This is the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) social science history textbook for Class VI, Our Pasts I. It is an English medium (Roman script) book — the complete text, exercises, maps and captions are in English, and there is no Hindi content in it. It is the prescribed history component of the Class 6 social science course for CBSE schools and for state boards that follow the NCERT curriculum.
Our Pasts I covers ancient India from the earliest human societies to roughly the Gupta period. It opens by explaining what history is made from — manuscripts, inscriptions, coins, and the material remains archaeologists recover — and then follows the sequence: hunter-gatherers, the beginnings of farming and herding, the first cities of the Harappan civilisation, the Vedic texts and the societies they describe, the mahajanapadas and the rise of Magadha, the new ideas of the Buddha and the Jaina tradition, Ashoka and the Mauryan empire, trade routes and pilgrimage, the rulers who came after, and the buildings, paintings, epics and scientific work of the period.
This is the first volume of the NCERT history sequence and the one competitive-exam aspirants are told to start with. Ancient India is a standing section in the UPSC, RPSC and RSSB syllabi, and the chronological frame a candidate needs — Harappan sites and their features, the Vedic periods, the mahajanapadas, Ashoka's inscriptions and dhamma, the Sangam texts, Gupta-era achievements — is set out here more clearly than in most thicker reference works. Aspirants routinely work through Classes 6 to 12 of this series before opening any standard reference text.
The chapters are supported by maps, photographs of sites and artefacts, extracts from inscriptions and early texts, and "Let's recall", "Let's discuss" and "Let's do" exercises at the end of each chapter.
Key Features:
English medium book — complete content written in English (Roman script), no Hindi content
Published by NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training)
Social Science — Our Pasts I, Textbook in History for Class VI (Class 6)
Prescribed for CBSE schools and state boards following the NCERT curriculum
Covers ancient India from the earliest societies to the Gupta period
Covers What, Where, How and When — the sources of history
Covers From Hunting-Gathering to Growing Food — earliest societies, farmers and herders
Covers In the Earliest Cities — the Harappan civilisation
Covers What Books and Burials Tell Us — the Vedic texts
Covers Kingdoms, Kings and an Early Republic — mahajanapadas and Magadha
Covers New Questions and Ideas — the Buddha, Jainism and the upanishads
Covers Ashoka, the Emperor Who Gave Up War — Mauryan empire, inscriptions and dhamma
Covers Vital Villages, Thriving Towns and Traders, Kings and Pilgrims
Covers New Empires and Kingdoms and Buildings, Paintings and Books
Maps, site photographs, artefacts and source extracts throughout
Chapter-end "Let's recall", "Let's discuss" and "Let's do" exercises
First volume of the NCERT history sequence — the usual starting point for exam preparation
Also widely used as foundation reading for UPSC, RPSC, RSSB and other competitive examinations
Standard NCERT text — the base book before any reference or guide
यह पुस्तक राष्ट्रीय शैक्षिक अनुसंधान और प्रशिक्षण परिषद (NCERT) द्वारा कक्षा VI (कक्षा 6) के लिए निर्धारित सामाजिक विज्ञान — इतिहास की पाठ्यपुस्तक Our Pasts I है। ध्यान दें: यह पुस्तक पूर्णतः अंग्रेज़ी भाषा एवं रोमन लिपि में है — इसमें हिन्दी भाषा का प्रयोग नहीं है। इसमें प्राचीन भारत का इतिहास सम्मिलित है — इतिहास के स्रोत, आखेटक-खाद्य संग्राहक, कृषि एवं पशुपालन का आरंभ, हड़प्पा सभ्यता के प्रथम नगर, वैदिक ग्रंथ, महाजनपद एवं मगध, बुद्ध तथा जैन परंपरा के नए विचार, अशोक एवं मौर्य साम्राज्य, व्यापार-मार्ग एवं तीर्थयात्रा, गुप्तकालीन शासक तथा इमारतें, चित्र एवं पुस्तकें। मानचित्र, पुरावशेषों के चित्र, अभिलेखों के अंश तथा अध्यायांत अभ्यास प्रश्न सम्मिलित हैं। UPSC, RPSC एवं RSSB में प्राचीन भारत एक निश्चित खंड है, और अभ्यर्थियों को किसी भी मानक संदर्भ पुस्तक से पूर्व कक्षा 6 से 12 तक की NCERT इतिहास पुस्तकें पढ़ने की सलाह दी जाती है — यह पुस्तक उसी क्रम की पहली कड़ी है।
