CBSE Class 6 History Notes Chapter 9 Traders, Kings and Pilgrims

Class 6 Notes Social Science History Chapter 9 Traders, Kings and Pilgrims help you in quick revision of the chapter. Reading these notes will help you to understand the lesson more easily. Once you have understood the chapter, you can easily write the answers of the questions that may come to your exams. Ultimately, our Class 6 NCERT Notes History Chapter 9 will help you to score good marks in the exam.

Traders, Kings and Pilgrims Class 6 Notes Social Science History Chapter 9

• Around 1,000 BC when the Second Urbanisation characterized North India, the area around Deccan Peninsula and South India saw ht eco-habitation of both Iron Age and Megalithic Age leading to a strong civilization.  

Sangam Age:  

(i) The Iron Age laid roots of a golden period in South India from 300 BC to 300 AD, popularly known as the Sangam Age.  

(ii) The rich poetry of this period reflects the glory of Tamil culture and society.  

(iii) Tamils had good contacts and trade relations with distant lands like Rome and Cambodia.  

Sangam Literature:  

i)  The word ‘Sangam’ means assembly. The Tamil literature reveals three literary gatherings of poets and scholars around  

(ii)  2,200 years ago under the patronage of the Pandyan Kings.  

iii) Of the second assembly, only the Tamil grammar ‘Tolkappiyam’ has survived. The third assembly at Madurai led to the creation of over 2,000 poems together which is called the Sangam Literature.  

Southern Kingdoms:  

(i) The Sangam literature mentions three Kingdoms in the Tamilakam territory: The Cheras, the Cholas, and the Pandyas.  

ii) The Cheras were Alsop called Keralaputras and traded in spices, cattle, and turmeric.  

iii) The Cholas ruled Kaveri delta and even captured parts of Sri Lanka.  

iv) The Pandyas centered around Madurai. Madurai was famous for its third Tamil assembly.  

Foreign Trade:  

i)  Tamilakam had extensive trade with distant lands.

ii)  Greeks text like Pliny’s periplus History also confirm these trade relations.  

iii) The Sangam literature uses the word ‘Yavana’ for Greek and Romans.  

iv) Historians confirm that Christianity came to South India due to these contacts.  

v) Trade route was through North India front Taxila to Pataliputra via Ujjain which linked to Tamralipti seaport.  

(vi) The Tamil Kingdom even had trade with South and South-East regions of Ceylon, Malaya, Java, Cambodia, Sumatra, etc.  

Conquerors from Distant Lands:  

i) In North-West India, the main conquerors were Sungas, Indo-Greeks, Parthians, Kushanas, and Shakas.  

ii) Sungas came in 185BC, after defeating the last Mauryan ruler Brihadratha and captured Magadha. They spread Buddhism.  

iii) The Indo-Greeks or Bactrians were from Northern Afghanistan. They captured Punjab. 

iv) The Parthians came from Central Asia and established Gandhara as their capital. The Kushanas were nomadic Yueh-chi tribes of North-West China. They defeated the  

(v) Indo-Greeks, Parthians and Shakas. Their greatest ruler was Kanishka.  

(vi) Shakas came through Hindu-kush mountains and established Ujjain as their capital.  

The most famous Shaka ruler was Rudradaman.  

(vii) In central India, the Satavahanas were the main rulers. Gautamipurtra, Sri Satkarni was their most important ruler.  

Trade:  

(i) Trade flourished during this period. All the kingdoms issued a number of gold, silver and copper coins to promote trade.  

(ii) Broach, Sopara and Kalyan were the important port cities.  

(iii) The most important reason for development and prosperity during the age was the Silk Route which linked India to Rome via Central Asia.  

Religion:  

i) In India, Buddhism and Hinduism were the two main religions.  

ii) Buddhism was divided into two cults Hinayana and Mahayana.  

iii) Menander, the Indo-Greek king, and Kanishka, the Kushana ruler helped in the promotion of Buddhism.  

iv) Bamiyan, one of the tallest statues of Buddha.  

(v) Hinduism was patronized by Satavahana ruler who worshipped Vishnu, Shiva, and Mother Goddess.  

(vi) Emphasis was now laid on loving devotion to God called Bhakti.  

(vii) Deities were kept in special homes called temples.  

(viii) Bhagavad Gita became famous text during this period.

The quest of the pilgrims

The Chinese Buddhist pilgrims, Fa Xian, came to the subcontinent about 1600 years ago, Xuan Zang and I-Qing, came about 50 years after Xuan Zang. They came to visit places associated with the life of the Buddha as well as famous monasteries.

Each of these pilgrims wrote of the dangers they encountered on their travels, which took years, of the countries and the monasteries that they visited, and the books they carried back with them.

Xuan Zang, took the land route back to China. He carried back statues of the Buddha made of gold, silver and sandalwood, and over 600 manuscripts loaded on the backs of 20 horses. Over 50 manuscripts were lost when the boat on which he was crossing the Indus capsized. He spent the rest of his life translating the remaining manuscripts from Sanskrit into Chinese.

The beginning of Bhakti

During this time, the worship of certain deities Siva, Vishnu, and goddesses such as Durga, gained importance in Hinduism. These deities were worshipped through Bhakti, an idea that became very popular. Bhakti means a person’s devotion to his or her chosen deity.

In the sacred book of Hindus, the Bhagavad Gita, the idea of Bhakti is present, which is included in the Mahabharata. In this Krishna the God, asked Arjuna, his devotee and friend, to abandon all dharmas and take refuge in him, as only he can set Arjuna free from every evil. This form of worship widely spread to different parts of the country.

Those who followed the system of Bhakti emphasised devotion and individual worship of a god or goddess, rather than the performance of elaborate sacrifices.

According to this system of belief, if a devotee worships the chosen deity with a pure heart, the deity will appear in the form in which he or she may desire. It could be thought of as a human being, lion, tree or any other form.