Chapter 1 – What, Where, How and When?

These NCERT Class 6 History Chapter 1 notes explain the basics of history in a simple and clear manner. This chapter helps students understand what history is, where people lived, how we know about the past, and how dates are counted. It is a foundation chapter for all future history topics and is very important for school exams and BPSC foundation preparation.

Preparing for UPSC or BPSC? Strengthen your basics with our complete NCERT Book Notes PDF for Class 6–8, available inside the free foundation course.

👉 Access Complete NCERT Book Notes PDF

1. Why do we study History?

• History is the study of the past of human beings.
• It helps us understand how people lived in earlier times.
• It explains how present society developed over a long period.
• Studying history is like travelling into the past, similar to listening to grandparents’ stories.

2. What can we know about the past?

• History tells us about the food, clothes and houses of people in the past.
• It helps us understand the lives of hunters, gatherers, farmers, herders and rulers.
• We also learn about merchants, priests, craftspersons, artists and musicians.
• Historians know about the past through sources, just as we know people today through photos and videos.

3. Where did people live in the past?

• People usually lived near rivers and natural resources for survival.
• People lived along the River Narmada for hundreds of thousands of years.
• Early farming developed near the Sulaiman Hills, Kirthar Hills, Vindhya Range and Garo Hills.
• Settlements grew near the River Indus and its tributaries because rivers provided water, food and fertile soil.

4. How do we know about the past? (Sources of History)

• Historians and archaeologists use different sources to study history.
• Archaeological sources include tools, bones, pottery, coins, buildings and inscriptions.
• Literary sources include manuscripts and books written on palm leaves and birch bark (bhojpatra).
• Coins tell us about trade, while inscriptions give information about rulers and their orders.

5. Archaeologists and Historians

• Archaeologists study material remains such as tools, bones and buildings.
• Historians study written records, manuscripts and inscriptions.
• Archaeologists mainly focus on objects found during excavations.
• Both work together like detectives to reconstruct the past.

6. What do dates mean?

• Dates help historians arrange events in the correct time order.
• Earlier dates were written as BC (Before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini).
• Today historians also use BCE (Before Common Era) and CE (Common Era).
• The term “c.” (circa) means approximate, such as farming at Mehrgarh around c. 6000 BCE.

7. Important keywords (NCERT)

• Manuscript refers to handwritten records from the past.
• Inscription means writing engraved on stone or metal.
• Archaeology is the study of material remains of the past.
• BCE and CE are modern terms used for dating historical events.

8. Why this chapter is important (Exam point of view)

• This chapter builds the basic understanding of history.
• It introduces sources of history and the dating system.
• It explains the role of historians and archaeologists.
• It acts as a foundation chapter for all future history topics.

This chapter builds the base for understanding Indian history by introducing sources of history, archaeology, manuscripts, and the dating system (BCE/CE). Students are advised to revise important keywords and examples carefully.

Continue reading Class 6 History Chapter 2 – From Hunting–Gathering to Growing Food to understand early human life and the beginning of farming.

FAQs

Q1. Why is Chapter 1 of Class 6 History important?
It introduces the basic meaning of history, sources of history and the dating system.

Q2. Is Class 6 History useful for BPSC preparation?
Yes, NCERT Class 6 History builds conceptual clarity for BPSC and other state PSC exams.

---