CBSE Notes For Class 6 History Chapter 8 Villages, Towns And Trade

CBSE Notes For Class 6 History Social Science Chapter 8 Villages, Towns And Trade

Iron Tools and Agriculture

The use of iron started in India around 3000 years ago. A number of iron tools and weapons were found in the megalithic burials.
There is evidence for the increasing use of iron tools around 2500 years ago. These included axes for clearing forests and the iron ploughshare.
Irrigation as a Step to Increase Production
Apart from the new tools like iron ploughshare and the system of transplantation2, irrigation was also used for increasing agricultural production. Irrigation works that were built during this time included canals, wells, tanks and artificial lakes.

People in the Villages

There were three different kinds of people living in most of the villages in the Southern and Northern parts of the sub-continent. They were

In the Tamil region, large landowners were known as Vellalar and ordinary ploughmen were known as uzhavar. Landless labourers, including slaves, were known as kadaisiyar and adimai.
In the Northern part of the country, the village headman was known as the grama bhojaka. Generally, men from the same family acquired the position of grama bhojaka for generations, which means the post was hereditary. He was the largest landowner.
He had slaves and also hired workers to cultivate the land. The king often used him to collect taxes from the village. He functioned as a judge and sometimes as a policeman.
There were independent farmers in the Northern part, known as chapatis, who were small landowners. There were other men and women, such as the dasa karmakara, who had no land. They had to work in the fields of others for their livelihoods.

Apart from these, there were also some craftsmen like blacksmiths, potters, carpenters and weavers in most of the villages.

Coins

Archaeologists have found many coins belonging to the period around 3000 years ago. The earliest coins that were in use about 500 years ago were punch-marked coins.
These coins were generally rectangular or sometimes square or round in shape. They were made of metal. They were stamped with symbols using dies or punches. Hence, they are called punch-marked coins.

Class 6 History Social Science Chapter 8 Cities with Many Functions

During the period of around 3000 years ago, mostly a single town was important for a variety of reasons.

Mathura has been an important town for settlement, for more than 2500 years because it was situated at the crossroads of two major routes of trade and travel. These routes are from the North-West to the East and from North to South.
In Mathura, there were several shrines and fortifications around the city. Farmers and herders from nearby areas provided food for the people in the city. Mathura was also famous as a centre that produced extremely fine sculptures.
Mathura became the second capital city of the Kushanas around 2000 years ago. There were Buddhist monasteries and, Jaina shrines, and it was also an important centre for the worship of Krishna.
In Mathura, many inscriptions on surfaces such as stone slabs and statues have been found. These are short inscriptions, that mention gifts given by men and sometimes by women, to monasteries and shrines.
These inscriptions were made by kings and queens, officers, merchants and craftspersons. Inscriptions of Mathura give information about different professionals of this city such as goldsmiths, blacksmiths, weavers, basket makers, garland makers, perfumers, etc.

Class 6 History Social Science Chapter 8 Crafts and Craftspersons

Archaeological evidence of crafts has also been found. These include extremely fine pottery, known as the Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW). It was named as this because it is generally found in the Northern part of the sub-continent.
The manufacturing of cloth was also important. There were famous centres for manufacturing cloth, such as Varanasi in the North, and Madurai in the South. Both men and women worked in these centres.

Shrenis

Many craftspersons and merchants formed associations known as shrines. These shrines provided training, procured raw materials and distributed the finished product.
The shrines of merchants organised the trade. These also served as banks, where rich men and women deposited money. This money was invested for interest.
Some part of this interest was either returned to the depositor or given to religious institutions like monasteries.

Arikamedu

Between 2200 and 1900 years ago, Arikamedu was a coastal settlement where ships unloaded goods from distant lands.
A huge brick structure, which may have been a warehouse, was found at this site. Pottery from the Mediterranean region, like amphorae5 and stamped red-glazed pottery, called Arretine Ware were found.
The Arretine Ware was named after a city in Italy. It was made by pressing wet clay into a stamped mould.
There was also another kind of pottery, which was made locally but used Roman designs. Roman lamps, glassware and gems have also been found at Arikamedu.
Small tanks were also found at this site which were probably used to dye cloth. Apart from these, evidence for making beads from semi-precious stones and glass was also found.

Class 6 History Social Science Chapter 8 Trade and Traders

Traders are the persons who used to carry things from the places where they are made, to the places where they are sold.
South India was famous for gold, spices and mainly for pepper and precious stones. Pepper was known as Black Gold because it was valued so much in the Roman Empire.
Traders used to carry many of these goods to Rome through ships and caravans. Roman gold coins have been found in South India, which provides a clear proof that a lot of trade was carried out in the past
Traders explored various sea routes some of which followed the coasts. Some of them were across the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, where monsoon winds helped in crossing the seas more quickly.
If traders want to reach Western coast of the sub-continent from East Africa or Arabia, they chose to sail with the South-West monsoon. Strong ships had to be built for these long journeys.

Class 6 History Social Science Chapter 8 New Kingdoms along the Coasts

There is a long coastline, hills, plateaus and river valleys in the Southern half of the sub-continent. The Kaveri River valley is the most fertile among the other river valleys. Chiefs and kings who controlled river valleys and coasts became rich and powerful.
The Tamil word muvendar is mentioned in Sangam poems meaning three chiefs. This word was used for the heads of the Cholas, Cheras and Pandyas who became powerful in South India around 2300 years ago.
Each chief had two centres of power i.e. one over inland and one on the coast. Puhar or Kaveripattinam (the port6 of the Cholas) and Madurai (the capital of the Pandyas) were important cities under Cholas and Pandyas.
The chiefs didn’t collect regular taxes, instead, they demanded and received gifts from people. They went on military expeditions and collected tributes from neighbouring areas.
They kept some wealth and distributed the rest amongst their supporters, including family members, soldiers and poets.
There are poems in the Sangam collection praising the chiefs who rewarded the poets with gold, precious stones, horses, elephants, chariots and fine cloth.

Satavahanas

Around 200 years later, the Satavahanas dynasty became powerful in Western India. Gautamiputra Shri Satakarni was the most important ruler of this dynasty. An inscription composed by his mother, Gautami Balashri gives information about him.
Gautamiputra and other Satavahana rulers came to be known as lords of the dakshinapatha which literally means the route leading to the South and used as a name for the entire Southern region. Gautamiputra sent his army to the Eastern, Western and Southern coasts.

Silk Route and the Kushanas

Some kings tried to control large parts of the Silk Route because they could benefit from taxes, tributes and gifts that were brought by traders travelling along the route.
In return, the kings provided protection to the traders, who passed from their kingdoms, by the attacks of robbers.
The Kushanas ruled over Central Asia and North-West around 2000 years ago. They were among the famous rulers who controlled the Silk Route.
The two major centres of power of Kushanas were Peshawar and Mathura. Taxila was also included in their kingdom.
During their rule, a branch of the Silk Route extended from Central Asia down to the seaports at the mouth of the Indus River. Silk was shipped Westwards to the Roman Empir