NCERT Book Class 6 Social Science The Beginnings of Indian Civilisation PDF Download

Chapter 6: The Beginnings of Indian Civilisation

The most ancient civilisation of India, known variously as the Harappan, Indus or Indus-Sarasvati Civilisation, was indeed remarkable in many ways. ... [It showed how] a well-balanced community lives - in which the differences between the rich and the poor are not glaring. ... In essence, the Harappan societal scenario was not that of 'exploitation', but of mutual 'accommodation'.

- B.B. Lal

[Figure 6.1: The North Gate entrance to Dholavira's 'Castle' area, See in your textbook]

What Is a Civilisation?

At the end of Chapter 4, we saw the first human groups settling down, practising agriculture, developing some technologies (such as construction, metallurgy, transport) and moving towards 'civilisation'.

What, then, is civilisation? In general, the term is used for an advanced stage of human societies. To be precise, we will consider here that a 'civilisation' should have at least the following characteristics:

• some form of government and administration - to manage a more complex society and its many activities;
• urbanism - town-planning, the growth of cities and their management, which generally includes water management and a drainage system;
• a variety of crafts - including the management of raw materials (such as stone or metal) and the production of finished goods (such as ornaments and tools);
• trade both internal (within a city or a region) and external (with distant regions or other parts of the world) - to exchange all sorts of goods;
• some form of writing - needed to keep records and to communicate;
• cultural ideas about life and the world, expressed through art, architecture, literature, oral traditions or social customs;
• a productive agriculture - enough to feed not just the villages, but also the cities.

Teacher's Note

Notice that all seven characteristics work together: agriculture feeds the cities, trade moves goods between regions, writing records the transactions, and government organises everything. When studying civilisations, always check whether you can find evidence for each of these features - if most are missing, it probably was not a true civilisation.

Think About It

Which of the above characteristics do you think is the most fundamental - that is, a characteristic essential to the development of all others?

Let's Explore

For each characteristic in the list above, can you make a list of professions or occupations that might exist in such a society?

It is easy enough to see that all these characteristics are present in most societies in the world today. But when did civilisation begin, in the sense we have now defined?

Civilisation began at different times in different parts of the world. In the region known as Mesopotamia (modern Iraq and Syria), that happened about 6,000 years ago, and the civilisation in ancient Egypt followed a few centuries later. You will learn about these and a few more civilisations in a later grade. In many ways, humanity would not have reached its present stage without the enormous contributions and advances of those ancient civilisations.

For now, however, we will only look at the Indian Subcontinent, and its northwest region is where our story begins.

[Figure 6.2: Timeline showing the period of the Indus-Sarasvati civilisation, from about 2600 to 1900 BCE, See in your textbook]

Teacher's Note

The Indus-Sarasvati civilisation existed from about 2600 to 1900 BCE - that is roughly 4,600 years ago. It came after Mesopotamia (which started around 4000 BCE) and roughly at the same time as Egypt (3100 BCE). When you study ancient history, always keep these dates in mind so you know which civilisations existed together and which came first.

Key Points

• A civilisation is a society that has government, cities, crafts, trade, writing, cultural ideas and productive farming all working together.
• Different civilisations began at different times around the world - Mesopotamia started first (about 6,000 years ago), then Egypt, and the Indus-Sarasvati civilisation followed.
• The Indus-Sarasvati civilisation existed in the northwest region of the Indian Subcontinent from about 2600 to 1900 BCE.

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