What we can know about the past?

There were many things to know about the past such as what the people ate in the past, the kinds of clothes they wore and the houses in which they lived. Besides, we can also find out about the lives of hunters, gatherers, herders, farmers, rulers, merchants, priests, craft persons, artists, musicians, and scientists. We can also find out about the games children played, the story they heard, the plays they saw, and the sing they sang. 

Where did people live in the past? 

People have lived along the bank of the Narmada river for many hundred thousand years, the people who lived on the bank of this river skilled gatherer and hunting animals for their food and they knew vast wealth of plant in the forest. They collected root, fruits and other forest produce. 

Sulaiman and Kirthar hills located in the northwest of the subcontinent. 

Women and men first grown crops such as wheat and barley about 8000 years ago in Sulaiman and Kirthar hills area. 

People also began rearing animals like sheep, goat, cattle and lived in the villages. 

Garo hills located in the northeast of the India and Vindhya is in central India. 

In these area agriculture developed for the first time and the rice grown first time to the north of the Vindhya.  

About 4700 years ago, some of the earliest cities flourished on the bank of the Indus River. 

Later, about 2500 years ago cities developed on the bank of the Ganga river and its tributaries. 

Son is tributary of Ganga River

In ancient times the area along the Son river to the north of the Ganga river was known as Magadha which is now laying in the state of Bihar. Its ruler was very powerful and set up a large kingdom. 

Q. Do you know the name of our country India add Bharat came from where?

: - The word India came from the Indus river, called Sindhu in Sanskrit. The Iranians and Greeks who came through the northwest of the about 2500 years ago and were familiar with the Indus, called it Hindos or the Indos, and the land to the north of the Indus river called India. The name Bharata was used for a group of people who lived in northwest and who are mentioned in Rigveda , Later it was used for the country.  

Finding out about the past 

First ways to finding about past is to study the book which is written long ago. These are called ‘MANUSCRIPTS’ ‘manu’ word came from the latin words which means ;hand’. 

Manuscript were written on the specially prepared on the bark of a tree which is known as the ‘birch’, which grows in the Himalayas. 

Over the years many of the scripts were eaten away by the insects, some were destroyed, but many have survived, often preserved in the temple and monasteries. 

These books dealt with all kinds of subjects such as religious beliefs and practices, the lives of kings, medicines and science, besides, there were epics, poems, plays, many of these were written in Sanskrit and others were in Prakrit and Tamil. 

We can also study manuscripts. These are writings which were written on the hard surface such as stone and metal. 

There are many other things that were made and used by the people in ancient period. The person who study these objects and remains of pasts known as ‘archaeologists’. 

Archaeologists also explore and excavate to find out tools, weapons, pots, pans, ornaments and coins. 

Some of these objects may be made of stone and others were made of baked clay, bones and metals. The objects that were made of hard and imperishable substances usually survived for a long time. 

Baked clay pots came in the use about 4700 years ago. 

Coin made of silver of five corners came in the use about 2500 years ago. 

Archaeologists also look for bones of animals, birds and fish to find out about what people ate in the past. 

One past or many 

The title of this book is ‘our pasts’ here past are used in plural form because lives of people were not same in the past lives of farmers and herders were different from the lives of kings and queens and also the lives of craft persons were different from the lives of merchants due to which pasts is used in plural form. 

What do dated means 

At present the date we use generally day, month and year (2000 and something). These are counted from the birth of Jesus Christ, the founder of Christianity. So, if we write 2000 it means 2000 years after the birth of Christ. All the dates before the birth of Christ are counted backwards and usually have the letter BC (Before Christ) added on. 

Letter with dates

BC stands for before Christ and AD stands for two Latin words ‘Anno Domini’ meaning ‘in the time of Lord (i.e. Christ)’. That means AD is used for after the Christ so, we can write 2000 in the form AD 2000. 

Sometimes CE is used instead of AD and BCE is used instead of BC.



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CLASS 6TH HISTORY CHAPTER SECOND (2). 

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