RAS question
The Ahar civilization is dated to approximately which period?
Correct answer: (D) 3000-1500 BCE.
The Ahar civilisation is dated approximately to 3000-1500 BCE, the period of the Chalcolithic Ahar-Banas culture in south-eastern Rajasthan.
Explanation
The date range fits the Ahar-Banas Chalcolithic culture, not a later historic phase. Rajasthan Foundation, District - Udaipur places the Ahar civilisation near the Berach River and dates the Chalcolithic Ahar-Banas culture from 3000 BCE to 1500 BCE. This matches option D. The culture is also placed around c. 2300-1500 BCE, contemporary with the Indus Valley Civilisation, and was one of south-eastern Rajasthan's early agricultural and metal-using communities. In exam terms, the key is to recognise Ahar as a Chalcolithic culture: copper-stone age, pre-iron, and much earlier than the Vedic or early historic ranges.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) 1500-500 BCE is too late because it corresponds to the Vedic period, while the Ahar-Banas range begins much earlier and ends around 1500 BCE.
- (B) 500 BCE-300 CE is an early historic range, far later than the Chalcolithic Ahar-Banas culture dated to 3000-1500 BCE.
- (C) 5000-3000 BCE is too early because the Chalcolithic Ahar-Banas culture is placed from 3000 BCE to 1500 BCE, not before 3000 BCE.
Concept
This tests the chronology of Rajasthan's protohistoric cultures, especially the placement of Ahar-Banas within the Chalcolithic period. It recurs in RAS because Rajasthan history questions often ask candidates to distinguish ancient cultural phases by date, region and material culture.