The Lay of the Land
This term describes a large landmass, like India, that is like a continent only smaller.
(What is a subcontinent?)
These seasonal winds shape India's climate, creating distinct dry and rainy seasons.
(What are monsoons?)
Harappan cities were built according to a design, earning them this two-word title.
(What are planned cities?)
Ancient Indians were the first people in Asia to grow this crop and make it into fabric.
(What is cotton?)
Because the Harappans could afford "more than just basic necessities," archaeologists consider their culture to be this.
(What is prosperous?)
Archaeologists have found no evidence of these specific buildings dedicated to gods in Harappan cities.
(What are temples?)
Around 2000 to 1500 B.C., these natural disasters began to shake the region.
(What are earthquakes?)
These two major mountain ranges tower over the northern borders of India.
(What are the Hindu Kush and the Himalayas?)
This river, considered holy by most Indians, features banks that are heavily populated today.
(What is the Ganges?)
To protect the inhabitants, architects surrounded Harappan cities with these.
(What are heavy brick protective walls?)
Harappans used these two metals to make tools that were more effective than stone.
(What are copper and bronze?)
Seals from the Indus Valley have been found as far away as this distant ancient land.
(What is Mesopotamia?)
This large structure in Mohenjo-Daro may have been used for religious rituals involving cleansing.
(What is the Great Bath?)
Natural disasters likely caused this river to dry up completely.
(What is the Saraswati?)
Geographers believe the kite-shaped Indian subcontinent used to be a separate land until it crashed into this continent.
(What is Asia?)
The winter monsoon is generally dry because the winds drop their moisture as rain while passing over these.
(What are the Himalayas?)
Harappan streets were unique because they crossed each other at these specific angles.
(What are right angles / a neat grid?)
This animal was the first to be domesticated by the early inhabitants of the Indus Valley.
(What are chickens?)
Ancient Indians traded timber, ivory, and beads for these three items from Mesopotamia.
(What are silver, tin, and woolen cloth?)
Archaeologists found clay figurines of these, which Indians still regard as holy today.
(What are bulls?)
The prosperous Harappan culture lasted for approximately this many years.
(What is 800 years?)
This is the specific direction the Indian subcontinent "inched" before colliding with Asia and pushing up mountains.
(What is North?)
The first Indian civilization was born in the valley of this specific river.
(What is the Indus River?)
Harappan cities were very advanced in sanitation; almost every house contained these two features.
(What are a bathroom and a toilet?)
To ensure fair trade, Harappan people used these standardized items across the region.
(What are weights and measures?)
These small stone objects, often featuring animal carvings, may have been used to indicate types of trade goods.
(What are seals?)
Historians believe the Harappans had a strong government because of the amount of this required to build such complex cities.
(What is planning and organization?)
When the Harappan civilization went into decline, this happened to the people living in the cities.
(What is they were forced to leave?)
These three bodies of water surround the Indian subcontinent.
(What are the Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean, and Bay of Bengal?)
This now-dry river once ran parallel to the Indus and was home to many great cities.
(What is the Saraswati?)
This specific city’s name was used to describe the entire Indus River culture.
(What is Harappa?)
These "picture signs" were found on stone seals, but scholars still cannot read them today.
(What are pictographs?)
This natural process, occurring when rivers overflow, deposited silt that made the land fertile for farming.
(What is flooding?)
Because their writing is unreadable, this is the only way we can currently learn about the Harappan civilization.
(What is by studying artifacts?)
This is the specific year by which some Indus villages had grown into "great cities."
(What is 2500 B.C.?)