Arrange the following in a chronological order.
A. Vedic Age
B. Sixteen Mahajanapadas
C. Harappan Civilisation
D. Epic Age
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → C, A, B, D
(C) Harappan Civilisation — the earliest of the four: the chapter timeline places the Harappan civilisation at 2600 BCE.
(A) Vedic Age — the Rigveda, the earliest religious text, was compiled c. 1500-1000 BCE.
(B) Sixteen Mahajanapadas — the sixth century BCE, the era of the early states; Buddhist and Jaina texts name sixteen of them, the mahajanapadas.
(D) Epic Age — the Mahabharata, a colossal epic, was composed over a period of about 1,000 years from c. 500 BCE onwards.
Note: The terms ‘Vedic Age’ and ‘Epic Age’ are not used in the NCERT book (2026-27). Here the Vedic Age is taken as the period of the Vedic texts, beginning with the Rigveda (c. 1500-1000 BCE), and the Epic Age as the period in which the epics were composed, which the book dates for the Mahabharata from c. 500 BCE onwards. They are explained here for the benefit of the students.
NCERT (2026-27): “11.2 Problems of interpretation … The earliest religious text, the Rigveda (compiled c. 1500-1000 BCE) mentions a god named Rudra, which is a name used for Shiva in later Puranic traditions (in the first millennium CE; see also Chapter 4). However, unlike Shiva, Rudra in the Rigveda is neither depicted as Pashupati (lord of animals in general and cattle in particular), nor as a yogi.… 2.1 The sixteen mahajanapadas … The sixth century BCE is often regarded as a major turning point in early Indian history. It is an era associated with early states, cities, the growing use of iron, the development of coinage, etc. It also witnessed the growth of diverse systems of thought, including Buddhism and Jainism. Early Buddhist and Jaina texts (see also Chapter 4) mention, amongst other things, sixteen states known as mahajanapadas.… …In focusing on the Mahabharata, a colossal epic running in its present form into over 100,000 verses with depictions of a wide range of social categories and situations, we draw on one of the richest texts of the subcontinent. It was composed over a period of about 1,000 years (c. 500 BCE onwards), and some of the stories it contains may have been in circulation even earlier.…”
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