WHAT WHERE HOW AND WHEN (VIDEO)
WHAT, WHERE, HOW AND WHEN (NOTES)
What can we know about the past?
There are several things we can know about our past such as:
- What people used to eat, the type of clothes they used to wear, the houses in which they lived.
- How were the lives of hunters, herders, farmers, rulers, merchants, priests, crafts persons, artists, musicians, and scientists?
- The games children used to play, the stories they have heard, the songs they sang.
Where did people live?
People have lived along the banks of the Narmada river for several hundred thousand years. These people stayed on the bank of Narmada river as they knew about the vast wealth of plants in the surrounding forests. They used to collect roots, fruits and other forest produce for their food. Sometimes they also hunted animals.
- The areas where women and men first began to grow crops such as wheat and barley was about 8000 years ago.
- People also began to look after animals like sheep, goat, and cattle and used to live in villages.
- The places where rice was first grown are to the north of the Vindhyas.
- About 2500 years ago, cities developed on the banks of the Ganga and its tributaries, and along the sea coasts.
In ancient times, the area along the Ganga and its tributary rivers, to the south of the Ganga was known as Magadha which is now lying in the state of Bihar. Men and women moved in search of livelihood and also to escape from natural disasters like floods or droughts. These movements of people enriched our cultural traditions. People have shared new ways of carving stone, composing music, and even cooking food over several hundreds of years.
Names of the land
Our country is known by both words i.e India and Bharat.
- The word India comes from the Indus, called Sindhu in Sanskrit. The Iranians and the Greeks who came through the northwest about 2500 years ago called it the Hindos or the Indos, and the land to the east of the river was called India.
- The name Bharata was used for a group of people who lived in the northwest, and who are mentioned in the Rigveda, the earliest composition in Sanskrit (dated to about 3500 years ago). Later it was used for the country.
Finding out about the past
One way through which we can find out about our past is by reading the books that were written long ago. These books are called manuscripts because they were 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. Besides, there were epics, poems, plays as well.
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. There are other kinds of inscriptions as well, where men and women (including kings and queens) recorded what they did. For example, records of victories in battle.
Archaeologists
An archaeologist is a person who studies the remains of buildings made of stone and brick, paintings and sculpture. They also explore and excavate to find tools, weapons, pots, pans, ornaments and coins. They also look for bones of animals, birds, and fish to find out what people ate in the past.
Historians use the word source to refer to the information found from manuscripts, inscriptions and archaeology. Once sources are found, learning about the past becomes an adventure. So historians and archaeologists are like detectives, who use all these sources like clues to find out about our pasts.
One past or many?
The title of this book is Our Pasts – I. The word ‘pasts’ in plural is used to draw attention to the fact that the past was different for different groups of people. For example, the lives of herders or farmers were different from those of kings and queens, the lives of merchants were different from those of crafts persons, and so on. It is even true today as people followed different practices and customs in different parts of the country.
Archaeology did not help us to know more about the ordinary people in the past because they did not keep records of what they did. Whereas, kings used to keep the records of their victories and the battles they fought.
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.
Exercise
Question 1. Match the following:
| (a) Narmada Valley | (1) The first big kingdom. |
| (b) Magadha | (2) Hunting and gathering. |
| (c) Garo hills | (3) Cities about 2500 years ago. |
| (d) Indus and its tributaries | (4) Early agriculture. |
| (e) Ganga Valley | (5) The first cities. |
Answer.
| (a) Narmada Valley | (2) Hunting and gathering. |
| (b) Magadha | (1) The first big kingdom. |
| (c) Garo hills | (4) Early agriculture. |
| (d) Indus and its tributaries | (5) The first cities. |
| (e) Ganga Valley | (3) Cities about 2500 years ago. |
Question 2. List one major difference between a manuscript and inscription.
Answer.
- Manuscript: The old books which were written by hands are called 'manuscript'. These are usually written on palm leaf or on specially prepared bark of a tree known as birch which grows in the Himalayas. The palm leaves were cut into pages and tied together to make books. But, they are delicate to be handled as may break down or at certain times the leaves may get infected by insects.
- Inscription: Inscriptions are the writings on hard surfaces such as stones, rocks, pillars, clay, metal and copper tablets. Inscriptions are reliable sources of history as they come to us in their original form and does not possess the danger of getting depreciated or damaged.
Question 3. Return to Rasheed's question. Can you think of some answers to it?
Answer. Rasheed's question was how could anyone know what had happened so many years ago. There are various ways by which people can know about the past.
- By excavating and studying the remains left by the early man in the form of tools. weapons, pottery, jewelry etc.
- After the man had learned the art of writing, he wrote on leaves, the bark of the trees and even on hard material.
- We have been able to read and understand the script. Some scripts have to be deciphered yet.
Question 4. Make a list of all the objects that archaeologists may find. Which of these could be made of stone?
Answer. The archaeologists study the remains of buildings made of stone and brick, painting and sculpture. Buildings were also made of stone. They also dig under the surface of the earth to find tools, weapons, pots, pans ornaments and coin. Tool and weapons could have been made of stone and try to study about them in detail using a variety of techniques like radio-carbon dating.
Question 5. Why do you think ordinary men and women did not generally keep records of what they did?
Answer. The ordinary people like hunter-gatherers, herders, farmers did not keep a record of what they did as they led a very simple lifestyle. They did not know how to read and write. There was a specialized class of the people called 'scribes' who recorded all the important events of the king and written them down and in return received gifts and appreciation from the kings.
Question 6. Describe at least two ways, in which you think the lives of the kings would have been different from those of farmers.
Answer. King:
(i) The king led a luxurious life.
(ii) He was the head and made all the decisions for the society and looked after their welfare.
(iii) He led the armies in war and kept records of their battles and victories.
Farmers:
(i) They worked very hard to grow crops for their families and for the people.
(ii) They led an ordinary life where they could barely fulfill their needs.
(iii) Archaeology helps us to find out about their lives.