Answers to all "Questions, activities and projects" of Chapter 5, India, That Is Bharat (NCERT Class 6 Social Science, Exploring Society: India and Beyond, 2026-27): names of India in ancient texts (Sapta Sindhava, Bharatavarsha, Jambudvipa, Bharata), names given by foreigners (Hindu, Indoi, Yintu, Hindustan), and why people travelled to India. All 4 questions are answered, with the key answer highlighted.
Discuss what could be the meaning of the quotation at the start of the chapter ("In India at a very early time the spiritual and cultural unity was made complete and became the very stuff of the life of all this great surge of humanity between the Himalayas and the two seas." — Sri Aurobindo).
Solution
Sri Aurobindo says that, from very ancient times, the many different peoples living in the land between the Himalayas in the north and the two seas (the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal) shared a common spiritual and cultural life: common ideas, values, festivals, stories (like the Ramayana and Mahabharata), sacred places and ways of thinking. This unity was not imposed by one ruler; it became part of everyday life (the "very stuff of life") of the people. So, though India has many languages, kingdoms and customs, it has long been one cultural nation, which is why the land was seen as one and given names like Bharata.
It means that since ancient times the many peoples living between the Himalayas and the seas shared a common spiritual and cultural life, which united them as one people despite their diversity.
True or false? (a) The Ṛig Veda describes the entire geography of India. (b) The Viṣhṇu Purāṇa describes the entire Subcontinent. (c) In Aśhoka's time, 'Jambudvīpa' included what is today India, parts of Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. (d) The Mahābhārata lists many regions, including Kashmir, Kutch, and Kerala. (e) The term 'Hindustān' first appeared in a Greek inscription more than 2,000 years ago. (f) In ancient Persian, the word 'Hindu' refers to the Hindu religion. (g) 'Bhārata' is a name given to India by foreign travellers.
Solution
(a) False. The Ṛig Veda names only the north-western region, 'Sapta Sindhava' (land of the seven rivers).
(b) True. It describes Bhārata as the land north of the ocean and south of the snowy mountains.
(c) True.
(d) True (Kāshmīra, Kaccha and Kerala).
(e) False. It first appeared in a Persian inscription, about 1,800 years ago.
(f) False. In ancient Persian, 'Hindu' was only a geographical term (from 'Sindhu', the Indus).
(g) False. 'Bhārata' is an Indian name (from the Bharatas of the Ṛig Veda), used in Indian texts; foreigners used names like Hind, Indoi and Yintu.
(a) F (b) T (c) T (d) T (e) F, a Persian inscription about 1,800 years ago (f) F, it was a geographical term (g) F, it is an Indian name
If you were born some 2,000 years ago and had the chance to name our country, what name or names might you have chosen, and why? Use your imagination!
Solution
Example answer: I might have chosen "Saptasindhu-Bhūmi" (Land of Many Rivers), because the great rivers (Sindhu, Ganga, Yamuna, Narmada, Godavari, Kaveri) feed the land and its people, and life in every region grew along them. Another choice could be "Himasāgara Desha" (the land between the snows and the seas), because the Himalayas and the oceans form its natural borders. I would also like "Bhārata", since it was already used in our ancient texts and links us to our oldest stories.
(Any name is fine if you give a reason connected with the land, its people, rivers, mountains or culture.)
Choose any meaningful name with a reason, e.g. "Land of Many Rivers" for its great rivers, or "land between the snows and the seas", or Bharata from the ancient texts.
Why did people travel to India from various parts of the world in ancient times? What could be their motivations in undertaking such long journeys? (Hint: there could be at least four or five motivations.)
Solution
Trade: India was famous for spices (pepper), cotton and silk cloth, precious stones, ivory, sandalwood and indigo; traders came to buy and sell.
Religion and pilgrimage: Buddhist pilgrims such as Faxian and Xuanzang from China came to visit holy places linked to the Buddha and to collect sacred texts.
Learning: students and scholars came to great centres of learning such as Takshashila and Nalanda to study philosophy, medicine, mathematics and astronomy.
Conquest and wealth: kings and armies (e.g. the Persians in the 6th century BCE and Alexander of Macedonia) came to win land and riches.
Curiosity and adventure: travellers and writers came to see a land known for its wealth, knowledge and wonders, and wrote accounts of it.
Settling and diplomacy: some came as ambassadors (like Megasthenes) or to settle and find work.
For trade (spices, cloth, gems), pilgrimage (e.g. Faxian, Xuanzang), learning (Takshashila, Nalanda), conquest and wealth, diplomacy, and curiosity and adventure.
