Page 15 - General Knowledge

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE 2019

INDIAN HISTORY

Introduction

“History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. History is who we are and why we are
the way we are.” - David C. McCullough

“Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” - George Santayana

What is History?

History is the study of the human past as it is described in the written documents left by human
beings. The past, with all its decisions completed, its participants dead and its history told, is
what the general public perceives as the immutable bedrock on which we historians and
archaeologists stand. But as purveyors of the past, we recognize that the bedrock is really
quicksand, that bits of the story are yet untold, and that what has been told comes tainted by the
conditions of what we are today.

Indian history is divided into three different parts - Ancient Indian history, Medieval Indian
history and Modern Indian history. The ancient people of India have a continuous civilization
since the pre historic age of 40001 BC, when the first people of the World began to live.

1. ANCIENT HISTORY

Pre-Historic Period
 The Prehistoric period of India is known only through reconstructions from archaeological
evidence.
 The name India was derived from the river named Sindhu, which is also known as
INDUS.
 The recently reported artifacts from Bori in Maharashtra suggest the presence of human
beings in India around 1.4 million years ago.
 From their first appearance in around 3000 BC, human beings used stones as tools for
various purposes.
 That‘s why that period is called as STONE AGE.

Stone Age is categorized into 3 divisions. They are given in the table below:

Stone Age Paleolithic or Old Mesolithic or Middle Neolithic or New Stone
Stone Age Stone Age Age

Period 5,00,000 BC – 8000 BC 8000 BC – 6000 BC 6000 BC – 1000 BC
Tools used Unpolished rough Microliths, Pointed Polished stone tools like
stones cresconic blades, stone axes
scrapers etc are
made up of stones
Occupation Hunting, food gathering Hunting, fishing, food Cultivating rice,
gathering and domesticating cattle and
domesticating cattle weaving cotton and wool to
make clothes, Pottery

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