Find Below Extra Questions for NCERT Class 6 Social Science Chapter 6 The Beginnings of Indian Civilisation
A. Multiple Choice Questions
Choose the correct Option
1. What is meant by civilisation?
a. A group of people living in caves
b. A society with advanced culture, trade, governance, and cities
c. A group of nomadic herders
d. A kingdom ruled by a single ruler
2. Which was the earliest known civilisation in the Indian subcontinent?
a. Vedic Civilisation
b. Indus-Sarasvati Civilisation
c. Gupta Empire
d. Maurya Empire
3. Which of the following was NOT a major site of the Indus-Sarasvati Civilisation?
a. Harappa
b. Mohenjo-daro
c. Kalibangan
d. Pataliputra
4. Another name for the Indus-Sarasvati Civilisation is _______.
a. Aryan Civilisation
b. Harappan Civilisation
c. Mauryan Civilisation
d. Buddhist Civilisation
5. What material was primarily used to build houses in Harappan cities?
a. Stone
b. Wood
c. Baked bricks
d. Bamboo
6. What was the purpose of the Great Bath in Mohenjo-daro?
a. Storage of drinking water
b. Ritual bathing or religious ceremonies
c. A swimming pool for leisure
d. A reservoir for irrigation
7. Mention a notable feature of the Harappan drainage system.
a. Open drains without covers
b. Underground drains made of bricks
c. Drains made of bamboo and mud
d. No drainage system existed
8. Which of the following rivers was important for the Indus-Sarasvatī Civilisation?
a. Ganga
b. Brahmaputra
c. Sarasvatī
d. Narmada
9. What kind of writing did the Harappans use?
a. Sanskrit inscriptions
b. Brahmi script
c. Hieroglyphs
d. Pictographic script
10. What were the two major parts of a typical Harappan city?
a. Temple and palace
b. Upper town and lower town
c. Market area and royal court
d. Fortress and village
11. What is a distinctive feature of Harappan seals?
a. They were written in Sanskrit
b. They were made of gold
c. They had animal figures and inscriptions
d. They were only used for religious purposes
12. What was the main occupation of the Harappans?
a. Hunting and gathering
b. Agriculture and trade
c. Iron smelting
d. Fishing
13. What led to the decline of the Indus-Sarasvatī Civilisation?
a. Earthquake and floods
b. Invasion by Aryans
c. Environmental changes and drying up of rivers
d. All of the above
14. Where was the site of Dholavira, an important Harappan city, located?
a. Punjab
b. Rajasthan
c. Gujarat
d. Madhya Pradesh
15. With which ancient civilisation did the Harappans engaged in trade?
a. Mesopotamian Civilisation
b. Roman Civilisation
c. Greek Civilisation
d. Chinese Civilisation
16. Which of these modern Indian states had Harappan sites?
a. Assam and West Bengal
b. Haryana and Gujarat
c. Kerala and Tamil Nadu
d. Bihar and Chhattisgarh
Answers:
1. b. A society with advanced culture, trade, governance, and cities
2. b. Indus-Sarasvati Civilisation
3. d. Pataliputra
4. b. Harappan Civilisation
5. c. Baked bricks
6. b. Ritual bathing or religious ceremonies
7. b. Underground drains made of bricks
8. c. Sarasvatī
9. d. Pictographic script
10. b. Upper town and lower town
11. c. They had animal figures and inscriptions
12. b. Agriculture and trade
13. c. Environmental changes and drying up of rivers
14. c. Gujarat
15. a. Mesopotamian Civilisation
16. b. Haryana and Gujarat
B. Fill in the Blanks with words provided in the box below:
| fortifications | collective | streets | construction | water |
| cardinal | warehouses | cleanliness | elite | Individual |
1. The larger Harappan cities had wide ______ which were often oriented in ________ directions.
2. Most cities seem to have _________ and had two distinct parts – the upper town where the local __________ lived and the lower town where common people lived.
3. Some large buildings seem to have been used for_______ purposes – for instance ________ where goods to be transported were stored.
4. _________houses of various sizes lined the streets and smaller lanes. The quality of ________ was the same for small and big houses.
5. The Harappans gave much importance to _____ management and __________.
Answers:
1. The larger Harappan cities had wide streets which were often oriented in cardinal directions.
2. Most cities seem to have fortifications and had two distinct parts – the upper town where the local elite lived and the lower town where common people lived.
3. Some large buildings seem to have been used for collective purposes – for instance warehouses where goods to be transported were stored.
4. Individual houses of various sizes lined the streets and smaller lanes. The quality of construction was the same for small and big houses.
5. The Harappans gave much importance to water management and cleanliness.
C. Match the words in column A with those in Column B
| A | B |
| Steatite | Animal not depicted on Harappan seals |
| Horse | A special tank in Mohenjo-daro used for ritual bathing |
| Lothal | Harappan city with the world’s earliest known water conservation system |
| Great Bath | Material used to make Harappan seals |
| Dholavira | Evidence of a dockyard found here |
Answer:
| A | B |
| Steatite | Material used to make Harappan seals |
| Horse | Animal not depicted on Harappan seals |
| Lothal | Evidence of a dockyard found there |
| Great Bath | A special tank in Mohenjo-daro used for ritual bathing |
| Dholavira | Harappan city with the world’s earliest known water conservation system |
D. State whether the following statements are TRUE or FALSE:
1. The Harappans used cotton for making textiles before any other ancient civilization.
2. Harappan pottery was plain and had no decorative patterns.
3. Archaeologists have found stone weights that suggest the Harappans followed a standard measurement system.
4. The Harappans designed many games toys to keep both the adults and children amused.
5. The Harappans do not seem to have kept any army or weapons of war; as far as the evidence goes, it seems to have been a relatively peaceful civilization.
Answer:
1. True
2. False – Harappan pottery was often embellished with geometric patterns and animal motifs.
3. True
4. True
5. True
E. Short Answer Type Questions:
1. Name two important cities that grew on the banks of the Indus.
Answer:
Mohenjo-daro and Harappa are two cities that grew on the banks of the river Indus.
2. Name two major cities which were in the Saraswati basin:
Answer:
Rakhigari in Haryana and Ganweriwala in the Cholistan desert of Pakistan are two major cities in the Saraswati basin.
3. In which text is the Saraswati River first mentioned?
Answer:
The Saraswati River is first mentioned in the Rig Veda.
4. How is Saraswati worshipped in the Rig Veda?
Answer:
In the Rig Veda, Saraswati is worshipped both as a goddess and as a river flowing ‘from the mountain to the sea’.
5. By which names is the river Saraswati known as now?
Answer:
The Saraswati, which is now known as Ghaggar in India and Hakra in Pakistan, is a seasonal river because it flows only during the rainy season.
6. What was the primary building material used in Harappan cities?
Answer:
Burnt bricks were the primary building materialused in Harappan cities.
7. How is the layout of Dholavira different from that of other Harappan cities?
Answer:
Dholavira has three distinct zones unlike other cities which have two parts.
8. What is the most remarkable aspect of Dholavira?
Answer:
Dholavira had an efficient water harvesting and distribution system with six large reservoirs built with stones or cut into rock which were interconnected through underground drains.
9. What do archaeological findings tell us about the crops cultivated by the Harappans?
Answer:
Archaeological findings have shown that Harappans grew cereals like barley, wheat, some millets, and some rice, as well as pulses and a variety of vegetables. They also were the first in Eurasia to grow cotton.
10. What did the Harappans do with the cotton that they grew?
Answer:
They used to weave the cotton into cloth.
11. What tools did the Harappans make?
Answer:
The Harappans made their own farming tools including the plough.
12. How do we know that the Harappans domesticated a number of animals and fished in the rivers?
Answer:
The large number of animal and fish bones found during excavations suggest that they domesticated animals for meat consumption and fished both in rivers and in the sea.
13. What did scientific examinations of clay cooking pots reveal about their diet?
Answer:
Scientific examination of clay cooking pots revealed that the Harappans also consumed dairy products as well as turmeric, ginger and banana.
14. With whom did the Harappans engage in trade?
Answer:
The Harappans engaged in active trade not only within their own civilisation, but also with other civilisations and cultures outside India.
15. What did they export?
Answer:
They exported ornaments, timber, some objects of daily use, probably also gold and cotton and some food items.
16. What were the most popular ornaments?
Answer:
The most favoured ornaments were beads of carnelian, a reddish semiprecious stone found in Gujarat, which were drilled expertly by Harappan craftspeople and strung in various attractive ways.
17. What ornaments did the Harappans make with conch shells?
Answer:
The Harappan craftspeople used sophisticated techniques to fashion the hard conch shells into beautiful bangles.
18. What do we know about the things that the Harappans imported in exchange of the goods exported by them?
Answer:
They probably imported copper since the metal was not readily available then.
19. Which trade routes did the Harappans use to reach other civilisations?
Answer:
To conduct trade, the Harappans used land routes, rivers and the sea.
20. What does the presence of a dockyard at Lothal indicate?
Answer:
It shows that Harappans engaged in maritime trade.
21. How did the Harappans make bronze and how was the new metal used?
Answer:
The Harappans added tin to copper to make a new metal called bronze which is a harder than copper. Tools like chisels, pots and pans and some figurines were made of bronze.
22. How do we know that Harappans had knowledge of weights and measures?
Answer:
Stone weights and marked measuring tools have been found at sites which tell us that the Harappans had knowledge of weights and measures.
23. Why do some scholars believe that Harappans had a well-organized administration?
Answer:
The uniformity in city planning and standardized weights suggest central control.
24. What kind of toy artifacts have been found at Harappan sites?
Answer:
Small carts, animal figurines, and spinning tops, games board engraved on stone have been discovered.
25. What unique feature of Harappan seals suggests they were used for trade?
Answer:
Seals often had animal motifs and a few signs that are part of the writing system, possibly indicating ownership or trademarks which suggest that they were used for trade.
26. Which city is known for its elaborate drainage system?
Answer:
Mohenjo-daro is famous for its covered drains and sanitation system.
27. What indicates that the Harappans had knowledge of irrigation?
Answer:
Canals and wells found at excavation sites suggest that The Harappans had knowledge of water management and irrigation.
28. What was the shape of Harappan seals?
Answer:
The seals were mostly square or rectangular, with intricate carvings.
29. What happened to the Harappan civilization around 1900 BCE?
Answer:
It declined, possibly due to climate change, floods, or river shifting.
30. Which animals are most commonly depicted on Harappan seals?
Answer:
Unicorn-like creatures, bulls, elephants, and rhinoceroses are mostly found on Harappan seals.
31. What do you understand by metallurgy?
Answer:
Metallurgy includes the process of extracting metals from nature, purifying or combining them, as well as scientific study of metals and their properties.
32. When did civilisation begin in Mesopotamia?
Answer:
The civilisation of Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq and Syria) began about 6000 years ago.
33. During which period did the Indus-Saraswati civilisation flourish?
Answer:
The Indus-Saraswati Civilisation flourished during the period from 2600 to 1900 BCE.
34. What is the significance of the dancing girl figurine found in Mohenjo-daro?
Answer:
It demonstrates that Harappans made bronze statues and had an artistic culture.
35. What was the main reason for the decline of the Harappan civilization?
Answer:
Possible reasons for the decline of the Harappan civilisation include climate change, floods, or the shifting of rivers.
Hope the solutions to Extra Questions for NCERT Class 6 Social Science 6 The Beginnings of Indian Civilisation provided above were helpful! Good luck!
