Unlock Elite Access: Level Up Your Preparation with Exclusive Content

History Optional PYQ Master Pack · Model answer

Discuss the factors that played an important role in the process of urbanisation after the Later-Vedic period.

  • UPSC 2020
  • Period of Mahajanapadas

The Harappan cities had faded out by roughly 1500 BCE, and for nearly a millennium the subcontinent knew no urban centres at all. When towns reappear in the archaeological record in the middle Gangetic basin around the sixth century BCE, historians term it the "second urbanisation" — a phenomenon distinct in origin, form and ecology…

You are reading the opening of the model answer. The full answer is part of the History Optional PYQ Master Pack.

What the full answer covers

  • Iron and the Opening of the Middle Ganga Basin
  • Wet-Rice Cultivation and the Surplus Base
  • Political Consolidation and the Rise of Territorial Kingdoms
  • Crafts, Guilds and the Monetisation of Exchange
  • Long-Distance Trade and the Written Word
  • New Urban Classes

Unlock this answer and 1,350+ more

  • 1,350+ solved UPSC History Optional PYQs from 1985 to 2025, Paper-1 and Paper-2
  • Topic-wise across Ancient, Medieval, Modern, Post-Independence and World History
  • Model answers with a clear structure and historian citations
  • Map section solutions included, at no extra cost
  • Read online on lotusarise.com, plus PDF download

₹1,499₹2,50040% off

Get History Optional PYQ Master Pack @ ₹1,499 →

One-time payment · No subscription · Instant access · UPI, cards, RuPay

See every Period of Mahajanapadas question (35 solved) →Already enrolled? Log in