Class 12 History - Themes in Indian History - I - Chapter Bricks, Beads and Bones NCERT Solutions | On Map 1, use a pencil to circle sites w

Look at Fig. 1.30 and describe what you see. How is the body placed? What are the objects placed near it? Are there any artefacts on the body? Do these indicate the sex of the skeleton?

Describe some of the distinctive features of Mohenjodaro.

List the items of food available to people in Harappan cities. Identify the groups who would have provided these.

Discuss how archaeologists reconstruct the past.

List the materials used to make beads in the Harappan civilisation. Describe the process by which any one kind of bead was made.

How do archaeologists trace socio-economic differences in Harappan society? What are the differences that they notice?

List the raw materials required for craft production in the Harappan civilisation and discuss how these might have been obtained.

Discuss the functions that may have been performed by rulers in Harappan society.

Would you agree that the drainage system in Harappan cities indicates town planning? Give reasons for your answer.

Discuss the evidence of craft production in Early Historic cities. In what ways is this different from the evidence from Harappan cities?

Explain why patriliny may have been particularly important among elite families.

Were the ideas of the Upanishadic thinkers different from those of the fatalists and materialists? Give reasons for your answer.

Describe the salient features of mahajanapadas.

Discuss whether kings in early states were invariably Kshatriyas.

Summarise the central teachings of Jainism.

How do historians reconstruct the lives of ordinary people?

Compare and contrast the dharma or norms mentioned in the stories of Drona, Hidimba and Matanga.

Discuss the role of the begums of Bhopal in preserving the stupa at Sanchi.

Compare and contrast the list of things given to the Pandyan chief (Source 3) with those produced in the village of Danguna (Source 8). Do you notice any similarities or differences?

How important were gender differences in early societies? Give reasons for your answer.

Discuss the role of the begums of Bhopal in preserving the stupa at Sanchi.

Discuss the main features of Mauryan administration. Which of these elements are evident in the Asokan inscriptions that you have studied?

In what ways was the Buddhist theory of a social contract different from the Brahmanical view of society derived from the Purusha sukta?

This is what a famous historian of Indian literature, Maurice Winternitz, wrote about the Mahabharata: “just because the Mahabharata represents more of an entire literature ... and contains so much and so many kinds of things, … (it) gives(s) us an insight into the most profound depths of the soul of the Indian folk.” Discuss.

How do historians reconstruct the lives of ordinary people?

Discuss the evidence of craft production in Early Historic cities. In what ways is this different from the evidence from Harappan cities?

Summarise the central teachings of Jainism.

Why do you think women and men joined the sangha?

To what extent were agricultural practices transformed in the period under consideration?