Chapter 4: Timeline and Sources of History (History)
Answers to all "Questions, activities and projects" of Chapter 4, Timeline and Sources of History (NCERT Class 6 Social Science, Exploring Society: India and Beyond, 2026-27): sources of history, historians as detectives, BCE and CE dates, centuries, timelines, and museum visits. All 5 questions are answered, with the key answer highlighted.
There is no year zero: 1 CE comes right after 1 BCE. So the number of years between a BCE date and a CE date = BCE year + CE year − 1. A century is 100 years: the 1st century CE is 1–100 CE, and the 4th century CE is 301–400 CE.
As a project, write the history of your family (or village if you live in one), using sources of history at your disposal. Ask your teacher to guide you.
Solution
Sources you can use:
Oral sources: talk to grandparents and elders about where the family came from, their work, festivals and important events.
Written sources: old letters, diaries, certificates, land records, wedding cards, ration cards.
Material sources: old photographs, utensils, jewellery, tools, clothes, old houses or a village well or temple.
Sample outline:
Where our family lived in my great-grandparents' time and what work they did.
When and why the family moved (if it did).
Changes over time: houses, jobs, schooling, means of transport.
Important events: weddings, births, a flood or drought, building of a road or school in the village.
A family tree and a timeline of these events, with years.
Check facts by asking more than one person and comparing with documents.
Collect oral (elders), written (letters, records) and material (photos, objects) sources, check them against each other, and write the story with a family tree and a timeline.
Can we compare historians to detectives? Give reasons for your answers.
Solution
Yes. Like a detective solving a case, a historian:
collects clues (evidence) such as inscriptions, coins, buildings, tools, manuscripts and oral traditions;
examines and questions each source carefully: who made it, when, and why, and whether it is reliable;
compares and cross-checks different sources, because one clue alone may mislead;
puts the pieces together to reconstruct what happened in the past, and changes the conclusion if new evidence is found.
(The difference: a detective usually solves recent events, while a historian studies events from long ago, often with many clues missing.)
Yes: both gather clues (evidence), question and cross-check them, and piece them together to find out what happened, changing their views if new evidence appears.
A few exercises with dates: (a) Place these dates chronologically on the timeline: 323 CE, 323 BCE, 100 CE, 100 BCE, 1900 BCE, 1090 CE, 2024 CE. (b) If King Chandragupta was born in 320 CE, which century did he belong to? How many years was that after the Buddha's birth (about 560 BCE)? (c) Rani of Jhansi was born in 1828. Which century did she belong to? How many years was that before India's Independence? (d) Turn '12,000 years ago' into a date.
Solution
(a) 1900 BCE → 323 BCE → 100 BCE → 100 CE → 323 CE → 1090 CE → 2024 CE. (BCE dates with bigger numbers are earlier.)
(b) 320 CE falls in 301–400 CE, so Chandragupta belongs to the 4th century CE. Years after the Buddha's birth: 560+320−1=879 years.
(c) 1828 falls in 1801–1900, so the 19th century. India became independent in 1947: 1947−1828=119 years before Independence.
(d) Taking the present year as 2024 CE: 12,000 years ago =12,000−2024+1=9977 BCE, i.e. about 10,000 BCE.
(a) 1900 BCE, 323 BCE, 100 BCE, 100 CE, 323 CE, 1090 CE, 2024 CE (b) 4th century CE; 879 years (c) 19th century; 119 years (d) about 10,000 BCE (9977 BCE).
Plan a visit to a nearby museum: prepare with some prior research on the kind of exhibits the museum holds. Keep notes during the visit. Write a brief report afterwards, highlighting what was unexpected / interesting / fun.
Solution
Before the visit: find out from its website or a brochure which galleries it has (e.g. sculptures, coins, weapons, paintings, textiles), its timings and rules (no flash photography), and prepare a few questions.
During the visit: carry a notebook; for each interesting object note its name, age (date or century), material, where it was found, and what it tells us about people of that time.
Sample report:"Our class visited the State Museum, Lucknow. In the archaeology gallery we saw stone sculptures from the Kushana and Gupta periods and terracotta toys over 2,000 years old. The coin gallery had punch-marked coins and gold coins of the Gupta kings. The most unexpected exhibit was an Egyptian mummy! The fun part was a quiz organised by the guide. We learned how objects help historians understand the past."
Research the museum's galleries first, take careful notes (object, date, material, place found) during the visit, and write a short report on the most interesting, unexpected and fun exhibits.
Invite to your school an archaeologist or a historian and ask them to speak on the history of your region and why it is important to know it.
Solution
Steps: with your teacher's help, contact a local university, the Archaeological Survey of India circle office, a museum or a heritage society; fix a date; prepare questions; and write a thank-you note afterwards.
Questions you could ask:
What are the oldest sites or monuments in our region, and how old are they?
What kinds of sources (inscriptions, coins, excavations) tell us about our region's past?
How do archaeologists know how old an object is?
Why is it important for us to know the history of our own region? How can we protect our heritage?
Invite an expert through your teacher, prepare questions on the region's sites, sources and dating methods, and on why local history and heritage matter.
