Important dates and points

Narmada valley – hunting a gathering

Mgadha- the first big kingdom

Garo Hills – early agriculture

Indus and its tributaries – the first cities

Ganga Valley – cities about 2500 years ago

Sulaiman and Kirthar Hills – wheat and barley cultivation

Beginning of agriculture – 8000 years ago

4700 years ago – first cities on Indus

1. Some of the earliest humans lived along river …………………………..

Narmada

2. Rice was first grown in areas to the north of the ……………………………

Vindhyas

3. People started cultivating wheat and barley about 8000 years ago in ……………………. and ……………………… hills

Sulaiman and Kirthar

4. Some of the earliest cities flourished along river ………………………..

Indus and its tributaries

5. Magadha, the first big kingdom, now lies in the state of ……………………….

Bihar

6. What led to the sharing of ideas among people in ancient times?

In ancient times people used to travel from place to place in search of livelihood and also to escape from natural disasters like droughts and floods. Merchants often traveled with caravans or ships carrying valuable goods from place to place. Religious teachers travelled from place to place offering advice on the way. People also traveled because they were driven by a spirit of adventure and wanted to discover new and exciting places.

7. From which river did India get her name?

Sindhu or Indus

8. Name the earliest composition in Sanskrit

Rigveda

9. What are manuscripts?

These are books written by hand many, many years ago. They are usually written on palm leaves or on the bark of a tree called birch.

10. What are inscriptions?

These are writings on relatively hard surfaces such as stone or metal.

11. Manuscripts were usually written in

Sanskrit, Prakrit and Tamil

12. Who are archeologists?

They are professionals who study history through the excavation of sites and analysis of artefacts and other physical remains.

13. Why are historians and archeologists often compared to detectives?

Historians study the past using information obtained from sources like manuscripts, inscriptions and archeology. Once, these sources are found learning about the past becomes an adventure as they have to reconstruct it bit by bit. Since, historians and architects use sources as clue to learn about our pasts, they are like detectives.

14. In history what is a source?

In history the word source refers to information found from manuscripts, inscriptions and archeological excavations.

15. What does AD mean?

Anno Domini or in the year of the Lord.

16. What are CE and BCE?

CE means Common Era and BCE means Before Common Era. CE is now used instead of AD and BCE is used instead of BC.

17. What is decipherment?

The languages and scripts used in inscriptions have changed over the years. Decipherment is the process of understanding what is inscribed.