(a) Critically discuss the origin of Indus Valley Civilization. Mention the evidences of its endogenous origin from the…

(a) Origin of the Indus Valley Civilization and Evidence of Endogenous Origin Two views exist. The diffusionist view (Wheeler, Kramer) saw Mesopotamian stimulus behind Harappan urbanism. The indigenous view (Mughal, Possehl, Jarrige, Shaffer, Kenoyer) sees the Mature Harappan (2600-1900 BCE) as the outcome of local development through an Early Harappan phase (about 3300-2600 BCE) that grew from the farming cultures of the Indus-Baluchistan region.

Critique of diffusion: Mesopotamian features such as the ziggurat, cuneiform and cylinder seals are absent; Harappan town planning, weights, seals and script are distinct; contacts with Mesopotamia were trade contacts, not origin. Yet some influence through trade may have existed, and a sudden-looking urbanisation still needs explanation.

Evidence of endogenous origin from pre-Harappan sites:

• Mehrgarh (from about 7000 BCE) shows farming, pottery and copper; Mehrgarh VII and Nausharo show continuity into Harappan levels.
• Kot Diji (Kot Dijian) and Amri show fortified settlements, wheel-made pottery and mud-brick architecture, with painted motifs (pipal leaf, fish scale) that continue in Mature Harappan pottery.
• Hakra Ware culture in Cholistan and the Sothi-Siswal culture at Kalibangan, with a ploughed field and fire altars, anticipate Harappan features. Rehman Dheri shows early planning; Early Harappan potter's marks resemble later signs.
• Rakhigarhi spans Early to Mature phases, and its ancient DNA (Shinde et al., 2019) shows local ancestry without steppe pastoralist input.
• Uniform brick ratios, cubical chert weights and bull motifs show continuity.

The weight of evidence thus favours indigenous evolution.

(b) Upper Palaeolithic Culture in India: Distribution and Features In India, the Upper Palaeolithic dates from about 40,000 to 10,000 years ago (late Pleistocene), representing modern Homo sapiens.

Distribution: Renigunta and the Kurnool caves (Muchchatla Chintamanu Gavi, Billa Surgam) in Andhra Pradesh; Patpara and Baghor in the Son valley and Lohanda Nala in the Belan valley (Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh); Bhimbetka; Budha Pushkar and Didwana in Rajasthan; Visadi in Gujarat; Patne in Maharashtra; and sites in Karnataka, Odisha and Chota Nagpur.

Features: the industry changes from flake tools to a blade-and-burin technology on fine-grained rocks such as chert, jasper and chalcedony. Tools include blades, burins, scrapers, points and awls. Bone tools, bone and ostrich eggshell beads, and ochre are known from Kurnool caves, Patne and Son valley. The Baghor I site in the Son valley has a circular stone platform with a Mother Goddess-like triangular stone, interpreted as a shrine. Wetter and drier cycles, including the last glacial maximum, shaped settlement.

Scholars: Murty, Allchin, Sankalia and Misra worked on these industries.

(c) Ramapithecus: Morphology and Phylogenetic Position Ramapithecus was a Miocene hominoid known from the Siwalik Hills (Haritalyangar, Himachal Pradesh; Potwar in Pakistan), about 12-8 million years old, described by Lewis (1934) as Ramapithecus brevirostris.

Morphology: small body, short face, parabolic dental arch, small canines and incisors, thick molar enamel, and flattened low-crowned molars.

Phylogenetic position: Simons (1961) and Pilbeam took these features, resembling Australopithecus and later hominins, to show Ramapithecus as the earliest hominid ancestor. Le Gros Clark and others were more cautious. Sarich and Wilson (1967) dated the human-ape split near 5 million years by the molecular clock, so a 12-million-year-old hominid appeared unlikely. In the 1980s, more complete Sivapithecus facial fossils from Potwar (Pilbeam) showed an orang-like face, and Ramapithecus is now treated as a female or small form of Sivapithecus, related to the orang-utan lineage (Pongo), not an ancestor of humans.

This changed view shows how new fossils and molecular evidence revised the human family tree.