 250 to 500 characters, has been partly and tentatively deciphered; the language has been indefinitely identified as Dravidian.
The civilization subsisted primarily by farming, supplemented by an appreciable but often elusive commerce. Wheat and six-row barley were grown; field peas, mustard, sesame, and a few date stones have also been found, as well as some of the earliest known traces of cotton. Domesticated animals included dogs and cats, humped and shorthorn cattle, domestic fowl, and possibly pigs, camels, and buffalo. The Asian elephant probably was also domesticated, and its ivory tusks were freely used. The best-known artifacts of the Indus civilization are a number of small seals, generally made of steatite (a form of talc), which are distinctive in kind and unique in quality, depicting a wide variety of animals, both real—such as elephants, tigers, rhinoceros, and antelopes—and fantastic, often composite creatures. Sometimes human forms are included. A few examples of Indus stone sculpture have also been found, usually small and representing humans or gods. There are great numbers of small terra-cotta figures of animals and humans.
How and when the civilization came to an end remains uncertain. In fact, no uniform ending need be postulated for a culture so widely distributed. But the end of Mohenjo-daro is known and was dramatic and sudden. Mohenjo-daro was attacked toward the middle of the 2nd millennium BC by raiders who swept over the city. The episode would appear to be consistent in time and place with the earlier invaders from the north (formerly called Aryans) into the Indus region as reflected in the older books of the Rigveda, in which the newcomers are represented as attacking the “walled cities” or “citadels” of the aboriginal peoples and the invaders’ war-god Indra as rending forts “as age consumes a garment.”
Read the passage above and answer the following questions.
Q1. The seals or stamps used in Harappa civilization was made of which material?
Q2. Name the crops grown in Harappa civilization?
Q3. What is the reason behind the end of this civilization?
Q4. Which city of this civilization recognized as UNESCO world heritage?
Q5. How many characters used in Harappan script?