Answer key

Ch 5
The first Kingdom
6. (a) The 6th century BCE is regarded as a turning point in
history of India as it saw the emergence of new and powerful
kingdoms and cities and growth of diverse thoughts like
Buddhism and Jainism.

(b) Janas were the tribal which existed in 6th century BC and
began to live a settled life and practised agriculture.
C) When the janapadas gained more importance and power they
came to be called Mahajanapadas.
(d) The settlements of the janas expanded further with economic
prosperity and came to be known as janapadas
E)The use of iron implements for agriculture resulted in surplus
production. This led to increased economic prosperity which
encouraged the people to expand futher.
(f) The Vedic, Jain and Buddhist literature of the 6 century BCE
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provides the proof of existence of the sixteen mahajanapadas.

(g) Not important
(h) The four powerful kingdom were Vatsa, Kosala, Avanti and
Magadha. (i) The two important republics of the 6 th century BC
were the shakyas and Lichchhavis.
(a) Five causes for the rise of Magadha were as follows
(1) Magadha progressed because it was the most powerful and
thus, became the first empire of India.
(ii) The rulers of Magadha were capable.
(iii) They used all possible ways like wars and conquests to
enlarge their kingdom.
(iv) It was surrounded by five hills and couldn’t be
penetrated easily.
(v) Magadha lay at the centre of middle Gangetic plain-a very
fertile area. Geographically, its capital Pataliputra (Modern
Patna) was surrounded by the rivers on almost all sides; it was
well protected from outer enemies.
(b) The position of the king in the kingdom of 6 BC was highly
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regarded. He was a monarch or the head of the state and the

hereditary ruler with the throne passing from father to son. He
had a large army together with diverse sources of revenue.
C) The rulers of Magadha used all possible ways like wars and
conquests, taxes from adjoining areas, marriage alliances, etc. to
enlarge their kingdom.
d) not important
E) not important
f) not important
G)The coins made in India were called 'punch marked coins'
because they were punched with images such as tree, fish, bull,
elephant, etc. The introduction of money-economy led to the
growth of trade and commerce.
(h) The two main differences between Republics and
Monarchies were the following:
(i) Monarchies were ruled by a single monarch who was the sole
decision maker while Republics functioned under the care of
assemblies which were controlled by a group of powerful
people.
(Ii) In the monarchy,only the king maintained a regular army but
in republic day each Raja had his own independent army.