SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 21 September 2025, Shift 1 · General Awareness · Question 10 of 99

We transcribed this text from the pictures on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; the answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 13 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. From 2025 the candidate response sheet prints every question and option as a picture, so the text here is transcribed from those pictures for this shift and checked against them independently; where the layout carries meaning, the picture is shown as well. Each answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. SSC released a tentative key for challenge and later its final one, both only to candidates behind a login, and the sheet does not say which of the two it carries. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

In ancient India, Chanhudaro was primarily a centre for:

(a)Agriculture
(b)Metalworking
(c)Bead-making
(d)Textile weaving

Answer

Why

Correct — C. Chanhudaro, a Harappan site in Sindh, is known above all for a bead-making workshop with a furnace, recognised as a bead factory. Specialised drills used in bead-making have also been found there.

NCERT describes it as a tiny settlement almost exclusively devoted to craft production, and beads are the craft its finds are best known for → option (c).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Agriculture — Agriculture is not what Chanhudaro was for. NCERT calls it almost exclusively a craft settlement, and Harappan farming evidence comes from sites like Kalibangan, with its ploughed field.
(b)
Metalworking — Metalworking did happen here: NCERT lists it among Chanhudaro's crafts, and copper tools have been found. But the stem asks what it was primarily a centre for, and that is the bead workshop.
(d)
Textile weaving — Textile weaving is not among the crafts NCERT lists for Chanhudaro: bead-making, shell-cutting, metal-working, seal-making and weight-making.

Concept

Chanhudaro covered less than 7 hectares, against 125 for Mohenjodaro, and NCERT says it was almost exclusively devoted to craft production: bead-making, shell-cutting, metal-working, seal-making and weight-making.

Harappan beads were made from carnelian, jasper, crystal, quartz, steatite, metals, shell and faience. The red of carnelian was obtained by firing the yellowish raw stone, which is why a workshop with a furnace matters.

The stem's word primarily carries weight. NCERT lists metal-working among Chanhudaro's crafts too, so option (b) is not false about the site. The key picks bead-making, the craft its workshop and drills are known for.

Key facts

Chanhudaro is a Harappan site in Sindh, Pakistan, about 130 km south of Mohenjodaro.
N. G. Majumdar first excavated Chanhudaro in 1931.
A bead-making workshop with a furnace was found at Chanhudaro.
The red colour of carnelian beads was obtained by firing the yellowish raw material.

Study next

Harappan shell-working centres at Nageshwar and BalakotHarappan seals and the steatite they were carved fromLothal's dockyard and its bead-making

Common traps

Choosing metalworking because copper tools were found at Chanhudaro: the stem asks what the site was primarily a centre for, and its signature is the bead workshop.

Harappan crafts are also asked at 17 Sep 2025, 9:00, GA Q.3 (steatite seals), and the civilisation's features at 26 Sep 2025, 12:30, GA Q.11.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: History — all 218 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.