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12 History Revision Notes CH 03 PDF
12 History Revision Notes CH 03 PDF
Class 12 History
Part-I: CHAPTER 3
KINSSHIP, CASTE AND CLASS: Early Societies
(C 600 BCE-600 CE)
Revision Notes
1. Family varies in terms of numbers of members, their relationship with one another as
well as the kinds of activities they share.
2. People belonging to the same family share food and other resources, and live, work and
perform rituals together.
3. Families are usually parts of larger networks of people defined as relatives, or to use a
more technical term, kinfolk.
4. While familial ties are often regarded as “natural” and based on blood, they are defined
in many ways.
5. Historians also investigate and analyse attitudes towards family and kinship.
1. The concern with patriliny was not unique to ruling families. It is evident in mantras in
ritual texts such as the Rigveda.
2. It is possible that these attitudes were shared by wealthy men and those who claimed
high status, including Brahmanas.
Time Line 2
Major Land marks in the study of the Mahabharata
Twentieth
century
Time Line 1
Major Textual Traditions
c. 500
Ashtadhyayi of Panini, a work on Sanskrit grammar
BCE
c. 500-
Major Dharmasutras (in Sanskrit)
200 BCE
c. 500-
Early Buddhist texts including the tripitakan (in pali)
100 BCE
c. 500
BCE – Ramayana and Mahabharata (in Sanskrit)
400 CE
c. 200
Manusmriti (in sanskrit); composition and compilation of Tamil sangam
BCE –
literature
200 CE
c. 200 CE
Compilation of the puranas (in Sanskrit)
onwards
c. 300 –
Other Dharmashastras (in Sanskrit)
600 CE