Class 6 Social Science History Chapter 1 what, where how and when?

Class 6 Social Science History Chapter 1 What, where how and when?: NCERT CBSE Class 6 Social Science History Notes and Mind Map.

Class 6 Social Science History Chapter 1 Notes

Importance of Studying History

History is the systematic study of past events. It is constructed based on the study of the available material remains and records. People who study the past are known as historians. Historians study the past with the help of many written and unwritten sources.

Importance of Studying History

We study history for the following reasons:

1. History helps us to find out how people lived in the past. For example, it tells us about the food people ate and the clothes they wore.
2. It also throws light on the places where people lived and the various activities in which they were engaged.
3. History tells us the story of the development of humankind and the progress of various civilisations. Reasons Why People Travelled in the Past
   • In the past, people travelled across mountains, rivers, deserts and countries in the Indian subcontinent due to the following reasons:
   • To search for better sources of livelihood
   • To escape from natural disasters such as floods, droughts etc.

The Places Where People Lived in India

Some of the places where people in the past lived are:

River Indus and its tributaries: About 4,700 years ago, some of the earliest cities flourished alongside the River Indus and its tributaries.

River Ganga and its tributaries: In ancient times many kingdoms developed on the banks of the River Ganga and its tributaries. Magadha was the most powerful kingdom among these.

River Narmada: The River Narmada was the home of some of the earliest people. These people were hunters and gatherers who hunted animals and gathered fruits and forest produce. They had vast knowledge about the plant and animal world.

Sulaiman and Kirthar hills: It is in these hills, in the northwest of the country about 8,000 years ago, that men and women first began to cultivate crops such as wheat and barley.

Garo Hills in the Northeast and the Vindhyas in Central India: Agriculture developed rapidly in these areas. Rice was cultivated for the first time in the areas to the north of the Vindhyas.

 Reasons Why People Travelled in the Past

• In the past, people travelled across mountains, rivers, deserts and countries in the Indian subcontinent 
• due to the following reasons:
• To search for better sources of livelihood
• To escape from natural disasters such as floods, droughts etc.
• To conquer other lands
• Merchants and travellors travelled for trading purposes
• Religious teachers travelled to spread their religion
• To discover new lands and places

India and Bharat

India derived its name from the River Indus which is called Sindhu in Sanskrita. The Iranians and the Greeks who came to the Indian subcontinent, called the River Indus Hindos or Indos, and subsequently the land to the east of the river came to be known as India.

India is also known as Bharat. Earlier, Bharat was a tribe (a group of people) who lived in the northwest. This tribe is mentioned in the Rigveda- the oldest wirtten text in Sanskrita. It was from this tribe that India also came to be known as Bharat.

Sources of the Past

India has had a glorious past since ancient times. The world’s first civilization, the glorious Sanskrit language, the epics and the other manuscripts are evidence, that is proof, of the amazing and rich history that India has.

Sources of the past can be broadly divided into two categories- written and archaeological sources. They are:

Written Sources

1. Manuscripts: Manuscripts are hand written books. Earlier, accounts were generally written on a palm leaf and on the prepared bark of the birch trees, which are commonly found in the Himalayan regions. Some of these accounts have survived and have been preserved in temples and monastries.

Manuscripts give us information about the religion, medicines, science, kings etc. of the earlier era.

Manuscripts written on a palm leaf

2. Inscriptions: Inscriptions are a piece of writing which are written on hard surfaces such as stone or metal. Inscriptions were generally written on the orders of the king. They tell us about the policies which were followed by the king. The process of reading unknown written languages is known as decipherment.

The inscription was written on the surface of a rock

Unwritten Sources

Archaeological sources

The remains of the materials which were used by the people in the past are called archaeological sources. Remains of pottery, tools, weapons, ornaments, buildings and sculpture are some examples of archaeological sources. People who study these sources are known as archaeologists. Archaeologists excavate (dig up) the earth in order to find archaeological remains. Archaeological sources tell us about the way people lived in the past. For example, excavated bones of animals tell us about the food people ate in the past.

All People were not Equal in the Past

People were not equal in the past. They were engaged in different occupations. While few were kings, some were slaves, some were farmers and some others were merchants. They all lived differently. The kings and queens lived a life of luxuries, while farmers faced many hardships. The merchants travelled from place to place with the purpose of trading. Many people were hunters and gatherers. Today, many people in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands still hunt animals and collect forest produce to survive.

Therefore, we can say that human history does not have just one past but many pasts.

What do dates mean?

To study history, we must understand the measurement of time. The past is measured in years. The birth of Christ is taken as a reference point. The years before Christ was born are written as BC or before the birth of Christ.

For example, 3000 BC means 3000 years before Christ was born. Nowadays, BC is also written as BCE which means Before the Common era. AD stands for Anno Domini meaning ‘in the year of the Lord”. Any event that occurred after the birth of Christ is written as AD e.g. India gained independence in 1947 AD, meaning 1947 years after the birth of Christ. It can also be written as CE or Common Era.

Around the World

In ancient Egypt, the people used a kind of picture writing. This writing is called hieroglyphics meaning “holy carving?. At first, the writings represented things such as a bird, sun or water. Later, each small drawing represented a letter.

The Egyptians wrote on a kind of paper called papyrus made from reeds which grew near The Nile River. Many pieces of papyrus were stuck together to form a scroll. The hot and dry weather of Egypt has preserved many old Egyptian scrolls. Earlier no one could understand the writing. However, it has been deciphered and now we know a lot about the ancient Egyptian civilisation from the scrolls.