RBSE Class 6 Social Science Important Questions History Chapter 8 Vital Villages, Thriving Towns

Rajasthan Board RBSE Class 6 Social Science Important Questions History Chapter 8 Vital Villages, Thriving Towns Important Questions and Answers. 

RBSE Class 6 Social Science Important Questions History Chapter 8 Vital Villages, Thriving Towns

Multiple Choice Questions

Question 1. 
Northern Black Polished ware is a 
(a) pottery 
(b) story
(c) book 
(d) burial.
Answer: 
(a) pottery 

 

Question 2. 
The largest landowners of Northern India were known as
(a) Karmakaras 
(b) Grambhojaka
(c) Uzhavar 
(d) kadaisiyar.
Answer: 
(b) Grambhojaka

Question 3. 
Arretine ware was named after a city in
(a) Europe
(b) Italy
(c) India 
(d) Japan.
Answer: 
(b) Italy

Question 4. 
Shrenis were association of 
(a) rulers 
(b) craft persons
(c) blacksmiths 
(d) herders.
Answer: 
(b) craft persons

Question 5. 
Ring wells were used for
(a) drainage 
(b) toilets
(c) both 
(a) and (b)
(d) none of these.
Answer: 
(c) both 

Fill in the blanks

Question 1 
or was used to make punch-marked coins.
Answer: 
Silver, copper

Question 2. 
Vellalar, Uzhavars, and kadaisiyars were people found in the villages of  India.
Answer: 
southern

Question 3. 
Arretine ware is a type of 
Answer: 
pottery

Question 4 
also served as banks.
Answer: 
shrines

Question 5. 
Arikamedu was a settlement.
Answer: 
coastal.

True/False:

Question 1. 
Amphorae is a single handle jar,
Answer: 
False

Question 2. 
Dasa karmakara did not own land.
Answer: 
True.

Question 3. 
Collection of iron tools and weapons were found in the megalithic burials.
Answer: 
True

Question 4. 
Arikamedu is located in Maharashtra.
Answer: 
False

Question 5. 
Small tanks found at Arikamedu were probably dyeing vats, used to dye cloth. 
Answer: 
True.

 

Match the column.

A	B
1. Gram Bhoj aka	(a) Extremely fine pottery
2. Vellalar	(b) Northern part
3. Northern Black Polished Ware	(c) Ordinary Ploughmen
4. Uzhavar	(d) Southern part
5. Dasa Karmakar	(e) Landless people

Answer:

A	B
1. Gram Bhoj aka	(b) Northern part
2. Vellalar	(d) Southern part
3. Northern Black Polished Ware	(a) Extremely fine pottery
4. Uzhavar	(c) Ordinary Ploughmen
5. Dasa Karmakar	(e) Landless people

Very Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1. 
Name the place where the largest collection of iron tools and weapons have been found?
Answer: 
The largest collection of iron tools and weapons have been found in the megalithic burials.

Question 2. 
List the irrigation works which were built during this period.
Answer: 
Canals, Wells, tanks, artificial lakes.

Question 3. 
Why do you think the kings encouraged building of irrigation works?
Answer: 
Kings would have encouraged irrigation works as this helps in increasing agricultural produce.

Question 4. 
Who were Kadaisiyar?
Answer: 
Landless people in the Tamil region were known as Kadaisiyar.

Question 5. 
Who were Vellalar?
Answer: 
Large landowners of Tamil region were known as Vellalar.
 
Question 6. 
Define Uzhavar.
Answer: 
The small landowners or common cultivators of Tamil region were known as Uzhavar.

Question 7. 
Who were Dasa karmakara?
Answer: 
Dasa karmakara were landless people who earned their living by working on the fields owned by others.

Question 8. 
Make a list of the occupations of people who lived in Mathura?
Answer: 
People of mathura were engaged in the following occupations: goldsmithing, blacksmithing, weaving, basket making, garland making and perfume making.

Question 9. 
Write a note on the Northern Black Polished Ware.
Answer: 

1. It was extremely fine pottery.
2. This is called so because archeologists while looking for evidence for fine pottery, found it in the northern part of the country.

Question 10. 
Name the centers famous for manufacturing of cloth.
Answer: 
Varanasi in north and Madurai in south India were famous centers for manufacturing of cloth.

 

Question 11. 
Define Shrines.
Answer: 
During 2500-2000 BC, many crafts-persons and merchants formed associations known as Shrines.

Question 12. 
“Certain occupations were not allowed to form Shrines”. What were they?
Answer: 
Hunting, fishing and those who followed life-threatening occupations were not allowed to form Shrines.

Question 13. 
Mention the location of Arikamedu. 
Answer: 
Arikamedu was located on the eastern coast of south India, near the region, presently known as Puducherry.

Question 14. 
What were the imports that came in from Arikamedu? What were the exports from the coastal port?
Answer:
Wine and olive oil were imported from Rome via Arikamedu. Textiles, beads, semi-precious stones, glass and shell bangles were the major exports.

Question 15. 
What do you understand by Arretine Ware? Mention its features.
Answer: 
Arretine Ware was a type of stamped red glazed pottery.

Question 16. 
What were Amphoraes?
Answer: 
Amphorae were jars that had handles on both sides. They are tall but narrow at necks.

Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1. 
Why Mathura was an impor¬tant settlement?
Answer: 
Around 2000 years ago, Mathura become the second capital of the Kushanas. It was situated on the cross roads of the trade routes. Kushanas had the control over the profitable silk route, a branch of which passes through Mathura in India. Mathura, therefore emerged as a prominent craft and trading centre. The worship of Lord Krishna is is still popular in Mathura and it is one of the pilgrimage centres for Hindu devotees. A number of Buddhist and Jain shrines were also found here. The archaeologists have found some inscriptions on stones slabs and statues which were made by kings, queens, officers, merchants and crafts persons. Mathura was also famous for fortification walls.

Question 2. 
Write a short note on the composition of village society of southern India during ancient India.
Or
List three different kinds of people living in the villages of Tamil region.
Answer: 
In Tamil region or in southern India, the society was divided into three classes:

1. Vellalar: They were large landowners of Tamil region.
2. Uzhavar: These were common peasants. They worked on the small farms or for the vellalars.
3. Kadaisiyar and Adimai: They were landless workers. They worked for others.
4. Last were the shudras, who had to serve the other three groups and could not perform any rituals. Often, women were also grouped with the shudras.

Question 3. 
Write down some of the stages followed by the kings in the cons¬truction of irrigation works.
Answer: 
Kings needed money for maintaining armies, palaces, forts, etc. So, in order to increase revenue they focused on the following stages in the construction of irrigation works:

1. Farmers had to increase production to pay taxes.
2. This was possible with irrigation.
3. Kings provided money and planned irrigation works.
4. Labour was provided by the people.
5. Production was increased, which increased revenue also.
6. Farmers also benefitted because crop production became more certain.

Question 4.
List the evidences that indicates that Arikamedu was in contact with Rome.
Answer: 
India had trade relation with the Roman Empire. The following evidences were found by the archaeologists:

1. Different kinds of objects like pearls, semiprecious stones etc. which were sent to Roman Empire from India.
2. Amphorae, Arretine Ware, gems, lamps, objects made of glass are few things found. It is considered that these objects were brought from the Roman Empire to Arikamedu.

Question 5. 
Mention the names of iron tools that were used in agriculture during and after the Vedic period. Also write their uses.
Answer: 
The tools used were iron plowshares, axes and sickles.
Uses:
Iron plowshares: It was used to turn clayey and heavy soil. It increased agriculture production.
Axes: They were used for clearing forests. Consequently, the land for agriculture increased.
Sickles: Generally, they were used to harvest the crops. 

 

Question 6. 
Write the functions of Shrines.
Answer: 
The major functions of Shrenis were:

1. To provide training.
2. To obtain raw material. 
3. To distribution of finished products.
4. To organise trade activities.
5. To served as banks where rich people deposited their money.

Question 7. 
Describe the steps followed to increase agricultural production during the vedic period.
Answer: 

1. Iron tools: One of the major achievements during the Vedic period was the discovery of iron. Iron tools were widely used in agricultural practices. The main tools were iron plowshare, ax, and sickle.
2. Irrigation: People began to build canals, lakes, wells and tanks for irrigation.
3. Transplantation: The system of transplantation, also increased production.

Question 8. 
What do you understand by Jatakas?
Answer: 
This is a big collection of stories among the Buddhist literature preserved by Buddhist monks and composed by ordinary people. These stories tell about the lifestyle, cities, occupations and how moral values were inculcated in people during those times.

Question 9. 
What is the sangam literature and when were they composed?
Answer: 
Some of the earliest works in Tamil are known as Sangam literature. They were composed around 2300 years ago. These texts were called Sangam because they were composed and compiled in assemblies, known as sangam, of poets that were held in the city of Madurai.

Question 10. 
What do you know about the ‘Punch-marked coins’?
Answer: 
Punch-marked Coins:
The earliest coins were punch-marked coins which were in use for about 500 years. Punch-marked coins were generally rectangular or sometimes square or round in shape, either cut out of metal sheets or made out of flattened metal globules (a small spherical body). The coins were not inscribed, but were stamped with symbols using dies or punches. Hence, they are called punch- marked coins. These coins are found over most parts of the Indian subcontinent and remained in circulation till the early centuries CE.

Long Answer Type Questions

Question 1. 
Explain the structure of village society of northern Indian during ancient India.
Answer: 
Composition of society in the northern part of sub-continent was as follows:
Grambhojaka:

1. Village headman was known as Grambhojaka. Men from the same family held the position for generations.
2. Grambhojaka was the largest landowner.
3. He cultivated his land with the help of hired workers and slaves.
4. He was given the responsibility to collect tax for king from his villagers.
5. He also worked as a judge and a policeman.
6. He was the most powerful and richest person of the village.

Grihapatis:

1. These were independent farmers most of them were small landowners.Dasa and Karmakara.
2. They were agricultural labourers who did not have their own land.
3. They worked on the fields owned by others.

Others:

1. In most villages, there were also some crafts persons such as the blacksmith, potter, carpenter and weaver.

Question 2. 
Explain the major sources available and what information they convey about the rural and city life of ancient period.
Or
Mention some of the evidence which tell us about the life in early cities.
Answer: 
We can find out about early village and city life with the help of the following:

1. Stories,
2. Sculptures
3. Accounts of sailors and travellers
4. Other archaeological material
5. Coins.

(i) Stories:
Jatakas are the collection of stories which were composed by ordinary people preserved by Buddhist monks. These collection of stories are good source of history.

(ii) Sculptures:
Sculptures were used to decorate railings, pillars and gateways of buildings. They depicted scenes of peoples’ lives in towns and villages, as well as in the forests. Sculptures revealing the life of Buddha have been found, they show the social, religious, political life of the people.

(iii) Accounts of sailors and travellers;
Accounts of sailors and travellers also reveal a lot about the past. For example, many Chinese pilgrims came to India in search of Buddhist manuscripts. They left behind a detailed account about the political, social and economic life of people.

(iv) Other archaeological material: 
In some individual houses, ring wells made up of ceramic rings have been found. People used them as toilets or drains and garbage dumps. It is estimated that houses were made of wood, mud, bricks, thatch. These also help to know about the living style and architecture of those times.

(v) Coins:
Archaeologists have found thousands of coins that tell us about the life of the rulers like time period, chronological order of the rulers, etc. 

 

Question 3. 
Towns were centres of many activities. Explain by giving the example of Mathura.
Answer: 
Towns were often the centre of many activities and for this reason became important. For example—Mathura has been an important settlement for more than 2500 years. The main reasons are.

1. Mathura was located at the cross roads of two major routes of travel and trade—from the northwest to the east and from north to south.
2. There were fortifications around the city.
3. Mathura was also a centre where some extremely fine sculpture was produced.
4. Around 2000 years ago Mathura became the second capital of the Kushanas.
5. Mathura was also a religious centre— there were Buddhist monasteries, Jaina shrines, several shrines, and it was an important centre for the worship of Krishna.
6. Several inscriptions on surfaces such as stone slabs and statues have been found in Mathura. Generally, these are short inscriptions, recording gifts made by men (and sometimes women) to monasteries and shrines. These were made by kings and queens, officers, merchants, and crafts persons who lived in the city.
7. Inscriptions from Mathura mention goldsmiths, blacksmiths, weavers, basket makers, garland makers, perfumers. That is, all these types of activities were also held here.

Question 4. 
Describe the rules for spinning and weaving yarn given in ‘Artha- shastra’.
Answer: 
In ‘Arthashastra’, the following rules for spinning and weaving yarn are described:

1. Spinning and weaving could be done in workshops under the supervision of a special official.
2. Windows, young women who are. differently-abled, nuns, mothers of courtesans, retired women servants of the king, women who have retired from service in temples, may be used for processing wool, bark, cotton, hemp and flax.
3. They should be paid according to the quality and quantity of work.
4. Women who are not permitted to leave their homes can send maid-servants to bring the raw material from the superintendent and take the finished work back to him.
5. Women who can visit the workshop should go at dawn to give their work and receive their wages. There should be enough light to examine the work.
6. In case the superintendent looks at the woman or talks about anything other than the work, he should be punished.
7. If a woman does not complete her work, she will have to pay a fine, and her thumbs can be cut off.

Question 5. 
What do you know about Arikamedu port? What items have been received from there?
Answer: 
Arikamedu Port:
In ancient India, Arikamedu was an important port between 2200 and 1900 years ago. Presently it comes under Puducherry. Here ships unloaded goods from distant lands. The following items have been found from the places here.

1. In Arikamedu a massive brick structure, which may have been a warehouse, was found.
2. Other finds include pottery from the mediterranean region, such as amphorae (tall double-handled jars that contained liquids such as wine or oil).
3. Here stamped red-glazed pottery, known as Arretine Ware, which was named after a city in Italy is also found.
4. There was yet another kind of pottery which was made locally, though Roman designs were used.
5. Roman lamps, glassware and gems have also been found at the site.
6. Small tanks have been found that were probably dyeing vats, used to dye cloth.
7. There is plenty of evidence for the making of beads from semi-precious stones and glass.