NCERT alters Class 12 history book, says Harappans indigenous to India

• The National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) has made revisions in the history book for Class 12 students, particularly regarding the origins and decline of the Harappan civilization,

Harappan Civilization

• The history of India begins with the birth of the Indus Valley Civilization (IVC), also known as Harappan Civilization.
• It flourished around 2,500 BC, in the western part of South Asia, in contemporary Pakistan and Western India.
• The Indus Valley was home to the largest of the four ancient urban civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, India and China.
• In 1920s, the Archaeological Department of India carried out excavations in the Indus valley wherein the ruins of the two old cities, viz. Mohenjodaro and Harappa were unearthed.
• In 1924, John Marshall, Director-General of the ASI, announced the discovery of a new civilisation in the Indus valley to the world.
• Rakhigarhi is an archaeological site located in Hisar district (Haryana), in the Ghaggar-Hakra river plain.

Rakhigarhi

• It is the largest Harappan site in the Indian subcontinent
• It is a mature Harappan phase and is represented by a planned township having mud-brick as well as burnt-brick houses with a proper drainage system.
• A cylindrical seal with five Harappan characters on one side and a symbol of an alligator on the other is an important find from this site.
• The ceramic industry was rPrelims takeaway
• Rakhigarhi
• Mohenjodaro
• epresented by red ware, which included dish-on-stand, vase, perforated jar among others.

Prelims takeaway

• Rakhigarhi
• Mohenjodaro