Describe some of the distinctive features of Mohenjodaro.
Harappa as a planned urban centre. It had two parts. One part of the city was small. It was built on a higher place.
The second part was comparatively large. It was built on a lower floor. The first part was designed as a citadel and the second part was as a lower town. The citadel owed its height to the fact that it was built on mud brick platforms. It had walls on all sides and these walls were separated from the lower town. The
Lower Town: It was also a walled town. Most of the buildings were built on platforms. In fact, these platforms were considered as foundation stones. It required a huge quantity of labour to build these platforms. It is obvious that settlement was first planned and then implemented as per the building plan. Quality of sun-dried bricks or baked bricks also prove the concept of planning.
All the bricks were of standard ratio. The length and width was four times and twice the height of the bricks respectively. These bricks were used in the settlements of the Harappan Civilisation.
Drainage System: The drainage system was well planned. All the roads and streets were laid out on a grid pattern. They intersected one another at the right angles. It seems that streets featuring drains were laid out first and houses were built thereafter along with them. To make the flow of domestic water, every house had at least one wall along the street.
The Citadel: There were many buildings in the citadel. These buildings were used for many special public purposes. The Warehouse and the Great Bath were the two most important constructions.
Look at Fig. 1.30 and describe what you see. How is the body placed? What are the objects placed near it? Are there any artefacts on the body? Do these indicate the sex of the skeleton?
On Map 1, use a pencil to circle sites where evidence of agriculture has been recovered. Mark an X against sites where there is evidence of craft production and R against sites where raw materials were found.
List the materials used to make beads in the Harappan civilisation. Describe the process by which any one kind of bead was made.
List the items of food available to people in Harappan cities. Identify the groups who would have provided these.
Discuss how archaeologists reconstruct the past.
List the raw materials required for craft production in the Harappan civilisation and discuss how these might have been obtained.
How do archaeologists trace socio-economic differences in Harappan society? What are the differences that they notice?
Discuss the functions that may have been performed by rulers in Harappan society.
Would you agree that the drainage system in Harappan cities indicates town planning? Give reasons for your answer.
Discuss the evidence of craft production in Early Historic cities. In what ways is this different from the evidence from Harappan cities?
Explain why patriliny may have been particularly important among elite families.
Were the ideas of the Upanishadic thinkers different from those of the fatalists and materialists? Give reasons for your answer.
Describe the salient features of mahajanapadas.
Discuss whether kings in early states were invariably Kshatriyas.
Summarise the central teachings of Jainism.
How do historians reconstruct the lives of ordinary people?
Compare and contrast the dharma or norms mentioned in the stories of Drona, Hidimba and Matanga.
Discuss the role of the begums of Bhopal in preserving the stupa at Sanchi.
Compare and contrast the list of things given to the Pandyan chief (Source 3) with those produced in the village of Danguna (Source 8). Do you notice any similarities or differences?
Why do you think women and men joined the sangha?
To what extent were agricultural practices transformed in the period under consideration?
Compare and contrast the list of things given to the Pandyan chief (Source 3) with those produced in the village of Danguna (Source 8). Do you notice any similarities or differences?
Read this short inscription and answer:
In the year 33 of the maharaja Huvishka (a Kushana ruler), in the first month of the hot season on the eighth day, a Bodhisatta was set up at Madhuvanaka by the bhikkhuni Dhanavati, the sister’s daughter of the bhikkhuni Buddhamita, who knows the Tipitaka, the female pupil of the bhikkhu Bala, who knows the Tipitaka, together with her father and mother.
(a) How did Dhanavati date her inscription?
(b) Why do you think she installed an image of the Bodhisatta?
(c) Who were the relatives she mentioned?
(d) What Buddhist text did she know?
(e) From whom did she learn this text?
Discuss the notions of kingship that developed in the post-Mauryan period.
This is a statement made by one of the best-known epigraphists of the twentieth century, D.C. Sircar: “There is no aspect of life, culture and activities of the Indians that is not reflected in inscriptions.” Discuss.
Discuss the development in sculpture and architecture associated with the rise of Vaishnavism and Shaivism.
Discuss the evidence of craft production in Early Historic cities. In what ways is this different from the evidence from Harappan cities?
How do historians reconstruct the lives of ordinary people?
Discuss the main features of Mauryan administration. Which of these elements are evident in the Asokan inscriptions that you have studied?