Identify the correct statements in regards to the Harappan site as a ‘planned urban-centre’:
A. One of the most distinctive features of Harappan cities was the carefully planned drainage system.
B. The Citadel owes its height to the fact that buildings were constructed on mud brick platforms.
C. The Great Bath was a large circular open tank in the corner of a courtyard.
D. The settlement is divided into two sections: one smaller but higher and the other much larger but lower.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → A, B and D only
A. One of the most distinctive features of Harappan cities was the carefully planned drainage system. Correct. Streets with drains seem to have been laid out first, along a rough grid, and houses were built along them. Every house had at least one wall on a street so that its waste water could flow into the street drains.
B. The Citadel owes its height to the fact that buildings were constructed on mud brick platforms. Correct. The Citadel was raised on these platforms and was walled, which kept it physically separate from the Lower Town.
C. The Great Bath was a large circular open tank in the corner of a courtyard. Incorrect. The Great Bath was a large rectangular tank in a courtyard surrounded by a corridor on all four sides, not a circular tank in a corner. It had two flights of steps, on the north and the south, and was made watertight with bricks set on edge and a mortar of gypsum.
D. The settlement is divided into two sections: one smaller but higher and the other much larger but lower. Correct. At Mohenjodaro the smaller, higher part is called the Citadel and the larger, lower part the Lower Town.
NCERT (2025-26): “3. Mohanjodaro A Planned Urban Centre … Perhaps the most unique feature of the Harappan civilisation was the development of urban centres. Let us look at one such centre, Mohenjodaro, more closely. Although Mohenjodaro is the most well-known site, the first site to be discovered was Harappa. The settlement is divided into two sections, one smaller but higher and the other much larger but lower. Archaeologists designate these as the Citadel and the Lower Town respectively. The Citadel owes its height to the fact that buildings were constructed on mud brick platforms. It was walled, which meant that it was physically separated from the Lower Town.… 3.1 Laying out drains … One of the most distinctive features of Harappan cities was the carefully planned drainage system. If you look at the plan of the Lower Town you will notice that roads and streets were laid out along an approximate ‘grid’ pattern, intersecting at right angles. It seems that streets with drains were laid out first and then houses built along them. If domestic waste water had to flow into the street drains, every house needed to have at least one wall along a street. 3.3 The Citadel … The Great Bath was a large rectangular tank in a courtyard surrounded by a corridor on all four sides. There were two flights of steps on the north and south leading into the tank, which was made watertight by setting bricks on edge and using a mortar of gypsum.…” |