What, Where, How and When? Class 6 Notes – Quick Revision
History helps us understand how people lived, travelled, farmed, traded, wrote, built settlements and shared ideas in the past. The legacy Class 6 chapter “What, Where, How and When?” introduces students to four basic questions of history: what happened, where it happened, how we know about it, and when it happened.
Updated for 2026–27: this page keeps the familiar older NCERT title from Our Pasts–I. The current NCERT Class VI Social Science book is Exploring Society: India and Beyond. Related ideas are now taught mainly in Chapter 4 – Timeline and Sources of History, which covers historical time, sources of history and early human life. This page remains useful for students using the older sequence and for building the same core historical skills.
| Big question | What it helps us understand |
|---|---|
| What? | Events, activities, ideas and changes in the past |
| Where? | Places where people lived, farmed, travelled and built settlements |
| How? | Evidence from manuscripts, inscriptions, objects, buildings, bones and other sources |
| When? | Dates, timelines and the order in which events happened |
Watch & Learn: One English + One Hindi Lesson
English: What, Where, How and When? – Full Chapter
This public Magnet Brains lesson explains the complete legacy Class 6 chapter, including early settlements, names of the land, historical sources, manuscripts, inscriptions, archaeology and dates.
हिंदी: क्या, कहाँ, कैसे और कब?
यह सार्वजनिक NCERT-आधारित हिंदी पाठ अध्याय के मुख्य विचार—इतिहास, तिथियाँ, स्रोत, पुरातत्त्व, पांडुलिपियाँ और अभिलेख—सरल भाषा में समझाता है।
Where Did People Live?
Early people often lived near rivers, hills, forests and fertile land because these places offered water, food, animals, plants and useful raw materials. The legacy NCERT chapter highlights the Narmada valley as an area where early hunter-gatherers lived for very long periods.
- The Sulaiman and Kirthar hills are associated in the older textbook with early farming and herding communities that grew crops such as wheat and barley.
- Areas near the Vindhyas are mentioned in connection with early rice cultivation.
- Some of the earliest cities developed in the Indus river system around 4,700 years ago.
- Later settlements and cities also grew in the Ganga valley.
Why Did People Move?
People moved for many reasons. They searched for food, water, grazing land, work and safer places to live. Traders travelled to exchange goods, religious teachers travelled to share ideas, and armies moved during conflicts and conquests. Migration and travel also helped spread languages, foods, technologies, music, beliefs and artistic styles.
How Do We Know About the Past?
| Source | What it is | What it can tell us |
|---|---|---|
| Manuscript | Handwritten text, often on palm leaf or prepared birch bark | Stories, religious ideas, medicine, science, poetry, administration and daily life |
| Inscription | Writing engraved or carved on hard surfaces such as stone or metal | Orders, donations, victories, rulers, institutions and public messages |
| Coins | Metal objects used as money or issued by authorities | Trade, rulers, symbols, languages and economic activity |
| Archaeological remains | Buildings, pottery, tools, ornaments, bones, seeds and other material remains | Food, technology, settlement, craft, trade and everyday life |
Historians and Archaeologists
Historians study and interpret evidence about the human past. Archaeologists study material remains and often excavate sites to recover objects and structures. In current Class 6 Social Science, students are also introduced to specialists such as geologists, palaeontologists and anthropologists, because understanding the past often requires evidence from several fields.
Understanding Historical Time
Modern history writing commonly uses BCE (Before Common Era) and CE (Common Era). Older books may also use BC and AD. A timeline places dates and events in order so we can see what happened earlier and what happened later.
| Approximate time | Legacy chapter example |
|---|---|
| Several hundred thousand years ago | Hunter-gatherers lived in different parts of the subcontinent |
| About 8,000 years ago | Farming and animal rearing developed in several regions |
| About 4,700 years ago | Early cities flourished in the Indus region |
| Later periods | More towns, kingdoms, trade networks and written records developed |
Key Terms to Remember
- History: the study of the human past.
- Source: evidence used to learn about the past.
- Manuscript: a text written by hand.
- Inscription: writing on a durable surface such as stone or metal.
- Archaeology: study of the past through material remains.
- Excavation: careful digging to uncover buried evidence.
- Tributary: a smaller river that flows into a larger river.
- BCE/CE: a widely used way to label historical dates.
5-Minute History Detective Activity
- Choose one old object at home, such as a coin, photograph, letter or utensil.
- Ask: Who used it? What material is it made from? How old might it be?
- Write which type of historical source it resembles.
- List two things the object can tell you and one thing it cannot tell you.
- Explain what extra evidence you would need to learn more.
Quick Revision Checklist
- I can explain what historians study.
- I can distinguish a manuscript from an inscription.
- I can explain why archaeologists excavate sites.
- I can give reasons why people moved from one place to another.
- I can use BCE and CE on a simple timeline.
- I can name at least three types of historical sources.
Quick Self-Test
- What is an inscription?
- Why were river valleys important to early communities?
- Name two materials on which manuscripts were commonly written.
- What does an archaeologist study?
- What is the difference between BCE and CE?
Answers: (1) Writing carved or engraved on a hard surface such as stone or metal. (2) They offered water, food, fertile land and transport routes. (3) Palm leaf and prepared birch bark. (4) Material remains of the past such as tools, pottery, buildings, bones and other objects. (5) BCE refers to dates before the Common Era; CE refers to dates within the Common Era.
What, Where, How and When? FAQs
What are the main sources used to study history?
Historians use many kinds of evidence, including manuscripts, inscriptions, coins, buildings, pottery, tools, bones, oral traditions and other archaeological remains.
Why are manuscripts important?
They preserve written knowledge from the past and can reveal ideas, literature, beliefs, administration and everyday practices.
Is What, Where, How and When still Chapter 1 in current NCERT Class 6?
No. The current integrated NCERT Class VI Social Science book is Exploring Society: India and Beyond. Similar foundational ideas are now taught mainly in Chapter 4 – Timeline and Sources of History.
Leave a Reply