History Lesson – 3

Early civilization
1. Purushapura is currently known as Peshawar (Pakistan)
2. The city of Rakhigarhi n had a population of more than 40,000 people about
5000 years back.
3. The Rig Veda mantras are composed in a definite meter called Chandas.
4. What is another name of Saraswathi-Sundhu civilization? – Saptasindhava
5. Saptasindhava is also known as Land of seven rivers.
6. The dancing girl idol is made out of Bronze.
7. That was the original name of Taxila in the past? – Takshashila
8. Name the two river that were feeding water the Saraswathi was stopped and
changed their direction of flow. Yamuna and Sutlej.
9. Name the place of excavations that revealed an ancient civilization, which is
advanced as it is doday. Harappa & Mohenjo-Daro
10. Saraswati-Sindu civilization people had maritime trade with Middle East.
11. At Saraswati-Sindu civilization The Great Bath was used to take holy dip
during special religious functions.
12. At Which arid region, water was diverted from nearby seasonal streams to
huge reservoirs? Dolavira.
13. The four main directions North, South, East and West are also called as
Cardinal Directions
14. 2000 years before Chinese created the silk route.
15. Small table-lets inscribed with some information which were made out of
Terracotta, clay Ivory. Seals.
16. A mixture of two or more metals. Alloy
17. Saraswati-Sindu civilization belong to Bronze Age.
18. Name the sea port of Harappans. Lothal
19. What was the world’s oldest literature that born at saraswathi-Sindhu
civilization? Rig Veda
20. The dancing girl made out of Bronze was excavated at Mohenjadaro.
21. During the later vedic Period the Saraswathi river started drying up.
22. Dasaranjana battle of the battle of ten kings happened along the banks of
river Purushini (Ravi)
23. The kings, Parsu (Persians’) And Prithu (Iranians) are migrated clans of
Bharat.
24. The universal message of Rig Veda:- oneness of all living being
25. What are the two main occupation that prominent before Vedic age?
Cattle rearing and Agriculture
26. The most popular Gayathri mantra is a Rig Vedic Mantra.
27. How many Syllables are there in the Gayathri mantra? 24 Syllabels
28. Who Compiled Gayahri Mantra? Rishi Vishvamithra
29. During early vedic period there was no concept of Kingdoms and Kings.
30. During Rig Vedic age the political gatherings called Sabha and Samiti were
prevalent.

Class work Questions

1. What is ‘Civilization’? pg.35
Ans:
When a large number of people belonging to different social and economic
levels, living at different places of a large geographic area, engaged in different
occupations, having different belief systems evolve together with a common
vision for the future, shared memory of the past and live by a common ethical
code of conduct it is called a civilization.

2. What was the extent of ‘Bharata Varsha’?pg.34

Ans:
The land stretching all the way from current day Iran in the north-west till
Indonesian Islands in the south-east with Himalayas in the north and Hindu
Mahasagar in the south was known as Bharatavarsha.

3. Give some reasons that why all the civilizations started along the river bank
side. Pg.35
Ans:
 Rivers provided water required for drinking and agriculture.
 River beds had rich alluvial soil that increases agricultural output.
 Rivers served as a faster mode of transportation between places.
 Flora and Fauna flourished along waterways and that in turn is useful for
humans
 River sand is used for construction of homes.
 Rivers bring with them lots of minerals and they were extracted from
below the ground.

4. Name the seven rivers with their modern names that are mentioned in Rig
Veda. Pg.35
Ans: The seven rivers with their modern names that are mentioned in Rig Veda
are – 1) Saraswati, 2)Sindhu (Indus), 3)Sutudri (Sutluj), 4)Vipas (Beas),
5)Purushni (Ravi), 6)Asikni (Chanab), 7)Vitasta (Jhelum)

5. Write five point on town planning at Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro excavation

sites. Pg.36
Ans:
 Road Network:-
o Roads were laid exactly in the North-South and East-West.
o There were streets of dour sized in the exact ration1:2:3:4
 Water and Sewage Management:
o Every house was connected to well-planned water supply and
drainage system
o At Dholavira there was a large inter connected reservoirs.
 Homes and Buildings:
o Houses are ranging from two-storied to tow-rooms with bullock
cark parking.
o A huge tank called as The Great Bath, which was probably used
during special religious functions for taking a holy dip.

6. Name the other civilization that Saraswathi-Sindhu civilization trade with.

What did they export? Pg.38
Ans:
 Egyptian civilization, Mesopotamian civilization and other Middle East
countries.
 The exported Gold, Copper, Bronze, Ivory, Beads of gemstones, Cotton,
Timber etc.

7. Write about the two ancient trade routes. Pg. 38

Ans:
 Tin Route:- It connected Saraswathi-Sindhu civilization with Vietnam,
Combodia and other far east countries, and Egypt and Isrrael in the west.
 Silk Route:- Chinese created the silk route.

8. Name the powers of Nature that early people respected. Pg. 40

Ans:- They respected powers of nature - Sun (Surya), Air (Vayu), Rain (Indra)
and others became their Gods.
9. Write short note on Rig Veda.
Ans:-
 Rig Veda contains about 10,552 Mantras or verses, classified into ten
books called Mandalas.
 Each Mandala is divided into several sections called Anuvakas.
 Each Anuvaka consists of a number of hymns called Suktas.
 There are 1028 Suktas in total.
 This division of the Rigveda is most popular and systematic.
 It is to be noted that the 10 Mandalas do not belong to the same time
period. 6, 3, 7 are the oldest of the ten books.
 Chandas is determined by the number of syllables in a given mantra.
 The most popular Gayathri is a Chandas that has 3 verses with 8 syllables
per verse.
 The Gayathri Manthra is a Rig Vedic Mantra that has 24 syllables