Which of the following archaeological sites related to Indus Valley civilization are situated in present day Uttar Pradesh ? 1. Mandi 2. Rakhigarhi 3. Hulas Select the correct answer from the code given below : Code :
- (a)1 and 2
- (b)1 and 3
- (c)Only 3
- (d)Only 1
Correct — B, 1 and 3. Two of the three named sites lie in Uttar Pradesh and one does not. Mandi is a Harappan-period site in Muzaffarnagar district of western Uttar Pradesh; it became famous in 2000 when a very large hoard of gold and silver ornaments of the Harappan period was recovered there. Hulas is a Late Harappan settlement in Saharanpur district, also in western Uttar Pradesh, excavated in the 1970s-80s and known for evidence of cereal and pulse cultivation. Rakhigarhi, by contrast, is not in Uttar Pradesh at all — it sits in Hisar district of HARYANA, on the dried Ghaggar plain, and is the largest Harappan site so far identified inside India. So statements 1 and 3 are the Uttar Pradesh sites, which is exactly option (b). The whole question turns on knowing that Rakhigarhi is Haryana's site, not UP's.
- (a)1 and 2 — This pairs Mandi (correctly, Muzaffarnagar, UP) with Rakhigarhi, which is in Hisar district of Haryana and not in Uttar Pradesh. It also drops Hulas, which genuinely is a UP site in Saharanpur district. Rakhigarhi is the classic distractor here because it is the biggest and most talked-about Harappan site in India and is often listed alongside the western-UP sites in the same paragraph of a textbook.
- (c)Only 3 — Hulas (Saharanpur, UP) is indeed a UP site, so this option is not wrong so much as incomplete. It discards Mandi, which is equally in Uttar Pradesh — Muzaffarnagar district, in the same upper-Doab cluster. A single-site answer cannot be right when two of the three listed sites are in the State.
- (d)Only 1 — Mandi is correctly a UP site, but this option leaves out Hulas, which is also in Uttar Pradesh (Saharanpur district). Like option (c), it is a half-answer: it identifies one of the two UP sites and misses the other.
The Indus (Harappan) Civilization spread far beyond Sindh and Punjab. Its eastern frontier ran into the upper Ganga-Yamuna doab, so a small but real cluster of Harappan and Late Harappan settlements lies in western Uttar Pradesh — mainly in Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut and Baghpat districts. Alamgirpur in Meerut district, on the Hindon river, is conventionally taught as the eastern-most Harappan site. Because these UP sites belong mostly to the Late Harappan phase, they are small farming settlements rather than the great planned cities, which is why students remember the city names (Harappa, Mohenjodaro, Rakhigarhi, Dholavira, Lothal) and forget the UP ones.
UPPSC repeatedly builds a question by mixing two or three genuine UP sites with one famous site from a neighbouring State. The reliable method is to fix the State of each big site once and for all — Rakhigarhi and Banawali in Haryana, Kalibangan in Rajasthan, Lothal and Dholavira in Gujarat, Ropar in Punjab — and then treat the remaining, less famous names (Mandi, Hulas, Alamgirpur, Bargaon, Sanauli) as the UP list. Here, once Rakhigarhi is ruled out as Haryana, statement 2 falls, and the only option that keeps 1 and 3 together is (b).
- Mandi is a Harappan-period site in Muzaffarnagar district, Uttar Pradesh, best known for a large hoard of gold and silver ornaments reported in 2000
- Hulas is a Late Harappan site in Saharanpur district, Uttar Pradesh, in the upper Ganga-Yamuna doab
- Rakhigarhi is in Hisar district, Haryana, on the Ghaggar plain, and is the largest Harappan site found within India
- Alamgirpur, in Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh on the Hindon river, is conventionally described as the eastern-most site of the Harappan civilization
- Sanauli in Baghpat district, Uttar Pradesh, yielded the widely reported coffin and cart burials excavated in 2018; it is generally read as belonging to a Late Harappan / Ochre Coloured Pottery horizon rather than to the Mature Harappan phase
- Assuming Rakhigarhi is in Uttar Pradesh because it is often taught in the same breath as the western-UP sites; it is in Hisar district, Haryana
- Confusing Mandi the Harappan site in Muzaffarnagar (UP) with Mandi the district and town in Himachal Pradesh
- Treating Alamgirpur as being outside UP; it is in Meerut district and marks the civilization's eastern limit
UPPSC almost always asks this as 'which of these sites lie in Uttar Pradesh' or as a site-to-State match list, because the State angle lets it test UP geography and ancient history together; UPSC prefers the pan-Indian version — which site is or is not Harappan, and which site yielded which archaeological find.
Which one of the following is not a Harappan site?
- (a) Chanhudarо
- (b) Kot Diji
- (c) Sohgaura
- (d) Desalpur
Answer(c) Sohgaura
The same skill in reverse: instead of asking which listed sites are Harappan and where, UPSC asks which one is not. Sohgaura is in Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh but is a Mauryan-period site famous for its copper-plate inscription, while Chanhudaro, Kot Diji and Desalpur are Harappan — so an Indian site being in UP does not make it Harappan, and being Harappan does not make it a UP site.
Which one of the following ancient towns is well-known for its elaborate system of water harvesting and management where a series of bunds created check-dams and canals carried the water to connected reservoirs?
- (a) Dholavira
- (b) Kalibangan
- (c) Rakhigarhi
- (d) Ropar
Answer(a) Dholavira
Another site-identification item from the same Harappan roster, with Rakhigarhi standing again as a distractor. Both questions are won by holding a firm mental map of which Harappan town sits in which State and what each is known for.
In which State of India is the Harappan Civilization site Mandi situated ?
- (a) Gujarat
- (b) Haryana
- (c) Rajasthan
- (d) Uttar Pradesh
Answer(d) Uttar Pradesh
Literally the same fact, asked four years earlier as a one-liner: Mandi, the Harappan site, is in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh. Statement 1 of the 2025 question is this 2021 question.
Match List – I with List – II and select the correct answer using the codes given below the lists : List – I (Harappan Site): A. Balu, B. Manda, C. Padri, D. Hulas List – II (UT/State of India): 1. Uttar Pradesh, 2. Jammu and Kashmir, 3. Haryana, 4. Gujarat
- (a) A-3, B-2, C-1, D-4
- (b) A-2, B-3, C-4, D-1
- (c) A-2, B-4, C-3, D-1
- (d) A-3, B-2, C-4, D-1
Answer(d) A-3, B-2, C-4, D-1
The Harappan site-to-State match list, and its D pairing is Hulas — Uttar Pradesh, which is statement 3 of the 2025 question. It also fixes Balu in Haryana, Manda in Jammu and Kashmir and Padri in Gujarat.
Eastern boundary of the Harappa culture is indicated by which of the following?
- (a) Manda
- (b) Alamgirpur
- (c) Rakhigarhi
- (d) Harappa
Answer(b) Alamgirpur
The third UPPSC visit to the same UP-Harappan cluster: Alamgirpur (Meerut, UP) marks the eastern boundary of the culture, with Rakhigarhi offered once more as the wrong option.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Harappan site of Alamgirpur, usually described as the eastern-most site of the Indus Valley Civilization, is located in which district of Uttar Pradesh?
- (a)Saharanpur
- (b)Meerut
- (c)Baghpat
- (d)Muzaffarnagar
Answer(b) Meerut — Alamgirpur lies on the Hindon river in Meerut district and marks the eastern limit of the Harappan spread.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Rakhigarhi, the largest Harappan site found in India, is situated in which State?
- (a)Uttar Pradesh
- (b)Rajasthan
- (c)Haryana
- (d)Gujarat
Answer(c) Haryana — Rakhigarhi is in Hisar district of Haryana, on the Ghaggar plain.