NCERT Book Class 6 Social Science India That Is Bharat PDF Download

Chapter 5: India, That Is Bharat

In India at a very early time the spiritual and cultural unity was made complete and became the very stuff of the life of all this great surge of humanity between the Himalayas and the two seas.

- Sri Aurobindo

[Figure 5.1: A scene from rural India about 2,300 years ago (north gate of the Great Sanchi Stupa), See in your textbook]

The Big Questions

1. How do we define India?
2. What were the ancient names for India?

[Figure 5.2: A physical map of the Indian Subcontinent, with some of its rivers, See in your textbook]

Today, the India we know is a modern nation, with defined borders, defined states and a known population. However, it was very different 500 years ago, 2,000 years ago or even 5,000 years ago. This region of the world, which we often call the 'Indian Subcontinent', has had many different names and shifting boundaries. We can learn about India's past and evolution from many different sources. Let us explore.

Think About It

Consider the physical map of the Indian Subcontinent at the start of the chapter. What are its natural boundaries that you can make out?

In the course of history, India has been called by many names - both by its inhabitants and by visitors from outside. These names come to us from ancient texts, accounts of travellers and pilgrims, and inscriptions.

How Indians Named India

The Rig Veda is India's most ancient text; as we will see in Chapter 7, it is several thousand years old. It gives the northwest region of the Subcontinent the name 'Sapta Sindhava', that is, the 'land of the seven rivers'. The word 'Sindhava' comes from 'Sindhu', which refers to the Indus River, or at times to a river in general.

[Figure 5.3: The northwest region of the Indian Subcontinent, See in your textbook]

Teacher's Note

The name 'Sapta Sindhava' tells you where and when it was used - the northwest part of the Subcontinent, in very ancient times. When you read about different names for India in different periods, always note the time and place it refers to. This helps you understand how India's identity has changed over thousands of years.

Key Points

• India today is a modern nation with defined borders and states, but in the past it had many different names and shifting boundaries depending on the time period.
• The Indian Subcontinent is a distinct geographical region bounded by the Himalayas in the north and flanked by the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal.
• Ancient Indian texts like the Rig Veda called different regions of India by names based on their geographical features, such as Sapta Sindhava meaning 'land of the seven rivers' for the northwest region.
• India has been named by both its own inhabitants and by outside visitors, with these names coming from ancient texts, traveller accounts, and inscriptions.

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