BHIC 131 key facts: June 2026
- Course code: BHIC-131
- Subject: History of India from the Earliest Times up to c. 300 CE
- Programmes: Bachelor of Arts (General), BAG (paper header: BAGH); Bachelor of Arts (Multidisciplinary), BAM
- Credits: 6
- Units: 17 units in one combined study volume
- Maximum marks: 100 (term-end exam 70 per cent, assignments 30 per cent)
- Duration: 3 hours
- Questions in the paper: 8 in two sections; attempt any 5, at least 2 from each section; Q4 and Q8 each offer 4 short-note options
- Expected length: about 400 words per long answer, 200 words per short note
- Sample answers on this page: 2 (Q2 and Q5); all 8 questions in the paid file, with every short-note option
BHIC 131 Solved Question Paper for the June 2026 term-end exam gives you the official IGNOU paper with all 8 of its questions answered by our subject experts, in the 400-word and 200-word lengths the paper asks for. It is built for quick, focused revision of ancient Indian history, from Mehrgarh to the Sangam age.
1. What the June 2026 Solved Paper Includes
BHIC 131 is a 6-credit core History course in IGNOU's Bachelor of Arts (General) and Bachelor of Arts (Multidisciplinary) programmes.
The June 2026 term-end paper is fully descriptive: 8 questions split into two sections of four, any five to be attempted, with at least two from each section. Each question carries 20 marks, giving 100 marks in 3 hours. Questions 4 and 8 each offer four short-note topics, of which you write any two.
Section I runs from the first farming villages through Harappan trade and early Vedic life, with short notes on the epics and Puranas, south Indian farmers, OCP pottery and iron technology. Section II moves to sixth-century social change, the Deccan, Tamil literature, and notes on Jainism, the chakravarti ideal, the ganasangha and Kalinga.
Our solved version follows the paper in printed order, so you can compare a practice attempt answer by answer. Every short-note option is answered, which means you can choose the two you know best on exam day instead of being stuck with ours.
2. Two Answers Solved in Full, Six Held Back
Questions 2 and 5 of the June 2026 paper are solved in full below, one from each section, and the other 6 questions are listed exactly as printed.
Both answers were written from the IGNOU self-learning material and standard works on early India, at about the 400-word length the paper sets. They show the structure you get in the full file: a short introduction, numbered points with names, places and dates, and a conclusion that weighs the evidence.
The trading networks of the Harappan Civilisation
Question 2: Highlight the trading networks of the Harappan Civilization. (20)
Introduction. The Harappans ran one of the widest trading systems of the Bronze Age world. In the mature phase, roughly 2600 to 1900 BCE, goods moved between villages and cities inside the Indus zone and outward to Afghanistan, the Persian Gulf and Mesopotamia. Trade brought in the raw materials that the alluvial plains themselves could not supply.
- Internal networks for raw materials. Most Harappan crafts depended on distant sources. Copper came largely from the Khetri area of Rajasthan, carnelian and agate from Gujarat, marine shell from coastal sites such as Nageshwar and Balakot, and fine chert from the Rohri hills of Sindh. Gold probably came from south India, and tin from Afghanistan or Central Asia.
- Specialised craft centres. Some settlements grew up around processing these materials. Chanhudaro was a centre for beads and seals, Lothal had bead workshops, and Balakot and Nageshwar turned shell into bangles and ladles. Finished goods then travelled to the large cities of Mohenjodaro and Harappa.
- Outposts in the north-west. A Harappan settlement at Shortughai on the Amu Darya (Oxus) in northern Afghanistan lay close to the lapis lazuli sources of Badakhshan. It shows that the Harappans placed settlements far outside their core area to secure access to a prized stone.
- The Gulf and Mesopotamia. Akkadian texts refer to a land called Meluhha, which most scholars identify with the Harappan region. Sargon of Akkad (c. 2334 to 2279 BCE) claimed that ships from Meluhha, Magan (Oman) and Dilmun (Bahrain) docked at his capital. Indus-type seals and etched carnelian beads have been found at Ur and other Mesopotamian sites, and a Persian Gulf type seal was found at Lothal.
- What made exchange work. Trade ran without coins. Harappan weights, usually chert cubes, followed one standard across the whole area, doubling in the lower range (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64) and moving to multiples of ten above that. Seals and clay sealings marked ownership of packed goods, while terracotta cart models and boat images on seals point to land and river transport.
- A point of debate. S.R. Rao read the large brick basin at Lothal as a dockyard joined to the sea by a channel, but other archaeologists see it as a water reservoir. Mentioning such debates, instead of treating one reading as settled fact, is what earns higher marks.
Conclusion. Harappan trade tied raw-material zones, craft centres, cities and foreign markets into a single network, and the shared weights and seals show a high level of coordination. References to Meluhha fade from Mesopotamian records after about 1900 BCE, which matches the decline of the Harappan cities themselves.
New social groups in the sixth century BCE
Question 5: Critically examine the emergence of new social groups in the sixth century BCE. (20)
Introduction. The sixth century BCE saw the second urbanisation of India, centred on the middle Ganga plain. Iron tools, wet rice cultivation, the rise of the mahajanapadas, punch-marked coins and towns such as Rajagriha, Shravasti and Kaushambi changed how wealth was produced and held. New social groups came into view, and we know them mostly through early Buddhist texts.
- Gahapati. The gahapati was the head of a household who controlled land and its produce. Pali texts present him as a prosperous landowner whose fields were worked by others, and many gahapatis became lay patrons of the Buddhist order. The term described property and household authority rather than a fixed varna.
- Setthi. The setthi was a wealthy merchant and financier, a figure tied to trade and coined money. The best-known example is Anathapindika of Shravasti, who, according to Buddhist tradition, bought the Jetavana grove for the Buddha by covering its ground with coins.
- Dasa-kammakara. Below the landowners stood the dasa (slaves) and kammakara (hired labourers) who did much of the farm work. Their appearance as a recognised category shows that agriculture now yielded a surplus large enough to maintain people who owned no land.
- Artisans and guilds. Potters, smiths, carpenters, weavers and ivory workers lived in specialised quarters of towns. The texts describe them organising into seni (shreni), or guilds, under a head called the jettha, which gave crafts a collective identity.
- Rulers, officials and renouncers. In monarchies such as Magadha and Kosala, kings depended on officials and standing armies, while in the ganasanghas power rested with Kshatriya lineages meeting in assemblies. At the same time, shramanas who rejected household life became a respected group standing outside the varna order.
- Groups pushed to the margins. The chandala appears in these texts as a group treated as untouchable and made to live outside villages. Social exclusion was hardening at the very moment that new wealth was being created.
Critical assessment. Most of this evidence comes from Pali texts compiled after the Buddha's lifetime, so it reflects a Buddhist view of society. Historians such as Uma Chakravarti have shown that the gahapati and setthi did not fit neatly into the four varnas, which suggests that wealth was beginning to compete with birth as a basis of status. The Brahmanical Dharmasutras, by contrast, tried to place these groups back inside the varna framework.
3. Questions Answered Only in the Full File
The remaining 6 questions of the June 2026 paper are given below exactly as printed. Their answers are not shown on this page.
Section I
Question 1: Write a brief note on the early farming communities of the Indian subcontinent. (20)
Question 3: Discuss briefly the society, economy and polity of the early Vedic period. (20)
Question 4: Write short notes on any two of the following in about 200 words each. (10 + 10)
(a) Epics and Puranas
(b) Early farming settlements in South India
(c) OCP culture
(d) Iron technology and its impact
Section II
Question 6: Discuss early state formation in the Deccan. (20)
Question 7: Analyse briefly the growth of Tamil language and literature. (20)
Question 8: Write short notes on any two of the following in about 200 words each. (10 + 10)
(a) Development and spread of Jainism
(b) The Indian notion of chakravarti-kshetra
(c) Ganasangha
(d) The Kalinga War
4. Unit-Wise Syllabus
BHIC 131 is taught through 17 units in a single combined IGNOU study volume, and the June 2026 paper draws on at least ten of them.
The table pairs each unit with topics IGNOU actually examines, so you can see where marks come from. For detailed unit notes beside this solved paper, our BHIC 131 Study Material follows the same unit order.
| Unit | Unit title | Topics examined in IGNOU papers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sources of Ancient Indian History | Vedic texts, epics and Puranas as sources; Buddhist and Jain canons; coins and inscriptions such as Ashoka's edicts |
| 2 | Archaeology as a Source and Prominent Archaeological Sites | Excavation and dating methods; reading archaeological data; key sites from Bhimbetka to Arikamedu |
| 3 | Indian History: Physical Features, Formations and Characteristics | Physiographic divisions of the subcontinent; river valleys and passes; the debate on geographical determinism |
| 4 | Hunter-Gatherers, Origin of Agriculture and Domestication of Animals | Palaeolithic and Mesolithic tool kits; microliths and Bagor; Mehrgarh and the first domestication of wheat, barley and cattle |
| 5 | Harappan Civilisation: Chronology, Geographical Spread, Diffusion and Decline | Early, mature and late Harappan phases; spread from Shortughai to Daimabad; theories of decline |
| 6 | Harappan Civilisation: Material Characteristics, Nature of Contacts, Society and Religion | Town planning and the Great Bath; seals, weights and Meluhha trade; Harappan religious practice |
| 7 | Chalcolithic and Early Iron Age | Ahar, Kayatha, Malwa and Jorwe cultures; OCP and PGW pottery; megaliths of south India |
| 8 | The Early Vedic Society | Rig Vedic jana and vish; sabha, samiti and the rajan; a pastoral economy measured in cattle |
| 9 | Changes in the Later Vedic Phase | Settled agriculture in the Ganga-Yamuna doab; varna hardening; rituals such as the Rajasuya and Ashvamedha |
| 10 | Janapadas and Mahajanapadas: Rise of Urban Centres, Society and Economy | Sixteen mahajanapadas and the ganasanghas; NBPW and punch-marked coins; gahapatis and setthis |
| 11 | Buddhism, Jainism and Other Religious Ideas | Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path; Mahavira and the Jain vows; Ajivikas and other shramana sects |
| 12 | Alexander's Invasion | Persian and Macedonian campaigns in the north-west; the Battle of the Hydaspes against Porus; Greek accounts and their limits |
| 13 | Establishment of Mauryan Rule and Magadhan Territorial Expansion | Rise of Magadha under the Haryankas and Nandas; Chandragupta and Kautilya; Ashoka's Kalinga campaign and the idea of empire |
| 14 | Administrative Organisation, Economy and Society | Arthashastra and Megasthenes on administration; Mauryan revenue and officials; Ashoka's Dhamma |
| 15 | Early State Formation in Deccan and Tamilaham | Satavahana rule and land grants; Kharavela of Kalinga; chiefdoms and the three crowned kings of Tamilaham |
| 16 | Agrarian Settlements, Trade and Expansion of Urban Centres: Peninsular India | Agrarian expansion in the peninsula; Roman coins and Indo-Roman trade; ports such as Arikamedu and Muziris |
| 17 | Growth of Tamil Language and Literature | Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions; Tolkappiyam and the Sangam anthologies; akam and puram poetry and the tinai landscapes |
Units 15 to 17 on the peninsula are often left for last, yet a Deccan or Tamilaham question has appeared in nearly every recent paper. Treat them as core units, not extras.
5. Question Paper Pattern, Sections and Choice Rules
The June 2026 paper has 8 questions worth 20 marks each, of which you answer any five, taking at least two from each section.
Long answers need about 400 words. Questions 4 and 8 split their 20 marks into two short notes of 10 marks and about 200 words each. A sensible plan is three long answers and two short-note questions, since notes are easier to finish within time.
| Section | Questions | Type | Length | Marks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Section I | Q1 to Q3 | Long answer, prehistory to early Vedic | About 400 words each | 20 each |
| Section I | Q4 | Short notes, any 2 of 4 options | About 200 words each | 10 + 10 |
| Section II | Q5 to Q7 | Long answer, sixth century BCE to Tamilaham | About 400 words each | 20 each |
| Section II | Q8 | Short notes, any 2 of 4 options | About 200 words each | 10 + 10 |
| Total | 8 printed | Attempt any 5, at least 2 per section | 3 hours | 100 |
With five answers in 180 minutes, you have about 36 minutes for each. Spend the first five minutes picking questions, because the two-per-section rule means a weak section can cost you a whole answer if you notice it too late.
Older papers used the same two-section layout, and you can work through them in our IGNOU Previous Year Question Paper collection before attempting the June 2026 paper under timed conditions.
6. Topics That Keep Returning
Across seven complete official BHIC 131 papers from June 2022 to December 2025, the Harappan Civilisation came up in all seven and Sangam Tamilaham in six.
We read every paper from IGNOU's own websites and matched each June 2026 question to the same topic area in earlier sessions. December 2022 is left out because its last question was not readable in the official copy, and we found no official June 2021 paper.
| Topic area | June 2026 question | Earlier official papers | Papers (of 7) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harappan Civilisation (spread, religion, decline) | Q2 (Sample 1) | Jun 22 Q2; Jun 23 Q4(iv); Dec 23 Q2; Jun 24 Q2, Q4(ii); Dec 24 Q2, Q4(d); Jun 25 Q1; Dec 25 Q2 | 7 |
| Sangam Tamilaham: polity, tinai and poetry | Q7 | Jun 22 Q7, Q8(iv); Dec 23 Q7, Q8(iii); Jun 24 Q7; Dec 24 Q8(b); Jun 25 Q4(a), Q8(b); Dec 25 Q7 | 6 |
| Early farming: Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Mehrgarh | Q1 | Jun 23 Q2, Q4(ii); Dec 23 Q4(i); Jun 24 Q3; Jun 25 Q4(c); Dec 25 Q4(c) | 5 |
| Buddhism, Jainism and the Ajivikas | Q8(a) | Dec 23 Q4(iv), Q5; Jun 24 Q8(i), Q8(ii); Dec 24 Q5, Q8(a); Jun 25 Q5; Dec 25 Q8(b) | 5 |
| Pottery cultures: PGW and NBPW | Q4(c) | Jun 22 Q4(iii); Jun 24 Q4(iii); Dec 24 Q4(c); Jun 25 Q4(d); Dec 25 Q4(d) | 5 |
| Early Vedic society, economy, polity, religion | Q3 | Jun 22 Q3; Dec 23 Q3; Dec 24 Q4(b); Jun 25 Q2 | 4 |
| Janapadas, mahajanapadas and ganasanghas | Q8(c) | Jun 22 Q5; Dec 24 Q3; Jun 25 Q8(d); Dec 25 Q8(a) | 4 |
| Iron age and iron technology | Q4(d) | Jun 22 Q4(iv); Dec 23 Q4(iii); Dec 24 Q4(a); Dec 25 Q3 | 4 |
| Deccan states and the Satavahanas | Q6 | Jun 22 Q8(iii); Jun 23 Q8(iii); Jun 24 Q7; Dec 24 Q7 | 4 |
| Ashoka: Dhamma and the Kalinga War | Q8(d) | Jun 23 Q8(ii); Jun 24 Q8(iii); Dec 24 Q8(d) | 3 |
| Defining an empire with the Mauryas | Q8(b) | Jun 23 Q7; Jun 24 Q6 | 2 |
| New social groups of the sixth century BCE | Q5 (Sample 2) | Jun 23 Q5; Jun 25 Q3 | 2 |
| Early farmers of south India | Q4(b) | Jun 23 Q2; Jun 25 Q4(b) | 2 |
| Literary sources: Vedic texts, epics, Puranas | Q4(a) | Dec 25 Q4(a) | 1 |
Harappan trade as a named topic last appeared as a short note in December 2022, so it had been quiet for six sessions before June 2026. The same pattern reading shapes our IGNOU Solved Guess Paper lists for other courses.
Two June 2026 topics are new in this window: OCP culture and the chakravarti-kshetra idea had not been asked by name in any of the seven papers. Students who revised only from old papers would have met them cold.
7. How Our Answers Are Written and Reviewed
Every BHIC 131 answer in our file is written from the IGNOU study material, then reviewed before release.
Facts are checked against the official BHIC 131 study volume on eGyanKosh, not against third-party guides. Where an answer uses a date, a site or a text, such as Sargon's Meluhha reference or the Shortughai outpost, it is named plainly so you can find it in the unit.
History examiners reward argument as well as facts. So each long answer has an introduction, numbered points with evidence and a conclusion, and questions that ask you to critically examine something get a separate paragraph on sources and debates, as the Q5 sample above shows.
The reviewer checks three things: that every fact matches the study material, that the answer fits the word length printed on the paper, and that a learner writing in exam conditions could reproduce it from memory in about 35 minutes.
8. Solved File Index for All 8 Questions
The file covers all 8 questions of the June 2026 paper: 2 are answered on this page (Q2 and Q5) and 6 are answered only in the full file.
BHIC 131 is a theory course with no practical or record work, so instead of a practical index we map every question to the study units it draws on. BA General learners can use the same index to plan revision alongside the BAG Question Paper set for their other courses.
| Question | Section | Topic | Study units | Where the answer is |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | I | Neolithic and Chalcolithic farming communities | Units 4 and 7 | Full file |
| Q2 | I | Harappan internal and external trade | Unit 6 | Sample 1 above |
| Q3 | I | Early Vedic society, economy and polity | Unit 8 | Full file |
| Q4 | I | Short notes: epics and Puranas, south Indian farmers, OCP, iron | Units 1 and 7 | Full file |
| Q5 | II | Gahapati, setthi and other new social groups | Unit 10 | Sample 2 above |
| Q6 | II | Early state formation in the Deccan | Unit 15 | Full file |
| Q7 | II | Tamil language and Sangam literature | Unit 17 | Full file |
| Q8 | II | Short notes: Jainism, chakravarti-kshetra, ganasangha, Kalinga | Units 10, 11 and 13 | Full file |
9. Which Programmes Study BHIC 131
BHIC 131 is a core History course in IGNOU's BA General and BA Multidisciplinary programmes, and both groups sit the same term-end paper.
Most learners meet this course in the Bachelor of Arts (General), or BAG, where it opens the History discipline. The June 2026 paper header prints the code BAGH, the History stream of BAG, while earlier papers printed BAG (H).
IGNOU has also issued BHIC 131 assignments for the Bachelor of Arts (Multidisciplinary), or BAM, under its four-year undergraduate structure. The course content and exam are identical across BAG and BAM, so the solved file does not change with your programme.
The course is the first of IGNOU's Indian history sequence for BA learners. It ends around 300 CE, and the story continues in BHIC 132, which takes up the Guptas and the period to 1206.
10. How to Get the Full Solved Question Paper
To get the full BHIC 131 Solved Question Paper, message WhatsApp 9899436384 and you will receive answers to all 8 questions of the June 2026 paper.
Write "BHIC 131 June 2026" in your message so our team sends the right file. We reply with the details, and once your order is confirmed the complete PDF arrives on the same chat.
The file holds every question in printed order: the 2 answers you have read above plus the 6 questions listed as text only, with all 8 short-note options of Q4 and Q8 answered. It is a single, printable PDF.
11. BHIC 131 History of India FAQs
These are the questions BHIC 131 learners ask us most often before the term-end exam.
What does the Solved Question Paper for June 2026 include?
It includes the official IGNOU June 2026 BHIC 131 paper with all 8 questions answered in the length examiners expect, about 400 words for each long answer and 200 words for each short note. Questions 2 and 5 are solved on this page as samples, and the other 6 answers, including every short-note option, are in the full file shared on WhatsApp at 9899436384.
How do I get the full solved file on WhatsApp?
Send a WhatsApp message to 9899436384 with the words BHIC 131 June 2026. Our team replies with the details, and once your order is confirmed you receive the complete PDF. It answers all 8 questions: the 2 written out on this page plus the 6 listed here as question text only, with all 8 short-note options.
How many questions must I attempt in the June 2026 paper?
The June 2026 paper prints 8 questions in two sections of four each, and you attempt any five. At least two must come from Section I and two from Section II. Every question carries 20 marks, so the paper totals 100 marks in 3 hours. Questions 4 and 8 ask for two short notes of about 200 words each.
Which BHIC 131 topics repeat most often in official IGNOU papers?
Across the seven complete official papers we checked, from June 2022 to December 2025, the Harappan Civilisation appeared in all seven and Sangam Tamilaham in six. Early farming, the heterodox sects and the PGW and NBPW pottery cultures each appeared in five. Early Vedic society, the mahajanapadas, iron technology and the Deccan states each appeared in four.
Does BHIC 131 have a practical file or record work?
No. BHIC 131 is a theory course, and its continuous evaluation is made up of three tutor-marked assignments, not a practical or record file. That is why this page gives a solved file index instead, listing all 8 June 2026 questions with the study units they draw on and whether each answer is on this page or only in the full file.
Which IGNOU programmes include BHIC 131?
BHIC 131 is a core History course in the Bachelor of Arts (General), or BAG, where the June 2026 paper header prints the code BAGH. It is also offered in the Bachelor of Arts (Multidisciplinary), or BAM, under the four-year undergraduate programme. Both groups of learners sit the same term-end paper, so one solved file serves both.
How long should BHIC 131 answers be in the term-end exam?
The June 2026 paper asks for about 400 words for each long answer and about 200 words for each short note. Older papers from December 2020 and December 2021 asked for 500 and 250 words, so do not copy word lengths from old guides. Our solved file follows the current 400 and 200 word limits printed on the paper.
How is BHIC 131 assessed apart from the term-end exam?
BHIC 131 is a six-credit course, so IGNOU asks you to complete three tutor-marked assignments for it. Assignments carry 30 per cent weightage in your final result and the term-end exam carries 70 per cent. You must submit the assignments on time to be eligible for the term-end exam.
12. Who Wrote and Checked the BHIC 131 Answers
The BHIC 131 answers were written by Prateek Talwar and reviewed by Sheetal Kirola.
Prateek Talwar, founder of Unnati Educations, leads the IGNOU solved-paper series and prepares answers from the course units and the official term-end paper. Sheetal Kirola, Academic Head (M.Ed.), checks every site name, date, text and archaeological claim against the study material before release.