Indus Valley Civilisation MCQ Question and Answer | History MCQ Question

The Great Bath is one of the best-known structures among the ruins of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization at Mohenjo-daro in Sindh, Pakistan. Archaeological evidence indicates that the Great Bath was built in the 3rd millennium BCE, soon after the raising of the "citadel" mound on which it is located.

The Social System of Harappans was fairly egalitarian (equality and equal rights). The archaeological record of the Indus civilization provides practically no evidence of armies, kings, slaves, social conflict, prisons, and other oft-negative traits that we traditionally associated with early civilizations. If there were neither slaves nor kings, a more egalitarian system of governance may have been practiced.

Lothal was the port city of Indus Valley Civilization. It was located at Saragwala, Gujarat. The dockyard was located away from the main current to avoid deposition of silt. It is speculated that Lothal engineers studied tidal movements, and their effects on brick-built structures, since the walls are of kiln-burnt bricks.

The Pashupati Seal is a steatite seal that was discovered at the Mohenjo-daro archaeological site of the Indus Valley Civilization. The seal depicts a seated figure that is possibly tricephalic (having three heads). It was once thought to be ithyphallic, an interpretation that is now mostly discarded.

Iron was not used in the the Harappan cities. Harappan cities are the part of Indus Valley Civilisation, which was held after the Chalcolithic period of stone age. During the Chalcolithic period copper was first used to make tools, utensils and other objects.

One seal from Mohenjo-daro shows a half-human, half-buffalo monster attacking a tiger. This may be a reference to the Sumerian myth of a monster created by Aruru—the Sumerian earth and fertility goddess—to fight Gilgamesh, the hero of an ancient Mesopotamian epic poem. This is a further suggestion of international trade in Harappan culture.

The Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) was a Bronze Age civilization (3300-1300 BCE; mature period 2600-1900 BCE) extending from what today is northeast Afghanistan to Pakistan and northwest India.

Correct Answer: Option B — Stones, trees and animals

What the archaeological record from the Indus Valley shows
Excavations at major Indus sites (such as Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, Kalibangan, and others) have yielded abundant evidence of nature-centred cults.

Seals and amulets frequently depict animals—most notably the humped bull, but also tigers, elephants, rhinoceroses, and the famous “unicorn” motif—indicating reverence, totemic value, or protective power associated with animals.

Several seals and terracottas represent sacred trees (especially the pipal/peepal), sometimes with a worshipper or a deity-figure beneath or within the tree, pointing to arboreal cults.

Across settlements, excavators also report aniconic/stone objects used in ritual contexts (e.g., stones and small altars/platforms), consistent with treating select stones as sacred. While individual interpretations vary, the recurring presence of such objects supports the idea that stones themselves could function as revered, consecrated symbols rather than merely building materials.

How this links organically to Hinduism today
Later Hindu practice preserves a strong continuity of nature worship: veneration of sacred trees (pipal, banyan), ritual and festival honouring of animals (e.g., the bull Nandi associated with Shiva; the serpent in Nāga worship; the cow’s ritual sanctity), and widespread aniconic stone worship (naturally found or river-worn stones set up as village deities; consecrated stones like the śālagrāma in Vaiṣṇava traditions).

Because these practices are broad, persistent, and deeply rooted, they form a clear cultural bridge from the Indus era’s nature-centric symbols to living Hindu traditions.

Why the other options are weaker
Option A (Pashupati, Indra and the Mother Goddess): A “proto-Pashupati” figure and Mother Goddess figurines are indeed cited from Indus contexts; however, Indra is a Vedic deity without secure archaeological attestation in the IVC, weakening this option’s internal consistency.

Option C (Vishnu and Lakshmi): There is no definitive Indus evidence for the worship of these specific deities; associating them with IVC rests on much later textual traditions, not on Indus finds.

Option D (Siva and Sakti): Readings of a proto-Śiva (Pashupati-like) seal and the divine feminine are plausible but interpretative. Even if partially valid, this pair does not capture the wider, well-documented nature cult that best demonstrates continuity.

Conclusion — Why Option B is correct
The most secure, excavation-based through-line from the Indus Valley to modern Hinduism is the widespread veneration of elements of nature: stones, trees, and animals. This pattern is abundantly evidenced in Indus material culture and remains pervasive in Hindu practice. Therefore, when only one choice must be selected, Option B most convincingly demonstrates the organic relationship between the two.

The seals were pressed into soft clay to seal the mouths of jars and, as suggested by the imprint of fabric on the back of some seal impressions, were used to create clay tags for sacks of traded goods such as grain. Indus Valley seals have been found as far afield as Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq) in the cities of Umma and Ur, in Central Asia and on the coast of the Arabian Peninsula. A large number of seals have been found at the port of Lothal in western India. Finds of Mesopotamian weights in Indus Valley cities confirm that trading took place between these two civilisations. Some experts believe that Mesopotamian written records of trade in gold, copper and jewellery may be referring to the Indus Valley.

The trade relationship during the later 3rd millennium was a direct one: ships from Meluhha (the Indus) docked in Mesopotamian ports; some Meluhhans settled in Sumer; and there is a seal belonging to a Mesopotamian whose job it was to act as an interpreter of the Meluhhan language. On the other hand, there is nothing to suggest that people from Mesopotamia reached the Indus, so it is clear that the Harappans conducted the trade between the two civilizations. Mesopotamian ships sailed the length of the Gulf, as far as the western coast of Magan (Oman peninsula), trading directly with Magan and with Dilmun (Bahrain); ships from Magan and Dilmun also docked in Mesopotamian ports.