NCERT Summary: What Books & Burials Tell us - Notes | Study Social Studies (SST) Class 6 - Class 6

One of the oldest books in the world

The oldest book known everywhere throughout the world should be that of the Vedas. They were written around 3,000 years back and are the earliest literary source available.

The Vedas

• The word, Veda means Knowledge. There are four Vedas: Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda.
• The Rigveda is the oldest Veda. It was created around 3,500 years back.
• The hymns have been compared by sages. These psalms were recounted and gone starting with one age then onto the next until the point when they were composed down.
• These hymns are in acclaim of various divine beings, for example, Indra (the lord of warrior), Agni (the divine force of flame), Varun (the lord of sky) and numerous others...

How do Historians study the Rigveda?

• While learning about the past, students of history examined written sources.
• They examined the Rigveda. A large portion of the psalms in Rigveda were as exchanges.
• Historians study these exchanges to arrive at conclusions.

Cattle, horses and chariots

• Most petitions in the Rigveda are for cows, kids and steeds.
• Horses were burdened to chariots and utilized as a part of fights.
• Battles planned to catch dairy cattle, arrive, field, water and individuals.
• A part of the riches was utilized for performing Yajnas or sacrifices in which offerings were put into flame, for divine beings including ghee, grains and uncommon creatures.

Words to Describe People

Political Life

• The Vedas even educate us concerning political existence of this sage.
• The head of state was called Raja.
• The Raja had no capital, castles, armed forces or ideal to gather charges.

Occupations

• Agriculture, cattle-rearing, chariot-production, ceramics, jewellery-production tanning and metal-work were the primary occupations.

Dasas/Dasyus

• While Aryans created Vedas, another gathering of individuals restricted to Vedas which were called Dasas or Dasyus or slaves.

Silent sentinels—the story of the megaliths

• Archaeologists expect that items found with a skeleton, likely had a place with the dead individual.
• In Brahmagiri, a skeleton was covered with 33gold dots, 2stone globules, and one conch shell though other skeleton just had a pot.
• This shows the distinction in status, among the general population who were covered. Some were rich while other were poor.
• Sometimes, stone monuments have more than one skeleton. It demonstrates that individuals having a place with a similar family were covered at same place however at various circumstances.
• Special burials occurred at Inamgaon.
• Animals were utilized as food. 
• Skeletal studies inform us regarding better method for recognizing dead bodies.