In The Earliest Cities Class 6 History NCERT Chapter 4

Key Features of NCERT Material for Class 6 History Chapter 4 – In the Earliest Cities

In this chapter: In The Earliest Cities, we will learn about the story of Harrapan civilization and how the Harappan cities later got destroyed.

Quick revision notes

Life in the City: Harappa was a bustling spot. Rulers outlined buildings, traders headed out to far places to obtain raw materials and scribes made fascinating seals. The Story of Harappa: Harappan cities are the urban areas of the Indus Valley Civilisation. Rediscovered during the 1920s after unearthings in Sindh and Punjab in present-day Pakistan, these cities developed in 3300 BC.

The design of the Cities:

• The Harappan cities had two parts, the citadel and the lower town. The invigoration of walls with blocks in interlocking patterns made them strong.
• Roads spread out straight and cut each other at right points.
• Channels ran corresponding to one another and had secured.
• The citadel was at a more elevated level and had extraordinary structures.
• The Great Bath in Mohenjodaro, a tank utilized for bathing rituals.
• Kalibangan and Lothal had fire altars where penances may have been performed.
• Also, a few cities like Mohenjodaro, Harappa, and Lothal had expounded storage facilities
• The lower town, where houses were a couple of stories high and worked around a hallway.

Around eighty years back, Archeologists found remains of the site of an old city, Harappa in present-day Pakistan. The city should be around 4700 years of age. These cities were generally isolated into at least two parts. The part toward the west was lesser yet higher and the part toward the east was bigger yet lower. Citadel is the first part and the subsequent part is the lower town. The well-baked bricks lasted a large number of years. The patterns of their utilization made walls solid. An uncommon tank, called the great bath, has been found in the city of Mohenjodaro. A few fire altars and storage facilities.

Houses were one or two-stories high. Wells provided water. Most of the cities had covered drains. Each drain had a slight slope for the water to flow through it. Drains in houses had an association with streets and smaller drains, which eventually drove into greater ones. Houses, drains and roads were all planned and built simultaneously.

The Harappan Seal

Crafts-persons made a wide range of things Archeologists have discovered things made of stone, shell and metal along with beads, weights and blades. They made seals and pots with beautiful designs. Cloth was also found attached to copper and silver objects. The Harapparts got raw materials locally or from different spots like Rajasthan, Oman, Iran, Afghanistan, Gujarat and so on. They cultivated wheat, pulse, barley, peas, nee, sesame, linseed and mustard. A tool known as plough came into use to dig the earth. They used irrigation to provide water to the growing plants. Harappans raised creatures. In Dholavira in present-day Gujarat, an enormous open region for functions, and stones with engravings in Harappan region have been found. Historians have found a storage facility in the city of Lothal. However, there was a major change 3000 years ago and much of the Harappan cities came to an end. Individuals quit living in cities. People stopped writing, seals and utilizing weights. Raw materials brought from significant distances got uncommon. In Mohenjodaro, we find that trash accumulated in the city, the drainage system collapsed, and new, less amazing houses were constructed even over the roads.

Why did this all happen?

We don’t know. A few researchers recommend that the streams dried up. Others propose that there was deforestation. In certain territories there were floods. In any case, none of these reasons can clarify the end of the cities. It shows up as though the rulers lost control. Cities in Sind and west Punjab (present-day Pakistan) were deserted, while numerous individuals moved into more up to date, smaller settlements toward the east and the south.

Bronze:

The alloy of tin and copper is known as bronze.

Citadel:

It is the part toward the west of most urban areas was little yet high in contrast with the eastern part.

Craftspersons:

Men and ladies who made a wide range of things-either in their own homes or in unique workshops were the craftspersons.

Lower Town:

The eastern piece of the urban areas is alluded to as the lower town.

Plough:

Another instrument in the Harappan urban areas which was utilized to dig the earth for turning soil and planting seeds was the Plough.

Raw materials:

They are the substances found normally or delivered by farmers/herders. Raw materials are utilized to make various materials.

Rulers:

Individuals who planned the development of special buildings in the city were the rulers.

Scribes:

The people who were well versed with writing.

Around 2700 BC, that is  4700 years back:

Beginning of cities.

Around 1900 BC, that is 3900 years back:

Beginning of the end of these cities.

Around 500 BC, that is 2500 years back:

Beginning of more current cities.