Q1.
Some of the important cities of this civilisation are marked in the map (Fig. 6.3). As a class activity, can you try to match these cities with the modern states or regions in the table on the next page? (Dholavira / Harappa / Kalibangan / Mohenjo-daro / Rakhigarhi — Punjab / Gujarat / Sindh / Haryana / Rajasthan)
Answer
The table on page 90 is deliberately jumbled — not one pair as printed is correct. Trace each red dot on Fig. 6.3 and the true matches come out like this.
| Harappan city | Modern state / region | Country today | How you find it on Fig. 6.3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dholavira | Gujarat | India | Low down on the map, in the Rann of Kutch, near Khirsara, Bagasra and Nagwada |
| Harappa | Punjab | Pakistan | Upper middle, on the River Ravi, below the Chenab and Jhelum |
| Kalibangan | Rajasthan | India | On the dotted line of the River Sarasvatī, between Harappa and Rakhigarhi |
| Mohenjo-daro | Sindh | Pakistan | On the lower Indus, just below Lakhanjo-daro and above Chanhudaro |
| Rakhigarhi | Haryana | India | To the right, near Banawali, Bhirrana and Farmana, in the dense cluster of sites |
Printed (wrong) → Correct
Dholavira – Punjab → Dholavira – Gujarat
Harappa – Gujarat → Harappa – Punjab (Pakistan)
Kalibangan – Sindh → Kalibangan – Rajasthan
Mohenjo-daro – Haryana → Mohenjo-daro – Sindh (Pakistan)
Rakhigarhi – Rajasthan → Rakhigarhi – Haryana
Dholavira – Punjab → Dholavira – Gujarat
Harappa – Gujarat → Harappa – Punjab (Pakistan)
Kalibangan – Sindh → Kalibangan – Rajasthan
Mohenjo-daro – Haryana → Mohenjo-daro – Sindh (Pakistan)
Rakhigarhi – Rajasthan → Rakhigarhi – Haryana
What else Fig. 6.3 is telling you. Read the map for more than the five names:
- Natural boundaries in brown — the Hindu Kush and the Sulaiman Range to the west and north-west, the Himalayas along the top, the Aravalli Range cutting across the middle. The civilisation sits inside this frame.
- Two river systems, not one — the Indus with the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej; and the Sarasvatī, drawn running through Kalibangan and Ganweriwala down towards the Rann.
- Hundreds of small pink dots — the ordinary settlements. They cluster most thickly along the Sarasvatī, which is exactly the point the text on page 91 makes.
- The full spread — Shortugai in the far north (today in Afghanistan), Manda and Rupnagar in the north-east, Sutkagen-dor far to the west on the Makran coast, and Lothal, Nageshwar and Balakot on the sea.
How to run it as a class activity: copy the two columns on to the board in the jumbled order the book prints, then send one student at a time to the map to find the city before drawing the arrow. Matching from memory teaches nothing; matching from the map teaches map-reading.