Class 6 History Chapter 1 What, Where, How and When Extra Questions and Answers

CBSE Class 6 History Chapter 1 What, Where, How and When Extra Questions and Answers is available here. Students can learn and download the PDF of these questions for free. These extra questions and answers are prepared by our expert teachers as per the latest NCERT textbook and guidelines. Learning these extra questions will help you to score excellent marks in the final exams.

Class 6 History Chapter 1 Extra Questions and Answers

Very Short Question Answers

1: Name an important river along which people lived for several hundred thousand years.
Answer: Narmada

2: Inscriptions were not used for keeping records of victories in battle. (True/False)
Answer: False

3: The lions on the currency notes come from the rampurwa bull capital.
Answer: False

4: What is Cartouche?
Answer: Scholars who could read Greek figured out that the names of king and queen were enclosed in a little frame called Cartouche.

5: List the number of languages inscribed on the stone of Rosetta.
Answer: Three

6: Where is Rosetta located?
Answer: Rosetta is a town on the north coast of Egypt.

7: What is the full form of BCE?
Answer: Before Common Era.

8: What is the full form of AD?
Answer: Anno Domini

9: What is the full form of CE?
Answer: Common Era

10: All dates before the birth of Christ are counted backwards and are usually referred as BC.
Answer: True

11: What was the source of food for most of the people living in Andaman Islands?
Answer: Fishing, forest products and hunting.

12: What is an inscription?
Answer: Inscriptions are writings on relatively hard surface such as stone or metal.

13: Name the leaf on which Manuscripts in Ancient period were usually written?
Answer: Palm leaf

14: Define Archaeology.
Answer: Archaeology is the study of the remains of buildings (made of stone and brick), of paintings and sculpture.

15: Name the language which was not used in the Ancient Period.
|Answer: Hindi

16: How can we say that the Hindi language which was not used in the Ancient Period?
Answer: Mostly epics, poems and plays in Ancient period were written in Sanskrit or Prakrit.

17: Rig Veda contains the earliest compositions in Sanskrit, dated about 3500 years ago. True/False
Answer: True

18: What do we call to the area along the river Ganga and its tributary rivers in the ancient times?
Answer: Magadha

19: Where did women and men first began to cultivate crops such as wheat and barley?
Answer: In Sulaiman and Kirthar hills

20: The manuscripts are preserved in _________.
Answer: temples

21: Many manuscripts were eaten away by insects, some were destroyed. True/False
Answer: True

22: What does the inscription discovered from Rosetta square denotes?
Answer: Alphabet “p”

23: What evidence do we get from Bones of animals?
Answer: Bones of the animals helped to know the eating habits of the people.

24: How many languages are there in Inscription of Rosetta?
Answer: Three Languages.

25: Name the two tributaries of the Indus.
Answer: Ravi and Jhelum.

26: Name the emperor whose inscription has been found from Kandahar.
Answer: Ashoka

27: Name the language in which most of the manuscripts were written.
Answer: Sanskrit

28: What do we call the information gathered by the historians from inscriptions, manuscripts and archaeology?
Answer: A source.

29: River Indus was addressed as Indos or Hindus by the ___________ and _________.
Answer: Iranians and Greeks.

30: Name the place where Sulaiman and Kirthar ranges are located.
Answer: Pakistan.

31: What do we call the tributary of the Ganga river?
Answer: Son.

32: According to the given inscription in the chapter, the word ‘bird’ stands for__________.
Answer: B

33: Why People of this age travelled from place to place?
Answer: To develop agriculture and basic things.

34: Which is the best successful example in understanding history through decipherment?
Answer: The history of Egypt.

35: Name the direction towards which Rice was first grown in the Vindhyas.

Answer: North

36: One can figure out the specific year of any historical event on the basis of birth of ___________.
Answer: Jesus.

37: The times of kings could be known due to the availability of ____________
Answer: Records.

38: Why River basin of river Indus is called sapta saindhav?
Answer: Because it consists of the basin of seven rivers altogether.

39: What do we call specially prepared bark of tree on which manuscripts were written?
Answer: Birch

40: In the inscription discovered from Rosetta alphabet ‘L’ is denoted by the image of ____________.
Answer: Lion

41: In the inscription discovered from Rosetta alphabet ‘A’ is denoted by the image of a ____________.
Answer: Bird

42: From where do we get the evidence of rice production for the first time in India?
Answer: Northern part

43: What is the meaning of the term “Indus’ in Sanskrit?
Answer: Hindu.

44: Who is an archaeologist?
Answer: The people who study the objects of the past.

45: What is the meaning of Indus in Sanskrit?
Answer: Sindhu.

46: Who were hunter-gatherers?
Answer: The people, who hunted wild animals, caught fish and birds and gathered fruits, roots, nuts, seeds, leaves and eggs for their food were called hunter- gatherers.

47: How do people living in the Andaman Islands manage their living?
Answer: People living in the Andaman Islands get their own food by fishing, hunting and by collecting forest produce.

48: What are the different names of our country?
Answer: India, Bharat, Jambudweep and Hindustan.

49: Where did people live in prehistoric times?
Answer: In the prehistoric times people lived along the rivers and in the areas with ample plant and animal life.

50: What were the occupations of the people in early days?
Answer: People in early days were hunters, herders, farmers, rulers, musicians, merchants, priests, craftsmen, artists & scientists.

Short Answer Type Questions

1: Why did the Magadh Empire flourished on the banks of river Ganga and river Son?

Answer: This was possible because the rivers facilitated quick transportation system and hence quite effectively helped the trade to flourish. This encouraged the rural people to come to these areas and settle down. Moreover rivers provided a kind of natural defence and the kingdom was able to strengthen its position due to the availability of iron ore in the region.

2: Define archaeology.

Answer: Archaeology is the science that studies human cultures through the recovery, documentation, analysis and interpretation of material remains and environmental data, including architecture, artifacts, features, biofacts and landscapes.

3: How did India get its name?

Answer: India got its name from river Indus by Persians and Iranians. Indus is called Sindhu in Sanskrit. While the Arab traders gave the name Hindustan to the land beyond Indus.

4: What are tributaries? Give example.

Answer: Tributaries are smaller rivers that flow into a larger river, e.g. river Son is a tributary of river Ganga.

5: list some items that archaeologists have found?

Answer: Archaeologists have found tools, weapons, pots, pans, ornaments & coins of earlier people.

6: Why did ancient men & women move to different places?


Answer: Men & women travelled from one place to another for the following reasons:

  • In search of livelihood.
  • To escape from natural disasters like flood or drought.
  • Sometimes men marched in armies, conquering other’s lands.
  • Merchants travelled with caravans or ships, carrying valuables.
  • Religious teachers walked from one place to another to offer instructions and advices on religion.
  • Some people travelled to new & exciting places for adventure purposes.

7: What was the occupation of the people who lived on the banks of the river Narmada?

Answer: People have lived along the banks of river Narmada for several hundred thousand years. They were skilled gatherers. They were aware of the vast wealth of the forest around them. They collected roots, fruits and other forest products for their food from these surrounding forests. They also hunted animals.

8: What is a source? What is its importance to the historians?

Answer: The word source refers to the information found from the manuscripts, inscriptions, coins and monuments. It helps the historians in the reconstruction of our past. These sources give a lot of information about the kings, their coronation, their extent of the empire, the battles they fought, their welfare measures etc. because they kept records of all what they did.

9: How do the scholars understand what is written in the inscriptions?

Answer: The scholars understand what is written in these inscriptions through the process called decipherment. Most of these inscriptions were written several hundred years ago and languages and the script used in the inscriptions have changed with time. One good example of decipherment is of the Rosetta stone found in Egypt which was used to decipher ancient Egyptian using Greek language.

10: What was the advantage of writing on a hard surface?

Answer: In the earlier times, writings were done on relatively hard surface such as backed clay, stone or metal. Since these objects were imperishable these writings usually survived for a long time.

11: Why is South Asia often called a sub-continent?

Answer: South Asia is often called a sub-continent because although it is smaller than a continent, it is very large and is separated from the rest of Asia by seas, hills and mountains. It is a home to over one-fifth of the world’s population.

12: What language and script is used in the inscriptions found from the Rosetta town?

Answer: Three different languages and scripts were used in the inscriptions found from the Rosetta town. These were Greek and two forms of Egyptian.

13: Where did the earliest cities flourish?

Answer: The earliest cities flourished on the banks of the river Indus. Later, about 2500 years ago, cities developed on the banks of the river Ganga and its tributaries and along the seacoasts.

14: How did the archaeologist find out about the eating habits of the people in the past?

Answer: Archaeologists studied the bones of animals, birds and fish to identify the eating habits of the people in the past. Although plant remains survive far more rarely. But if seeds of grains or pieces of woods would have been burnt, they would have survived in a charred form. So finding charred seeds give information that they ate plant produce also.

15: Write a short note on manuscripts?

Answer: Manuscripts are a very important source to know about our past. They were usually written on the palm leaf or on the bark of a tree, by hand. The palm leaves or the bark of a tree were cut into pages and tied together to make books. These books deal with varied subjects such as, science, medicine, religious beliefs and practices and lives of kings. Besides, there were epics, poems and plays. The language used in the manuscripts was Sanskrit, Prakrit and Tamil.

16: How do we know a great deal about the kings and the battles they fought?

Answer: We know a great deal about the kings and the battles they fought because they kept records of what they did, such as, about their lives, victories, marriages, coronation to the throne etc

17: State an important difference between a manuscript and an inscription.

Answer: An important difference between an inscription and a manuscript is the surface on which they are written. Inscriptions are engravings on hard surfaces while manuscripts are hand written books, which are usually written on palm leaves or the bark of a tree.

Long Answer Type Questions

1: List the skill and knowledge that was required in hunter- gatherer communities?

Answer:  The skills and knowledge needed in hunter – gatherer communities were:

  • There were several animals that ran fast so they need was to run faster.
  • To hunt animals or catch fish and birds, people needed to be alert, quick and have a good presence of mind.
  • To collect plant produce – they needed to find out which plants or parts of plants were edible (that can be eaten) as many plants or their parts were poisonous.
  • They needed to know the seasons when the fruits would ripen.
  • They needed the skills and knowledge to make weapons and arms for hunting animals easily.
  • They needed the skills to use their weapons effectively.

2: Why do historians and archaeologists use various sources to study about our past?

Answer: Archaeologists and historians are scholars who study things that were made and used in the past through the process of excavation. Manuscripts, inscriptions, tools, coins, monuments are the source of information used by these scholars to know about the past of the people. Once these sources are found, learning about the past becomes an adventure, and gradually history is reconstructed. That is why historians and archaeologists use various sources to study about our past.

3: Discuss why it is important to study our past?

Answer:  It is important to study about our past. It gives a lot of information regarding the political, social, economic and cultural life of the people in the earlier days. By studying about our past:

  • We can find about the eating habits, the clothing and housing pattern of the people of the earlier times.
  • We can gather information about the different occupations of those people. We can find about the lives of hunters, farmers, merchants, priest, craftsmen, musicians, poets and scientists.
  • We can learn about the lives of children; the songs they sang, the plays they saw, the games that they played and the kind of toys with which they played.

4: What do AD and BC stand for?

Answer: AD stands for two Latin words, ‘Anno Domini’, meaning ‘in the year of the Lord’ (i.e. Christ) . The year 2007, also written as AD 2007, means 2007 years after the birth of Christ. BC stands for ‘Before Christ’, meaning before the birth of Christ. For example, a time period written as 200 BC means 200 years before the birth of Christ. BC runs into countdown format as 10..,9..,8..,7..,……..1.. upto the time of Jesus Christ’s birth and after his birth it started to run in today’s date format, i.e., 1..,2..,3….,onwards.

5: Who are archaeologists and what do they do?

Answer: The people who systematically study things that were made and used in the past through process of exploration and excavation are called archaeologists. They study the remains of buildings made of stone & brick, paintings & sculpture. They also explore and excavate (dig under the surface of the earth) to find tools, weapons, pots, pans, ornaments, coins and various other articles used by them. Then they analyse their findings to give a new theory.

6: Why is the plural word ‘Pasts’ used in the title of this book, ‘Our Pasts’?

Answer: The word ‘Pasts’ is used in plural to draw attention to the fact that the past was different for different groups of people. For example, the lives of kings and queens were different from those of peasants and herdsmen, the lives of traders were different from those of crafts persons and so on. This fact is true even in the modern times. The life of people living in the Andaman Islands is very different from those living in the cities. Secondly, we know a lot about the kings and battles they fought because they recorded all their victories. We know very little about the lives of the ordinary people because they did not keep any record of what they did.