What Books and Burials Tell Us 

Q1. Fill in the blanks.

                        i.        The Rigveda has been written in Sanskrit.

                       ii.        Inamgaon is situated on the river Ghod.

                     iii.        The Rigveda was composed about 3500 years ago.

                     iv.        Sanskrit is part of a family of languages known as Indo-European.

                       v.        The major gods praised in the hymns of the Rigveda were Agni, Indra, and Soma.

                      vi.        The dead were buried with distinctive pots, which are called Black and Red Ware.

Q2. True/False

                        i.        The river Ghod is a tributary of the Bhima. True

                       ii.        The oldest Veda is the Samaveda. False

                      iii.        Slaves were women and men who were often captured in war. True

                      iv.        Hymns were composed by sages (rishis). True

                        v.        In a hymn in the Rigveda, Vishvamitra used the word 'sisters' for the two rivers Beas and Sutlej. True

                       vi.        Roma, a plant from which a special drink was prepared. False

Q3. Which is the oldest Veda among the four Vedas?

Ans. The oldest Veda is the Rigveda.

Q4. In which language Rigveda was written?

Ans. The Rigveda is in old or Vedic Sanskrit.

Q5. As per Rigveda, why battles were fought?

Ans. Battles were fought for cattle, land, water and for capturing people.

Q6. What are Megaliths?

Ans. Stone boulders used to mark burial sites are known as megaliths.

Q7. Where was the page from a manuscript of the Rigveda found?

Ans. This manuscript of the Rigveda, on birch bark, was found in Kashmir.

Q8. Why yajnas or sacrifices were performed?

Ans. Yajnas or sacrifices were performed to please gods and goddesses.

Q9. Which language belongs to the Dravidian family?

Ans. Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam belong to the Dravidian family.

Q10. Which language belongs to the Tibeto-Burman family?

Ans. Language used in the north-east belongs to the Tibeto-Burman family.

Q11. Name the site where skeleton was found with 33 gold beads, 2 stone beads, 4 copper bangles, and one conch shell.

Ans. Brahmagiri

Q12. What is Sukta?

Ans. The Rigveda includes more than a thousand hymns, called sukta or “well-said”.

Q13. Name 4 Vedas.

Ans. There are four of them – the Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda.

Q14. What do people at Inamgaon ate?

Ans. People at Inamgaon ate wheat, barley, rice, pulses, millets, peas and sesame.

Q15. How were yajnas performed?

Ans. Yajnas were performed by offering ghee and grains into the fire in order to please god and goddesses.

Q16. How slaves were treated?

Ans. They were treated as the property of their owners, who could make them do whatever work they wanted.

Q17. Which language belongs to the Austro- Asiatic family?

Ans. The languages spoken in Jharkhand and parts of central India belong to the Austro-Asiatic family.

Q18. Where the practice of erecting megaliths was prevalent?

Ans. The practice of erecting megaliths was prevalent throughout the Deccan, south India, in the north-east and Kashmir.

Q19. Who was Charaka?

Ans. About 2000 years ago, there was a famous physician named Charaka who wrote a book on medicine known as the Charaka Samhita.