UPSC Prelims 2017 · Question 77 of 99
UPSC Prelims 2017 question on Rigvedic Aryans vs Indus People
- ExamUPSC CSE
- Year2017
- PaperGeneral Studies Paper I
- SubjectAncient History
- TopicHarappan Civilization (Indus Valley)
- DifficultyHard
- TypeStatement
With reference to the difference between the culture of Rigvedic Aryans and Indus Valley people, which of the following statements is/are correct?
1. Rigvedic Aryans used the coat of mail and helmet in warfare whereas the people of Indus Valley Civilization did not leave any evidence of using them.
2. Rigvedic Aryans knew gold, silver and copper whereas Indus Valley people knew only copper and iron.
3. Rigvedic Aryans had domesticated the horse whereas there is no evidence of Indus Valley people having awareness of this animal.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
Show answer
Answer: A. 1 only
Verdict
The answer is 1 only. The Rigvedic Aryans used coat of mail and helmet while the Indus people left no such evidence, but the other two statements are wrong.
Analysis
Statement 1 is CORRECT. Rigvedic references to armour and helmet in warfare have no counterpart in Harappan material. Statement 2 is INCORRECT. Harappan craftsmen used copper, bronze and gold, along with stones such as carnelian, jasper and steatite, but they did not know iron, which appears in India only in the later Vedic period, so the claim that they knew only copper and iron fails on both halves. Statement 3 is INCORRECT. Evidence of the horse has been reported from Harappan contexts, so the claim of no awareness at all is too strong.
Source
R. S. Sharma, Ancient India, page 38, and A. L. Basham, The Wonder That Was India, page 18.
How to crack it
Statement 2 is settled by a single chronological anchor: iron enters the Indian archaeological record around the beginning of the first millennium before the common era, long after the mature Harappan phase, so any statement crediting the Indus people with iron is false. One well placed date can falsify a statement without any knowledge of the rest of it, and the bronze against iron boundary is the most useful such date in ancient history.