Arrange the following in chronological order from earlier to later:

Question

Arrange the following in chronological order from earlier to later:

i. Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW)

ii. Ochre Colored Pottery (OCP)

iii. Painted Grey Ware (PGW)

iv. Black and Red Ware (BRW)

Choose the correct answer:

1. A. iii, ii, iv, i
2. B. iv, iii, ii, i
3. C. ii, iv, iii, i (Correct answer)
4. D. ii, iii, iv, i

Correct Answer

Option C — ii, iv, iii, i

Detailed Solution & Explanation

The correct answer is ii, iv, iii, i.

Key Points

• Arranging the pottery cultures from earliest to latest:

• The sequence is therefore ii → iv → iii → i.

Additional Information

• Ochre Coloured Pottery is found in the upper Ganga–Yamuna doab and is associated with the Copper Hoard culture. Its surface rubs off as an ochre-coloured powder, giving it the name.
• Painted Grey Ware is closely associated with the later Vedic period and sites such as Hastinapur, Ahichchhatra, Atranjikhera and Kurukshetra. Its people knew iron, and the ware is fine, wheel-made, with black geometric designs.
• Northern Black Polished Ware is the luxury pottery of the age of the Mahajanapadas, the Buddha and the Mauryas — glossy, mirror-like, and a marker of the second urbanisation of the Ganga valley, alongside punch-marked coins, iron tools and fortified cities.
• Useful mnemonic: the sequence runs O–B–P–N (OCP, BRW, PGW, NBPW), moving from the late Harappan era through the Vedic period to the Mauryas.
• Harappan pottery, earlier still, is typically red ware painted in black, made on the wheel and often decorated with pipal leaves, peacocks and intersecting circles.