Origin, date, extent, characteristics, decline, survival and significance, art and architecture.

PYQs: Indus Valley Civilization (1985-2026)

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Year	Question	Answer
2026	"Harappan architecture reflects an integrated vision of environmental adaptation, technological rationality and urban aesthetics, going beyond functionality." Examine the statement.
2025	"The Harappans were not an artistic people." Comment.	View answer
2024	Harappan art contributes to our understanding of their aesthetic sensibilities in addition to spiritual and ritualistic life. Comment.	View answer
2023	The Indus-Saraswati cultural zone exhibited both homogeneity and diversity. Discuss.	View answer
2022	The urban character of the Harappan Civilization was a result of neither of any outside influence nor a sudden act but a gradual evolution of regional socio-economic factors. Comment.	View answer
2021	Do you agree that ecological factors influenced the flow and ebb of the Harappan Civilization? Comment.	View answer
2019	Did the mastery over agriculture act as a leverage for the rise of Harappan towns and cities? Discuss.	View answer
2018	"Archaeological evidence does not give direct access to the possible social and political dimensions of the decline of the Harappan civilization. What it does indicate very clearly is that the Harappan culture underwent a gradual process of deurbanization" ? Comment.	View answer
2016	Explain why the majority of the known Harappan settlements are located in the semi-arid areas with saline groundwater.	View answer
2015	The decline of Harappan civilization was caused by ecological degradation rather than external invasion. Discuss.	View answer
2014	Do you think the Harappan civilization had a diversity of subsistence base?	View answer
2013	Discuss the water management and its conservation planning in the Harappan (Indus-Saraswati) cities.	View answer
2012	Evaluate the significance of seals and sealings in the reconstruction of socioeconomic and religious life of the Harappan people.	View answer
2008	Discuss the distribution and significance of farming cultures outside the Indus system.	View answer
2002	Analyse the elements of urban civilization in the Harappan Culture. What factors were responsible for its decline?	View answer
1999	Discuss salient features of the Indus Valley Civilization. Mention important places from where relics of civilization have been recovered so far. Examine causes of its decline.	View answer
1997	“The continuity of the Indus Civilization into later ages was not confined to the religious and spiritual fields alone.” Analyse the statement.	View answer
1996	Write brief essay on: The Religion of the Indus Civilization.	View answer
1994	Discuss the pattern of trade during the Indus Valley civilization. How far did it affect the nature of contemporary settlements in the Indian sub-continent?	View answer
1993	Write brief essay: The burial customs in the Indus Civilization.	View answer
1991	Write brief essay on External trade of the Harappans.	View answer
1988	“The Indus Civilization had an abrupt end.” Discuss the statement and explain how the Indus Civilization could influence Indian culture in its later history.	View answer
1986	'On circumstantial evidence Indra stands convicted.' Explain, and discuss briefly different views about a sudden end of the Indus Valley civilization. How would you explain the presence of those elements in Indian culture and civilization which are found to have existed in the Indus Valley period?	View answer