50 questions on History for Delhi Administrative Service Examination

(Prehistory)

1. The main characteristic of the Indus Valley Civilization was

(Teachers’ Exam, 1993)

(a) Town planning (b) Drainage system

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2. The main occupation of the people of the Indus Valley civilization was

(Stenographers ‘Exam, 1994) –

(a) Agriculture (b) Cattle rearing

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3. Which one of the following archaeologists initially discovered the Mohenjodaro site of the Indus Valley Civilization?

(L Tax & Central Excise, 1991)

(a) Sir John Marshall (b) Rakhal Das Banerji

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4. Which one of the following was not an Indus Valley Civilization site?

(N.D.A. 1991)

(a) Lothal (b) Patliputra

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5. Which one of the following elements of Hinduism were practised in the Indus Valley Civilization?

(a) Idol worship (b) Wearing of sacred threads

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6. Which of the following metals was not known to Indus Valley people?

(a) Copper (b) Bronze

7. Nomad man started settling in (C.R.P.E1990)

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(a) Palaeolithic Age (b) Mesolithic Age

8. The Great Bath of the Indus Valley Civilization was discovered in

(a) Harappa (b) Lothal

9. Which of the following is not a characteristic of the religion practised by Harappan people?

(a) Nature worship

(b) Worship of Mother Goddess

(c) Faith in magic, charms and sacrifices

(d) Belief in life after death

10. Which of the following Indus Valley sites is now in Pakistan?

(a) Harappa (b) Kalibangan

11. The Harappan site showing evidence of two cultural phases, Harappan and pre-Harappan, is (I.E.S.1993)

(a) Kalibangan (b) Mohenjodaro

12. The earliest evidence of silver in India is found in the (I.A.S.1994)

(a) Harappan Culture

(b) Chalcolithic cultures of Western India

(c) Vedic texts

(d) Silver punch – marked coins

13. The period when men used both stones and copper tools is known as the

(a) Monolithic Age (b) Chalcolithic Age

14. The Indus Valley Civilization is known as Pre-Aryan Civilization because of the evidence of (C.D.S.1989)

(a) Art (b) Copper

15. Man passed from the food gathering stage to the food producing stage in the

(a) Palaeolithic Age (b) Mesolithic Age

16. The greatest invention of man in palaeolithic age was

(a) Fire (b) Potter’s wheel

17. The script of Indus Valley Civilization was (Assistant Grade,1991)

(a) Persian (b) Dravidian

18. The Indus Valley people knew the use of

(a) Gold, silver, copper, bronze but not iron

(b) Copper, iron, gold but not bronze

(c) Silver, lead, iron but not gold

(d) Gold, tin, bronze but not copper

19. Knowledge about the existence of which of the following animals is doubtful in the Indus Valley Civilization? a- Tax & Central Excise, 1989)

(a) Dog (b) Cat

20. The Indus Valley Civilization belongs to the (I-E.S.1994)

(a) Neolithic Age (b) Palaeolithic Age

21. Palaeolithic remains have been discovered in

(a) Lucknow (b) Kolkata

22. The script of the Harappan people consisted of

(a) A family of quasi – pictographic writings.

(b) A family of geometrical shapes.

(c) A combination of both pictures and geometrical shapes.

(d) None of these

23. Which of the following Harappan sites had a dock?

(I- Tax & Central Excise.1993)

(a) Harappa (b) Mohenjodaro

24. Which of the following statements regarding Indus Valley Civilization is incorrect? (I.F.S. 1988)

(a) The supreme god was the Pipal God.

(b) Excavations at Lothal proved that the civilization was confined to Harappa and Mohenjodaro only.

(c) People had great artistic sense.

(d) There was a great communal bath in Mohenjodaro.

25. At which of the following places have excavations in recent years brought to light new evidence of Neolithic sites in India? (Railways, 1993)

(a) Hamren in Assam (b) Daimabad in Ahmednagar

26. Which of the following presents the most significant feature of Indus Valley Civilization?

(a) Burnt brick buildings (b) Art & architecture

27. The figure of the god that was depicted in the seal of Indus Valley people is (C.D.S. 1992)

(a) Agni (b) Indra

28. The remains of a wooden drain of Indus Valley Civilization have been found at

(a) Lothal (b) Mohenjodaro

29. Of the following Harappan sites those not in India are

(a) Mohenjodaro and Harappa (b) Bhanwali and Ropar

30. Rice cultivation is associated with Harappan site of

(a) Kalibangan (b) Harappa

31. Which of the following sites is associated with Harappan culture?

(C.D.S. 1991)

(a) Chandernagore (b) Lothal

32.Which of the following is incorrect concerning Mohenjodaro?

(a) It was a well planned city.

(b) Buildings were of varying sizes.

(c) Bathrooms were important features of most houses.

(d) There was no drainage system.

33.At which Harappan site have traces of a horse been found?

(a) Kalibangan (b) Lothal

34.The Indus Valley people had trade relations with (UD.C. 1994)

(a) Egypt (b) Greece

35. Indus Valley Civilization was spread over

(a) Punjab. Sind, Baluchistan

(b) Along Indus river

(c) Punjab, Sind, Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat

(d) Sind, Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir, U.P, Rajasthan, Gujarat

36. The Indus Valley booses were built of (Assistant Grade,l993)

(a) Bamboos (b) Bricks

37.Indus Valley Civilization is also known as Harappan culture because

(I.A.S.1991)

(a) The site of Harappa is six times larger than Mohenjodaro site.

(b) The Indus Valley Civilization is considered the elementary/initial stage of Vedic culture and Harappa is believed to be the same as Harappa mentioned in the Vedas.

(c) Harappa was the first site to be excavated in the Indus Valley.

(d) The most important evidence of the achievements of this civilization have been excavated from Harappa.

38. The God with three heads and horns, surrounded by animals, represented on a seal from Mohenjodaro is said to be (CJJ-S. 1994)

(a) Varuna (b) Indra

39. The Indus Valley Civilization flourished during (NJXA.1992)

(a) 5000-3500 B.C. (b) 3000-1500 B.C.

40. Which of the following animals were domesticated by the Harappans?

(I-E.S.1991)

(a) Goat, oxen, pig, buffalo (b) Oxen, elephant, horse, pig

41. The Indus Valley people worshipped

(a) Indra (b) Varuna

42. The tools and weapons of Harappan Civilization were mostly made of

(C.BJ. 1990)

(a) Stone (b) Copper and iron

43. The main channels of our knowledge about the Indus Valley Civilization are (Central Excise, 1994)

(a) Inscriptions

(b) Coins

(c) Palm and barch leaf manuscripts

(d) Archaeological excavations

44. There are similarities between the seals found at Mohenjodaro and

(a) Egypt (b) China

45. The famous figure of a dancing girl found in the excavations of Harappa was made up of

(a) Terracotta (b) Steatite

46. The Great Granary of the Indus Valley Civilization has been discovered at

(a) Harappa (b) Mohenjodaro

47. On the basis of available evidence, the Indus civilization contributed two important things to mankind which were (IAS 2003)

(a) Mathematics and decimal system

(b) Script and Language

(c) Wheat and Cotton

(d) Rearing animal

48. Match the following: (IAS 2003)

Ancient site Archeological finding

A. Lothal 1. Ploughed field

B. Kalibangan 2. Dockyard

C. Dholavira 3. Terracotta replica of a plough

D. Banwali 4. An inscription comprising ten large

sized signs of the Harappan script

ABCD ABCD

(a) 1 2 3 4 (b) 2 1 4 3

49. Out of the following remains excavated in Indus Valley, which one indicates the commercial and economic development? (CPO SI 2002)

(a) Pottery (b) Seals

ANSWERS

1. (B) 2. (a) 3 (b) 4. (b) 5. (c) 6. (c) 7 (c) 8. (c) 9. (a) 10. (a)

11. (b) 12. (a) 13. (d) 14. (d) 15. (c) 16 (a) 17 (b) 18. (a) 19. (b) 20 (a)

21. (D) 22. (a) 23. (c) 24. (b) 25. (a) 26. (a) 27. (d) 28 (b) 29. (c) 30. (d)

31(b) 32. (d) 33. (c) 34. (d) 35(d) 36(b) 37. (d) 38(d) 39(b) 40(c)

41. (d) 42. (c) 43 (d) 44. (c) 45 (c) 46. (a) 47 (c) 48 (d) 49 (b)