CBSE Class 6 History Notes Chapter 1 What, Where, How and When
Class 6 Notes Social Science History Chapter 1 What, Where, How and When 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 1 will help you to score good marks in the exam.
What, Where, How and When? Class 6 Notes Social Science History Chapter 1
History: History is a chronological account of events as they took place in the past.
Why should we study History?
(i) We should study history as it tells us about our past.
(ii) It gives us understanding about our ancient culture and lifestyle.
(iii) It helps us to solve the problems of the present day world.
History:
(i) Historians use Christ has been taken as year zero.
(ii) Any event before Christ is called Before Christ (BC) and any event after the birth of Jesus is called Anno Domini (AD).
(iii) Timeline of history is divided into three stages – Prehistory, Protohistory and History.
Where did people live?
(i) People lived near river valleys. This was because rivers provided water for all purposes.
(ii) Traces of life were found near Sulaiman and Kirtar hills in North West.
(iii) Traces of life even existed along Ganga. Mahajanapadas like Magadha, Kashi, Vajji, etc. flourished 2500 years ago.
(iv) The Himalayan mountain has acted as natural barrier between India and Central Asia since ages.
(v) The places where rice was first grown are to the north of the Vindhyas.
How was the name India Derived?
(i) Our country is called India and Bharat.
(ii) Bharat was used by the people of North India in the Sanskrit composition Rigveda.
(iii) The word Indus traces its roots from the river Indus which is called Sindhu in Sanskrit.
How do we know about the past?
(i) Archaeologists and historians study several sources to tell us about the past. There are two sources – archaeological and literary.
(ii) Archaeology: The study of human history and prehistory through the excavation of sites and the analysis of physical remains.
(ii) Inscriptions: Inscriptions are writings on relatively hard surfaces such as stone or metal. In the past, when kings wanted their orders inscribed so that people could see, read and obey them, they used inscriptions for this purpose.
(iv) Archaeologists use sources like monuments, artefacts, inscription and coins.
(v) Handwritten or any other written record of the past is known as a literary source.
(vi) Literary sources include two types of literature – religious literature and secular literature.
(vii) Manuscripts are the books written long ago written by hand. These were written on palm leaves, or on the specially prepared bark of a tree known as the birch, which grows in the Himalayas. These books dealt with all kinds of subjects: religious beliefs and practices, the lives of kings, medicine and science.
Who studied sources of History?
(i) There were two groups of people who studied history. One was called archaeologist and the other group was called historians.
(ii) Archaeologists studied remains of buildings made of stones, bricks, paintings and sculptures.
(iii) The other group called historians were the people who studied the past and used information found in inscriptions, seals and scripts.
What do dates mean?
The years are counted from the date to the birth of Jesus Christ, the founder of Christianity. All dates before the birth of Christ are counted backwards and usually have the letters BC (Before Christ) added on. In this book, we will refer to dates going back from the present, using 2000 as our starting point. 2000 means 2000 years after the birth of Christ.