(a) Do you agree that ecological factors influenced the flow and ebb of the Harappan Civilization? Comment. (20 marks) (b) Do you…

(a) Ecological factors and the Harappan civilization

Ecology shaped both the rise and the decline, but was not the sole cause. The rise rested on Indus floods that renewed alluvial soils, on rivers for transport and on the Ghaggar-Hakra system, whose valley holds the densest settlement clusters.

Explanations of decline stress environmental change. Raikes and Dyson argued that tectonic uplift dammed the Indus below Mohenjodaro, causing repeated flooding, silt layers there supporting this. Gurdip Singh's pollen study of Rajasthan lakes suggested a wetter phase giving way to drier conditions around 2000 BCE. D. P. Agrawal and others stressed climatic drying and the shifting or weakening of the Ghaggar-Hakra, linked to the abandonment of sites like Kalibangan. Rivers changing course, salinity and overuse of fragile land added strain.

Ecological factors alone do not explain it. Cities declined in different ways and at different times, trade with Mesopotamia faded, and Late Harappan phases show rural continuity and shifts of settlement east and south, suggesting a gradual de-urbanisation in which environment interacted with economic and political weakening. The view is therefore agreeable but needs qualification.

(b) Upanishads and Vedic thought

The Upanishads can be seen as the culmination of Vedic thought, which is why they are called Vedanta, the end of the Veda. They moved attention from the sacrifice of the Samhitas and Brahmanas to inquiry into reality: Brahman, the ultimate principle; Atman, the self, and their identity (tat tvam asi); karma, rebirth and moksha through knowledge. Authority moved from the priest to the forest teacher and the questioning student, and kings such as Janaka and Ajatashatru took part in the debates.

They were not a sudden break: they grew out of the Aranyakas, and the Rig Vedic hymn on creation already shows speculation. The same period produced Buddhism and Jainism, which rejected Vedic authority, so Upanishadic thought is better described as the high point of philosophical reflection within Vedic religion, and the base of later Vedanta, than as the whole of Vedic religion, which continued with ritual.

(c) Post-Mauryan art: external and indigenous

Post-Mauryan art grew from foreign contacts and strong local traditions.

Foreign influence is clearest in Gandhara art under Indo-Greek, Shaka and Kushana patronage, where Buddha figures show Hellenistic features: wavy hair, a toga-like robe, and realistic modelling, with Roman themes and Corinthian capitals. Indo-Roman trade fostered contacts along the coast.

Indigenous development is seen at Bharhut and Sanchi, where Shunga and Satavahana patrons carved narrative reliefs and symbolic Buddha, using the Mauryan stone craft and yaksha and yakshi traditions. Mathura developed the first Buddha images in the red sandstone of local tradition, together with Jain and Hindu images, and the Amaravati school, under the Satavahanas and Ikshvakus, produced flowing narrative reliefs. The mixture of imported and local forms prepared the ground for classical Gupta art.