CBSE Questions for Class 8 General Knowledge Ancient Indian History Quiz 4 - MCQExams.com

It would be completely wrong if we say that Harappan economy was DEPENDENT on imports from West Asia. The trade was not limited to West Asia, they traded with South Asia and Central Asia. They also traded with few African civilizations such as Egypt.
The trade networks of Indus Valley Civilization had covered portions of Afghanistan, coastal regions of Persia, Northern and Western India and Mesopotamia. It was also extended to Crete and Egypt.

• Seals of Mesopotamia were found from Mohenjo-Daro & Kalibangan sites.
• Seals were cylindrical in shape with carvings on them. They have a small hole in the center of the cylinder which is used to make marks on a soft material like clay.
• The seal from Kalibangan showed two warriors throwing a spear at each other and a woman is holding both of their hands.Later the woman's body was merged with a tiger like a half tiger and half woman. 

Indus valley civilization lacks any monumental palaces, even though they had the engineering knowledge. The religious ceremonies were largely confined to individual homes or small temples or in the open air. Though the religious elements were present, there are no pieces of evidence of religious dominance in any discovered settlement.

According to Marshall, the use of cotton for textiles was exclusively restricted to India during Indus Valley Civilization period and was not extended to the western world until 2000 or 3000 years late.

• Amethyst is a precious stone consisting of a violet or purple variety of quartz. It was found in Maharashtra during the harappan times.
  
• Lead was from Kashmir.
• Conch is a tropical marine mollusc with a robust spiral shell which may bear long projections and have a flared lip. Conch was found from Saurashtra during harappan era.
• Turquoise is a semi-precious stone, typically opaque and of a greenish-blue or sky-blue colour, consisting of a hydrated phosphate of copper and aluminium. It was from Persia.
• Jade is a hard, typically green stone used for ornaments and implements and consisting of the minerals jadeite or nephrite. It was found in Persia during harappan times.
  

• Manda- It was discovered in 1976. It is the northern most site of harappan civilization. This site was used to collect wood for the harappan people.
• Daimabad- It was discovered in 1958. It is the southern most site of harappan civilization. Many bronze goods were recovered from this site,
• Sutkagendor- This is the trading post located in the Baluchistan area bordering Iran(current map of the world). This trading post was supporting the trade with Persian gulf.
  
• Alamgirpur- It was discovered in 1959. This site shows the presence of Harappan civilization to the east of Yamuna river.
  

• Lothal & Kalibangan - Fire altars were found here in forts & residences.
• There were platforms in residences which used to support the fire altars.
• The altars were arranged in a row and there were stairs to access those fire altars.

The second point is correct and the answer is not present in the given multiple choice answers.

1. They possessed great palaces and temples.
The 1st statement is the wrong statement.

No temples or religious places have been discovered from Harappan cities.
No building has been discovered at any Harappan site that can be positively identified as a temple, but the Great Bath at Mohenjodaro may have been used for ritual purposes

2. They worshiped both male and female deities.
The 2nd statement is the correct statement.

They worshipped Mother Goddess as a symbol of fertility, as suggested by figurines resembling female deity.

They worshipped Shiva, as suggested by a seal with a male figure sitting in a yogic posture with a trident-like headgear, surrounded by animals, which has a lot of similarities with Shiva.

Another seal with carvings of a seated figure of a male god suggests the traditional image of Pasupati Mahadeva.

3. They employed horse-drawn chariots in warfare.

The 3rd statement is the wrong statement.

According to Indus seals, domesticated animals were mostly goats, buffaloes, oxen, elephants, dogs, and camels, but Harappans were not familiar with the horse.

According to the stockbreeding section of TMH general studies manual, chapter history of India, page 7, the camel was rare and the horse was probably not known to the Harappans.