Question

A granary outside the citadel was found at _____.
A. Mohenjodaro
B. Harappa
C. Kot Diji
D. Lothal

Answer 1

Hint: The Indus Valley Civilisation flourished in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent from around 3000 BCE to 1300 BCE. This civilisation is known to be one of the oldest urbanised settlements in the world with detailed political, social, economic and architectural structures.

Complete answer: The Indus Valley Civilisation was a well developed Bronze Age civilisation which matured to an urban phase and had all elements of what is considered urbanisation even in the modern era. With a differentiated residential and administrative area, there was the presence of a great bath, assumed to have been used for ceremonial purposes, granary for the storage of food grains and well-defined city market areas. But all these elements are located in different sites of the area over which this civilisation flourished. This can be understood as the regional needs or the kind of activity that proliferated in a region.
Let’s look at the options;
Option A- The largest structure found in Mohenjodaro is the granary outside the citadel. Therefore, this is the correct option.
Option B- Though there are a total of six small granaries found in Harappa, the largest one being at Mount F., they are not present outside the citadel. So this is an incorrect option.
Option C- Kot Diji is understood to be pre-existent to the Indus Valley Civilisation and the only structure found here is the citadel and an outer region, presumably for residence. So this is an incorrect option.
Option D- Lothal was a dockyard region. There isn't any evidence of granaries found here. So this is an incorrect option.
Thus, Option (A) is the correct answer.

Note: Though the structure of the granaries found over the Indus Valley Civilisation sites is mostly same, a peculiar structure about the Great Granary at Mohenjodaro is the presence of a brick dock beneath it.