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History Optional PYQ Master Pack · Model answer

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.

  • UPSC 2022
  • Indus Valley Civilization

Discovered in 1921 and pushing the Indian subcontinent's civilizational timeline back by well over a millennium beyond the Vedic age, the Harappan Civilization stands among the four great Old World urban cradles alongside Mesopotamia, Egypt, and China. Explaining how it became urban at all — rather than remaining a scatter of villages — has produced…

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What the full answer covers

  • What "Urban" Actually Requires
  • Theory One: Diffusion from Outside
  • Theory Two: A Sudden Act of Conquest
  • Theory Three: Gradual, Indigenous Evolution
  • The Ghosh-Sothi Continuity Argument
  • A Sharper Periodization

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