Match List-I with List-II and select the correct answer using the code given below the Lists: List-I (Harappan Site) A. Nageshwar B. Alamgirpur C. Kalibangan D. Rakhigarhi List-II (Location) 1. Uttar Pradesh 2. Rajasthan 3. Saurashtra 4. Haryana Code:

Q: What is the answer to CAPF 2023 Paper I Q58?

A. Correct — A, A-3, B-1, C-2, D-4. Nageshwar sits on the Saurashtra coast of Gujarat, and it is remembered as one of the two settlements — Balakot is the other — that specialised in shell objects such as bangles, ladles and inlay, which were then carried to other Harappan towns. Alamgirpur lies in Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh on the Hindon, a tributary of the Yamuna, and is the eastern outlier of the civilisation. Kalibangan is in Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan on the dry bed of the Ghaggar, and it gave up the ploughed field and the rows of fire altars that every syllabus mentions. Rakhigarhi is in Hisar district of Haryana and ranks among the largest Harappan sites known. Two of the four are enough to close the question: only two options place Nageshwar in Saurashtra, and of those only one also puts Alamgirpur in Uttar Pradesh.

(a)A-3, B-1, C-2, D-4
(b)A-4, B-2, C-1, D-3
(c)A-4, B-1, C-2, D-3
(d)A-3, B-2, C-1, D-4

Answer

Why

Correct — A, A-3, B-1, C-2, D-4. Nageshwar sits on the Saurashtra coast of Gujarat, and it is remembered as one of the two settlements — Balakot is the other — that specialised in shell objects such as bangles, ladles and inlay, which were then carried to other Harappan towns. Alamgirpur lies in Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh on the Hindon, a tributary of the Yamuna, and is the eastern outlier of the civilisation. Kalibangan is in Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan on the dry bed of the Ghaggar, and it gave up the ploughed field and the rows of fire altars that every syllabus mentions. Rakhigarhi is in Hisar district of Haryana and ranks among the largest Harappan sites known. Two of the four are enough to close the question: only two options place Nageshwar in Saurashtra, and of those only one also puts Alamgirpur in Uttar Pradesh.

Why the others are wrong

(b)A-4, B-2, C-1, D-3 — Every pair is displaced. It puts Nageshwar in Haryana, Alamgirpur in Rajasthan, Kalibangan in Uttar Pradesh and Rakhigarhi in Saurashtra, so no coastal shell-working site and no Ghaggar site survives.
(c)A-4, B-1, C-2, D-3 — Gets Alamgirpur and Kalibangan right but swaps the two remaining sites, sending Nageshwar to Haryana and Rakhigarhi to Saurashtra. Nageshwar's shell industry only makes sense on the coast.
(d)A-3, B-2, C-1, D-4 — Places Nageshwar and Rakhigarhi correctly but exchanges Alamgirpur and Kalibangan, which would put the civilisation's eastern outlier on the Ghaggar in Rajasthan and Kalibangan near Meerut.

Concept

Harappan sites are spread across a wide arc from the Makran coast to the upper Ganga-Yamuna doab, and the ones an examiner picks are usually those with a distinguishing find. Nageshwar and Balakot are the shell-working settlements near the sea; Kalibangan is the Ghaggar site of the ploughed field and the fire altars; Rakhigarhi is the great Haryana mound; Alamgirpur marks the eastern edge of the map.

Matching questions of this kind rarely need all four pairs. Fix the one you are surest of, strike out every option that disagrees with it, and see how many remain — here Nageshwar in Saurashtra leaves two options standing, and Alamgirpur in Uttar Pradesh finishes the job. The geography also carries a memory aid: a settlement that made shell bangles has to be where the shells are, which puts Nageshwar on the coast rather than in landlocked Haryana or Rajasthan, and that alone breaks two of the four options.

Key facts

Nageshwar lies on the Saurashtra coast of Gujarat; it and Balakot were specialised centres for making shell objects, including bangles, ladles and inlay.
Alamgirpur, in Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh on the Hindon, is the easternmost Harappan site.
Kalibangan, in Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan on the Ghaggar, yielded a ploughed field and rows of fire altars.
Rakhigarhi, in Hisar district of Haryana, is among the largest Harappan settlements known.
Other pairings worth carrying: Lothal and Dholavira in Gujarat, Banawali in Haryana, Ropar in Punjab, and Harappa, Mohenjodaro and Chanhudaro in present-day Pakistan.

The four sites, their locations and what each is known for

Nageshwar — Saurashtra, Gujarat→Coastal settlement specialising in shell objects, with Balakot

Alamgirpur — Meerut district, Uttar Pradesh→On the Hindon, the eastern outlier of the Harappan map

Kalibangan — Hanumangarh district, Rajasthan→On the Ghaggar; ploughed field and rows of fire altars

Rakhigarhi — Hisar district, Haryana→Among the largest Harappan settlements known

Nageshwar's shell industry fixes it on the coast, and that single pairing removes two of the four options.

Study next

Major Harappan sites and the find each is known for — Lothal, Dholavira, Banawali, Chanhudaro, SurkotadaCraft specialisation in the Harappan civilisation and the trade in beads, shell and copperThe Ghaggar-Hakra and the debate over the rivers of the civilisationHarappan town planning, drainage and the citadel and lower town divisionExcavations at Rakhigarhi and what the site has added to the picture

Common traps

Shifting Kalibangan into Haryana because so many Harappan sites are there.
Forgetting that Alamgirpur, and not a site in Punjab, marks the eastern limit.
Reading Saurashtra as a State rather than as the peninsula of Gujarat, which makes the first pair look wrong.

The standard four-by-four matching format, solvable from two confident pairs; the same sites return as single-answer questions about which yielded a dockyard, a ploughed field or fire altars.

Related PYQs

NDA_GAT_2021_I_Q1012021Open & attempt →

Which one of the following Harappan sites was a specialised centre for making shell objects?

(a) Lothal
(b) Balakot
(c) Amri
(d) Kot Diji

Answer(b) Balakot

Nageshwar's twin. The two coastal settlements are always named together as the shell-working centres, so an item that keys one of them is the surest way to remember where the other sits.

NDA_GAT_2022_II_Q1252022Open & attempt →

At which among the following Harappan sites are fire altars found?

(a) Kalibangan
(b) Harappa
(c) Mohenjo-daro
(d) Rakhi Garhi

Answer(a) Kalibangan

Two of this list's four sites in a single question. Kalibangan's fire altars and its ploughed field are the finds that fix it in memory, and Rakhigarhi stands beside it as the distractor.

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
Which one of the following Harappan sites lies in Uttar Pradesh?
- (a)Banawali
- (b)Alamgirpur
- (c)Surkotada
- (d)Ropar
Answer(b) Alamgirpur — in Meerut district on the Hindon, and the easternmost Harappan site known. Banawali is in Haryana, Surkotada in Gujarat and Ropar in Punjab.
practice — not a real PYQ
Nageshwar and Balakot are remembered in Harappan archaeology as specialised centres for
- (a)copper smelting
- (b)making shell objects
- (c)carnelian bead manufacture
- (d)seal carving
Answer(b) making shell objects — both settlements lie near the coast, where the raw shell was available, and their bangles, ladles and inlay travelled to other sites.