6th History NCERT 1

Chapter: 1 What, where, How and when
-The places where rice was 1st grown are to the north of the Vindhyas.
-The area to the south along the river Ganga and its tributary son, was known as Magadha.
-People moved in search of livelihood, some driven by a spirit of adventure, to escape droughts or floods
-Traders moved to do trade
-Religious teachers moved to offer instruction
=>All this lead to exchange of ideas between people.

Chapter 2: On the trail of earliest People
Reasons why Hunter gatherers moved from place to place:
1).Limited resources at one place
2).Animals moved in search of prey so the hunters had to move along too.
3).Plants and trees have different seasons in which they bear fruit so people moved.
4).People living alongside seasonal rivers would have to move in search of water during dry seasons.
Tools made of stone; bone and wood provide us info about these people.
Stone tools:
1).Cut meat and bone, scrape bark (from trees) and hides, chop fruits and roots
2).Making spears and arrows for hunting
3).Digging for edible roots
4).Stitching clothes made out of animal skin.
Hunter gatherer sites have been found alongside rivers.
People tried to find places where good quality stones were found for making stone tools.
Factory sites: places where people made tools.
Habitation cum factory sites: sites where people lived for longer spells.


Palaeolithic period –2million years ago till 12000 yrs ago. This period covers 99% of human history.
Paleo means old, lithic means stone.
-Divided into
1).Lower
2).Middle
3).Upper Palaeolithic periods

Meso(Middle)lithic period - Period about 12000yrs ago when Environmental changes began till 10000yrs ago.
-Microliths: Tiny stone tools. Stuck to handles of bone or wood to make tools such as saws & sickles.
Rock paintings found on the walls of the caves .eg - Southern UP and MP
Ostrich eggs - Paleolithihc period - Patne Maharashtra
Hunsgi - Number of paleolithic sites


Chapter: 3 From Gathering to growing food
Domestication – A process in which people grow plants and look after animals.
-Began 12000yrs ago
Early farmers herders - Present day Kashmir, East and south India
Bones of animals, seeds of plants, burnt grain.
Traces of huts or houses at some sites: Burzahom in Kashmir(pit houses)
Stone tools different from Palaeolithic tools found at some sites.
Neolithic Tools: Fine cutting edge. Mortars or pestles used to grind grain and plant produce.
Diff between tribes and societies
Tribes are different from many other societies: land, forests, grasslands, water are regarded as wealth of entire tribe and everybody shares n uses these together.
Mehrgarh - Located in a fertile plain near Bolan Pass.
• -remains of square and Rectangular houses.
• -Burial sites found

Daojali Hading - near Brahmaputra Valley
• -Stone tools including mortars and pestles have been found
-jadeite - stone from china
-Tools made of fossil wood
-pottery



Chapter 4: In the earliest cities
Harrapan cities developed 400 yrs ago.
Special features of Harrapan Cities:
1).Divided into 2 or more parts.
Citadel -The Part to the west; smaller and higher.
-Great bath in Mohenjodaro built in this area West East
Lower town - Larger but lower Citadel          Lower town
-Kalibangan & Lothal had fire altars
-Mohenjodaro, Harappa had elaborate store houses
2).Walls of baked brick built around each part.
Houses - 1 or 2 storey high; Built around a courtyard.
-Drains were covered and drainage of houses connected to the bigger drains.

Rulers - People who planned the construction of special buildings in the city
• -sent people to distant lands to get metal, precious stones etc
Scribes - Ppl who knew how to write; prepared seals


Objects found in Harrapan cities:
-Made of stone, shell and metal including Cu, Bronze, Gold and silver
-Cu n Bronze: tools, weapons, ornaments n vessels
-Gold n silver: ornaments n vessels
-Beads (made of carnelian), weights (made of chert) and blades found
- Rectangular seals made of stone
-Pots with black designs
Cotton pieces found in Mohenjodaro attached to a silver vase.
Specialists - person trained to do only one kind of work. for eg : cutting stone, carving seals .
Faience - artificially produced Gum used to shape sand or powdered quartz and then object was glazed; colours were usually blue or sea green
• -used to make beads, bangles, earrings and tiny vessels.
Cu - Harrapans got it from rajasthan, Oman
Tin+Cu = bronze: Afghanistan and Iran
Gold - Karnataka
Precious stones - Gujarat , Iran and Afghanistan
Farming: Farmers and herders supplied food to cities
• Plough was used
• Stored water was used for irrigation as region gets less rainfall
• Reared sheep, goat, buffalo
• Caught fish, hunted wild animals and collected fruits
Dholavira in Gujarat (Rann of Kutch) -
• Divided into 3 parts not 2
• Each part surrounded by massive stone walls with entrances through gateways
• Open area for public ceremonies
Lothal -Located beside a tributary of Sabarmati close to Gulf of Khambat
• Situated near areas where raw materials like semi-precious stones were easily available
• Imp centre for making objects out of stone, shell and metal
The end:
3900 yrs ago ppl stopped living in many cities
- writings, weights, seals no longer used
-Raw materials became rare
-In Mohenjodaro garbage piled up on the streets
-Drainage system broke
-Less elaborate houses
Reasons suggested:
1).Drying up of rivers
2).Deforestation: Fuel was required for smelting Cu ores and baking bricks
3).Destruction of Green cover due to grazing by large herds of cattle
4).Floods in some areas

Chapter: 5 What Books and burials tell us
Oldest Veda: Rigveda (3500yrs ago)
Rigveda:
Contains Suktas or hymns (well - said)
-written in Old or Vedic Sanskrit
-Agni, Indra, Soma(plant from which spl drink was prepared)
-Most hymns were composed by men, few by women
Rigveda was recited and heard rather than read.
-written down several centuries after it was first composed
Prayers in Rigveda for cattle, children (esp. sons) and horses
Description of People as per Rigveda:
2 groups described in terms of their work,
• Brahmins (performed rituals)
• Rajas
2 words used to describe people or community as a whole:
-jana
-vish (vaishya comes from vish)
Aryas: who composed hymns
dasas or dasyus -their(aryas) opponents
-Rigveda composed in NW of the subcontinent
Megaliths - Big stones used to mark burial sites
-Practice was prevalent throughout in
 -Deccan
 -South India
 -NE
 -Kashmir
Burials in megaliths have some common features:
• -Dead buried with distinct pots (black n red ware)
• -tools n weapons of iron
• -ornaments of stone and gold
Megaliths:
-some were buried with more beads, ornaments etc which show some kind of status difference
-one family had same burial site