In the Earliest Cities: NCERT Exercise Solution
Question 1: Match Columns
| Column I | Column II |
|---|---|
| (a) Copper | (1) Gujarat |
| (b) Gold | (2) Afghanistan |
| (c) Tin | (3) Rajasthan |
| (d) Precious stones | (4) Karnataka |
Answer: (a) 3, (b) 4, (c) 2, (d) 1
Question 2: How do archaeologists know that cloth was used in the Harappan civilisation?
Answer: Archaeologists have found spindles from the excavation sites. Presence of spindles shows that people knew how to make cloths. This shows that people in the Harappan Civilization used cloth.
Question 3: Why were metals, writing, the wheel, and the plough important for the Harappans?
Answer: Metals, writing, the wheel and the plough were important for the Harappans in many ways. Metals were used for making various tools, utensils, jewelry and seals. Writing was useful for maintaining the records; related to trade and for various other purposes. The wheel was used in carts to ferry people and goods. Wheel was also used as potter’s wheel. Plough was used for tilling the land so that farming could be done.
Question 4: Make a list of all the terracotta toys shown in the lesson. Which do you think children would have enjoyed playing with the most?
Answer: Animal figures, model cart and plough are some of the terracotta toys mentioned in this lesson. I think, children would have liked playing with the model cart the most. Even today; most of the children enjoy playing with toy cars.
Question 5: Make a list of what the Harappans ate, and put a tick mark against the things you eat today.
Answer: The people of Harappa ate various kinds of grains (rice, wheat, barley, pulses, mustard, etc.), fruits (ber), fish, meat and milk. Most of these things we eat even today. At present; we eat rice, wheat, pulses, fish, meat and milk. Barley is used barely by us.
Question 6: Do you think that the life of farmers and herders who supplied food to the Harappan cities was different from that of the farmers and herders you read about in Chapter 3? Give reasons for your answer.
Answer: In chapter 3; discussion is mainly on rural people. But in this chapter, the discussion is mainly on urban people. In both the cases; farmers and herders did the same type of work. But their group was much bigger in case of the Harappan cities. Their work could have been more organized; compared to what it was in earlier societies. Farmers and herders (in previous chapter) mainly produced for their own use. But in case of the Harappan cities; the farmers and herders sold their surplus production.
Extra Questions:
Question 1: What is another name for the Indus Valley Civilization?
Answer: Harappan Civilization
Question 2: Which was the first earliest city to be excavated in the Indian subcontinent?
Answer: Harappa
Question 3: Kalibangan is in which modern state of India?
Answer: Rajasthan
Question 4: Till date, how many sites of the Harappan Civilization have been discovered?
Answer: 150
Question 5: Name some metals which were used in the Indus Valley Civilization.
Answer: Copper, tin, gold
Question 6: Name some grains which were grown during the Indus Valley Civilization.
Answer: Rice, wheat, barley, pulses, linseed, mustard
Question 7: What was the possible use of the Great Bath which has been found at the excavation site of Harappa?
Answer: The Great Bath was possibly used by the rich people for ritual bath.
Question 8: How can you say that farming was being done in Harappa?
Answer: Historians have found a toy plough. This indicates that plough was being used for tilling the land. A large granary had been found and several huge utensils have been found. These must have been used for storing grains. These proofs indicate that farming was being done in Harappa.
Question 9: How can you say that people of Harappa knew how to write?
Answer: Historians have found many seals. These seals have written scripts on them. This shows that people of Harappa knew how to write.
Question 10: What were the possible reasons for the decline of the Harappan cities?
Answer: Some of the possible reasons for the decline of the Harappan cities are as follows:
- There is a possibility that the rivers dried up. It forced people to move to some other places.
- There were too many brick kilns and furnaces. It may have damaged the environment. This would have led to deforestation. Lack of green cover may have forced people to move to some other places.
- Overgrazing by cattle and sheep may also have resulted in loss of forests. This would have led to desertification, i.e. formation of desert.
- There is also a possibility of large scale epidemic or natural calamity. It could have wiped off a major portion of the population.