Comprehension

Until the Keeladi site was discovered, archaeologists by and large believed that the Gangetic plains in the north urbanised significantly earlier than Tamil Nadu. Historians have often claimed that large scale town life in India first developed in the Greater Magadha region of the Gangetic basin. This was during the ‘second urbanisation’ phase. The ‘first urbanisation phase’ refers to the rise of the Harappan or Indus Valley Civilisation. Tamil Nadu was thought to have urbanised at this scale only by the third century BCE. The findings at Keeladi push that date back significantly. … Based on linguistics and continuity in cultural legacies, connections between the Indus Valley Civilisation, or IVC, and old Tamil traditions have long been suggested, but concrete archaeological evidence remained absent. Evidence indicated similarities between graffiti found in Keeladi and symbols associated with the IVC. It bolstered the arguments of dissidents from the dominant North Indian imagination, who have argued for years that their ancestors existed contemporaneously with the IVC. … All the archaeologists I spoke to said it was too soon to make definitive links between the Keeladi site and the IVC. There is no doubt, however, that the discovery at Keeladi has changed the paradigm. In recent years, the results of any new research on early India have invited keen political interest, because proponents of Hindu nationalism support the notion of Vedic culture as fundamental to the origins of Indian civilisation. … The Keeladi excavations further challenge the idea of a single fountainhead of Indian life. They indicate the possibility that the earliest identity that can recognisably be considered ‘Indian’ might not have originated in North India. That wasn’t all. In subsequent seasons of the Keeladi dig, archaeologists discovered that Tamili, a variant of the Brahmi script used for writing inscriptions in the early iterations of the Tamil language, could be dated back to the sixth century BCE, likely a hundred years before previously thought. So not only had urban life thrived in the Tamil lands, but people who lived there had developed their own script. “The evolution of writing is attributed to Ashoka’s edicts, but 2600 years ago writing was prevalent in Keeladi,” Mathan Karuppiah, a proud Madurai local, told me. “A farmer could write his own name on a pot he owned. The fight going on here is ‘You are not the one to teach me to write, I have learnt it myself.’”
[Excerpted from “The Dig”, by Sowmiya Ashok, Fifty-Two]

Question: 1

What was the assumption about the origin of urban life in India before the Keeladi dig?

Updated On: Aug 23, 2024
  • The origins lay in the northern Gangetic plains, which urbanised earlier than the south.
  • The Indus Valley Civilization was the first urban civilization of India.
  • The second urbanization was known to be in the Magadha empire.
  • Both (A) and (B)
Hide Solution
collegedunia
Verified By Collegedunia

The Correct Option is A

Solution and Explanation

The correct option is (A):The origins lay in the northern Gangetic plains, which urbanised earlier than the south.
Was this answer helpful?
0
0
Question: 2

“The Keeladi excavations further challenge the idea of a single fountainhead of Indian life.” — in elaboration of this sentence, which of these options follows?

Updated On: Aug 23, 2024
  • Dominant theories of how urban and modern life came about in ancient India were proved wrong by the Keeladi archaeological dig.
  • Neither the Indus Valley Civilization, nor the ancient urban civilization of Magadha are clear explanations of how urban life emerged in the Keeladi region of southern India in the third century BCE.
  • The Keeladi archaeological dig proved that Indian urban and modern life emerged independently in several historical periods and geographies, and no one theory is enough to explain it.
  • None of the above
Hide Solution
collegedunia
Verified By Collegedunia

The Correct Option is C

Solution and Explanation

The correct option is (C):The Keeladi archaeological dig proved that Indian urban and modern life emerged independently in several historical periods and geographies, and no one theory is enough to explain it.
Was this answer helpful?
0
0
Question: 3

Language, including a script similar to the Brahmi script, emerged in Keeladi in the sixth century BCE. Which of the following is the most convincing conclusion from this statement?

Updated On: Aug 23, 2024
  • Keeladi is a centre of culture and learning far superior to any others in ancient India.
  • People of Keeladi were illiterate and could not use language to inscribe on their pots and pans.
  • Ancient urban history of India, as we know it today, could significantly be altered by the findings of the advances achieved by the Keeladi civilization.
  • All the above
Hide Solution
collegedunia
Verified By Collegedunia

The Correct Option is C

Solution and Explanation

The correct option is (C):Ancient urban history of India, as we know it today, could significantly be altered by the findings of the advances achieved by the Keeladi civilization.
Was this answer helpful?
0
0
Question: 4

BCE is the acronym for:

Updated On: Aug 23, 2024
  • Before the Common Era
  • Before Colloquial Era
  • Before Chapel Eternal
  • Behind Christ Era
Hide Solution
collegedunia
Verified By Collegedunia

The Correct Option is A

Solution and Explanation

The correct option is (A):Before the Common Era
Was this answer helpful?
0
0
Question: 5

“A farmer could write his own name on a pot he owned. The fight going on here is ‘You are not the one to teach me to write, I have learnt it myself.’ ” — These sentences imply:

Updated On: Aug 23, 2024
  • That the Keeladi civilization was an inegalitarian one.
  • That the Keeladi civilization did not conserve the access to education and literacy only for the elite.
  • That the farmers of the Keeladi civilization were also potters.
  • All the above
Hide Solution
collegedunia
Verified By Collegedunia

The Correct Option is B

Solution and Explanation

The correct option is (B):That the Keeladi civilization did not conserve the access to education and literacy only for the elite.
Was this answer helpful?
0
0

Top Questions on Reading Comprehension

View More Questions

Questions Asked in CLAT exam

View More Questions