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History Optional PYQ Master Pack · Model answer

The decline of Harappan civilization was caused by ecological degradation rather than external invasion. Discuss.

  • UPSC 2015
  • Indus Valley Civilization

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For much of the twentieth century, the end of the Harappan civilization was explained through a dramatic narrative of conquest — an Aryan invasion that swept away a mature urban order. Later archaeological and palaeoclimatic research has steadily eroded that narrative, replacing it with a slower, less cinematic but far better evidenced story of environmental…

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

  • The Aryan Invasion Thesis and Its Original Evidentiary Basis
  • The Unraveling of the Invasion Case
  • Fairservis's Ecological Imbalance Thesis
  • The Monsoon-Weakening and Saraswati Desiccation Model
  • Weighing the Two Explanations
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History Optional PYQ Master Pack

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