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Ancient History 01 - Daily Class Notes - UPSC Prarambh 2026

The document provides an introduction to the study of history. It discusses that history is the systematic study of past events and time periods. It highlights the importance of studying ancient history, including providing accounts of human evolution, the development of civilizations and cultures, and understanding how small villages transformed into large empires. Studying history also helps trace national and cultural identities and appreciate how problems of the past were overcome. Key terms related to classifying history such as BC, AD, and the stone age, copper age, and iron age are also defined.

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587 views8 pages

Ancient History 01 - Daily Class Notes - UPSC Prarambh 2026

The document provides an introduction to the study of history. It discusses that history is the systematic study of past events and time periods. It highlights the importance of studying ancient history, including providing accounts of human evolution, the development of civilizations and cultures, and understanding how small villages transformed into large empires. Studying history also helps trace national and cultural identities and appreciate how problems of the past were overcome. Key terms related to classifying history such as BC, AD, and the stone age, copper age, and iron age are also defined.

Uploaded by

Priyanshu Chaubey
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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DAILY CLASS NOTES

NCERT: Ancient History

Lecture -01
Introduction to History
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Introduction to History

❖ What do you understand about the term ‘History?’

➢ History is the study of the past but not any random event could be considered as
a part of history. Rather, history is the systematic, time and dynasty-based
understanding of the past.

➢ When we try to understand history in a systematic order, we get information


about the flow of wars, events and the subsequent treaties signed.
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Questions to ponder upon…..

Q. Why do we need to study history or what is the importance of ancient history? How
does it guide decisions that are taken in the present scenario? Discuss.

Answer:

Introduction:

❖ History is the systematic study of the past as it helps us understand incidents and
processes that ultimately create our present.

❖ Importance of studying history:

➢ Accounts of the Evolution of Humankind: History is a way through which we will


get to know when human civilisation started developing. Darwin was of the opinion
that humans were first born as monkeys and then through millions of years of
evolution, finally homo sapiens came into being. But this theory is highly debated.

➢ Information about our past: Information about History tells us about ourselves as
it is the study of the past. So if it is giving us information about ourselves, it tells
us how humans evolved, and how there was a shift from hunting and gathering
to engagement in agricultural practices. It gives us evidence about the
domestication of animals.
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➢ Tracing back our identity: History also traces our identity, the identity of our
country, her name, etc. India is called Bharat which is derived from the Bharata
clan of the Rigveda (7th Mandala). There is another story related to Bharata’s
name- Shakuntala and King Dushyanta’s son, Bharata. Along with Bharatvarsha,
India is also called Aryavarta and Jambudveep. Greeks named India as India after
its location across the Indus River. The Arabs called the Indus Sindhu from which
the term ‘Hindu’ evolved and from there the name Hindustan emerged.

➢ Development of human civilisation and human culture: It helps in the development


of human civilization and human culture along with the development of multiple
languages as the roots of such languages lie in our ancient history.

➢ Transformation of small villages to cities to large empires: History gives us accounts


of how small villages transformed into cities and simultaneously with time, how
these cities finally evolved into larger empires.

➢ To understand Unity in Diversity: Even though India is a country that houses a


population with varied beliefs and
religious practices, still there is ‘Unity
in Diversity.’ This is because India is
the birthplace of major religions
spread all over the world. These are
Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and
Sikhism but it comes in the medieval
period. Hinduism is associated with
Sanatan Dharma which simply
means it has no accounts of from
whom, where and when it evolved.
However, Buddhism and Jainism evolved in the 6th century BCE.

✓ It is history that tells why Buddhism and Jainism arose, and what exactly went
wrong in Hinduism which led to belief starting to believe in Buddha and
Mahavira’s ideologies.
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➢ Assimilation of cultures: History tells us about the


assimilation of the mixing of cultures. Example.,
translation of Mahabharata and Ramayana in
South India. This is called Unity in Diversity.

✓ Prakrit was Lingua Franca which meant it


was spoken by many. During Ashoka’s reign,
Prakrit was Lingua Franca widely spoken
throughout the empire. Then from Prakrit, there was a gradual shift towards
the speaking of Sanskrit and it became Lingua Franca in 200 AD.

➢ Relevance of past in present: History also helps us in the understanding of the


present from the past. With the help of the past, we can solve the problems of the
present.
Conclusion: The study of ancient India is important to understand our own real self and
to appreciate the nature of problems that we overcame in the past.

Important Terms in History

❖ Chakravartin: Ashok and Samudragupta were considered as Chakravartins

❖ BC (Before Christ): Example:


500 BC means 2500 years
ago if we calculate it from
AD.

❖ AD (Anno Domini): This


marks the period post the
birth of Christ OR CE:
Common Era

❖ BCE: Before Christ Era


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Classification of History:

❖ Classification given by colonial historians:

❖ Classification given by modern historians:

➢ Ancient history: The period of ancient history immediately started from the era
since human life began on planet Earth. The period dates back to 3.3 million years
ago and continues till 1192 AD. 1192 AD was the period when Md. Ghori defeated
Prithviraj Chauhan.

➢ Medieval history: The period of medieval history immediately starts from 1192 AD
till 1717 AD.

➢ Modern history: The period of modern history started from 1717 AD and
continued till 1947.
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Classification of Ancient History:

❖ Based on Sources: Under this, the sources are further classified into three categories:

➢ Pre- history: From this period,


no such written records are
available.

➢ Proto-history: From this period,


written records are available but
it has not been deciphered yet.
Example: Harappan inscriptions
from the Indus Valley Civilisation.

➢ Historical period: From this


period onwards, written records were not only available but also deciphered which
finally helped us in understanding our past.

❖ Based on tools:

➢ Stone Age

➢ Copper/Bronze Age

➢ Iron Age.
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