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NCERT Class 12 History Chapter 1 Bricks, Beads And Bones
Also, you can read the NCERT book online in these sections Solutions by Expert Teachers as per Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Book guidelines. CBSE Class 12 History Solutions are part of All Subject Solutions. Here we have given NCERT Class 12 History Part – I: Themes in Indian History, History Part – II: Themes in Indian History, History Part – III: Themes in Indian History. NCERT Class 12 History Chapter 1 Bricks, Beads And Bones Notes, NCERT Class 12 History Textbook Solutions for All Chapters, You can practice these here.
Bricks, Beads And Bones
Chapter: 1
| THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY (PART – I) |
TEXTUAL QUESTIONS ANSWER
1. List the items of food available to people in Harappan cities. Indentify the groups who would have provided these.
Ans: Food:
(i) Products taken from plants.
(ii) Flesh and fish.
(iii) Wheat, maize, millet, pulses, rice, and other eatable products.
Groups who provide these
(i) Food gatherers.
(ii) Hunter groups.
(iii) Agricultural groups.
2. How do archaeologists trace socio-economic differences in Harappan society? What are the differences that they notice?
Or
Describe how artefacts help in identifying social differences during the Harappan period.
Or
Explain the socio-economic differences in Harappan society that archaeological finds seem to suggest.
Ans: The archaeologists find many socio-economic disparities in the Harappan society. They make the following disparities as their base for further study:
1. Burials: We find many burials at the Harappan sites. At that time, the dead were generally laid in pits. Along with the dead body, different kinds of things were also kept. These things could be precious or ordinary. There was also a difference in the pits in which the dead were buried. The precious things reflected the strong economic condition of the dead. The common things were the symbol of his/her weak economic position.
2. Things of Luxury: The archaeologists also study artefacts to identify many other social and economic differences. These things can be classified as utilitarian and luxuries. The utilitarian things are objects of daily use. They are made of ordinary material such as stone or clay. They include querns, pottery and body scrubbers. They were possessed by all the people in all the Harappan settlements. On the other hand, the luxuries were those objects which were rare and made from costly and non-local materials or were made with the help of complicated technologies. For example, the pots of faience (a material prepared with the mixture of silica, colour and gum) were considered costly and precious because they were very difficult to make. The economic status of those societies was comparatively high where such things have been found.
3. Would you agree that the drainage system in Harappan cities indicates town planning? Give reasons for your answer.
Or
Describe briefly the drainage system of the Harappan cities.
Ans: We completely agree with the fact that all the Harappan cities had a carefully planned drainage system. In other words, the drainage system was an integral part of the town-planning. This system was essential to keep the city neat and clean. From this point of view, the drainage system of the Harappan cities was perfect. The domestic waste water passed through gutters to flow into the street drains.
It seems as if the streets along with the drains were laid out first. Then the residences were made along side these roads. One wall of the house always touched the side of a street so that the waste water may easily flow into the drains of the street.
The main drain was made of mud and bricks. It was covered with such bricks which could be removed for the purpose of sanitation. The gutters of the houses first fell into a sump or cess-pit. The solid in the water was accumulated here and the water flowed into the main drain. In this way, the dirty water flushed out of the city. According to Mackay,” It is certainly the most complete ancient system as yet discovered.” In the end we can say that every house of the Harappan society was connected to the street drains which were made of bricks set in mortar. They were covered with limestone or loose bricks which could be easily removed for cleaning. In fact, the drainage system is considered a wonder of archaeology.
4. List the material used to make beads in the Harappan Civilisation. Describe the process by which one kind of bead was made.
Ans: One of the most imporant craft of the people of Harappan civilisation was to prepare boads. It was mainly prevalent in Chanhudaro.
Material Used: A large variety of material was used to make the beads. It included beautiful colour stones like carnelian, jasper, crystal, quartz and steatite. Besides these, copper, bronze, gold, shell, faience, terracota or burnt clay were also used.
The Process of Making Beads: The process of making beads was remarkable. It differed according to the material. It had the following stages:
1. The beads did not have geometrical forms like the ones made out of harder stones. They had a variety of shapes.
2. The red colour of carnelian was obtained by firing the yellowish raw material.
3. Nodules were chipped into rough shapes. Thus they were finely flaked into the final form.
4. The last phase of the process included grinding, polishing and drilling. The specialised drills have been found at many sites like Chanhudaro, Lothal and Dholavira.
5. Look at following fig. 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?
Ans: In the figure there is a skeleton of a body which would have been burried many years ago. The body is placed straight. There are various objects placed near it like some pottery because the people of that time believed life after death and they thought that these could be used for that life. This is the body of a female because there are some ornaments and jewellery in the hands of the body.
6. Describe some of the distinctive features of Mohenjodaro.
Ans: The most unique feature of the Lower Town at Mohenjodaro provides example of residential buildings. Many were centred on a courtyard, with rooms on all sides. The courtyard was probably the centre of activities such as cooking and weaving, particularly during hot and dry weather. What is also interesting is that apparent concern for privacy: there are no windows in the walls along the ground level. Every house has its own bathroom paved with bricks, with drains connected through the wall to the street drains. Some houses have remains of staircases to reach a second storey or the roof. Many houses had wells, often in a room that could be from the outside and perhaps used by passers-by. Scholars have estimated that the total number of wells in Mohenjodaro was about 700.
7. List the raw materials required for craft production in the Harappan Civilisation and discuss how these might have been obtained.
Ans: I. List of the raw materials required for craft production in the Harappan Civilisation:
(i) Stone.
(ii) Clay.
(iii) Copper.
(iv) Tin.
(v) Bronze.
(vi) Gold.
(vii) Faience (a material made of ground sand or silicon mixed with colour and a gum and then fired).
(viii) Shell.
(ix) Carnelian (a type of a beautiful red colour stone).
(x) Jasper.
(xi) Crystal.
(xii) Steatite.
(xiii) Quartz.
(xiv) Timber.
Different ways of obtaining raw material: Soil, wood etc. were the raw materials which were locally available. But stones, fine quality wood, metals etc. were procured from distant places. For this, different methods were used to obtain them and these were:
(i) Establishment of Settlements: Harappan people established their settlements at those places where raw material was easily available. For example shell was easily available in Nageshwar and Balacot. Few other places were also there like Shortughai in Afghanistan. This place was situated near to the source of lapis lazuli. In the same way Lothal for carnelian, Rajasthan and Gujarat were famous for copper.
(ii) Sending Expeditions: Sending expeditions was another policy of obtaining raw material. For example expedition was sent to Khetri region of Rajasthan for copper and to South India for gold. Local communities were contacted through these expeditions. Availability of Harappan evidences in distant places indicates toward these contacts. Evidences found in Khetri region were given the name of Ganeshwar- Jodhpura culture by archaeologists. Huge reserves of copper products are found over here. Probably inhabitants of this area used to send copper to Harappan people.
8. Discuss how archaeologists reconstructhe the past.
Ans: It is material evidence that allows archaeologists to better reconstruct the Harappan life. This material could be pottery, tools, ornaments, household objects, etc. Organic materials such as cloth, leather, wood and reeds generally decompose, especially in tropical regions. What survivie are stone, burnt clay, metal, etc. It is also important to remember that only broken or useless ojects would have been thrown and other things probably have been recycled. Consequently valuable artefact that were found intact were either lost in the past or hoarded and never retrieved. In other words, such findings are accidental rather than typical.
Recovering artefacts is just the beginning of the archaeological enterprise. Archaeologists then classified their finds. One simple principle of classifying in terms of material, such as stone, clay, metal, bone, ivory, etc. The second, and more complicated, is in terms of function: archaeologists have to decide whether, for instance, an artefact is a tool or an ornament, or both, or something meant for ritual use. Sometimes, archaeologists have to take recourse to indirect evidence. For instance, though there are traces of cotton at some Harappan sites, to find out about clothing they have to depend on indirect evidence including depictions in sculpture.
9. Discuss the functions that may have been performed by rulers in Harappan society.
Ans: Cities and settlements of Harappan civilisation were planned. Many craft production centres were there for whom raw material was brought from far off places. Agricultural settlements were also developing. All these functions could have been performed by any ruling class because general masses could not take important collective decisions. Yet, some scholars deny the existence of any ruling class in Harappan civilisation but it hardly seems real. In short, the following functions could have been performed by rulers in the Harappan society:
(i) Making Urban Planning: Urban planning of Harappan civilisation was of top quality. Cities were developed according to a proper plan. Streets and roads were wide enough and all roads bisected each other at right angles. People lived in houses of baked bricks. Length, breadth and height of bricks were of a standardised ratio. Ruler class lived in citadel of towns and general masses lived in lower towns. There were provisions of windows and doors in houses. Every house had a courtyard, bathroom, kitchen and staris to reach a second storey or the roof. There were two storey or triple storied houses. People used to make large buildings. One Great Bath has also been found at Mohenjodaro which could have been used for some kind of a special ritual bath. It was 11.88 metres in length, 7.01 metres in breadth and 2.43 metres in depth. Largest building of this town was the warehouse with the dimention of 45.71m x 15.23 m. Six warehouses have been found at Harappa.
Harappan cities had the carefully planned drianage system. Drainage system was properly made which was covered with bricks. These bricks could have been removed at the time of cleaning. Domestic waste water had to flow into the street drains. Every house needed to have at least one wall along the street.
(ii) Different Crafts: Different types of crafts prevailed in Harappan culture which could have been regulated by the state. Tin and nickel were mixed by craftsmen to make copper. Copper was used to make statues, jars and different types of implements like axe, cutter, knife, etc. Evidences have been found about different crafts that prevailed in Harappan towns. Existence of large buildings indicateds towards the existence of house making in that age. They were experts in making seals and statues. Some people used to make jewellery of gold and silver. Harappan craftsmen were also experts in bead making. They were familiar with the art of weight making. Jars make by them were quite shiny.
(iii) Settlements near Raw Material: Some raw materials were locally available for craftsmen. That is why craft centres were developed by the state, near those areas where raw material was easily available. Raw materials included beads, shells, metals, etc.
(iv) Procuring Raw Material from Distant Places: Rulers used to send expeditions to far off places to procure raw material for craft production. For example, expeditions may have been sent to Khetri region of Rajasthan (for copper) and South India (for gold).
(v) Contacts with Distant Lands: Rulers established contacts with distant lands. Mainly copper was brought through these contacts. Evidences have been found that copper was brought from Oman, on the South east tip of the Arabian Peninsula.
