With reference to the difference between the culture of Rigvedic Aryans and Indus Valley people, which of the following statements is/are correct? (UPSC, 2017)1. Rigvedic Aryans used the coat of mail and helmet in warfare whereas the people of the Indus Valley Civilization did not leave any evidence of using them.2. Rigvedic Aryans knew gold, silver and copper whereas Indus Valley people knew only copper and iron.3. Rigvedic Aryans had domesticated the horse whereas there is no evidence of Indus Valley people having been aware of this animal.Select the correct answer using the code given below:
✓ Correct answer: c) 1 and 3 only
Explanation1 and 3 onlyStatement 1 is correct: For offensive weapons, the Vedic-Aryans have the bow and arrow, spear, dagger, and axe, and for defensive armour the helmet and coat of mail.The Indus people also have the bow and arrow, spear, dagger, and axe, but defensive armour is quite unknown to Indus Valley people.Statement 2 is not correct: The metals which the Indo-Aryans used in the time of the Rigveda are gold and copper or bronze, but a little later, these metals are supplemented by silver and iron.Among the Indus people, silver is more common than gold, and utensils and vessels are sometimes made of stone- a relic of the Neolithic Age-as well as of copper and bronze.Statement 3 is correct: The horse seems to have been unknown to the inhabitants of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa.But Many references have been made regarding the Surkotada site containing horse remains dated to 2000 BCE, which is considered a significant observation with respect to Indus Valley Civilisation.After evaluating the Surkotada bone fragments, Sándor Bökönyi (1997) concluded that at least six of the samples most likely belonged to the real horse.However, this is not definitive proof, and it does not imply that people in the Indus Valley knew about horses.
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