NCERT Book Class 6 History What Where How and When

CHAPTER 1

WHAT, WHERE, HOW AND WHEN?

Rasheeda’s question

Rasheeda sat reading the newspaper. Suddenly, her eyes fell on a small headline: “One Hundred Years Ago.” How, she wondered, could anyone know what had happened so many years ago?

Finding out what happened

Yesterday: you could listen to the radio, watch television, read a newspaper. Last year: ask somebody who remembers. But what about long, long ago? Let us see how it can be done.

What can we know about the past?

There are several things we can find out — what people ate, the kinds of clothes they wore, the houses in which they lived. We can find out about the lives of hunters, herders, farmers, rulers, merchants, priests, crafts persons, artists, musicians, and scientists. We can also find out about the games children played, the stories they heard, the plays they saw, the songs they sang.

Where did people live?

Find the river Narmada on Map 1 (page 2). People have lived along the banks of this river for several hundred thousand years. Some of the earliest people who lived here were skilled gatherers, — that is, people who gathered their food. They knew about the vast wealth of plants in the surrounding forests, and collected roots, fruits and other forest produce for their food. They also hunted animals

Now find the Sulaiman and Kirthar hills to the northwest. Some of the areas where women and men first began to grow crops such as wheat and barley about 8000 years ago are located here. People also began rearing animals like sheep, goat, and cattle, and lived in villages. Locate the Garo hills to the north-east and the Vindhyas in central India. These were some of the other areas where agriculture developed. The places where rice was first grown are to the north of the Vindhyas.

Trace the river Indus and its tributaries (tributaries are smaller rivers that flow into a larger river). About 4700 years ago, some of the earliest cities flourished on the banks of these rivers. Later, about 2500 years ago, cities developed on the banks of the Ganga and its tributaries, and along the seacoasts.

Locate the Ganga and its tributary called the Son. In ancient times the area along these rivers to the south of the Ganga was known as Magadha.Its rulers were very powerful, and set up a large kingdom. Kingdoms were set up in other parts ofthe country as well.

Throughout, people travelled from one part of the subcontinent to another. The hills and high mountains including the Himalayas, deserts, rivers and seas made journeys dangerous at times, but never impossible. So, men and women moved in search of livelihood, as also to escape from natural disasters like floods or droughts. Sometimes men marched in armies, conquering others’ lands. Besides, merchants travelled with caravans or ships, carrying valuable goods from place to place. And religious teachers walked from village to  village, town to town, stopping to offer instruction and advice on the way. Finally, some people perhaps travelled driven by a spirit of adventure, wanting to discover new and exciting places. All these led to the sharing of ideas between people.

Why do people travel nowadays?

Let’s recall

1. List one major difference between manuscripts and inscriptions.

Let’s discuss

2. Return to Rasheeda’s question. Can you think of some answers to it?

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

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

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

Please refer to attached file for NCERT Class 6 History What, Where, How and When