RAS question
Ganeshwar is often called the 'copper supplier' to which major civilization?
Correct answer: (C) Harappan.
Ganeshwar is often called the copper supplier to the Harappan, or Indus Valley, civilisation.
Explanation
Ganeshwar is linked with the Harappan civilisation because the Ganeshwar-Jodhpura culture lay in the Khetri region of Rajasthan, a copper-producing area. The SATHEE/NCERT chapter notes that this culture had distinctive non-Harappan pottery and an unusual wealth of copper objects, and that its inhabitants may have supplied copper to the Harappans. Ganeshwar was a pre-Harappan or early Harappan site, yet its copper tools match types found at Harappan sites. The point is not that Ganeshwar was itself a mature Harappan city, but that it was part of the resource network through which copper reached Harappan craft production.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Vedic is wrong because Ganeshwar belongs in a pre-Harappan or early Harappan context, not in the later Vedic phase.
- (B) Egyptian is wrong because Ganeshwar's copper objects are not connected with Egypt.
- (D) Mesopotamian is wrong because Mesopotamia appears under distant Harappan contacts, while Ganeshwar-Jodhpura is specifically tied to copper supply for the Harappans.
Concept
This tests the RAS theme of Rajasthan's protohistoric cultures and their links with the Indus Valley civilisation. It recurs because sites such as Ganeshwar help connect Rajasthan's archaeology with wider Harappan craft and raw-material networks.