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What is the purpose of the code at the end of each section of the book?
defines correct source of the material
What is a notable feature of ancient Indian culture with regard to the commingling of cultural elements?
Ancient Indian history is marked by social injustice.
True
Ancient Indian society was marked by gross __________ injustice.
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What are inscriptions typically found on?
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In the past, inscriptions were used when kings wanted their orders inscribed so that people could see, read, and obey them on relatively hard surfaces such as stone or metal. They contained both scripts and ____________.
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Ancient Indian currency was issued in the form of paper.
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Match the following terms with their descriptions:
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What do the letters CE stand for?
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The Earth is over 400 million years old.
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What does the term 'Palaeolithic' mean?
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The remains found at sites include tools, pots, buildings, etc. which were made, used, and left behind by people, buried under the earth, or even under __________.
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When did the Vikrama Samvat begin?
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When did the Shab. Samvat begin?
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When did the Gupta era begin?
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What materials did historians use to learn about the past?
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Manuscripts were often written on bamboo leaves.
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Archaeologists study remains of buildings made of __________ and __________.
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Study Notes
Understanding Ancient Indian History
- The study of ancient Indian history is significant in today's context, as it helps us understand the problems we face today.
- Ancient Indian history is interesting because India was a melting pot of various ethnic groups, including the pre-Aryans, Indo-Aryans, Greeks, Scythians, and Turks.
- Each ethnic group contributed to the evolution of Indian social systems, art, architecture, and literature.
- The cultural elements of these groups mixed together inextricably, making it difficult to identify them in their original form today.
Relevance of the Past to the Present
- The study of India's past assumes special significance in the context of modern problems.
- Some people want to restore ancient culture and civilization, while others are sentimental about the past glories of India.
- However, understanding the past is crucial to address the problems of the present.
Sources for History Writing
- Historians use various sources, including coins, inscriptions, architecture, and textual records, to learn about the past.
- The number and variety of textual records increased dramatically during the third century B.C.
- Sources like the Puranas, a collection of 18 ancient texts, provide dynastic history up to the beginning of the Gupta era.
- Inscriptions record events in the context of time and place, and historians use these to reconstruct the past.
Historians and Their Sources
- Historians like Rajendra Lal Mitra, who published some Vedic texts and wrote a book on the Indo-Aryans, adopted a rationalist and objective approach to reconstructing ancient Indian history.
- Scholars like Bhndarkar, who reconstructed the political history of the Deccan, and VK Rajwade, who searched for Sanskrit manuscripts in Maharashtra, contributed significantly to the field of history.
- Pandurang Vaman Kane, a renowned Sanskritist, wrote a monumental work on the history of ancient Indian social laws and customs.
Historical Sense
- Ancient Indians did not write history in the same way that Greeks did, but they did have a sense of history.
- The Puranas provide a sort of history, and the Vikram era began in 57 B.C.
- Ashoka's inscriptions show considerable historical sense, recording events from the eighth to the twenty-seventh regnal year.
Archaeologists and Their Sources
- Archaeologists study the remains of buildings, paintings, and sculptures to understand the past.
- They also explore and excavate to find tools, weapons, pots, and coins.
- Material remains like bones of animals, birds, and fish help archaeologists understand what people ate in the past.
Types of Sources and Historical Construction
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There are various types of sources, including manuscripts, inscriptions, and material remains.
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Manuscripts were written on palm leaf or birch bark and dealt with subjects like religious beliefs, medicine, and science.
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Archaeologists use material remains to reconstruct the past and understand successive layers of culture.### India's Early History
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India's early history involves people collecting roots, fruits, and other forest produce for food, and occasionally hunting animals.
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Around 5000 years ago, people began to grow crops like wheat and barley, and started domesticating animals like sheep, goats, and cattle.
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The first cities developed on the banks of the Ganga and its tributaries, and along the sea coasts, around 2500 years ago.
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Inscriptions, or writings on stone or metal, were used to record important information, such as the orders of kings.
Inscriptions and Coins
- Inscriptions contain both scripts and languages, and their study is called epigraphy.
- Decipherment is the process of understanding the meaning of an inscription.
- Coins, made of metal like copper, silver, or gold, were used as currency in ancient India.
- The study of coins is called numismatics.
Literary Sources
- The Sangam literature, comprising 30,000 lines of poetry, is a major source of information about ancient India.
- The literature is arranged in anthologies called Ettuttokai, and includes poems collected in groups of hundreds.
- Foreign accounts, such as the Indika of Megasthenes, who came to the court of Chandragupta Maurya, also provide valuable information about ancient India.
Physical Map of the Subcontinent
- The subcontinent is bounded by the Himalayas, the Vindhyas, and the Satpura mountains.
- The Indus River, also known as the Sindhu, originates in the northwest and flows into the Arabian Sea.
- The Deccan Plateau, the Bay of Bengal, and the Indian Ocean are also part of the subcontinent's physical geography.
Sources for History
- Archaelogy, or the study of ancient artifacts, provides information about people's lives and activities.
- Literary sources, such as the Sangam literature, provide information about the social, cultural, and economic conditions of ancient India.
- Foreign accounts, such as the Indika of Megasthenes, provide information about the political and cultural history of ancient India.
Origin of India's Name
- The name "India" comes from the Indus River, which was called the Hindos or the Indos by the Iranians and Greeks.
- The name "Bharat" was used for a group of people who lived in the northwest, and later came to be used for the country as a whole.
New and Old Terminologies
- The term "Hindustan" was first used in the 13th century to describe the geography, fauna, and culture of the subcontinent.
- The term "foreigner" was used to describe someone who was not part of a particular society or culture.
Different Aspects of the Past
- The past was different for different groups of people, who followed different practices and customs.
- The word "pasts" is used in plural to draw attention to the fact that the past was not uniform for all people.
Meaning of Dates
- Years are counted from the date of the birth of Jesus Christ, with dates before Christ being counted backwards and marked as BC (Before Christ).
- AD (Anno Domini) stands for "in the year of the Lord", and CE (Common Era) is used instead of AD, with BCE (Before Common Era) used instead of BC.
- BP (Before Present) is used to describe dates in radiocarbon dating.
Pre-historic Age
- The Palaeolithic period, which lasted from 2,000,000 to 10,000 years before present, is characterized by the use of stone tools.
- Hunter-gatherers, who lived in the subcontinent as early as two million years ago, got their food by hunting wild animals, catching fish and birds, and gathering fruits, roots, and nuts.
- They moved from place to place due to various reasons, including the need to find new sources of food.
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Description
This quiz covers the standardized content of NCERT and Tamil Nadu books for classes V to XII, following a student-friendly approach with no overlap of material.
