BPSC 70th CCE Re-exam Prelims Q128: Name the major city of the Indus valley civilization that

Q: What is the answer to BPSC 70th CCE Re-exam Prelims Q128?

C. Correct — C, Lothal. Of the three sites named, only Lothal is coastal, and its location settles the question: it stands in Gujarat with access to the sea from the Gulf of Khambhat, on a trade route that ran between the Harappan cities of Sindh and the Kathiawar peninsula. The Archaeological Survey of India discovered the site in 1954 and excavated it from 13 February 1955 to 19 May 1960, uncovering a mound, a township, a marketplace and the great brick-lined basin identified as a dock — by the ASI's reading, one of the earliest known anywhere, connected by inlet channels to an old course of the Sabarmati. Salt and gypsum crystals found in the rectangular structure indicate that sea water once filled it. The town was also a manufacturing centre for export: it produced beads, gemstones and ornaments that reached the far corners of West Asia and Africa, and its bead-making and metallurgical techniques are among the most sophisticated of the civilisation. One honest qualification belongs here. The identification of the basin as a dock is not universally accepted — some archaeologists have argued that Lothal was a comparatively small town of about seven hectares and that the structure was an irrigation tank. The trade link with West Asia rests on the goods and the seals, not on that single structure, so the answer stands either way. Since (c) is right, option (d) 'None of the above' fails.

BPSC 70th CCE Re-exam Prelims General Studies · Question 128 of 142

Verified against the official question booklet. Answer derived — no official key exists for this edition.

Answers derived, not from the official key. BPSC published an answer key for BPSC 70th CCE Re-exam at the time, but it is no longer available from the Commission or in any web archive. The answers here are our best-supported answers — solved from the question itself and cross-checked against primary sources — and each card says how certain it is. The question text is verbatim from the official booklet. These are not the Commission's answer key.

Question order, option order and answers follow the official BPSC Booklet Series I, paper code 01/BPP/GO/CC/PT-2025(Y).

Name the major city of the Indus valley civilization that had trade with West Asia.

(a)Kalibangan
(b)Ropar
(c)Lothal
(d)None of the above

Answer

Why

Correct — C, Lothal. Of the three sites named, only Lothal is coastal, and its location settles the question: it stands in Gujarat with access to the sea from the Gulf of Khambhat, on a trade route that ran between the Harappan cities of Sindh and the Kathiawar peninsula. The Archaeological Survey of India discovered the site in 1954 and excavated it from 13 February 1955 to 19 May 1960, uncovering a mound, a township, a marketplace and the great brick-lined basin identified as a dock — by the ASI's reading, one of the earliest known anywhere, connected by inlet channels to an old course of the Sabarmati. Salt and gypsum crystals found in the rectangular structure indicate that sea water once filled it. The town was also a manufacturing centre for export: it produced beads, gemstones and ornaments that reached the far corners of West Asia and Africa, and its bead-making and metallurgical techniques are among the most sophisticated of the civilisation. One honest qualification belongs here. The identification of the basin as a dock is not universally accepted — some archaeologists have argued that Lothal was a comparatively small town of about seven hectares and that the structure was an irrigation tank. The trade link with West Asia rests on the goods and the seals, not on that single structure, so the answer stands either way. Since (c) is right, option (d) 'None of the above' fails.

Why the others are wrong

(a)Kalibangan — A Harappan site in Rajasthan on the dried course of the Ghaggar, far inland. It is famous for the earliest excavated ploughed field and for its fire altars — evidence about agriculture and ritual, not about maritime trade. An inland site on a seasonal river cannot be the answer to a question about trade with West Asia.
(b)Ropar — Rupnagar, on the Sutlej in Punjab, at the opposite end of the Harappan world from the sea. It is remembered as one of the first Harappan sites excavated after independence and for a burial in which a dog was interred with a human. Again inland, and again with no maritime evidence.
(d)None of the above — Correct only if all three named sites fail, and the third does not. Lothal's identification as the civilisation's outlet towards West Asia is one of the most firmly established facts about Harappan trade, resting on its coastal position and its export manufacture as much as on the disputed dock.

Concept

The Harappan civilisation traded across the Arabian Sea, and Mesopotamian records name the lands it dealt with — Meluhha, generally identified with the Indus region, reached through the intermediate ports of Dilmun and Magan in the Gulf. What archaeologists find at the Indian end are the goods and the instruments of that trade: carnelian beads, shell and ivory work, steatite seals, standardised weights, and occasional seals of Persian Gulf type. Lothal sits at the point where that traffic met the land routes, and its layout reflects a working town rather than a ceremonial one, with a warehouse on a platform, a bead factory and a marketplace. The wider site map is worth holding as a table, because examiners test it constantly: Harappa on the Ravi, Mohenjo-daro on the Indus with the Great Bath, Kalibangan in Rajasthan with the ploughed field, Dholavira in Kutch with its water reservoirs and signboard, Banawali in Haryana, Ropar in Punjab, Rakhigarhi in Haryana, and Lothal in Gujarat with the dock.

Geography does most of the work on this question. Trade with West Asia means sea trade, sea trade means a coastal or estuarine site, and only one of the three named places is anywhere near the sea. That single filter is quicker and safer than trying to recall which excavation produced which object. Then confirm with what each site is actually famous for, because the Commission builds its option sets from exactly those associations — Kalibangan's ploughed field, Ropar's dog burial, Lothal's dock. It is also worth knowing that Lothal's status is a live subject in current affairs, not merely in ancient history: the site is on India's tentative list for World Heritage recognition and is the location of the National Maritime Heritage Complex, so it can appear in a paper from either direction.

Key facts

Lothal lies in Gujarat with access to the sea from the Gulf of Khambhat, on a trade route running between the Harappan cities of Sindh and the Kathiawar peninsula
The Archaeological Survey of India discovered the site in 1954 and excavated it from 13 February 1955 to 19 May 1960, finding a mound, township, marketplace and the brick-lined basin identified as a dock connected by inlet channels to an old course of the Sabarmati
Salt and gypsum crystals in the basin indicate that sea water once filled it; some archaeologists nevertheless read the structure as an irrigation tank and Lothal as a small town of about seven hectares
Lothal manufactured beads, gemstones and ornaments that reached West Asia and Africa, and its bead-making and metallurgical techniques were highly advanced
Kalibangan, in Rajasthan on the Ghaggar, is known for the earliest excavated ploughed field and its fire altars; Ropar, on the Sutlej in Punjab, for an early post-independence excavation and a dog buried with a human
Mesopotamian records name Meluhha, usually identified with the Indus region, traded with through the Gulf entrepots of Dilmun and Magan

Trade with West Asia means sea trade — and only one of the three named sites can reach the sea

Lothal — Gujarat, Gulf of Khambhat→COASTAL. Sits on the route between the Harappan cities of Sindh and the Kathiawar peninsula; the brick-lined basin the ASI read as a dock was fed by inlet channels from an old course of the Sabarmati

What Lothal made→Beads, gemstones and ornaments that reached West Asia and Africa — export manufacture, with bead-making and metallurgy among the most advanced of the civilisation

Kalibangan — Rajasthan, on the Ghaggar→INLAND, on a dried seasonal river. Famous for the earliest excavated ploughed field and its fire altars — agriculture and ritual, not maritime trade

Ropar (Rupnagar) — Punjab, on the Sutlej→INLAND, at the opposite end of the Harappan world from the sea. Remembered for an early post-independence excavation and a dog buried with a human

The one honest doubt→Some archaeologists read the basin as an irrigation tank and Lothal as a small town of about seven hectares — but the salt and gypsum crystals point to sea water, and the trade case rests on the goods and seals as much as on the structure

Geography does the work before memory has to. Two of the three named sites are on inland rivers, so the coastal one is the only candidate — and that filter survives even if the dock identification is disputed, which is why (d) 'None of the above' fails.

Study next

Major Harappan sites and their distinctive finds — Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, Kalibangan, Lothal, Dholavira, Banawali, Ropar and RakhigarhiHarappan trade — Meluhha, Dilmun and Magan, seals, weights and the goods exchangedTown planning and technology of the civilisation — the grid, drainage, the Great Bath, granaries and standardised bricksTheories about the decline of the Harappan civilisationMaritime history of India — Lothal's National Maritime Heritage Complex and the later port towns of the Indian Ocean trade

Common traps

Recalling that a site is 'famous' without recalling for what; Kalibangan and Ropar are famous sites, but for agriculture and burial evidence, not for trade
Treating the Lothal dock as beyond dispute — the trade case rests on goods, seals and location as well, which is why the answer is safe even though the structure is debated
Placing Lothal in the wrong state; it is in Gujarat, and its coastal position is the whole point of the question

BPSC names the attribute and asks for the site, in one line, with two inland sites as decoys. UPSC asks the same table as matched pairs — site against archaeological find — or as statements about the civilisation as a whole, so the site list has to carry one distinctive find for each entry rather than a general impression.

Related PYQs

UPSC_1998_GS1_Q361998Open & attempt →

Which of the following pairs are correctly matched? I. Lothal: Ancient dockyard II. Sarnath: First Sermon of Buddha III. Rajgir: Lion capital of Asoka IV. Nalanda: Great seat of Buddhist learning Select the correct answer using the codes given below: Codes:

(a) I, II, III and IV
(b) III and IV
(c) I, II and IV
(d) I and II

Answer(c) I, II and IV

UPSC treats the Lothal–dockyard pairing as a settled fact and builds a question around it, with the false pair placed elsewhere. The same association is what makes Lothal the answer here.

UPSC_2011_GS1_Q922011Open & attempt →

Regarding the Indus Valley Civilization, consider the following statements : 1. It was predominantly a secular civilization and the religious element, though present, did not dominate the scene. 2. During this period, cotton was used for manufacturing textiles in India. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer(c) Both 1 and 2

The economic character of the same civilisation — cotton textiles, craft production and a civic rather than temple-centred order. Lothal's bead factory and warehouse are the archaeological face of exactly that description.

BPSC_2023_PRE_PaperI_Q552023Open & attempt →

Which of the following animals was not known to the people of the Indus Valley Civilization?

(a) Bull
(b) Horse
(c) Elephant
(d) None of the above

Answer(b) Horse

The 69th CCE tested the same civilisation from the evidence side — what the seals and bones do and do not show. Both questions reward a candidate who has learnt the Harappan world as a set of specific finds attached to specific places.

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
The earliest excavated ploughed field of the Harappan civilisation was found at
- (a)Lothal
- (b)Kalibangan
- (c)Dholavira
- (d)Ropar
Answer(b) Kalibangan — in Rajasthan on the Ghaggar, also known for its fire altars; Lothal's distinctive find is the dock and Dholavira's the water reservoirs and the signboard inscription.
practice — not a real PYQ
In Mesopotamian records, the land generally identified with the Indus region was called
- (a)Dilmun
- (b)Magan
- (c)Meluhha
- (d)Punt
Answer(c) Meluhha — while Dilmun and Magan were the intermediate Gulf regions through which that trade passed.