Studying the past

Std VI
History

1. STUDYING THE PAST STD-VI CHAPTER 8 SUBJECT –HISTORY Prepared By: Mrs Sabita Mishra

2. What is History? History is the study of change over time and progress from past to present world. It is a systematic description of the past events. It is based on facts and not imagination. It helps to learn about the great people ,culture ,art and architecture of earlier times.

3. Historians divide history into two parts Prehistory -It refers to the period when the art of writing was unknown. Our information about prehistory depends upon the remains of tools ,bones ,pottery and weapons that have been excavated. History -It refers to the period after the invention of writing. The written records ,dates ,names of places and people on bhojpatras,palm leaves or pillars are the source of information.

4. DO YOU KNOW? AD- Anno Domini (Latin Phrase)-Refers to the year of Christ’s birth BCE- Before the Common Era(Used in place of BC) CE-Common Era(used in place of AD) https://youtu.be/kDNH4G9iacw-fact file about AD,BC,CE and BCE https://youtu.be/f-8IhOClT4k-Story of Jesus Christ

5. History is generally categorised into- 1.Ancient History 2.Medieval History 3.Modern History Source Material for Historians can be divided into two categories. 1.Archaeological Source 2.Literary Source

6. Archaeological Source Materials These include inscriptions,coins,monuments,sculptures,paintings ,articles of daily use and skeletons. These provide information about religious, social and cultural conditions of different periods. The inscriptions are the writings engraved on rocks ,pillars ,clay tablets, the walls of temples and caves which tell us about the kings, their empires , achievements as well as the society and the language of that period. The coins of earlier times were made of different materials like lead ,copper , bronze ,iron ,silver, gold etc give useful information about art ,religion ,rulers , the use of different metals and the level of development of technology.

7. MAHEN-JO-DARO ASHOKA’S INSCRIPTION,GIRNAR GUJARAT ASHOKA’S INSCRIPTION COINS CLAY TABLETS SCULPTURE

8. Archaeological Source Materials Monuments are the remains of temples ,stupas ,palaces and forts which help the historians to collect information about social and economic life ,the religious beliefs, dress ,art forms and architecture of that time. Skeletons help to know about body structure of the people of different periods.

9. The study of inscriptions is called The study of coins is called Numismatics. Epigraphy Match the clouds

10. Literary Sources All written records of the past are known as literary sources or manuscripts . They are written on dried palm leaves , bhojapatras ,copper plates and on paper. The sources consists of Religious Literature,Non - Religious Literature,Secular Literature ,Historical Literature etc

11. RELIGIOUS LITERATURE They consist of Vedas of the Hindus in Sanskrit , Pitakas of Buddhists in Pali and Angas of Jains in Prakrit. They tell about the religious beliefs ,society ,customs and traditions of that time. The Puranas and the Epics ,like Ramayana and Mahabharata also provide useful information of that period.

12. Non-Religious Literature They consists of prose ,plays ,poetry , grammar as well as the writings of Kautilya ( Arthashastra ),Kalidas ( Abhigyanam Shakuntalam ) Kautalya C ounselor and advisor of Chandragupta Maurya

13. The Secular Literature They throw light on the life of the people of that period. The account of events , by foreign pilgrims and travellers like Fa- hien (Chinese) and ambassadors like Megasthenes (Greek) who visited India in earlier times are also important sources of information about ancient Indian history and culture.

14. Historical Literature It consists of autobiographies of the ancient rulers and biographical sketches like Harshacharitra  ( biography of Indian emperor Harsha by  Banabhatta ). The various sources of history provide knowledge about marvels of the past and inspire us to march forward to achieve greater heights.

15. HOME WORK 1.What is History? 2.Name the two parts of history . 3.What Prehistory ?How do we get information of prehistory ? 4.Name the three periods of History. 5.Write the full form of AD, CE, BCE. 6.What are inscriptions ? 7.Define Epigraphy. 8.How do the study of inscriptions help the historians? 9.How do the study of coins help the historians? 10.List the categories of the source materials which the historians study to get information about the past.