Class 6 History: Early Civilizations, Empires and Kingdoms: 18 MCQs with answers

Our Pasts – I

The NCERT Class 6 history textbook is titled Our Pasts – I, which emphasises that history is plural.

Ancient India from the Stone Age to the Gupta Empire

The PDF covers ancient India, starting with the Stone Age and ending with the Gupta Empire.

Pottery and tools

Archaeological sources are physical remains like pottery, tools, bones, and ruins. The Vedas are literary, manuscripts are handwritten books, and coins are a separate category.

Indus Valley Civilisation

The Indus Valley Civilisation, also called the Harappan Civilisation, is known for advanced city planning, covered drains, and baked brick houses.

Chandragupta Maurya

Chandragupta Maurya founded the Mauryan Empire with the help of his advisor Chanakya (Kautilya). Ashoka was a later Mauryan ruler.

True

The Indus Valley Civilisation is one of the world's earliest urban cultures, known for its advanced city planning and drainage systems.

A policy of ruling through moral principles

Ashoka's Dhamma was a policy of ruling through moral principles rather than only force.

Gupta Empire

The Gupta Empire is presented as a time of cultural and scientific achievement, including mathematics, astronomy, and literature.

To make learning active and encourage critical thinking

The PDF includes maps, timelines, and exercises to turn passive reading into active learning and to help students think critically about the past.

Thinking history is only about memorising dates

Many students think history means memorising dates, but the Class 6 PDF focuses on concepts like civilisation, empire, trade, and society.

Through maps, rivers, settlements, and trade routes

History connects to geography through maps, rivers, settlements, and trade routes, helping students see the link between place and past.

Public buildings and ritual bathing were important

The Great Bath shows that public buildings and ritual bathing were important in Harappan cities.

Modern novels

Historians use archaeological sources, literary sources, inscriptions, coins, and manuscripts. Modern novels are not sources for ancient history.

It shows that history is plural and includes many groups of people

The title 'Our Pasts' reminds us that history is not a single story but many pasts — of farmers, hunters, kings, traders, and craftspeople.

By showing how historians use sources to reconstruct the past

The PDF shows how historians reconstruct the past using sources like coins, inscriptions, and manuscripts, making history evidence-based.

To think about possible reasons like climate change or floods

Instead of just remembering that the civilisation declined around 1900 BCE, students are asked to think about possible reasons like climate change or floods.

Use of baked bricks for constructing houses

The correct option is the use of baked bricks for constructing houses, as it demonstrates the advanced building techniques and urban planning of the Indus Valley Civilisation, indicative of their ability to create durable and well-structured urban environments.

The establishment of a caste system

The correct option is the establishment of a caste system, as it provided a social structure that facilitated the organization of society into distinct groups, which eventually contributed to the formation of early kingdoms and their governance in ancient India.