Class-6 : Chapter 1
What Where How and When
Early Settlements:
-
River Banks: Human habitation along riverbanks for hundreds of thousands of years.
-
Skilled Gatherers: Early inhabitants were skilled gatherers, gathering food for sustenance.
-
Agricultural Beginnings: Sulaiman and Kirthar Hills witnessed the early cultivation of crops like wheat and barley around 8000 years ago.
-
Animal Rearing: People started rearing animals—sheep, goats, cattle—and established villages.
-
Rice Cultivation: North Vindhyas marked the initial sites for rice cultivation.
-
Migration and Conquest: Movement for livelihood, escape from disasters, and military conquests led to human migration across regions.
Cultural Exchange:
-
Shared Knowledge: Exchange of skills like stone carving, music composition, and culinary techniques over centuries.
Manuscripts:
-
Materials Used: Manuscripts written on palm leaves or the birch bark from the Himalayas.
Inscriptions:
-
Surface Types: Writings on hard surfaces like stone or metal considered inscriptions.
Archaeological Studies:
-
Remains: Archaeologists study building remnants, paintings, sculptures, tools, weapons, pottery, ornaments, coins, animal bones, and more.
Dating System:
-
Chronology: Dates before Christ marked with BC or BCE (Before Common Era), counted backward in time.
Narmada Settlements:
-
Long Habitation: People settled along the Narmada for thousands of years.
Agricultural Developments:
-
Crops and Animal Rearing: Wheat, barley, and domestication of animals like sheep, goat, and cattle near Sulaiman and Kirthar hills.
-
Rice Cultivation: Initiated in the north of the Vindhyas.
-
Agricultural Expansion: Development near the Garo hills and the Vindhyas.
Urban Centers:
-
Early Cities: Cities emerged around 4700 years ago along the Indus and its tributaries. Ganga banks also saw urban development.
Cultural Interaction:
-
Travel and Exchange: People traveling, interacting, and sharing ideas enriched the culture.
Manuscripts:
-
Materials Used: Old books (manuscripts) written on palm leaf or birch bark.
Inscriptions:
-
Engraved Writing: Archaeologists find inscriptions on stone or metal surfaces.
Archaeologists:
-
Object Study: Archaeologists study objects made and used in the past through exploration and excavation.
-
Dietary Analysis: Bones of living beings help determine past diets.
Historians à Source of Information: Historians study manuscripts and inscriptions as sources for understanding the past.
-
Archaeologists: People who study the objects made and used in the past are called archaeologists.
-
Excavation: The process of digging under the surface of the earth in order to find old objects is called excavation.
-
Historians: Scholars who study the past are called historians.
-
Inscriptions: These are writings on very hard surfaces like stone or metal.
-
Manuscripts : Books that were written long ago by hand on palm leaf or barks of trees are called manuscripts.
-
Skilled Gatherers: The people who gathered their food. They have lived on the banks of the Narmada for several hundred thousand years.
-
Tributaries: Smaller rivers that flow into a larger river are said to be its tributaries.
8000 years ago – beginning of agriculture
4700 years ago – the first cities
2500 years ago – the Magadha Kingdom