CLASS 6 GEOGRAPHY · NCERT · CH 4: IN THE EARLIEST CITIES (NCERT CLASS 6 — OUR PASTS I)
NCERT-aligned Class 6 Geography topic. Every item is anchored to a real location on India's map — built for boards (CBSE, ICSE, state) and UPSC aspirants.
When was the Mature Harappan period and how big was it?
Roughly 2600-1900 BCE; spread over 1.5 MILLION sq km — bigger than ancient Egypt or Mesopotamia at the same time. Found in Pakistan (Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan), India (Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat).
When was Harappa first discovered?
Bricks from Harappa's mounds had been used by the British for railway-track ballast in the 1850s. Site was excavated in 1921 by DAYA RAM SAHNI under the ASI; Mohenjo-daro followed in 1922 by RAKHALDAS BANERJEE.
Common features of Harappan cities?
GRID-PATTERN streets at right angles; CITADEL (raised western mound with public buildings) + LOWER TOWN (eastern, residential); STANDARDISED baked brick (1:2:4 ratio); covered DRAINAGE; private wells in most houses; great UNIFORMITY across cities far apart.
What was the Great Bath?
At MOHENJO-DARO citadel — large brick-lined tank (12 m × 7 m × 2.4 m), waterproofed with bitumen; staircase at both ends; surrounded by rooms; probably for RITUAL bathing. One of the earliest known public water structures in the world.
Most distinctive Harappan craft?
BEAD-MAKING — semi-precious stone beads (carnelian, agate, lapis lazuli) drilled with steatite micro-drills. CHANHUDARO and LOTHAL had bead workshops. Beads were exported to MESOPOTAMIA (Sumerian texts call this land "MELUHHA").
What does "Mohenjo-daro" mean?
In Sindhi, "Mound of the Dead". Site was abandoned and forgotten until 1922.
Famous artefacts from Mohenjo-daro?
"DANCING GIRL" (10.5 cm bronze figurine, ~2500 BCE); "PRIEST KING" stone bust; numerous SEALS with the unicorn motif and undeciphered Indus script; toy carts; weights and measures; the Great Bath; the Granary.
What's the Indus script and is it deciphered?
Harappan script — found on ~5,000+ seals, mostly very SHORT inscriptions (4-6 signs avg.); ~400 distinct signs. NOT YET deciphered (no bilingual "Rosetta Stone" found). One of the great unsolved problems of South Asian archaeology.
MOHENJO-DARO — when discovered + by whom?
MOHENJO-DARO was discovered + excavated in 1922 by Indian archaeologist RAKHALDAS BANERJEE (RD Banerjee) of the ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA (ASI). The site was on the right bank of the INDUS river in SINDH (now Pakistan). Banerjee found a Buddhist stupa from ~3rd c. BCE on top of a much older mound — and digging deeper, found buildings, drains, seals, pottery from a far older civilization. Combined with HARAPPA discoveries (1921 by D.R. SAHNI), the find was announced to the world in 1924 by JOHN MARSHALL — RE-DATING Indian history by ~2,000 years.
How large was MOHENJO-DARO at its peak + how did it rank globally?
At its zenith (~2500-1900 BCE) MOHENJO-DARO supported a population of roughly 35,000-40,000 inhabitants spread over ~250 hectares. This made it one of the LARGEST URBAN settlements anywhere in the ancient world during the Bronze Age — broadly contemporary with + only marginally smaller than MEMPHIS in Egypt; comparable to UR in Mesopotamia + HARAPPA + DHOLAVIRA within the Indus tradition. The city was laid out on a planned GRID with broad north-south + east-west streets, a raised CITADEL housing public buildings on the west, + a LOWER TOWN of residences + workshops on the east — a level of urban planning matched almost nowhere else in the 3rd millennium BCE.
MOHENJO-DARO — the GRANARY?
The CITADEL of Mohenjo-daro had a large structure (~50m × 27m) called the "GRANARY" by Marshall — interpreted as a STATE GRAIN STORAGE FACILITY for taxation revenue. (Compared to even bigger granary at Harappa, also identified by Marshall.) HOWEVER, modern scholars QUESTION whether these were really granaries — no actual GRAIN remains were found, and the structures may have been ASSEMBLY HALLS or warehouses for OTHER goods. standard sources mention the granary interpretation but with caution. The fact that we don't fully know what these huge buildings were FOR shows the limits of archaeology when no writing can be read.
What is Lothal famous for?
A massive BRICK-BUILT DOCKYARD (the world's oldest known) — 218 m × 37 m × 4.5 m, lined with baked bricks; connected to the GULF OF KHAMBHAT through a channel. Boats from Mesopotamia could come into this dock with the tide and leave at high tide.
This topic is part of the NCERT Class 6 History syllabus, drawn from the chapter Ch 4: In the Earliest Cities (NCERT Class 6 — Our Pasts I). Content is cross-referenced against the latest NCERT textbook editions + standard reference works.
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