Punjab State Board PSEB 6th Class Social Science Book Solutions History Chapter 8 Our India – In World Textbook Exercise Questions and Answers.
PSEB Solutions for Class 6 Social Science History Chapter 8 Study of Ancient History – Sources
SST Guide for Class 6 PSEB Study of Ancient History – Sources Textbook Questions and Answers
I. Answer the following questions :
Question 1.
What is the difference between Pre-history and History?
Answer:
The long period of man’s life is divided into two periods: Pre-history and History.
1. Pre-history. Pre-history is that period of man’s life for which we have no written records.
2. History. History is that period of man’s life for which we have written records.
Question 2.
Name the works which are included in the Vedic Literature.
Answer:
The following works are included in the Vedic Literature :
- Vedas,
- Brahmanas,
- Aranyakas,
- Upanishads,
- Sutras,
- Epics (Ramayana and Mahabharata),
- Puranas.
Question 3.
How do the inscriptions help us to know about history?
Answer:
Inscriptions are those records which are found written on stone-pillars, rocks, copper-plates, clay tablets.ahd walls of temples. These help us a lot to know about history. They record important events of the time when they wdre written. . Inscription of Emperor Ashoka tell us about his religion and expansions of his empire. Inscriptions of Samudragupta and Skandagupta tell us about their achievements. Copper-plates throw a light on the sale, purchase or donation of land in ancient times.
Question 4.
What is meant by archaeological sources of history?
Answer:
Old buildings, pottery, things of everyday use, coins and inscriptions which are found during excavation are known as archaeological sources of History.
Question 5.
How do the Epics serve as a source of history?
Answer:
The two Epics, namely, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata were composed in the Vedic period. From these Epics, we come to know about the social, religious and cultural conditions of ancient India, specially after the advent of the Aryas.
Question 6.
Write a short note on literary sources of history.
Answer:
The literary sources of history include Vedas, Brahamanas, Aranyakas, Upanishads, Sutras, Epics, Puranas and the Buddhist and Jain books. Besides telling us about the religion, these works also throw light on the events and society of the time when they were written. The books related to the laws of ancient times, called the ‘Dharmasastras’ were also written. Manusmriti is prominent among such books. Kautilya wrote a book, namely Arthasastra, on the state administration. Several dramas were written by scholars like Bhasa and Kalidasa. Several stories were also written. The scientists like Aryabhatta and Varahamihira wrote books about their discoveries.
Question 7.
What information do we get by studying monuments?
Answer:
The buildings such as pillars, forts and palaces, constructed hundreds of years ago, are known as monuments. A study of monuments provides us valuable historical information. These tell us about the life of people in ancient India.
II. Fill in the blanks :
Question 1.
History is the study of _________
Answer:
past
Question 2.
History is the study for better _________
Answer:
information
Question 3.
_________ named book was written by Kautilya.
Answer:
Arthashastra
Question 4.
Books, literary sources, ancient ruins, and things are called sources.
Answer:
archaeological.
III. Match the columns :
Question 1.
| A | B |
| (i) Aryabhatta | (a) Epic |
| (ii) Ramayana | (b) Veda |
| (iii) Samaveda | (c) Kautilya |
| (iv) Arthasastra | (d) scientist |
Answer:
Correct pairs:
| A | B |
| (i) Aryabhatta | (d) scientist |
| (ii) Ramayana | (a) Epic |
| (iii) Samaveda | (b) Veda |
| (iv) Arthasastra | (c) Kautilya |
IV. Write true or ‘false’ in the brackets given after each statement:
Question 1.
Manusmriti is a work on Dharmasastra.
Answer:
True
Question 2.
Aranyakas are not part of Vedic literature.
Answer:
False
Question 3.
Coins are not a source of history.
Answer:
False
Question 4.
Ashoka got his message engraved on stone pillars.
Answer:
True.
V. Activities (Something To Do) :
Question 1.
Visit a museum and prepare a list of things which you think can be reliable sources of ancient history.
Answer:
Do it yourself with the help of your teacher.
PSEB 6th Class Social Science Guide Study of Ancient History – Sources Important Questions and Answers
Multiple Choice Questions:
Question 1.
One who study the past is known as _________
(A) Psychologist
(B) Historian
(C) Anthropologist
(D) Sociologist.
Answer:
(B) Historian.
Question 2.
Understanding any code or somebody’s writing is known as _________
(A) Coding
(B) Archaeology
(C) Decipherment
(D) Calligraphy.
Answer:
(C) Decipherment.
Question 3.
The beginning of agriculture is dated back to _________
(A) 4700 years, ago
(B) 5000 year ago
(C) 7000 years ago
(D) 8000 years ago.
Answer:
(D) 8000 years ago.
Question 4.
_________ was the first big kingdom..
(A) Magadha
(B) Patliputra
(C) Kaushambhi
(D) Kashi.
Answer:
(A) Magadha.
Question 5.
_________ are usually written on palm leaf, or on the specially prepared bark of a tree known as the birch.
(A) Inscription
(B) Manuscrfpt
(C) Engraving
(D) Archaeology.
Answer:
(B) Manuscript.
Question 6.
Ordinary men and women were _________
(A) hunters
(B) gatherers
(C) fishing folk
(D) all of these.
Answer:
(D) all of these.
Question 7.
Along the bank of _________ river people have lived for several hundred thousand years.
(A) Tapi
(B) Narmada
(C) Krishna
(D) Kaveri.
Answer:
(B) Narmada.
Question 8.
Which of these animals, men first began to rear?
(A) Sheep
(B) Cattle
(C) Goat
(D) All of these.
Answer:
(D) All of these.
Question 9.
_________ are smaller rivers that flow into a larger river.
(A) Tributaries
(B) Ponds
(C) Valleys
(D) None of these.
Answer:
(A) Tributaries.
Question 10.
_________ is the earliest composition in Sanskrit.
(A) Yajurveda
(B) Atharvaveda
(C) Samveda
(D) Rigveda.
Answer:
(D) Rigveda.
Very Short Answer Type Questions
Question 1.
What is History?
Answer:
History is the study of past.
Question 2.
What do you mean by the literary sources of History?
Answer:
The books written in the past are called the literary sources of History.
Question 3.
What are known as the archaeological sources of History?
Answer:
The material remains of the past are known as the archaeological sources of History.
Question 4.
For which period of the past is archaeology an only mean for knowing about it?
Answer:
Archaeology is the only mean for knowing about the pre-historic age.
Question 5.
Why do we not have written records about the pre-historic age?
Answer:
We do not have written records about the pre-historic age because the early man did not know the art of writing.
Question 6.
Name the four Vedas.
Answer:
- The Rigveda,
- The Samaveda,
- The Yajurveda;
- The Atharvaveda.
Question 7.
Name the two Epics. Who composed them?
Answer:
The Ramayana and the Mahabharata are the two Epics. They were composed by Maharishi Valmiki and Maharishi Ved Vyas respectively.
Question 8.
What is an inscription?
Answer:
An inscription is the writing which is engraved either on a stone surface or on metal or brick.
Question 9.
What do you understand by monuments?
Answer:
Monuments are the buildings or structures constructed in the past and which stand today as memorials.
Question 10.
Name two renowned scientists of ancient times.
Answer:
Aryabhatta and Varahamihira were two renowned scientists of ancient times.
Question 11.
What is meant by Pre-history?
Answer:
The long period of man’s life is divided into two parts: Pre-history and history. Pre-history is that period of history for which we don’t have any written record.
Question 12.
What is the literal meaning of the word ‘HISTORY’?
Answer:
The word History is derived from a Greek word ‘HISTORIA’. The meaning of historia is the ‘Knowledge of Past’.
Question 13.
Who is known as the Father of History?
Answer:
‘Herodotus’ is known as the Father of history as he was the first person who wrote history.
Question 14.
What is numismatics and epigraphy?
Answer:
The study of coins is known as numismatics and the study of inscriptions is known as epigraphy
Question 15.
How many shlokas are there in Ramayana and Mahabharata?
Answer:
Ramayana contains about 24,000 shlokas and Mahabharata contains more than one lakh shlokas.
Question 16.
What do you mean by Dharmasastras?
Answer:
Dharmasastras are books written about the laws of ancient times. For example Manusmriti, Arthasastra etc.
Question 17.
Who is an Archaeologist?
Answer:
An archaeologist is a person who studies old buildings, pottery, things of daily use, coins and inscriptions.
Question 18.
Give few examples of ancient Indian monuments.
Answer:
The Sanchi Stupa, The Ashokan Pillars and remains of Nalanda university are some of the ancient Indian monuments.
Short Answer Type Questions
Question 1.
What information do we get from the study of History?
Answer:
From the study of History, we come to know how man lived in the beginning and how civilizations developed with the passage of time.
Question 2.
What is the advantage of the study of History?
Answer:
History is said to be the study of past for a better future. If we want to build a strong and ideal society in the times to come and if we want to achieve further development, we must learn how we have reached the present state. Information about all these things can be attained only with the study of history.
Question 3.
How do we khow about our historical past?
Answer:
We know about bur historical past from the evidence which our forefathers have left behind. This evidence consists of ancient books, inscriptions on rocks, pillars, stone, metal plates, etc., and ancient buildings.
Question 4.
What is the significance of coins in the study of History?
Answer:
Coins of ancient times have been made of lead, copper, bronze, silver and gold, etc. Such coins have on them portraits of kings, pictures of animals, religious symbols, the names of the issuers and dates, etc. All this information helps us to learn about the kings, their dynasties, religious beliefs and economic life of the past.
Question 5.
What did Ashoka do to spread his message among common people?
Answer:
To spread his message among common people, Ashoka got it engraved on rocks and very big stone-pillars and put them all over the country so that people could read and follow them.
Question 6.
Write in brief about composition of the Ramayana and Mahabharata.
Answer:
Two great epics were written in Vedic period and these were the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. The Ramanaya contains around 24,000 shlokas and was composed by Maharishi Valimiki. The Mahabharata is a gigantic mass of compositions written by different authors which extended over many centuries. But generally it has been believed that it was written by Maharishi Ved Vyas. It contains more than 1,00,000 shlokas and was arranged in 18 chapters.
Long Answer Type Question
Question 1.
How do we know about the past? Mention the various- sources that are used to study the past.
Answer:
History is the one way of knowing the past. We learn about the past from the evidence which our ancestors have left behind.
Our ancestors have left behind the following clues which help us in knowing the past:
1. Literary Works: The important literary works are the religious books like the Vedas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas, Upanishads, Sutras, the Epics, the Puranas, and the Buddhist and Jain books.
2. Archaeological Sources: Archaeological sources include old buildings, pottery, things of everyday use, coins, and inscriptions. All these give us a lot of information which could help us to study the past.