Read the passage and answer the questions:
The Urban Planning of a Civilisation
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. The Lower Town was also walled. Several buildings were built on platforms, which served as foundations. It has been calculated that if one labourer moved roughly a cubic metre of earth daily, just to put the foundations in place it would have required four million person-days, in other words, mobilising labour on a very large scale. Consider something else. Once the platforms were in place, all building activity within the city was restricted to a fixed area on the platforms. So it seems that the settlement was first planned and then implemented accordingly. Other signs of planning include bricks, which, whether sun-dried or baked, were of a standardised ratio, where the length and breadth were four times and twice the height respectively. Such bricks were used at all Harappan settlements. Although Harappa was the first site to be discovered, it was badly destroyed by brick robbers. As early as 1875, Alexander Cunningham, the first Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), noted that the amount of brick taken from the ancient site was enough to lay bricks for “about 100 miles” of the railway line between Lahore and Multan.
Who is often referred to as the ‘father of Indian archeology’?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Alexander Cunningham
Alexander Cunningham was the first Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and is often called the father of Indian archaeology. As early as 1875 he noted that so many bricks had been taken from Harappa that they could lay about 100 miles of the railway line between Lahore and Multan. His main interest, however, was the archaeology of the Early Historic period, and he did not realise how old Harappa was.
Note: This passage is taken from the NCERT chapter ‘Bricks, Beads and Bones’, almost word for word, with the box ‘The plight of Harappa’ joined to the end. NTA left out just the words ‘often called the father of Indian archaeology’, and then asked about them. The boxes beside the main text are where such missing words hide, so read every box of the chapter.
NCERT: Themes in Indian History Part I — Chapter 1: Bricks, Beads and Bones (2025-26)
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