NCERT Book for Class 6 History (Our Past I) is provided here for students to download in PDF. We have provided here the latest edition of the book that has been published for the current academic session with rationalized contents. The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has published the book exclusively for 2022-2023. Students should read only the new book to prepare appropriately for their CBSE Class 6 Social Science Exam 2022-23. The links to download chapter-wise PDFs of CBSE Class 6 History (Social Science) NCERT textbook are given below in the table.
NCERT Book Class 6 Social Science - History our Past
| NCERT Books for Class 6 History: Chapter 1 - What, Where, How and When? |
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| NCERT Books for Class 6 History: Chapter 2 - From Hunting – Gathering to Growing Food |
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| NCERT Books for Class 6 History: Chapter 3 - In the Earliest Cities |
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| NCERT Books for Class 6 History: Chapter 4 - What Books and Burials Tell Us |
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| NCERT Books for Class 6 History: Chapter 5 - Kingdoms, Kings and an Early Republic |
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| NCERT Books for Class 6 History: Chapter 6 - New Questions and Ideas |
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| NCERT Books for Class 6 History: Chapter 7 - Ashoka, The Emperor Who Gave Up War |
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| NCERT Books for Class 6 History: Chapter 8 - Vital Villages, Thriving Towns |
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| NCERT Books for Class 6 History: Chapter 9 - Traders, Kings and Pilgrims |
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| NCERT Books for Class 6 History: Chapter 10 - New Empires and Kingdoms |
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| NCERT Books for Class 6 History: Chapter 11 - Buildings, Paintings and Books |
NCERT Books for Class 6 Social Science (PDF): History, Civics, Geography
List of Rationalised Content in NCERT Book Class 6 History (Our Pasts I)
Below you can check the information in the tabular form about chapter-wise contents which have been dropped and hence are not to be assessed in the school tests or annual examinations:
| Chapter |
Page No. |
Dropped Topics/Chapters |
| Chapter 1: What, Where, How And When? |
1 |
‘Introduction’ added in the title of chapter. |
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9 |
‘Elsewhere’ |
| Chapter 2: From Hunting-gathering to Growing Food |
18 |
The title ‘Storing animals’ has been replaced with ‘Rearing animals’ |
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19 |
The title “Draw a Pit house” |
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21-22 |
‘Elsewhere’ |
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23 |
Activity no. 7 |
| Chapter 3: In the Earliest Cities |
32 |
Keyword ‘ruler’ |
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33 |
‘Elsewhere’ |
| Chapter 4: What Books and Burials Tell Us |
35 |
“One of the oldest Books in the world” heading has been rephrased as “One of the oldest literary sources in the world”. |
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43 |
‘Elsewhere’ |
| Chapter 5: Kingdoms, Kings and an Early Republic |
46 |
Third sentence of ‘How some men became rulers’ removed |
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47-48 |
First two paras and last two paras in ‘Varnas’ box removed |
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51 |
The section on ‘Taxes’ has been condensed. |
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52 |
First para, ‘Changes in agriculture’, last four lines deleted. |
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53 |
Last para and box item removed |
| Chapter 6: New Questions and Ideas |
54 |
Keyword ‘democracy’ removed in the box item. |
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55 |
‘Elsewhere’ |
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56 |
Activity 5 and 7 |
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60 |
Addition of names— Apala, Ghosha, Lopamudra, Maitreyi in the last para. |
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62 |
‘beggar’ word deleted from the last sentence. |
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63 |
‘Monasteries’ replaced with the term ‘Viharas’. Similarly words ‘monks’ and ‘nuns’ replaced with ‘Bhikkhus’ and ‘Bhikkhunis’ respectively. |
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64 |
In box — ‘The system of Ashramas’, first two paras (Around the time... and meditate) and last two paras (The system of... Ashramas) removed |
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65 |
the term Monastery deleted from the keywords. |
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65 |
‘Elsewhere’ |
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67 |
Title of the Chapter changed to ‘From a Kingdom to an Empire’. |
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67 |
first heading ‘A very big kingdom - an empire’ removed |
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72 |
Addition of one line after Greece — ‘his son Mahendra and daughter Sanghmitra to’ |
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73 |
4 lines in the box (Pandit... from them) removed |
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74 |
‘Elsewhere’ |
| Chapter 8: Villages, Towns and Trade |
79–102 |
Chapter 8 and 9 merged and renamed as ‘Villages, Towns and Trade’ |
| Chapter 10: New Empires and Kingdoms |
101 |
In keywords mention only ‘Trader’ and ‘Silk Route’ and merge it with the keywords of Chapter 8. |
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112 |
‘Elsewhere’ |
| Chapter 11: Buildings, Paintings and Books |
114 |
Last four words of the first para replaced with ‘through the centuries’ |
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120 |
Second line of the second para deleted |
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123-124 |
‘Elsewhere’ |
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There are 11 chapters in NCERT textbook of Class 6 History (Social Science) and the important topics of each chapter are given below:
Chapter 1 - What, Where, How and When?
Some important subheads of this chapter are given below
What can we know about the past? What can we know about the past? Where did people live? Names of the land, Finding out about the past, One past or many? What do dates mean? The beginning of agriculture (8000 years ago), the first cities on the Indus (4700 years ago), cities in the Ganga valley, a big kingdom in Magadha (2500 years ago), the present (about 2000 AD/CE).
Chapter 2 - From Hunting – Gathering to Growing Food
Some important subheads of this chapter are given below
The earliest people: why were they on the move? How do we know about these people? Choosing a place to live in, Finding out about fire, A changing environment, The beginning of farming and herding, Domestication, A new way of life, ‘Storing’ animals, Finding out about the first farmers and herders, Towards a settled life, A closer look — Living and dying in Mehrgarh, A Neolithic site
Chapter 3 - In the Earliest Cities
Some important subheads of this chapter are given below
The story of Harappa, What was special about these cities? Houses, drains and streets, Life in the city, New crafts in the city, In search of raw materials, Food for people in the cities, A closer look — Harappan towns in Gujarat, The mystery of the end.
Chapter 4 - What Books and Burials Tell Us
Important subheads of this chapter are given below
One of the oldest books in the world, Sanskrit and other languages, How historians study the Rigveda, Vishvamitra and the Rivers, Cattle, horses and chariots, Words to describe people, Silent sentinels—the story of the megaliths, Finding out about social differences, Were some burial spots meant for certain families? A special burial at Inamgaon, What skeletal studies tell us, Occupations at Inamgaon
Chapter 5 - Kingdoms, Kings and an Early Republic
Important subheads of this chapter are given below
How some men became rulers, Janapadas, Mahajanapadas, Taxes, Changes in agriculture, A closer look - (a) Magadha, (b) Vajji
Chapter 6 - New Questions and Ideas
Important subheads of this chapter are given below
The story of the Buddha, The story of Kisagotami, Upanishads, Six Schools of Indian Philosophy, The wise beggar, Jainism, The sangha, Monasteries, The system of Ashrams
Chapter 7 - Ashoka, The Emperor Who Gave Up War
Important subheads of this chapter are given below
A very big kingdom = an empire, Dynasty, How are empires different from kingdoms? Ruling the empire, The emperor and the capital city, Ashoka (a unique ruler), Ashoka’s war in Kalinga, Ashoka’s inscription describing the Kalinga war, What was Ashoka’s dhamma? Ashoka’s messages to his subjects.
Chapter 8 - Vital Villages, Thriving Towns
Important subheads of this chapter are given below
Iron tools and agriculture, Other steps to increase production: irrigation, Who lived in the villages? Finding out about cities, The clever poor man, The Story of Baryga, Coins, Cities with many functions, Crafts and crafts persons, Rules for spinning and weaving, A closer look — Arikamedu
Chapter 9 - Traders, Kings and Pilgrims
Important subheads of this chapter are given below
How to find out about trade and traders, A poem about trade, New kingdoms along the coasts, The story of the Silk Route, The spread of Buddhism, The quest of the pilgrims, The beginning of Bhakti, Bhakti, A poem by a bhakta.
Chapter 10 - New Empires and Kingdoms
Important subheads of this chapter are given below
- Prashastis and what they tell us
- Samudragupta’s prashasti
- Samudragupta the warrior
- Genealogies
- Harshavardhana and the Harshacharita
- The Pallavas, Chalukyas and Pulakeshin’s prashasti
- How were these kingdoms administered?
- A new kind of army
- Assemblies in the southern kingdoms
- Ordinary people in the kingdoms.
Chapter 11 - Buildings, Paintings and Books
Important subheads of this chapter are given below
- The iron pillar
- Buildings in brick and stone
- How were stupas and temples built?
- Painting, The world of books
- A description from the Silappadikaram
- A verse from the Meghaduta, Recording and preserving old stories
- Stories told by ordinary people
- The story of the monkey king
- Writing books on science.
