HISTORY OPTIONAL

PYQ Solutions
2022 - Paper I
Q:2(a) The urban character of the Harappan Civilization was a result neither of any outside
influence nor a sudden act but a gradual evolution of regional socio-economic factors. Comment.
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Structure:
• Introduction about the theories.
• Opinions of Scholars
• Arguments to show that urban character of the Harappan Civilization was not a result of
any outside influence.
• Arguments to show that IVC was not a sudden act.
• Conclusion

Introduction:

The origins of the Harappan civilization, also known as the Indus Valley civilization, have been the
subject of much debate among scholars. The Harappan civilization is known for its well-planned
cities, advanced sanitation systems, and unique script. While some have suggested that it was the
result of outside influence or a sudden act, others have argued that it was a gradual evolution of
regional socio-economic factors.

Theories regarding Origin:

John Marshall:

• In his report on Mohenjodaro, John Marshall asserted that the Indus civilization must have
had a long antecedent history on the soil of India. However, there were others who put
forward diffusionist explanations.

E. J. H. Mackay:

• According to E. J. H. Mackay, a migration of people from Sumer (southern Mesopotamia)

may have led to the Harappan civilization;
• other proponents of the migration theory included D. H. Gordon and S. N. Kramer

Mortimer Wheeler:

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 • Mortimer Wheeler argued for a migration of ideas, not people-the idea of civilization was in
the air of West Asia in the 3rd millennium BCE and the founders of the Harappan civilization
had a model of civilization before them.

Differences between Mesopotamians and Harappans:

• The fact that city life emerged in Mesopotamia a few centuries before it appeared in the
Egyptian and Harappan contexts does not mean that the latter were derived from the
former in a direct or indirect way.
• There are in fact several striking differences between the Harappan and Mesopotamian
civilizations.
o The Mesopotamians had a completely different script,
o a much greater use of bronze,
o different settlement layouts, and
o a large-scale canal system of the kind that seems absent in the Harappan civilization.

Therefore, Harappans are not migrants from Mesopotamia. Of course, there might have been
influence in the civilization but it is not evident to say that the authors of Indus Valley were
outsiders.

Real factors behind the Origin:

• The story of its origins can, in fact, be traced to the emergence of settled farming
communities in Baluchistan in the 7th millennium BCE.
• Its more immediate prelude was the cultural phase that used to be known as pre-Harappan,
and is now usually referred to as the early Harappan phase.

Not a sudden act but a gradual process:

Amalananda Ghosh (1965):

• Amalananda Ghosh (1965) was the first archaeologist to identify similarities between a pre-
Harappan culture and the mature Harappan culture.
• Ghosh focused on the pre-Harappan Sothi culture of Rajasthan. He asserted that there were
similarities between Sothi pottery and the pottery of
o (a) Zhob, Quetta, and other Baluchi sites;
o (b) pre-Harappan Kalibangan, Kot Diji, and the lowest levels of Harappa and
Mohenjodaro; and
o (c) mature Harappan levels at Kalibangan, and perhaps also at Kot Diji.

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In view of these similarities, he argued that the Sothi culture should be described as proto-
Harappan.

Limitation of this Hypothesis: A limitation of this hypothesis was that it was based exclusively on a
comparison of pottery, and did not consider other material traits. And in emphasizing ceramic
similarities, Ghosh had ignored the many differences between the Sothi and Harappan cultures. The
result was an over-emphasis on the Sothi element in the account of the emergence of the Harappan
civilization.

M.R. Mughal:
• M.R. Mughal made the first comprehensive analysis of pre-Harappan sites in the greater
Indus valley and north Baluchistan in 1977. He compared the evidence from pre-Harappan
and mature Harappan levels and found that the pre-Harappan phase showed large fortified
settlements, specialized crafts, trade networks, and the use of wheeled transport.
• However, the pre-Harappan phase lacked large cities and increased levels of craft
specialization compared to the mature Harappan phase.
• Mughal argued that the term 'pre-Harappan' should be replaced with 'early Harappan' since
the former represents the early, formative phase of the Harappan culture.
• Several early Harappan sites have been identified, including Balakot, Nal, Amri, Kot Diji,
Mehrgarh, Nausharo, Gumla, and Rehman Dheri.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, the urban character of the Harappan civilization was not the result of any outside
influence or sudden act but a gradual evolution of regional socio-economic factors. The emergence
of settled farming communities in Baluchistan in the 7th millennium BCE and the subsequent early
Harappan phase laid the foundation for the development of the mature.

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Q:2(b) Foreign accounts as a source of ancient Indian history may have some advantages but also
have a few shortcomings. Citing appropriate examples, examine the statement. 15

Structure:
• Introduction about the importance of foreign accounts.
• Highlight the Positives of the foreign accounts
• Highlight the limitations of the foreign accounts
• Give a balanced Conclusion

Introduction:

Foreign accounts provide valuable insight into the history of ancient India. These accounts were
written by foreign ambassadors, travellers, pilgrims, soldiers, settlers, traders, and thinkers who
visited or lived in India at various times in history. These accounts have both advantages and
shortcomings.

Advantages:

• Foreign accounts provide a different perspective on Indian history, providing a glimpse of

how Indians were viewed by people from other lands and cultures.
• They provide valuable information about Indian society, economy, religion, culture, and
politics from a non-Indian viewpoint.
• These accounts serve as a supplement to Indian historical sources, filling in gaps and
providing new information about Indian history.
• They often provide information about regions, people, or events that are not mentioned in
Indian sources.
• They can also offer new interpretations of Indian historical events or trends, based on the
observations and analysis of foreign writers.

Greeco-Roman Sources:

• Indica of Megasthenes, ambassador of Seleucus Nikator to the court of Chandragupta

Maurya is an important source of Mauryan Period. The book is lost, but later Greek works
preserve paraphrases of some of its sections.
• The many Greek and Latin texts of the 2nd century BCE to the 2nd century CE referring to
India include the works of Arrian, Strabo, and Pliny the Elder, and the anonymous Periplus
of the Erythraean Sea. These texts are especially important for the history of Indian Ocean
trade.

Chinese Sources:

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 • The best known among those who wrote accounts of their Indian travels are Faxian (Fa Hien)
and Xuanzang (Hiuen Tsang).
• Faxians travels extended from 399 to 414 CE and were confined to northern India.
• Tsuan Tsang left his home in 629 CE and spent over 10 years travelling the length and
breadth of the country.
• I-tsing, another 7th century Chinese traveller, lived for 10 years in the great monastery of
Nalanda. The accounts written by these pilgrims throw light on the history of Buddhism and
various other aspects of their time.

Arabic and Persian Sources:

• The anonymous Chachnama describes how a Brahmana named Chach usurped the throne
of Sindh in the mid-7th century and narrates the Arab conquest of that region by
Muhammad bin Qasim.
• Several Arabic geographical and travel accounts were written in the early medieval period.
Some of these, such as the account of the traveller Sulaiman, refer to India. This is not
surprising considering that both Arabs and Indians were actively involved in Indian Ocean
trade. Such works throw light on trade and aspects of Indian political history. Persian was
the language of royal courts and high culture in central and West Asia in early medieval
times, and a number of Persian texts refer to India.
• The Shahnama of Firdausi, a classic of Persian poetry, and the Gulistan by the famous poet
Saadi, refer incidentally to aspects of Indian trade.
• Al-Biruni travelled to India to satisfy his curiosity about the land and its people, and to study
their ancient texts in their original language. His Tarikh-i-Hind covers a large number of
topics including Indian scripts, sciences, geography, astronomy, astrology, philosophy,
literature, beliefs, customs, religions, festivals, rituals, social organization, and laws. Apart
from the historical value of his descriptions of 11th century India, Al-Biruni helped modem
historians identify the initial year of the Gupta era.

Shortcomings:

Accuracy is questionable:

• The accuracy of some foreign accounts is questionable, as they may contain hearsay or
misinformation, especially if the writer had limited personal experience in India. An example
of a very unreliable account is the Indica of Ktesias (4th century BEE), which is full of bizarre

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 stories about India and Indians, collected by the author while living in Persia as a royal
physician.
• Foreign accounts may also be biased, reflecting the writer's cultural or national prejudices.
• They may have misinterpreted Indian customs or beliefs, leading to misunderstandings or
incorrect assumptions.
• Foreign accounts may be selective, highlighting only what the writer considered important
or interesting, rather than providing a comprehensive picture of Indian society or history.
• Finally, some foreign accounts may have been written for political or religious reasons, and
may not represent an accurate portrayal of Indian society or history.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, while foreign accounts of ancient Indian history provide valuable insight into the
country's past, historians must evaluate them carefully, taking into account their potential biases,
limitations, and inaccuracies. By examining these accounts alongside Indian sources, historians can
develop a more complete and nuanced understanding of Indian history.

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