The Class 6 History Chapter 1 Questions And Answers is available here.  This chapter is all important and must be read carefully before starting your preparation.

Class 6 History Chapter 1 Questions And Answers

Brief Notes about the Chapter

In the some of the areas of Sulaiman and Kirthar hills, women and men first began to grow crops such as wheat and barley about 8000 years ago. People also began rearing animals like sheep, goat, and cattle, and lived in villages.

In the Garo hills to the north-east and the Vindhyas in central India agriculture were developed. The places where rice was first grown are to the north of the Vindhyas.

The word India comes from the Indus, called Sindhu in Sanskrit. The Iranians and the Greeks who came through the northwest about 2500 years ago and were familiar with the Indus, called it the Hindos or the Indos, and the land to the east of the river was called India.

The name Bharata was used for a group of people who lived in the northwest, and who are mentioned in the Rigveda, the earliest composition in Sanskrit (dated to about 3500 years ago). Later it was used for the country.

There are several ways of finding out about the past. One is to search for and read books that were written long ago. These are called manuscripts, because they were written by hand (this comes from the Latin word ‘manu’, meaning hand). These were usually written on palm leaf, or on the specially prepared bark of a tree known as the birch, which grows in the Himalayas.

These manuscripts dealt with all kinds of subjects: religious beliefs and practices, the lives of kings, medicine and science. Besides, there were epics, poems, plays. Many of these were written in Sanskrit, others were in Prakrit (languages used by ordinary people) and Tamil.

Inscriptions are writings on relatively hard surfaces such as stone or metal. Sometimes, kings got their orders inscribed so that people could see, read and obey them. There are other kinds of inscriptions as well, where men and women (including kings and queens) recorded what they did. For example, kings often kept records of victories in battle.

Archaeologists: There were many other things that were made and used in the past. Those who study these objects are called archaeologists.

They study the remains of buildings made of stone and brick, paintings and sculpture. They also explore and excavate (dig under the surface of the earth) to find tools, weapons, pots, pans, ornaments and coins. Some of these objects may be made of stone, others of bone, baked clay or metal. Objects that are made of hard, imperishable substances usually survive for a long time.

Archaeologists also look for bones — of animals, birds, and fish — to find out what people ate in the past. Plant remains survive far more rarely — if seeds of grain or pieces of wood have been burnt, they survive in a charred form.

Historians: Historians, that is, scholars who study the past, often use the word source to refer to the information found from manuscripts, inscriptions and archaeology. Once sources are found, learning about the past becomes an adventure, as we reconstruct it bit by bit. So historians and archaeologists are like detectives, who use all these sources like clues to find out about our pasts.

Match the following:

Narmada Valley – Hunting and gathering

Magadha – The first big kingdom

Garo hills – Early agriculture

Indus and its tributaries – The first cities

Ganga Valley – Cities about 2500 years ago

List one major difference between manuscripts and inscriptions.

Make a list of all the objects that archaeologists may find. Which of these could be made of stone?

Answer:

The ones that could be made of stone are

1. Surface used for writing inscriptions
2. Remains of buildings
3. Objects like tools, weapons, etc.

Why do you think ordinary men and women did not generally keep records of what they did?

Answer:

We think ordinary men and women did not generally keep records of what they did due to the following reasons:

1. They did not know the art of writing in the beginning.
2. Even some of them were not literate even after the knowledge of the script.
3. They were not having an interest in such works.
4. They did not know the importance of keeping records of the events. The lack of historical sense was mainly responsible for it.

Describe at least two ways in which you think the lives of kings would have been different from those of farmers.

Answer:

1. The kings used to live in palaces or big houses. The farmers used to live in huts or in very small houses.
2. The kings were dependent for their food on farmers. Farmers used to produce food for themselves and other people also.
3. The kings wore showy and costly clothes and ornaments. Farmers wore simple and very cheap clothes.

Are the crafts persons — (a) men (b) women (c) both men and women?

Answer: The various crafts that dominate the present life are listed here:

These crafts persons are both men and women.

What were the subjects on which books were written in the past? Which of these would you like to read?

Answers:

Before paper was discovered scholars wrote on:

1. dried leaves,
2. on the bark of birch trees and
3. sometimes on copper (or metal) plates and stones.

How was traveling an important part of the life of the people in the past?

Answer: People in the past were very fond of travelling from one place to another. Although the hills and high mountains like the Himalayas, deserts, rivers, and seas posed great problems, people kept on travelling. They moved in search of livelihood. They had also in their mind to escape from natural disasters such as floods and droughts. Sometimes, men marched in armies and conquered others’ lands.

Merchants travelled with caravans or ships. They carried valuable goods from place to place. There were religious teachers who used to walk from village to village, town to town. They offered instruction and advice to the people who met them on the way. There were also people who travelled because they were adventurous by nature. They enjoyed discovering new and exciting places.

What are the different ways to find out about the past?

Answer: The different ways to find out about the past are the following:

(i) Manuscripts. These were the hand-written matters. They were usually written on palm leaf or the bark of the birch tree. While many of these manuscripts got destroyed, many have survived in temples and monasteries. These books dealt with all kinds of subjects such as religious beliefs and practices, the lives of kings, medicines, and science. These manuscripts also included epics, poems, plays.

(ii) Inscriptions are writings on relatively hard surfaces such as stone or metal. Sometimes, kings got their orders inscribed in order to make common people aware of them. Some inscriptions kept records of victories in battle.

(iii) Archaeological excavations or evidence. Archaeology means the study of cultures of the past and of periods of history by examining the remains of buildings and objects found in the earth. Archaeologists explore and dig earth to find tools, weapons, pots, pans, ornaments, and coins. These things provide us valuable information about the past.

Categories: History