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General Knowledge · Class 4 · History and people

Cities of the Indus Valley

About 4,500 years ago, cities in the Indus Valley had covered drains under their streets. How do we know?

Small test at the end: scroll down to the end of this page for five short questions that check what you have learnt. Tap an answer, then press Check answer. Go to the questions ↓

Jump to: Read first · Try it away from the screen · Check it yourself · Check yourself · For teachers

Read first

5 facts. The questions below make you use them, not just remember them.

  1. About 4,500 years ago, cities like Harappa and Mohenjo-daro grew up along the Indus river and its neighbours. Today Harappa and Mohenjo-daro are in Pakistan; Lothal, Dholavira and Rakhigarhi are in India.
  2. The cities were planned: straight streets met at right angles, and covered drains carried waste water away from houses.
  3. Their baked bricks were made in the same proportions everywhere: thickness, width and length in the ratio 1 : 2 : 4.
  4. Lothal in Gujarat had a dockyard for boats. Dholavira, also in Gujarat, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2021.
  5. The Indus people wrote short signs on seals, but nobody has yet been able to read their script.
length 4thickness 1width 2
Harappan bricks had the same proportions everywhere: thickness 1, width 2, length 4. Any size of brick kept this ratio.

Offline

Try it away from the screen

Make a brick from clay or dough in the ratio 1 : 2 : 4, for example 1 cm thick, 2 cm wide and 4 cm long. Make six and try building a wall that does not wobble. Why do bricks of one size help builders?

Make it on paper. Keep it with you. Nothing to upload.

Check it yourself

Much of what we "know" about the Indus cities is a careful guess from what was dug up. When you read about them, notice the words "we know" and "experts think": they are not the same.

Check yourself

Five questions about what this page teaches. Choose an answer and press Check answer, or open "See the answer and why". Nothing is saved or sent: your choices stay on this screen and disappear when you leave or reload the page.

  1. Question 1 of 5Which find shows that the Indus cities were carefully planned?

    See the answer and why
    • A. Iron swords and armour Not this one. The Indus people used copper and bronze. Iron came much later.
    • B. Straight streets in a grid and covered drains Correct. Yes. Streets and drains were laid out before houses were built.
    • C. Huge palaces for powerful kings Not this one. Archaeologists have not found clear royal palaces, which is one of the puzzles.
    • D. Tall towers many storeys high Not this one. Houses had one or two storeys. Planning showed in streets and drains.
  2. Question 2 of 5Lothal, in Gujarat, is famous for what?

    See the answer and why
    • A. The oldest temple in India Not this one. No temple has been clearly found in the Indus cities.
    • B. A huge fort on a hilltop Not this one. Lothal is on flat land near the coast, not a hilltop.
    • C. The Great Bath Not this one. The Great Bath is at Mohenjo-daro.
    • D. A dockyard for boats Correct. Yes. Lothal had a large basin that many experts think was a dockyard.
  3. Question 3 of 5Why can we not read what the Indus people wrote?

    See the answer and why
    • A. It is written in a very old English Not this one. English is far younger. The script is unknown.
    • B. Nobody has yet worked out their script Correct. Yes. The signs are short and there is no translation to help.
    • C. They never wrote anything Not this one. They did write: signs appear on thousands of seals.
    • D. All the seals they wrote on are blank Not this one. The seals have signs and animal pictures.
  4. Question 4 of 5Indus bricks were in the ratio 1 : 2 : 4 (thickness : width : length). If a brick is 7 cm thick, how long is it?

    See the answer and why
    • A. 28 cm Correct. Yes. Length is 4 times the thickness: 4 × 7 = 28.
    • B. 11 cm Not this one. That adds 4 to 7. A ratio means multiply.
    • C. 21 cm Not this one. That is 3 times 7. The length is 4 times the thickness.
    • D. 14 cm Not this one. That is the width, 2 × 7. The length is 4 times.
  5. Question 5 of 5Which Indus city in India became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2021?

    See the answer and why
    • A. Rakhigarhi Not this one. Rakhigarhi in Haryana is a very large site, but it is not a World Heritage Site.
    • B. Harappa Not this one. Harappa is in Pakistan today.
    • C. Dholavira Correct. Yes. Dholavira, in Gujarat, was listed in 2021.
    • D. Lothal Not this one. Lothal is in Gujarat too, but it was not the one listed in 2021.

For teachers and grown-upsWhere the facts come from, and how to use this round.

Sources and notes
  • Dates: the mature Harappan phase is about 2600-1900 BCE. Dholavira was inscribed on the World Heritage List on 27 July 2021.
  • Links: NCERT Class 6 history ("In the earliest cities"); Class 12 history, Theme 1.
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