The ancient civilization in Indian sub-continent differed from those of Egypt, Mesopotamia and Greece in that its culture and traditions have been preserved without a breakdown to the present day. Comment.

Theme

T1 Harappan civilisation, early urbanism & civilisational continuity

What UPSC asks in this theme

UPSC asks about Harappan architecture and town planning, and pushes you to connect it to today: lessons for modern urbanisation, and why Indian civilisation survived without a break unlike Egypt or Mesopotamia. Geography's role in shaping ancient India also comes up.

What to cover

• Harappan town planning: grid layout, drainage, citadel vs lower town, granaries, Great Bath, burnt bricks
• Lessons for present cities: drainage, water harvesting (Dholavira), zoning
• Continuity of Indian civilisation: language, religion, crafts, agriculture practices that survived
• Comparison points with Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece
• Geography of ancient India: rivers, monsoon, Himalayan barrier, passes, coastline

Writing the answer

• Use one or two named sites (Dholavira, Lothal, Mohenjo-daro) as evidence in every answer
• For 'present-day relevance' questions, split the body into then vs now and end with a takeaway for smart cities

These notes are for the whole theme, built from all 4 of its PYQs. UPSC does not publish model answers.