Iron was the essential for the growth of villages, cities and civilizations. Meanwhile, villages were an important part of large kingdoms. Kings extracted revenue from the villagers. Explore more about Vital Villages, Thriving Towns from Chapter 8 of CBSE Class 6 History. Textual Solution also provided here the NCERT Solutions for Class 6 History Chapter 8 "Vital Villages, Thriving Towns" covering the solutions to the exercises given at the end of the chapter in the book "History - Our Pasts - 1". These NCERT Solutions will be useful for school exams as they are sourced from the NCERT Textbooks.
Intext Questions, Page - 82
Q. List the occupation of the persons mentioned in the story. For each one, try and decide whether they would have lived (a) only in villages (b) only in cities (c) in both cities and villages.
Answer:
The occupations mentioned in the story are
- Hotel owner - lived in the city
- Gardener - both in villages and city
- Potter - lived in the villages
- Grasscutter - villages
- Horse merchant (trader) - both in the villages and the city
- Trader - city
Q. Why do you think the horse dealer was coming to the city ?
Answer:
The horse dealer was coming to the city to sell his horse because he had 500 horses and wanted to sell them to make profit.
Q. Do you think women could have taken up occupation mentioned in the story ? Give reasons for your answer.
Answer:
- Hotel owner - It is time consuming, need long hours of work. It cannot be taken up by women.
- Gardener - Women can take up the job, as it is not laborious job.
- Potter - Pottery is an art. It need skill, to make different shapes and design.
- Grass cutter - It is time consuming but easy to work.
- Traders - Usually they work in the cities or go from one city to another. Many a times the traders have to stay over night or for many days. Hence cannot be taken up by women.
Intext Question, Page - 84
Q. Make a list of all the things imported and exported from Barygaza. Underline at least two things that were not in use during harappan times. Why do you think merchants brought gifts for the king ?
Answer:
Goods exported and imported from Bharuch (Barygaza) are :
Exports :
- Plants from the Himalayas
- ivory
- agate
- carnelian
- cotton
- silk
- perfumes
Imports :
- wine
- copper
- tin
- lead
- coral
- topaz
- cloth
- gold and silver coins
The two things that were not in use during harappan times are :
- gold and silver coins
- plants from the Himalayas
The merchants brought gifts for the king to please him, and the king could give them favours.
Inetxt Question, Page - 86
Q. Make a list of the occupations of the people who lived in Mathura. List one occupation that was not practised in Harappan cities.
Answer:
The main occupations of the people were
- goldsmiths
- blacksmiths
- weavers
- basket-makers
- garland-makers
- perfumes
The occupation not followed by the people of Indus Valley was garland making.
Intext Question, Page - 87
Q. Make a list of all the women who could be employed by the superintendent. Do you think women would have faced any problem while working ?
Answer:
Arthashastra mentions the rules for spinning and weaving. It describes how this process can be carried out under the supervision of the special official. The rules were :
- All the people young women, nuns, mothers, retired women servants of the king, women who have retired from service in temples, may be used for processing wool, bark, cotton, hamp and flax.
- They should be paid according to the quality and quantity of the work done.
- Women who were not permitted to leave their homes could take the services of the maid servant.
- Women had to give their work in the morning and get wages. If a woman did not complete her work, she was severely punished. She had to pay a fine, sometimes her thumbs were cut off.
- Superintendent had to be discreet while talking to the women, other wise he was punished.
Intext Question, Page - 88
Q. Why do you think the amphitheatres and aqueducts have survived.
Answer:
The amphitheatres and aqueducts were made of bricks and cement-mortar. Romans were the first to find cement.
Q. Imagine you live in Barygaza and are visiting the port. Describe what you would see there.
Answer:
At Barygaza port, I saw the gulf very narrow. Because of this, it is very hard for the sea-travellers to reach the port with their ships. Ships are steered in by skilful and experienced local fishermen. Perhaps, these fishermen are employed by the king. The items like wine, copper, tin, lead, coral, topaz, clothes, gold and silver coins are imported through the port. Whereas, the items of export included plants from Himalayas, ivory, agate, carnelian, cotton, silk and perfumes. Special gifts like silver vessels, adolescent singers, beautiful women, fine wine and clothes are brought by merchants.
Let's Recall, Page - 89
1. Fill in the blanks :
(a) _________ was a word used for large landowners in Tamil.
(b) The gramabhojaka often got his land cultivated by the ________
(c) Ploughmen were known as ________ in Tamil.
(d) Most grihapatis were ________ landowners.
Answer:
(a) Vellalar
(b) slaves and hired workers
(c) uzhavar
(d) smaller
2. Descibe the functions of the gramabhojaka. Why do you think he was powerful ?
Answer:
In the northern parts of the country, the village headman was known as the gramabhojaka. The post was herediatry. He was the largest landowner. Besides, as he was powerful, the king often used him to collect taxes from the village. He also functioned as a judge and sometimes as a policeman.
He was powerful because he was a herediatry village headman. He was the largest landowner.
3. List the crafts persons who would have been present in both villages and cities.
Answer:
Crafts person who would have been present in both villages and cities were :
- Blacksmiths
- Carpenters
- Weavers
4. Choose the correct answer :
(a) Ring wells were used for :
- bathing
- washing clothes
- irrigation
- drainage
Answer:
4. drainage
(b) Punch marked coins were made of :
- silver
- gold
- tin
- ivory
Answer:
1. silver
(c) Mathura was an important :
- village
- port
- religious centre
- forested area
Answer:
3. religious centre
(d) Shrenis were associations of :
- rulers
- craftspersons
- farmers
- herders
Answer:
2. craftspersons
Let's Discuus, Page - 90
5. Which of the iron tools shown on page 79 would have been important for agriculture ? What would the other tools have been used for ?
Answer:
Ploughshares would have been important for agriculture. The other tools used were sickles and axes. The other tools like tongs, nails and hammers were used for carpentry and also by ironsmiths.
6. Compare the drainage system in your locality with that of the cities mentioned in the lesson. What similarities and differences do you notice ?
Answer:
The drainage system in the cities in the present times is highly developed. There is underground drainage system with covered drains. The bathrooms, toilets and kitchens have underground system and are connected to the main drains outside.
The ancient cities had ring well system. It is a rows of pots or ceramic rings arranged one on top of other. They have been used as toilets in some cases and as drains and garbage dumps. These ring wells have been found in individual houses.
Ancient cities :
- Toilets in the houses
- Ring wells used as garbage bins.
- Toilets in the houses, with cisterns and flushes.
- In present times, there are garbage pits where garbage from the whole city is dumped.
7. If you have seen crafts persons at work, describe in a short paragraph what they do. (Hint : how do these get the raw materials, what kind of equipment do they use, how do they work, what happens to the finished products).
Answer:
- The craftsperson buys raw material from different parts of the city on the village.
- He works in a part of the houses, with the help of the family members.
- He works with simple tools like looms, spindles, and needless.
- The finished product is sent either to the cities for selling or the merchants come to the houses of the craftsperson to buy goods.
Answer:
Similarities : The people in Mathura worked as goldsmiths, blacksmiths, weavers, basket makers, garland makers, perfumers. In present times, people in cities are goldsmiths and others are present in the villages.
Differences : In present times, we can find people who work in offices, banks, schools, colleges, etc., but they were not present in those days.