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Read the following passage carefully.

1. The name ‘Bharata’ is used as a designation for the country in our constitution referencing the ancient mythological emperor, Bharata, whose story is told, in part, in the Indian epic Mahabharata. According to the writings known as the Puranas, Bharata conquered the whole sub-continent of India and ruled the land in peace and harmony. The land was, therefore, known as Bharatavarsha. Homonid activity in the Indian sub-continent stretches back over 250,000 years and it is, therefore, one of the oldest inhabited regions on the planet.

2. Archaeological excavations have discovered artifacts used by early humans, including stone tools, which suggest an extremely early date for human habitation and technology in the area. While the civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt have long been recognized for their celebrated contributions to civilization, India has often been overlooked, especially in the West, though her history and culture is just as rich. 

3. The areas of present-day India, Pakistan, and Nepal have provided archaeologists and scholars with the richest sites of the most ancient pedigree. The species Homo heidelbergensis (a proto human who was an ancestor of modern Homo sapiens) inhabited the sub-continent of India centuries before humans migrated into the region known as Europe. Evidence of the existence of Homo heidelbergensis was first discovered in Germany in 1907 and, since, further discoveries have established fairly clear migration patterns of this species out of Africa. Recognition of the antiquity of their presence in India has been largely due to the fairly late archaeological interest in the area as, unlike work in Mesopotamia and Egypt,

Western excavations in India did not begin in earnest until the 1920’s CE. Though the ancient city of Harappa was known to exist as early as 1842 CE, its archaeological significance was ignored and the later excavations corresponded to an interest in locating the probable sites referred to in the great Indian epics Mahabharata and Ramayana (both of the 5th or 4th centuries BCE) while ignoring the possibility of a much more ancient past for the region. The village of Balathal (near Udaipur in Rajasthan), to cite only one example, illustrates the antiquity of India’s history as it dates to 4000 BCE. Balathal was not discovered until 1962 CE. 

4. Archaeological excavations in the past fifty years have dramatically changed the understanding of India’s past and, by extension, world history. A 4000 year-old skeleton discovered at Balathal in 2009 CE provides the oldest evidence of leprosy in India. Prior to this find, leprosy was considered a much younger disease thought to have been carried from Africa to India at some point and then from India to Europe by the army of Alexander the Great following his death in 323 BCE. It is now understood that significant human activity was underway in India by the Holocene Period (10,000 years ago) and that many historical assumptions based upon earlier work in Egypt and Mesopotamia, need to be reviewed and revised. The beginnings of the Vedic tradition in India, still practised today, can now be dated, at least in part, to the indigenous people of ancient sites such as Balathal rather than, as often claimed, wholly to the Aryan invasion of c. 1500 BC. —By Joshua J. Mark (published on 13 November 2012)

I. On the basis of your understanding of the passage, answer the following questions by choosing the most appropriate option.

(a) Homoheidelbergensis originally lived in : 

1. India. 

2. Pakistan. 

3. Nepal. 

4. Africa. 

(b) The example of the village of Balathal in para 3 is used to make the point that : 

1. it dates back to 4000 BCE. 

2. it was discovered in 1962. 

3. Western archaeologists ignored the possibility that India could have a more ancient past. 

4. none of the above 

(c) The discovery of a 4000 year old skeleton reveals that: 

1. leprosy was prevalent in India even before Alexander came. 

2. leprosy came to India from Africa. 

3. leprosy was taken from India to Europe.

4. none of the above. . 

(d) The beginning of Vedic tradition cannot be wholly dated to the Aryan invasion as: 

1. Aryan invasion occurred in 1500 BC. 

2. the indigenous people of Balathal practised it. 

3. Balathal existed before the Aryan invasion. 

4. both (2) and (3). 

II. Answer the following questions as briefly as possible.

(a) In which ancient works do we find the mention of ‘Bharata’? 

(b) How old is the Indian civilization?

(c) Who was Homo heidelbergensis? 

(d) What is the reason for the lack of knowledge about Homo heidelbergensis presence in India?

(e) Why was the archaeological significance of Harappa ignored? 

III. Find words from the passage which mean the same as:

(a) lineage (para 3) 

(b) ancient times (para 3) 

(c) native (para 4)

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I. (a) (4) Africa. 

(b) (3) Western archaeologists ignored the possibility that India could have a more ancient past. 

(c) (1) leprosy was prevalent in India even before Alexander came.

(d) (4) both (2) and (3).

II. (a) the word’ Bharata’ is mentioned in the Puranas. 

(b) the Indian civilization is 250,000 years old. 

(c) Homo heidelbergensis was a proto human who was an ancestor of modern Homo sapiens i.e humans. 

(d) it was because the archaeological interest in India started very late. 

(e) Though the ancient city of Harappa was known to exist as early as 1842 CE, its archaeological significance was ignored and the later excavations corresponded to an interest in locating the probable sites referred to in the great Indian epics Mahabharata and Ramayana (both of the 5th or 4th centuries BCE) while ignoring the possibility of a much more ancient past for the region. 

III. (a) pedigree 

(b) antiquity 

(c) indigenous

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