Class 6 History – Chapter 1: What, Where, How and When?

🏺 Introduction – Why Do We Study History?

Have you ever wondered: Who lived on the very land where you are standing thousands of years ago? What did they eat, wear, or believe in?

That’s what history is all about. History is the story of our past – it tells us how humans evolved from simple hunters and gatherers to farmers, traders, and citizens of big kingdoms.

In this first chapter, we will explore:

What we study in history
Where ancient people lived
How we know about the past
When events took place

This chapter builds the foundation for all the history you’ll learn later.

🌍 What Do We Study in History?

History is not just about kings, queens, and wars. It includes:

Life of Ordinary People
- Farmers growing crops in fields.
- Herders taking cattle for grazing.
- Craftspersons making pottery, beads, and clothes.
- Traders carrying goods across deserts and seas.
Food and Lifestyle
- How early humans hunted animals and gathered fruits.
- How farming and cooking developed.
- What people ate in different regions.
Discoveries and Inventions
- Discovery of fire 🔥
- Invention of wheel 🛞
- Beginning of writing ✍️
- Use of metals like copper, iron.
Beliefs and Cultures
- Festivals, prayers, rituals.
- Stories, poems, songs that people passed down.
- Art and architecture – paintings, temples, caves.

👉 History is like a giant puzzle where every piece – whether it’s a pot, a tool, or a poem – tells us something about how people lived.

📌 Where Did People Live in the Past?

The geography of India played a major role in shaping history.

🏞️ Rivers – Lifeline of Civilizations

Rivers provided water for drinking, farming, and transport.
Fertile soil along rivers gave rich harvests.
Important ancient settlements:
- River Indus → Indus Valley Civilization (Harappa & Mohenjo-Daro).
- River Ganga → Early kingdoms and towns.
- River Narmada → Early humans used stone tools here.

🌳 Forests and Hills

Provided fruits, roots, honey, wood, and animals.
Early humans hunted and gathered here.

🌊 Seas and Oceans

Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal connected India with traders from Rome, Greece, China, and Arabia.
Fishermen lived near coasts.

🏔️ Mountains

Himalayas acted as a barrier but also allowed passes for traders and travelers.
People from Central Asia (Aryans, Kushans, etc.) entered through mountain passes.

👉 So the location where people lived decided their food, occupation, and culture.

🕵️ How Do We Know About the Past?

We don’t have videos or photographs of ancient times. Instead, historians and archaeologists use sources.

🔹 1. Manuscripts

Handwritten records on palm leaves, birch bark, or paper.
Written in Sanskrit, Prakrit, Persian, Tamil, etc.
Stored in temples, monasteries, libraries.
Subjects: religion, medicine, science, poetry, plays.
Example: Ramayana, Mahabharata, Rigveda, Jataka Tales.

🔹 2. Inscriptions

Writings carved on stone, pillars, and metal plates.
Tell us about kings’ orders, victories, donations.
Example: Emperor Ashoka’s inscriptions on rocks and pillars (3rd century BCE).

🔹 3. Archaeological Remains

Tools and weapons – stone, copper, iron.
Pottery – simple clay pots to painted designs.
Coins – showed rulers’ names, trade, religion.
Buildings – forts, temples, stupas.
Bones & skeletons – gave details of food, health.

🔹 4. Accounts of Travelers

Greek, Chinese, and Arab travelers wrote about India.
Example: Megasthenes (Greek) described Chandragupta Maurya’s court.
Fa-Hien and Hiuen Tsang (Chinese) wrote about Gupta and Harsha periods.

👉 By combining all these sources, we recreate a picture of the past.

⏳ When Did Things Happen? (Measuring Time)

History uses dates, years, and centuries.

🗓️ Ways of Dating

BC (Before Christ) – years before the birth of Christ.
AD (Anno Domini) – years after Christ.
BCE (Before Common Era) – same as BC, but neutral.
CE (Common Era) – same as AD.

📅 Example:

300 BCE → 300 years before Christ.
2025 CE → 2025 years after Christ.

📖 Centuries

1st century = Years 1–100 CE.
21st century = Years 2001–2100 CE.

👉 Historians use these time references to organize events.

📊 Did You Know? (Fun Facts Box)

🗿 Ashoka’s inscriptions were written in Brahmi script.
📚 The word manuscript comes from Latin: manu = hand, script = writing.
💰 Ancient coins were made of copper, silver, and gold.
🛕 Nalanda University (ancient India) had thousands of students from across Asia.

🧩 Comparing Past and Present (Chart)

Ancient Times	Present Times
People lived near rivers for farming	We use dams, canals, and modern irrigation
Handwritten manuscripts	Printed books, e-books
Ox-carts and boats for transport	Cars, trains, airplanes
Measured time by sun and stars	Clocks, calendars, atomic time

🧠 Why Should We Study History?

To Understand Our Roots – How we reached where we are today.
To Learn from Mistakes – Wars, inequality, destruction.
To Respect Heritage – Monuments, festivals, traditions.
To Build Identity – History connects us to our nation and culture.

👉 Without history, it’s like being a person with no memory.

📚 NCERT Key Questions (with Answers)

Q1. What can we know about the past from inscriptions?

Orders of kings, donations to temples, victories, names of rulers, religion, and language used.

Q2. What were manuscripts made of?

Palm leaves, birch bark, and later handmade paper.

Q3. Why were rivers important in history?

They provided water, food, fertile land, and transport. Civilizations grew near rivers.

Q4. What is archaeology?

The study of remains of the past like tools, pottery, coins, and buildings.

Q5. What is the difference between BCE and CE?

BCE: Before Common Era. CE: Common Era. Neutral terms instead of BC/AD.

📝 Practice Exercise (for Students)

Match the following:
- Inscriptions → Stones and pillars
- Manuscripts → Palm leaves
- Archaeology → Tools and bones
Write a short note on why manuscripts are important.
Write one difference between BC and AD.
Why do historians use different sources to study history?

✨ Conclusion

History is not just about memorizing dates. It is about discovering human stories – how people lived, loved, fought, traded, built, and created knowledge.

This chapter shows us the first step in studying history:

What we study (people, life, discoveries).
Where people lived (rivers, hills, seas).
How we know about the past (manuscripts, inscriptions, archaeology).
When events happened (time, dates, centuries).

By learning history, we learn about ourselves – because the past is the key to the present and future.