Timeline and Sources of History PDF

4 CHAPTER Timeline and Sources of History...

4 CHAPTER Timeline and Sources of History History is “an unending dialogue between the present and the past... between the society of today and the society of yesterday.... We can fully understand the present only in the light of the past.” — E.H. Carr 4 ― Timeline and Sources of History National Museum, New Delhi. Such museums preserve objects from the past, such as statues, coins and ornaments, all of which help us understand our history. The Big 1. How do we measure historical time? Questions 2. How can various sources help us understand history? 3. How did early humans live? 59 4_100724_v9.indd 59 11-Jul-24 4:25:05 PM  How Do We Learn About the Past? THINK ABOUT IT “ What is the earliest memory you can recollect? Do you remember how old you were at that time? Those memories together are a part of your past, maybe going five or six years back. “ How do you think understanding the past will help us understand the present world? History: The You will discover in Science that the Earth has a very, study of the very long history, of which we humans occupy only a tiny human past. part — the most recent one. Atmospheric oxygen Sharks Fish 700 1 Vertebrates 500 Earth 2.33 4.54 0 Reptiles 30 Dinosaurs s ia i ral ng ib cts er ls ns fu ct Co ph nse el Ba ia tc nd I rs sa Fi ge Am on Birds Sp Mammals Exploring Society: India and Beyond 100 ers Flow s bee and Billion years ago Tapestry of the Past 10 ri H 1, ,0 om 00 F P 00 at 30 pi o 0, ir ,0 es m 0, en sa 00 e Million years ago 00 W 6, tin 00 s 0 50 g ri 0 0 Years ago Fig. 4.1. Timeline of a few important stages in 60 the evolution of life on Earth. 4_100724_v9.indd 60 11-Jul-24 4:25:05 PM  Many people study the history of the Earth. Some of them are trained to uncover the secrets left beneath the Earth’s surface and help us learn about its past — and also our past. Fig. 4.2.1: Geologists Fig. 4.2.2: Palaeontologists Fig. 4.2.3: Anthropologists Fig. 4.2.4: Archaeologists Observe these four pictures and the activities involved. From top left: ƒ Geologists (Fig. 4.2.1) study the physical features of the Earth, like the soil, stones, hills, mountains, Fossils: rivers, seas, oceans and other such parts of the Earth. Impressions ƒ Palaeontologists (Fig. 4.2.2) study the remains of of footprints, or parts of plants, animals and humans from millions of years plants or ago in the form of fossils. animals that are found ƒ Anthropologists (Fig. 4.2.3) study human societies preserved and cultures from the oldest times to the present. within layers of soil or ƒ Archaeologists (Fig. 4.2.4) study the past by digging rocks. up remains that people, plants and animals left behind, such as tools, pots, beads, figurines, toys, 4 ― Timeline and Sources of History bones and teeth of animals and humans, burnt grains, parts of houses or bricks, among others. How Is Time Measured in History? Each society and culture has had its own ways of measuring time. Major events, such as the birth of an important Era: A distinct person or the start of a ruler’s reign, have often marked period of the beginning of a new era. At present, the Gregorian time. 61 4_100724_v9.indd 61 11-Jul-24 4:25:10 PM  Gregorian calendar is commonly used worldwide; side by side, Hindu, calendar: The calendar now Muslim, Jewish, Chinese and other calendars are also used used the world for calculating the dates of festivals and other auspicious over; it has 12 months adding events. up to 365 days, and a leap In the West, the conventional year for Jesus Christ’s birth year every four has generally been taken to be the starting point for this years. However, century years calendar. Years are counted forward from this point and — for example, used to be marked with ‘AD’ (an abbreviation for a Latin 1800, 1900, 2000 — are phrase that refers to the years after Jesus’ birth). However, leap years this is now called the Common Era or CE across the world. only if they are multiples For example, 1947, the year India gained independence, of 400; so can be written as 1947 AD (sometimes AD 1947) or 1947 CE. in the three centenary Similarly, the years before the conventional date for the years above, only 2000 is a birth of Jesus are counted backward and used to be leap year. marked with BC (or Before Christ). They are now called Before Common Era or BCE. For example, 560 BCE is an approximate year of birth of Gautama Buddha (whom we Auspicious: favourable or First examples bringing luck; of rock art in for instance, the world ‘an auspicious beginning’. Ice Age 300,000 40,000 14,000 BCE BCE BCE Exploring Society: India and Beyond Tapestry of the Past Fig. 4.3. Timeline of some main events since 300,000 BCE 62 4_100724_v9.indd 62 11-Jul-24 4:25:10 PM  will meet in Chapter 7). Can you calculate how many years ago that was? LET’S EXPLORE Æ Such calculations are simple, but there is a catch. In the Gregorian calendar, there is no ‘year zero’. The year 1 CE follows immediately the year 1 BCE. Draw a simple timeline marking every year from 2 BCE to 2 CE; you will see that because of the absence of a year zero, only 3 years have passed between those two dates. Æ So to calculate the number of years between a BCE date and a CE date, you should add them but subtract 1 — in the above case, 2 + 2 – 1 = 3. Æ Practice a few examples with your classmates. For example, to return to the question about the Buddha, suppose we are now in the year 2024 CE, then the Buddha was born 560 + 2024 – 1 = 2,583 years ago. End of last Birth of the ice age Buddha First Beginning settlements of copper Aśhoka and beginning metallurgy of agriculture 12,000 10,000 8000 6000 4000 2000 2000 BCE BCE BCE BCE BCE BCE CE 4 ― Timeline and Sources of History Pottery Indus-Sarasvatī Birth of We are technology civilisation Jesus here in Indian Subcontinent The world’s first cities in Mesopotamia 63 4_100724_v9.indd 63 11-Jul-24 4:25:14 PM  A timeline (see Fig. 4.3 on pages 62 and 63) is a convenient tool to mark such events, as it shows a sequence of dates and events covering any particular period. It runs from the beginning of humanity to the present, with a few important landmarks. Note that the dotted portion marks a skipped period; otherwise, this timeline would have to be almost 3 metres long! Birth of the Buddha 560 JESUS’ 2000 Past BCE BIRTH Future CE A timeline also helps in understanding the order in which historical events take place. For example, even without looking at dates, you can now see that the birth of Buddha occurs before that of Jesus. Exploring Society: India and Beyond DON’T MISS OUT Along with a year and a decade (a period of ten years), we often Tapestry of the Past use other terms to understand longer durations of time. Two of these are quite commonly used when learning about history. 1. Century: It is any period of 100 years. In history, specific centuries are counted every 100 years starting from the year 1 CE. For instance, we are currently in the 21st century 64 CE, which runs from 2001 to 2100. 4_100724_v9.indd 64 11-Jul-24 4:25:18 PM  The centuries BCE are calculated beginning from the year 1 BCE and keep going back in time. For example, the 3rd century BCE would include the years 300 BCE to 201 BCE. 2. Millennium: It is any period of 1,000 years. In history, specific centuries are counted every 1,000 years from the year 1 CE. For instance, we are currently in the 3rd millennium CE, which began in 2001 CE and will go up to 3000 CE. As with centuries, millenniums BCE are also calculated beginning from 1 BCE and go backwards. So the 1st millennium BCE would include the years 1 BCE to 1000 BCE. In the timeline given on pages 62 and 63 (Fig. 4.3), can you mark the beginning of the 8th millennium BCE? (Note: In English, the plural of ‘millennium’ is ‘millenniums’ or ‘millennia’; both are correct.) LET’S EXPLORE Create a timeline stretching from 1900 CE to the current year and place the dates of birth of your grandparents, parents, siblings and yourself. Also, mark the years that the 20th century CE begins with and ends with. DON’T MISS OUT 4 ― Timeline and Sources of History Do you know how calendars have been traditionally made in India? Many Indian calendars rely on the positions of the sun and the moon to define the months of the year. A pañchānga is a book of tables which lists the days of each month along with related astronomical data; for instance, it precisely predicts events like solar and lunar eclipses, times for sunrise and sunset, etc. Pañchāngas, still widely used in India, often also give weather predictions for the year, dates and timings of festivals, and more. 65 4_100724_v9.indd 65 11-Jul-24 4:25:19 PM  Source of history: A place, What Are the Sources of History? person, text or an object from which we gather LET’S EXPLORE information about some past Can you collect information about at least three generations of event or period. your family on your mother’s and father’s sides? Create a family tree with your parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. Find out their names, what they did for a living and where they were born. Also, write the sources from where you got this information. Place of Source of Relation Name Occupation birth information Grandparents (paternal) Grandparents (maternal) Great- grandparents (paternal) Exploring Society: India and Beyond Great- grandparents (maternal) Tapestry of the Past How did you find details about your family’s past? Did you rely on things like photographs, diaries, ID cards or memories from your parents and relatives? 66 4_100724_v9.indd 66 11-Jul-24 4:25:20 PM  THINK ABOUT IT Have you ever seen old coins, books, clothes, jewellery or utensils in and around your house? What type of information can we gain from such objects? Or from old houses or buildings? Every object or structure tells a story and is like a piece in a jigsaw puzzle. The objects that you see around your house convey something of the history of your family. Similarly, we can put together historical events through a variety of sources. But keep in mind that in the case of history, quite a few pieces of the puzzle may remain missing! Observe the figure at the bottom of the page. It brings together the main sources of history. You do not need to Vedas and genealogical folklore Itihasas manuscripts poems and plays ns copper plates io historical pt ri texts sc at n e er dia In ur coins Lit In collection Oral Sources of stories Literary Sources Archaeological scientific and monuments technological Sources SOURCES texts Structures OF HISTORY 4 ― Timeline and Sources of History Fo cou Ac re nt mounds ig s n travelogues human, animal Artistic Sources s and plant remains ion at av tools and historical c Ex weapons chronicles paintings panels es and figurin ts habitations en pottery ornam and burials sculptures and toys 67 4_100724_v9.indd 67 11-Jul-24 4:25:21 PM  Historian: A remember them all now; we will use some of them as we go person who studies and along. When historians study, say, a king or queen of 1,500 writes about years ago, an ancient monument, a war or some items of the past. trade, they take great care to gather information from as many sources as they can find and consult. Sometimes, the sources confirm each other (the jigsaw pieces match); at other times, sources may give contradictory information (the jigsaw pieces don’t match), in which case they need to decide which source they can trust more. That is how they try to re-create the history of the period they are studying. Who contributes to all these sources of history? Historians themselves, but also archaeologists, epigraphists (who study ancient inscriptions), anthropologists (who study human societies and their cultures), experts in literature Genetics: and languages, and some more. In addition, in the last 50 The branch of biology years or so, scientific studies have been contributing more that studies and more to the reconstruction of the past. For example, how, in plants, animals or studies of ancient climates, chemical studies of excavated humans, certain materials and studies of the genetics of ancient people have features and characteristics provided fresh insights, which supplement the more usual get passed sources. And when historians study recent history (which down from one generation to usually means the last two or three centuries), another the next. source is newspapers; for the last few decades, electronic media (television, the internet, etc.) can also be consulted. LET’S EXPLORE Exploring Society: India and Beyond There are a few images of different sources of history on the next page. Who and what do you think the objects show? Write down in the boxes next to the images any information that you Tapestry of the Past get from these objects. 68 4_100724_v9.indd 68 11-Jul-24 4:25:22 PM  4 ― Timeline and Sources of History 69 4_100724_v9.indd 69 11-Jul-24 4:25:25 PM  The Beginnings of Human History Modern humans (Homo sapiens) have walked the planet for about 300,000 (three lakh) years. This appears to be a very long time, yet it is only a tiny fraction of the Earth’s history. Let us have a quick look at our early history. LET’S EXPLORE In the above picture, look at some activities of early humans in a rock shelter. Which ones can you recognise? Give a brief Exploring Society: India and Beyond description for each. Early humans faced many challenges from nature and lived in bands or groups to help each other. They were constantly Tapestry of the Past seeking shelter and food, and were mainly hunters and Afterlife: gatherers; this means that they relied on hunting and A life collecting edible plants and fruits for their survival. Our that begins after death. early ancestors also had certain beliefs about the natural elements and possibly also some notion of afterlife. 70 4_100724_v9.indd 70 11-Jul-24 4:25:27 PM  These groups lived in temporary camps, rock shelters or caves, and communicated with each other using languages that are now lost. They used fire and started making objects that made their lives easier, like improved stone axes and blades, arrowheads and other tools. Aspects of their life are visible in rock paintings found in hundreds of caves all over the world. Some of those paintings depict simple figures or a few symbols; others are more detailed and represent scenes with animals or humans. In time, these early humans learned to make simple ornaments such as stone or shell beads, pendants made of animal teeth, and sometimes exchanged them with other groups. The First Crops Over long ages, the Earth’s climate has gone through many changes. At certain times, it was very cold and much of the Earth was covered with ice — this is called an ‘Ice Age’, as you will learn in greater detail in Science. Later, when the climate warmed up, this ice partly melted, and the resulting waters swelled the existing rivers and eventually drained into the oceans. The last Ice Age lasted from over 100,000 (one lakh) years ago to around 12,000 years ago. Afterwards, living conditions improved for humans; in many parts of the world, they started settling down and cultivating cereals and grains. They also domesticated animals such as cattle, goats, etc. With more food available, these communities grew in size and number, and often settled down near rivers. 4 ― Timeline and Sources of History This was not only because of the availability of water, but also because the soil would be more fertile there. It made the process of growing crops easier. LET’S EXPLORE Observe the scene on the next page. It depicts an agricultural community from a few millenniums ago. List the main activities you can identify. 71 4_100724_v9.indd 71 11-Jul-24 4:25:27 PM  THINK ABOUT IT “ Both in this earlier picture of a rock shelter and in this one, men and women are given certain roles. While they may appear to be ‘natural’, they are not necessarily correct and Exploring Society: India and Beyond do not cover all situations. For instance, in a rock shelter, women may have helped prepare colours for painting the rock or may have done some of the painting. In both scenes, men may have done some of the cooking or may Tapestry of the Past have helped take care of children. “ Keeping in mind that we have only limited information, think about such roles and situations, and discuss in class. 72 4_100724_v9.indd 72 11-Jul-24 4:25:28 PM  As communities grew, so did their social complexity. Leaders or ‘chieftains’ were responsible for the well-being of the people, and everyone collectively worked towards Welfare: Health, the community’s welfare. For example, there was no sense prosperity and of individual ownership; the lands were collectively sowed well-being. and harvested. As time went by, hamlets grew into sizeable villages that Hamlet: A small exchanged goods — mostly food, clothing and tools. Slowly, settlement or networks of communication and exchange were established small village. among those villages, and some of them grew into small towns. New technologies appeared — for example pottery, for making pots and other clay objects; and the use of metal (copper first, iron later), which helped make durable tools, objects of daily use and ornaments. We will see in Chapter 6 how this stage prepared for the emergence of what is called ‘civilisation’. For now, it is important to remember that this early progress of humanity had to face many challenges. At some critical times, humanity could have almost disappeared, as some earlier species did. We will never know those early humans to whose courage and persistence we owe our existence today. Before we move on... Æ We have explored some ways to learn more about our pasts. The concept of a timeline helps us understand the 4 ― Timeline and Sources of History sequence of historical events at different times. Æ There are different ways of measuring time: years, decades, centuries, millenniums. Æ Sources of history are many; they help us reconstruct and interpret historical events. Æ We have also had a brief look into the lives of early humans and how human societies grew more complex in time. 73 4_100724_v9.indd 73 11-Jul-24 4:25:29 PM  Questions, activities and projects 1. As a project, write the history of your family (or village if you live in one), using sources of history at your disposal. Ask your teacher to guide you. 2. Can we compare historians to detectives? Give reasons for your answers. 3. A few exercises with dates: ƒ Place these dates chronologically on the timeline: 323 CE, 323 BCE, 100 CE, 100 BCE, 1900 BCE, 1090 CE, 2024 CE. ƒ If King Chandragupta was born in 320 CE, which century did he belong to? And how many years was that after the Buddha’s birth? ƒ Rani of Jhansi was born in 1828. Which century did she belong to? How many years was that before India’s Independence? ƒ Turn ‘12,000 years ago’ into a date. 4. Plan a visit to a nearby museum: the visit should be prepared with some prior research on the kind of exhibits the museum holds. Keep notes during the visit. Write a brief report afterwards, highlighting what was unexpected / interesting / fun about the visit and the exhibits. 5. Invite to your school an archaeologist or a historian and ask them to speak on the history of your region and why it’s important to know it. Exploring Society: India and Beyond Tapestry of the Past 74 4_100724_v9.indd 74 11-Jul-24 4:25:29 PM  5 CHAPTER India, That Is Bharat In India at a very early time the spiritual and cultural unity was made complete and became the very stuff of the life of all this great surge of humanity between the Himalayas and the two seas. — Sri Aurobindo Fig. 5.1. A scene from rural India about 2,300 years ago 5 ― India, That Is Bharat (north gate of the Great Sanchi Stupa) 1. How do we define India? The Big 2. What were the ancient Questions names for India? 75 5-100724-v16.indd 75 11-Jul-24 4:24:58 PM  Exploring Society: India and Beyond Tapestry of the Past Fig. 5.2. A physical map of the Indian Subcontinent, with some of its rivers. 76 5-100724-v16.indd 76 11-Jul-24 4:24:59 PM  Today, the India we know is a modern nation, with defined borders, defined states and a known population. However, it was very different 500 years ago, 2,000 years ago or even 5,000 years ago. This region of the world, which we often call the ‘Indian Subcontinent’, has had many different names and shifting boundaries. We can learn about India’s past and evolution from many different sources. Let us explore. THINK ABOUT IT Consider the physical map of the Indian Subcontinent at the start of the chapter. What are its natural boundaries that you can make out? In the course of history, India has been called by many Inhabitants: People who names — both by its inhabitants and by visitors from outside. live in a These names come to us from ancient texts, accounts of particular place. travellers and pilgrims, and inscriptions. How Indians Named India The Ṛig Veda is India’s most ancient text; as we will see in Chapter 7, it is several thousand years old. It gives the northwest region of the Subcontinent the name ‘Sapta Sindhava’, that is, the ‘land of the seven rivers’. The word ‘Sindhava’ comes from ‘Sindhu’, which refers to the Indus River, or at times to a 5 ― India, That Is Bharat river in general. Fig. 5.3. The northwest region of the Indian Subcontinent 77 5-100724-v16.indd 77 11-Jul-24 4:24:59 PM  Moving on in time, we see names for other parts of India appear in the literature. The Mahābhārata is one of India’s most famous texts (we read about it in the theme ‘Our Cultural Heritage and Knowledge Traditions’). Interestingly, it lists many regions, such as Kāshmīra (more or less today’s Kashmir), Kurukṣhetra (parts of Haryana today), Vanga (parts of Bengal), Prāgjyotiṣha (roughly today’s Assam), Kaccha (today’s Kutch), Kerala (more or less today’s Kerala), and so on. LET’S EXPLORE Do you recognise the names of any regions given in the map (Fig. 5.4) on page 79? List the ones that you have heard of. But when do we come across a name for the entire Indian Subcontinent? Because ancient Indian texts are difficult to date, this is not an easy question to answer. The Mahābhārata uses the terms ‘Bhāratavarṣha’ and ‘Jambudvīpa’, and scholars generally agree that this long poem was written from a few centuries BCE onward. The first term, ‘Bhāratavarṣha’, clearly extends to the entire Subcontinent, and the text includes the names of numerous rivers and peoples. ‘Bhāratavarṣha’ means ‘the country of the Bharatas’. ‘Bharata’ is a name that first appears in the Ṛig Veda, where it refers to one of the main Vedic groups of people. In later literature, several kings named ‘Bharata’ Exploring Society: India and Beyond are mentioned. The second term, ‘Jambudvīpa’, means ‘the island of the fruit of the jamun tree’. This is indeed a common tree native to India, also called ‘jambul tree’, ‘Malabar plum tree’, etc. Tapestry of the Past ‘Jambudvīpa’ came to mean the Indian Subcontinent. In fact, we get a good clue from an Indian emperor — his name is Aśhoka and we will meet him later; for now, we can take his date to be about 250 BCE. As we will see, he 78 left us many inscriptions. In one of them, he used the same 5-100724-v16.indd 78 11-Jul-24 4:25:00 PM  5 ― India, That Is Bharat Fig. 5.4. Map of a few regions listed in the Mahābhārata. (Many of them are also mentioned in the text as kingdoms.) You do not need to remember those regions, but notice how they cover the entire geography of the Subcontinent. name ‘Jambudvīpa’ to describe the whole of India, which at the time included what is today Bangladesh, Pakistan, as well as parts of Afghanistan. 79 5-100724-v16.indd 79 11-Jul-24 4:25:02 PM  A few centuries later, ‘Bhārata’ became the name generally used for the Indian Subcontinent. For instance, in an ancient text called the Viṣhṇu Purāṇa, we read: uttaram yat samudrasya himādreścaiva dakṣiṇam varṣam tad bhāratam nāma... “The country that lies north of the ocean and south of the snowy mountains is called Bhārata.” This name, ‘Bhārata’ remains in use even today. In north India, it is generally written as ‘Bharat’, while in south India, it is often ‘Bharatam’. THINK ABOUT IT Have you identified the ‘snowy mountains’? Do you think this brief description of Bhārata is correct? It is interesting to note that different parts of the country adopted a similar definition for India. For instance, a poem of ancient Tamil literature, from about 2,000 years ago, praises a king whose name is known “from [Cape] Kumari Exploring Society: India and Beyond in the south, from the great mountain in the north, from the oceans on the east and on the west...” You can now recognise ‘the great mountain in the north’, and it should not be difficult to identify ‘Cape Kumari’. It looks like ancient Tapestry of the Past Indians knew their geography well! 80 5-100724-v16.indd 80 11-Jul-24 4:25:05 PM  DON’T MISS OUT Constitution: The Indian Constitution, which was first written in English, A document uses the phrase ‘India, that is Bharat’ right at the beginning. that spells out the basic Similarly, the Hindi version of the Constitution mentions the principles same as ‘Bhārat arthāth India’. and laws of a nation. The Indian LET’S EXPLORE Constitution, which will be In this reproduction of the first page of the original Constitution studied in Grade 7, came into of India in Fig. 5.5 (page 82), can you make out the phrase force in 1950. ‘India, that is Bharat’? How Foreigners Named India The first foreigners to mention India were the Persians, the ancient inhabitants of Iran. In the 6th century BCE, a Persian emperor launched a military campaign and gained control of the region of the Indus River, which, as we saw, was earlier called ‘Sindhu’. So, it is no surprise that in their earliest records and stone inscriptions, the Persians referred to India as ‘Hind’, ‘Hidu’ or ‘Hindu’, which are adaptations in their language of ‘Sindhu’. (Note that in ancient Persian, ‘Hindu’ is a purely geographical term; it does not refer here to the Hindu religion.) Based on these Persian sources, the ancient Greeks named the region ‘Indoi’ or ‘Indike’. They dropped the initial letter ‘h’ of ‘Hindu’ because this letter did not exist in their Greek language. Sindhu Hindhu Indoi / Indike 5 ― India, That Is Bharat The ancient Chinese also interacted with India. In several texts, they refer to India as ‘Yintu’ or ‘Yindu’. This word also originally comes from ‘Sindhu’, in the following manner: Sindhu Hindhu Indu Yindu 81 5-100724-v16.indd 81 11-Jul-24 4:25:08 PM  Exploring Society: India and Beyond Tapestry of the Past Fig. 5.5. First page of the Constitution of India (source: Reprint of the original 82 Constitution of India, Ministry of Culture, Government of India, 2000) 5-100724-v16.indd 82 11-Jul-24 4:25:09 PM  DON’T MISS OUT Xuanzang (formerly spelt Hiuen Tsang, Hsuan Tsang, etc.) travelled from China to India in the 7th century CE. He visited many parts of India, met scholars, collected Buddhist texts, and returned to China after 17 years. There, he translated the manuscripts he took back with him from Sanskrit into Chinese. Several other Chinese scholars visited India over the centuries. Another Chinese word, also derived from ‘Sindhu’, was ‘Tianzhu’; but this word could also be understood as ‘heavenly master’. This reflects the respect the ancient Chinese had for India as the land of the Buddha. You are probably quite familiar with a more recent term, ‘Hindustān’, but you may not know that it was first used in a Persian inscription some 1,800 years ago! Later on, this became the term used by most invaders of India to describe the Indian Subcontinent. LET’S EXPLORE Can you complete this table of the many names of India? Persian Greek Latin India 5 ― India, That Is Bharat Chinese Arabic & Persian English India French Inde 83 5-100724-v16.indd 83 11-Jul-24 4:25:14 PM  Before we move on... Æ India is an ancient land, which has had many names in the course of its history. Æ The names given by the ancient inhabitants of India include ‘Jambudvīpa’ and ‘Bhārata’. The latter became widespread in time and is the name of India in most Indian languages. Æ Foreign visitors to, or invaders of, India mostly adopted names derived from the Sindhu or Indus River; this resulted in names like ‘Hindu’, ‘Indoi’, and eventually ‘India’. Questions, activities and projects 1. Discuss what could be the meaning of the quotation at the start of the chapter. 2. True or false? Æ The Ṛig Veda describes the entire geography of India. Æ The Viṣhṇu Purāṇa describes the entire Subcontinent. Æ In Aśhoka’s time, ‘Jambudvīpa’ included what is today India, parts of Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Æ The Mahābhārata lists many regions, including Kashmir, Kutch, and Kerala. Æ The term ‘Hindustān’ first appeared in a Greek inscription more than 2,000 years ago. Æ In ancient Persian, the word ‘Hindu’ refers to the Hindu religion. Exploring Society: India and Beyond Æ ‘Bhārata’ is a name given to India by foreign travellers. 3. If you were born some 2,000 years ago and had the chance to name our country, what name or names might you have Tapestry of the Past chosen, and why? Use your imagination! 4. Why did people travel to India from various parts of the world in ancient times? What could be their motivations in undertaking such long journeys? (Hint: There could be at 84 least four or five motivations) 5-100724-v16.indd 84 11-Jul-24 4:25:15 PM