Question

Which of the following characterizes/characterize the people of the Indus Civilization?

1. They possessed great palaces and temples.

2. They worshipped both male and female deities.

3. They employed horse-drawn chariots in warfare.

Select the correct statement/statements using the codes given below.

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 2 only
3. 1, 2 and 3
4. None of the statements given above is correct

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 2 : 2 only

The correct answer is 2 only.

• No building has been discovered at any Harappan site that can be positively identified as a temple, but the Great Bath at Mohenjo-Daro may have been used for ritual purposes.
  • ​Hence statement 1 is not correct.
• Figurines resembling a female deity have been found.
  • They suggest the worship of Mother Goddess.
  • A seal with a male figure sitting in a logical posture with a trident-like headgear, surrounded by animals, has been found.
  • This has a lot of similarities with Shiva.
    • From this, it is figured that the Harappans might be worshipping Shiva.
  • Clay figures of the Mother Goddess, worshipped by the people as a symbol of fertility, have been found.
  • A seated figure of a male god, carved on a small stone seal, has also been found.
  • The scene immediately brings to mind the traditional image of Pasupati Mahadeva.
  • In addition to these, we come across numerous symbols of the phallus and female sex organs made of stone, which may have been objects of worship.
  • ​Hence statement 2 is correct.
• On the basis of the Indus seals, it can be said that a large number of animals including goats, buffaloes, oxen, elephants, dogs, and camels were domesticated.
  • Hence statement 3 is not correct.
• Hence option 2 is correct.

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• The history of India begins with the birth of the Indus Valley Civilization (IVC), also known as the Harappan Civilization.
• It flourished around 2,500 BC, in the western part of South Asia, in contemporary Pakistan and Western India.
• The Indus Valley was home to the largest of the four ancient urban civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, and China.
• In the 1920s, the Archaeological Department of India carried out excavations in the Indus valley wherein the ruins of the two old cities, viz. Mohenjodaro and Harappa were unearthed.
• In 1924, John Marshall, Director-General of the ASI, announced the discovery of a new civilization in the Indus valley to the world.
• But the Harappans seem not to have been familiar with the horse.