Social Science (History) · CBSE Class 9 · NCERT ‘Understanding Society: India and Beyond’ · Notes, Solutions & 25 Quiz
Chapter 4 — Early Humans and Beginning of Civilisation (Notes · History)
This chapter traces human history from our earliest ancestors through the Stone Ages to the first Bronze Age civilisations. The period before writing is called prehistory and is known mainly through archaeological evidence (tools, fossils, cave art).
The Big Questions
How did humans live before civilisation? How did they communicate before writing? How is archaeology helpful? How did early civilisations interact?
Before and After Writing
More than 99% of human history (≈3 million–5,000 years ago) is prehistory — reconstructed from artefacts, with only approximate dating. The last 5,000 years (less than 1%) is the historical period — reconstructed from written documents plus material remains, with relatively accurate dating. Early scripts: the Harappan (Sindhu lipi, pictographic, not yet deciphered), Sumerian cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyphs (both deciphered, ~5,000 years ago). In India, the Brahmi script (from ~400 BCE) was formalised under Emperor Aśhoka.
Evolution & Human Ancestors
Biological evolution: gradual physical/genetic change from early ancestors (australopithecines) to modern Homo sapiens. Cultural evolution: how humans adapted (tools, technology) during the Quaternary Period. Humans evolved in Africa and migrated out. Ancestors: Homo habilis (‘handy man’, Olduvai Gorge, chopper tools) → Homo erectus (upright; handaxes & cleavers; first to leave Africa ~2 million yrs ago) → Homo neanderthalensis (Europe/SW Asia, flake tools) → Homo sapiens (evolved in Africa ~300,000 yrs ago; only human species alive today; developed complex technology). Tool-makers are called hominins; tools are ‘extra-corporal limbs’. Remains that turned to stone over ages are fossils.
Periods of Early Human History
• Palaeolithic (Old Stone Age) — hunting–gathering; simple stone tools.
• Mesolithic — microlithic (tiny) tools; transition between hunting-gathering and farming.
• Neolithic (New Stone Age) — shift to agriculture & settled life; domestication of animals; polished stone tools (the Neolithic Revolution).
• Chalcolithic (Copper-Stone Age) — copper + stone tools; early metallurgy.
• Bronze Age — bronze (copper + tin); trade, towns, early civilisations.
• Iron Age — iron metallurgy; stronger tools/weapons; more advanced societies.
Palaeolithic & Mesolithic in India
Oldest Indian settlements ~2 million yrs ago — Attirampakkam (Tamil Nadu, 1.5–1.7 m yrs), Isampur (Karnataka, 1.2 m yrs); handaxes, cleavers, scrapers, choppers (quartzite/limestone). Later: bow & arrow, blades/microblades, cave paintings and body pigments, beads. ~12,000 yrs ago the climate warmed (Mesolithic): a population boom, microlithic tools, fishing, and flourishing art — e.g., the World Heritage rock shelters of Bhimbetka (Madhya Pradesh).
The Neolithic Revolution & Sindhu–Sarasvatī roots
Gradual shift to a food-producing life: domestication of plants & animals, pottery, and the first villages (did NOT happen everywhere at the same time). In India, Mehrgarh (Bolan River, ~7000 BCE) is the oldest Neolithic/agricultural village — mud-brick houses, granaries, wheat/barley, sheep/goats/zebu cattle, and the first copper objects (Chalcolithic by ~4000 BCE). This led to the Bronze Age Sindhu–Sarasvatī (Harappan) civilisation (~3500/2600 BCE). Early Harappan features — pottery, beads, shell bangles, copper working, perimeter walls, seals, early script. (Kalibangan shows ploughed fields with cross-furrows — early double-cropping; Harappans used standard binary weights 1,2,4,8,16…)
Bronze Age Civilisations Outside India
Four early civilisations grew in river plains: Harappan (Sindhu–Sarasvatī), Mesopotamian (Euphrates–Tigris), Egyptian (Nile), Chinese (Huang He). Mesopotamia & the Indus were close, enabling trade; Egypt & China had little direct contact with India.
• Mesopotamia (‘land in between’, the Fertile Crescent): earliest city-based civilisation. Four city-states — Sumerian (first cities at Ur; canals & mud/burnt bricks; ziggurat temples; invented cuneiform writing ~3200 BCE, the wheel, sailboat, and the base-60 number system → 60-min hour, 360° circle), Akkadian (Sargon; world’s first dynastic empire; traded with Meluhha = the Harappans), Assyrian, and Babylonian (Hammurabi’s famous Code of Hammurabi law code).
• Egypt (Nile valley; land called Kemet): annual Nile floods left fertile mud; rulers were Pharaohs; pyramids (e.g., Step Pyramid at Saqqara) and mummification (belief in the ka); hieroglyphic script and papyrus; script deciphered via the Rosetta Stone (Champollion, 1822).
• China (Huang He & Yangtze): Shang & Zhou (Bronze Age) then Qin & Han (Iron Age); oracle bones (earliest records), logographic script, jade & bronze craft, the Great Wall, silk (→ the Silk Route), first paper currency and civil-service exams.
Before we move on: Prehistory is studied through archaeology; humans evolved in Africa and spread worldwide; the Palaeolithic→Mesolithic→Neolithic→Chalcolithic→Bronze→Iron sequence tracks technological progress; the Neolithic Revolution brought farming and villages; and Bronze Age civilisations (Harappan, Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Chinese) arose independently in fertile river valleys, developing writing, cities, trade and administration.
Key Terms
Hominin = modern humans + early human-like ancestors (tool makers); Fossil = preserved stone remains of past life; Old World = oldest human settlements of Africa/Asia/Europe; City-state = a sovereign state centred on a city; Cuneiform = Sumerian wedge-shaped writing on clay; Ziggurat = stepped temple-tower; Papyrus = Egyptian paper; Mummification = preserving the body for afterlife; Meluhha = Mesopotamian name for the Harappan region.
Textbook Solutions — Questions & Activities
Full model answers to the chapter’s ‘Questions and activities’, with map and project activities explained.
1Do you think life became easier or more challenging after humans started farming? Give two reasons.
Both. Easier: farming gave a steady, surplus food supply and let people settle in permanent villages instead of constantly moving. More challenging: it demanded hard, continuous labour (ploughing, sowing, harvesting, tending animals) and made people dependent on good weather and the monsoon — a drought or flood could destroy the crop. On balance, farming gave security but also new responsibilities and risks.
2The environment offers opportunities and challenges — explain with reference to early farming and river-valley civilisations.
Opportunities: fertile river plains (Indus, Nile, Euphrates–Tigris, Huang He) with water and rich alluvial soil allowed abundant crops, surplus food, trade and the growth of cities. Challenges: the same rivers could flood and destroy homes and crops, so people had to build dams, canals, bunds and reservoirs and cooperate to manage water — which in turn led to organised government and administration. So the environment both enabled and tested early societies.
3Why do historians divide early human history into Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages? What does this tell us about progress?
The division is based mainly on the material and technology used for tools — stone, then bronze (copper+tin), then iron. Each new material made tools and weapons stronger and more efficient, which improved farming, craft, trade and defence. So the classification shows human progress as a story of growing technological mastery and more complex societies over time.
4Imagine you are a Neolithic farmer. Describe one day. What challenges would you face that a hunter-gatherer would not?
Answer will vary. A Neolithic day: wake in a mud-brick village, tend crops (sow/weed/harvest wheat or barley), look after sheep, goats and cattle, grind grain, make pottery and store food in granaries. New challenges vs a hunter-gatherer: you must stay in one place and protect your fields, livestock and stored grain from pests, thieves and animals; you depend on weather/rain for the harvest; and you must do hard, repetitive labour all season — a hunter-gatherer simply moved on to new resources.
5Imagine the Harappan script is deciphered tomorrow. What new information might historians learn?
We could finally read the Harappans’ own words and learn their language, names of people, rulers and places, their beliefs and religion, their laws and administration, details of trade and the economy, and their literature or records — turning the Harappans from a ‘prehistoric’ people known only through objects into a people whose thoughts and society we understand directly.
6Table: Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic — tools, settlements, art, subsistence.
Palaeolithic: tools = large stone handaxes, cleavers, scrapers, choppers; settlements = caves/open camps (nomadic); art = cave paintings (later); subsistence = hunting & gathering. Mesolithic: tools = tiny microliths, bow & arrow, bone points; settlements = temporary camps near rivers/lakes (caves, rock shelters like Bhimbetka); art = flourishing rock art; subsistence = hunting small game + fishing. Neolithic: tools = polished stone tools, grinding stones; settlements = permanent villages (mud-brick houses, granaries); art = pottery, weaving, ornaments; subsistence = agriculture & domestication of animals.
7“Bronze Age civilisations developed independently but shared common features.” Examine.
They arose separately in different river valleys with no single origin, yet shared striking common features: they all grew in fertile river plains, produced surplus food, built planned cities, developed writing (cuneiform, hieroglyphs, Harappan script, Chinese logographs), used bronze metallurgy, practised trade, and had organised administration and social hierarchy. This shows that similar conditions (rivers + farming surplus) led different peoples to independently build complex urban civilisations.
8Rivers gave benefits but also challenges — discuss advantages and disadvantages of settling near rivers.
Advantages: fresh water for drinking, farming and animals; fertile alluvial soil for crops; rivers as routes for trade and transport; fish and other resources. Disadvantages: floods could destroy homes, crops and lives; rivers could change course or dry up (as the Sarasvatī did); and waterlogging or disease could follow. So people had to build water-management systems and flood defences to enjoy the benefits safely.
9Find out about the Code of Hammurabi. Why was it important? Was it fair to all? Give reasons.
The Code of Hammurabi (Babylon, King Hammurabi, ~1792 BCE) was one of the earliest written sets of laws for civil and social conduct, inscribed in cuneiform. It was important because it created common, publicly known rules and became a model for later legal systems. However, it was not fully fair — punishments depended on social class (a noble, a commoner and a slave were treated differently), so it reflected the inequalities of Babylonian society rather than equal justice for all.
10Choose one major innovation from early civilisations that changed the world permanently. Which and why?
Answer will vary. A strong choice is writing (cuneiform/hieroglyphs/scripts): it let people record information, trade, laws, history and ideas and pass knowledge across generations and distances — making organised states, accurate dating and literature possible, and permanently transforming how humans store and share knowledge. (Other valid choices: agriculture, the wheel, metallurgy.)
11Compare the social hierarchy and daily life of Egypt with Mesopotamia or China.
Similarities: all were strongly hierarchical — a ruler at the top (Pharaoh / king-priests / kings & nobles), then officials, priests, merchants and artisans, and labourers/serfs or slaves at the bottom; most people farmed and some practised crafts and trade. Differences (Egypt): ruled by a god-like Pharaoh, built pyramids and practised mummification, and Egyptian women had relatively more rights (could own property). Mesopotamia centred life on the ziggurat temple; China chose officials through examinations and used oracle bones. (Answers may vary.)
12-13Activities — map of rivers/civilisations & trade links; scrapbook/presentation on one civilisation.
These are map and project activities (answers vary): (12) on a map mark the Sindhu–Sarasvatī (Indus), Euphrates–Tigris (Mesopotamia), Nile (Egypt) and Huang He (China), and draw the trade links (e.g., Meluhha–Mesopotamia via Dilmun/Magan); (13) make a scrapbook or presentation on one civilisation (Mesopotamia, Egypt or China) showing its innovations in tools, writing, art and architecture with pictures and their significance.