Compressed

Developed by the National Curriculum and Textbook Board as a textbook according
to the National Curriculum 2022 for Class Six from the academic year 2023
History and Social Science

Class Six
Experimental version
Writers
Abul Momen
Professor M. Shahidul Islam
Professor Sharmind Neelormi
Professor Dr. Aksadul Alam
Dr. Debasish Kumar Kundu
Dr. Sumera Ahsan
Muhammad Rakibul Hasan Khan
Rayhan Ara Zaman
Jarin Akther
Dr. Mir Abu Saleh Shamsuddin
Siddique Belal
Uma Bhattacharjee
Muhommod Nijam
Sanjida Ara
Editors
Abul Momen
Professor Dr. Aksadul Alam
Translated by
Nira Rahman
Md. Ali RezwanTalukdar
Md. Habibur Rahman
Abu Ula Muhd. Hasinul Islam
National Curriculum and Textbook Board, Bangladesh

Published by:
National Curriculum and Textbook Board
69-70, Motijheel Commercial Area, Dhaka 1000
[All rights reserved by National Curriculum and Textbook Board, Bangladesh]
Published: December, 2022

Reprint: , 2023
Art direction
Monjur Ahmed
Illustration
Yusuf Ali Noton
Pramathesh Das Pulak
Bivol Saha
Tamanna Tasnim Supti
Cover
Yusuf Ali Noton
Graphics
Md. Ruhul Amin
Md. Rasel Hossain
For Free Distribution by the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh

Printed by:
Preface
In this ever-changing world, the concept of livelihood is altering every moment. The advancement of
technology, in accordance with knowledge and skill, has accelerated the pace of change. There is no
alternative to adapting to this fast changing world. The reason is, the development of technology is at its
zenith compared to any time in the human history. In the fourth industrial revolution era, the advancement
of artificial intelligence has brought a drastic change in our employment and lifestyles and this will make
the relationship among people more and more intimate. Varied employment opportunities will be created
in near future which we cannot even predict at this moment. We need to take preparation right now so that
we can adapt ourselves to that upcoming future.
Although a huge economic development has taken place throughout the world, the problems of climate
change, air pollution, migrations and ethnic violence have become much more intense than before. The
epidemic like COVID 19 has appeared and obstructed the normal lifestyle and economic growth of the
world. Different challenges and opportunities have been added to our daily life.
Standing on the verge of these challenges and possibilities, implementation of sustainable and effective
solutions is required for the transformation of our large population into a resource. It entails global citizens
with knowledge, skill, values, vision, positive attitude, sensitivity, capability to adapt, humanity and
patriotism. Amidst all these, Bangladesh has graduated into a developing nation from the underdeveloped
periphery and is continuously trying to achieve the desired goals in order to become a developed country
by 2041. Education is one of the pivotal instruments to attain the goals and there is no alternative to
the modernization of our education system. Developing an effective and updated curriculum has become
crucial for this modernization.
Developing and revising the curriculum is a regular and vital activity of National Curriculum and Textbook
Board. The last revision of the curriculum was done in 2012. Since then, a lot of time has passed. The
necessity of curriculum revision and development has emerged. For this purpose, various research and
technical exercises were conducted under the supervision of NCTB during the year 2017 to 2019 to analyze
the prevalent situation of education and assess the learning needs. Based on the researches and technical
exercises, a competency-based incessant curriculum from K-12 has been developed to create a competent
generation to survive in the new world situation.
In the light of the competency based curriculum, the textbooks have been prepared for all streams
(General, Madrasah and Vocational) of learners for Class Six. The authentic experience driven contents
of this textbook were developed in such a way that teaching learning becomes comprehensible and full of
merriment. This will connect textbooks with various life related phenomenon and events that are constantly
taking place around us. This is to be mentioned here that this textbook has already been refined through a
logical evaluation by the writers and the subject specialists after collecting opinion from the teachers and
students via an interim tryout. We hope that learning will be profound and life-long now.
Issues like gender, ethnicity, religion, caste, the disadvantaged and students with special needs have been
taken into special consideration while developing the textbook. I would like to thank all who have put their
best efforts in writing, editing, illustrating and publishing the textbook.
If any one finds any errors or inconsistencies in this experimental version and has any suggestions for
improving its quality, we kindly ask them to let us know.
Professor Md. Farhadul Islam

Chairman
National Curriculum and Textbook Board, Bangladesh
Introduction
Welcome to the new class in the new year. Congratulations to you!
Enrollment in Class Six means you are entering secondary level after completing the primary education.
We are waiting for you with a new learning approach. In this new approach, you do not have to run
after examinations and good marks any longer. You do not have to just know the probable questions
for examinations and spend time looking for the answers. From now on, it is not your principal duty
to memorise answers. Your parents also do not have to worry about effective tutors, coaching centers,
guidebooks, your exams and question papers. There will be no need to spend a lot of money for nothing.
We know that every one of you has a fresh mind and a very active brain. You have not only the power of
imagination but also sharp intellect with which you discover different ways of thinking. All of you are
born with some other faculties like the mind and brain. We want to talk about these in particular. We are
talking about human senses. You have already known that we all have five special organs – eyes, ears,
nose, tongue and skin. These organs function as the senses. We see with the eyes and this power is called
eyesight while the organ is called visual sensory organ. Similarly, we hear with the ears and these are
auditory organs. We smell with the nose which is the olfactory organ. We taste with the tongue and it is
the gustatory organ. We feel touches with the skin and it is the tactile organ. They help us to recognize,
understand and know something. This is why these senses are very important.
Together with all these assets each of you have –
Perpetual vitality
Limitless curiosity
Immense ability to enjoy, and
A natural tendency to wonder.
Modern educational specialists believe that the stress of examinations and memorization of answers
hinders the development of these natural abilities. Rather, students need to use these abilities for learning
new things, and this only can give good results.
You are surely getting the notion about your own work after hearing these views. Of course, you are
going to enjoy a lot of freedom in this system. However, do not forget that you have to take responsibility
to enjoy your freedom. After all, study is your own job; it is for yourself. You will do your own work;that
is a very good thing.
The reality is, when you succeed in something, you can understand how much joy it brings. Therefore,
learning in the new way will be a joyful journey, an expedition. In Rabindranath’s songs, we find a
joyous melody of a journey. Education is the joyous song of an expedition that continues while you
walk along humming a melody. You have just enrolled in Class Six. You have gained experience from
lessons in Class Five. Many of the lessons in the new class will be new, with many things unknown. This
journey will be like an expedition for the unknown and new things. You will know, learn and do a lot
while overcoming the challenges on the way. You will get endless joy as well.
This does not require any additional cost. It is because you have your own mighty tools in your arsenal
to meet challenges – curiosity, wonder, vitality, and the ability to be joyful. The senses play a supportive
role in this process. The fun is that these are not like money – instead of being spent, these always grow.
These are the resources of your mind and so the more you practice, the more they will shine, the more
efficient they will be. Moreover, these will inspire you to uncover new abilities. Intellect is the first to
call. You have to use your own intellect; you have to think. You need logic to think right. This is an area
for practice – if you cultivate intellect, it will increase. You may have seen that if you prune the branches
and leaves of some trees, the trees grow better and give more fruits. You need to sharpen your mind,
sharpen your logic. Also, the senses have to be kept alert to increase their abilities.
In this way, you will conquer the unknown. You will keep on spreading light in the darkness, and you will
not even notice when many things have been grasped. Let this journey towards victory begin!
Index
MY different Identity 1-25
Active Citizens Club 26-31
Ways of Knowing History 32-35
Looking Around through the Lens of Science 36-49
Influence of Landform on the History of the Bengal Region 50-62
Influence of Landform on South Asian and World History 63-73
Nature Conservation Activity 74-81
Muktijuddha in Our Locality 82-104

The Emergence of Independent Bangladesh in the Bengal
Region after a Journey of Millennia
105-113
Book Reading Programme 114-116
Natural and Social Structures 117-133

The interrelation between natural and social structures, and
our responsibilities
134-154
Society and Resources 155-165
Appendix 166-175
MY different Identity
First Class of the New Year: A Game of Introduction with Friends
There are many new faces in Class Six. Most of them are not familiar with one another.
Everyone is thrilled and anxious to be in such an unfamiliar environment. Everyone is
trying to guess which person to be befriended. They are keenly observing each other’s
faces, clothing styles, and manners of speaking. Ayesha is sitting quietly alone on a
bench in the front row. At this time, the teacher enters the classroom and addresses the
class, ‘My name is Khurshida Haque and everybody calls me Khushi Apa. I am your
subject teacher of History and Social Science.’
Now Khushi Apa says to everyone in Class Six, ‘I wholeheartedly welcome you to the
first lesson in Class Six.’
She keeps going, ‘I have somewhat given you my introduction already. Now, it’s my
turn to get to know you. I am thinking of getting to know you in a new way. Let us
divide ourselves into small groups and do the following task –
● Let each of us take a paper card at first.
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● Now, to introduce ourselves, let us write on the card such information that no one
can guess just by looking at us. Remember, we will not write our names on the
card.’ When all finish writing, Khushi Apa collects all the cards. Then she randomly
picks one card and reads aloud the information written on the card to the class. At
the same time, she asks who, according to the description, the learner might be.
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Identity Card
I love to read books. I like to explore new things a lot. I am very inquisitive about
human beings and nature around us. I have won an award in a debate competition.
I like to swim. I want to be a scientist when I grow up.
After listening to this description, everyone starts to look at each other. They start to
reflect on and contemplate the attributes their classmates possess instead of observing
and judging their facial expressions, outfits or conversational styles. Based on their
initial understanding, they select Nasir, Ayesha, Joy and Mili. Khushi Apa exclaims with
surprise, ‘Wow! There is just one Identity Card but you have selected four persons.’
Khushi Apa then wants to know, ‘Whose card was this?’ Mili says that it is hers. The
other three are delighted to know that they are not alone but there are others who have
similar interests like them. As a result, they soon become friends with each other. After
this, Khushi Apa keeps reading from some other identity cards.
Identity Card
I like to travel around a lot. I like to go to the sea as it is much favourite to me. Blue
is my favourite colour. I enjoy playing cricket a lot. When I grow up, I want to be a
cricketer.
Our similarities and differences

Every time, one identity card can help find people with similar interests. That is when
Khushi Apa wants to know, ‘Why does one identity card help you to find more than
one of your classmates with similar personalities and interests?’ Then everybody in the
class replies ‘Because we all have some similarities with others.’ Khushi Apa keeps
asking, ‘Now, tell me about how you feel the way we get to know each other?’ Nasir
replies, ‘I liked it a lot. It’s because we now understand even if we have many apparent
differences, we have a lot of similarities as well.’ He also keeps saying, ‘At the same
time, we get to know such important attributes about each other within a very short
period of time, which otherwise, would have taken a long time to explore.’ In reply,
Khushi Apa adds, ‘We will keep reading from the rest of the identity cards at beginning
of our lesson every day.’
Who am I?
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At this moment of the lesson, Khushi Apa reiterates what she has discussed so far and
says ‘The objective of our activity has been to get introduced to each other. I am sure
you have noticed that we have used a different approach for self-introduction to others.
People can highlight different sides of themselves for self-introduction based on the
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situations. All of which are integral parts of our Identity. Many other factors like this
help us to construct the identity of a society and a nation.
Do you want to know the process of how we construct our identity? Throughout the
year, we will keep doing many interesting and fascinating activities like what we have
done today. It will be an exciting learning journey for us. In this journey, we will
explore how people survived the challenges against nature in the past; how people
contributed to the development and advancement of the civilisations over time while
creating the concepts of families, societies, legal systems, and states. Through all these
activities, the identity of the people of this land has been constructed and realised over
the period of time.’ Khushi Apa delightfully adds here, ‘To explore and to understand
the concept of self-identity thoroughly, we will keep doing many interesting activities
and learn gradually. Let us start our exploration.’
Khushi Apa now writes the word Self-Identity on the board and asks for everyone’s
attention, saying, ‘What do you understand by this word?’ Shuvo replies, ‘Self-Identity
is such a subject through which we get to explore the answer to the question ‘Who am
I?’’ Mili adds, ‘What we have written on our self-introduction card so far is a part of
our Self-Identity.’
Following Khushi Apa’s idea and instruction, let us play the ‘self-introduction’ game
with our friends in the neighbourhood
My Identity
On the following day, Khushi Apa says, Do we want to know the personal identity of
others? Mili adds, ‘At the same time we want to prepare the identity cards for some
noteworthy personalities like Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman, Begum Rokeya.
Let us prepare identity charts of the prominent and notable individuals

It is time to discover the different aspects of identities of some prominent and
notable individuals. First, let us read the brief biography of the Father of the Nation
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Then, let us develop his identity chart as a
practice task. Now, let us divide into groups and read the biography of Bangabandhu.
And we will underline the words related to his attributes and personal characteristics.
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These words/phrases will help us prepare his identity chart. After preparing the table
students presentation in a group and then they hang it on the wall so that it can be
seen from anywhere in the classroom. Finally, various aspects of the prominents were
discussed.
3
Mujib in His Childhood
1.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. You are familiar with this name.
You must have heard the name numerous times before.
You must have seen his numerous photographs too. You
can select one of his photographs and get it framed with
the help of the elders.
You can place it on your reading table; or you can hang it
on the wall. Else, you can hang it in a beautiful place at
your house.
People fondly call him Bangabandhu. So, we call him
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Write his name correctly at the bottom of the photograph you selected, and then write two dates
- 17 March 1920 and 15 August 1975.
Can you tell why you write these two dates? Many of you may guess that the first one is the day
he was born and the second one is the day he got killed.
He is our Father of the Nation.
Do you know why we call him the Father of the Nation?
He led our liberation war against Pakistan. He never backed out or stepped back in fear. He
was ready to sacrifice his life for the nation. He never wanted anything for himself, nor did he
care for his own life ever. He was not shaken a bit by their conspiracies, tortures and lawsuits.
Citizens have never seen such a leader before. Therefore, everyone responded to his call. Do
you know that Bengalis had never fought any significant battle earlier? It was Bangabandhu
who unified the whole nation and transformed it into a nation of heroes. It would have never
been possible without him. So, who else can be the Father of the Nation?
Let us read about how he was in his childhood.
2.
Tungipara is a village in Bangladesh. There is a river in this village known as Madhumati. It
was a remote and quiet village surrounded by paddy fields, ponds, lakes, marshes, bushes and
woodlands. It was a calm and secluded village in Bengal. Like any other villages, plenty of fish
was also found there while the chirping of birds filled its ambiance. The cattle used to graze in
the fields. There were brick-built houses, mud-built shanties with tin rooftops, bamboo-fenced
shacks, and small huts made of vannya (a locally grown castor bean plant) leaves. Neither there
was electricity nor properly paved roads for transport facilities. People used to travel on foot. But
there were boats of different sizes and shapes.
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On 17 March 1920, Mujib was born to Sheikh Lutfar Rahman and Sayera Khatun. Everyone
in the family was very excited when he was born. He was named Mujibur Rahman; ‘Sheikh’
was added before as a family name. His parents used to call him Khoka and thus it became his
nickname. Khoka was gradually growing up in Tungipara with her mother. Since childhood,
he was interested in sports. He had a children’s team, and he was the leader. Sometimes, they
used to pick mangoes from different orchards, or pluck flowers from gardens, or sometimes
4
they used to play together in groups. Once he started playing football. Khoka was a quite good
player.
The child Mujib was admitted to a school in his village. After completing Grade Three, his
father brought Mujib to Gopalganj town with him for further education. Sheikh Lutfar Rahman
was working there for the government.
So, from the calm and serene village, Mujib moved to Gopalganj to study in a high school
there. To move to the town, he had to leave his friends, and the familiar atmosphere of the
village that was surrounded by lakes, ponds, greenery and marshes, and filled with the warmth
of love and tenderness of his mother. He got admitted to the Fourth Grade of Gopalganj High
School and used to stay with his father.
He used to travel back to the village only at the weekends or during the long vacation. At
first, it was challenging for him to stay away from his mother and from the familiar village
atmosphere, however, he settled gradually with the time. He also made new friends there in
Gopalganj town.
Even as a child, Mujib was never just occupied with his studies and exams. He always had
multiple interests and got engaged in different activities. Sports were one of his biggest interests.
Football topped that list. He wrote about this when he grew up ‘I was quite mischievous and
playful when I was a child. I used to sing, I used to play. I was good at observing Bratachari.’
Can you imagine our Bangabandhu was able to sing! We got to know from his biography
that he was very fond of music all along his life. If you read his autobiography Osomapto
Attyajiboni (ʻAmgvß AvZ¥Rxebxʼ - in English The Unfinished Memoirs), you will get to know
many things about his life. You should definitely read it when you grow up.
3.
Everything changed suddenly. Such a high-spirited, lively kid Mujib got infected with a serious
disease known as Beriberi. The name of the disease may sound funny, but it is a severe illness.
Everyone became anxious about his health. At that time, he had to take a two-year break from
his studies for the treatment. He used to go to Kolkata to visit doctors and the rest of the time he
stayed in his village. Gradually he recovered from the illness through the care of his mother and
aunts. After two years he might have had recovered from beriberi, but he developed glaucoma
- an eye disease. Beriberi weakened his heart condition. Now his eye sights were affected by
glaucoma. He continued his treatment in Kolkata, which was the then capital of undivided
Bengal. It was the centre of all amenities like good doctors and hospitals, markets and shops,
schools and colleges.
He fell behind in his studies due to illness. In 1936, he returned to school to resume his studies.
Then he was admitted to the Madaripur High School as in the meantime, his father was
transferred to Madaripur. Here also he worked as a goverment official.At that time, Mujib again
developed his eye disease. The doctors at Kolkata advised an immediate surgery. Any kind of
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delay could cause blindness, they feared. Therefore, surgery had to be done instantaneously. He
had to take eyeglasses right after the surgery. Since then, that is from the age of 15/16 years, he
had to always wear glasses.
It was 1937 when he could resume his education in full swing after the successive illness.
Mujib did not want to go back to his old school as all his friends academically went much
5
ahead of him by then. At that time, he continued his study at home under a tutor. As his home
tutor, Mujib’s father appointed Kazi Abdul Hamid who was a MSc. In those days, it was quite
a common practice in many families who were interested in education and aspire to educating
their children. Besides teaching Mujib, Mr. Hamid formed ‘Muslim Seba Samiti’.
On behalf of ‘Muslim Seba Samiti’, young Mujib along with his friends used to collect rice
from different households. Then they used to sell it in the market to raise funds to buy books or
to pay for exam fees and other related things for the poor students. It was very unfortunate that
Mr. Hamid fell sick and died suddenly. However, he trained a capable disciple, Mujib. He had
already developed the deep interest to help and support others.
Did you notice the qualities of young Mujib? He was courageous. He had empathy for the
poor. Besides, he had the leadership qualities while he was very responsible and devoted to his
duties.
4.
The events in 1938 cannot be overlooked here. A. K. Fazlul Huq (1873-1962), who hailed from
Barishal. was the first Bengali Muslim politician who had conquered the minds of the general
mass. People respectfully named him Sher-e-Bangla (Tiger of Bengal). He was tall and strong.
He was the Prime Minister of Bengal. Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy (1892-1963) was another
notable politician at that time. He was a very prominent leader and the then Labour Minister. A
conference was decided to be arranged with the eminent political leaders. Along with it, there
would be an exhibition to display local agricultural products and other handicrafts. Mujib was
the leader of the volunteers who would organise the conference.
Everything ends well. After the conference, when the leaders were about to leave, Mujib
approached them and placed a demand to repair the school hostel rooftop as students used to
suffer a lot during the rainy season because of the leaking rooftop. His teachers were not only
overwhelmed by his courage but also became a bit petrified thinking the leaders might get
upset. However, the true leaders might have had seen the qualities of a future leader in him.
He was actively engaged in social works and sports while he was progressing towards the end
of his school education. Eventually, the time for his Entrance Exam or Matriculation Exam,
which nowadays we call Secondary School Certificate (SSC) Examination arrived. In 1941,
Mujib passed the matriculation. Then he started college education in Kolkata. While studying
in Calcutta (now Kolkata), his scope of work had expanded a lot. You will know those things of
his life in the chapter “Muktijuddha in Our Locality” and in the next Grade as well.
Let me prepare my identity chart
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Bangabandhu
6
Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain: A Pioneer of Women’s Awakening
Can we even imagine the scenarios where
women are confined to their households, or
they do not have the opportunity to study,
or they have no connection with the wider
world, or as if just the small room within the
four walls were their whole world? However,
once this was the usual reality for women.
Their life was confined between the walls. In
such insufferable social environment, Begum
Rokeya was born on 9 December in 1880.
Rokeya was born in a respectable family.
They had a zamindar (a landlord) House
in Pairaband in Rangpur. That house
possessed approximately 300 bighas (unit of
measurement of the area of land) of land. Her father Jahiruddin Muhammad Abu Ali
Saber was the last zamindar of their ancestry. Her mother’s name was Rahatunnesa
Chowdhury. Rokeya was their fourth child among the five children. Everyone in their
family called her Ruku.
Rokeya was growing up lavishly in the zamindar family where they had several maids
to look after them. However, her childhood was not pleasant at all. Who would like the
life of a caged bird? As young girls, they are not allowed to go in front of males. They
were not even allowed to go in front of the female visitors.
Her eldest brother Ibrahim Saber was excellent in reciting poetries. Rokeya’s elder
sister Karimunnesa had a great interest in education. Ibrahim used to teach her in secret.
Once his father and other people came to know about it. Though their father did not
object, society opposed this strongly and totally disapproved it. As a result, it became
very difficult to arrange marriage for Karimunnesa and she had to stop her studies.
Even after this incident, Karimunnesa introduced Bangla alphabet to Rokeya. Her eldest
brother taught her English ignoring all the imposed restrictions. When all the members
of the family fell asleep, Ibrahim and Ruku used to study by lighting up a candle. In this
way, Rokeya learnt Bangla and English along with Arabic, Farsi (Persian), and Urdu.
This was the beginning of her journey to go further breaking all sorts of obstacles.
At the age of 18, Rokeya was married to Khan Bahadur Syed Sakhawat Hossain. Deputy
magistrate Sakhawat was 40 years old then. Though he was born into a poverty-stricken
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family in Bihar, he overcame poverty of his own accord. He was a very humble person.
He was a non-Bengali and learnt Bangla from his classmates of Hooghly College.
Everyone in the family liked him as Rokeya’s husband, as he was a man with strong
ethics and morals.
After the wedding, Rokeya came to Bhagalpur with her husband. The predicament of
the Muslim women even there saddened her. She strongly felt that if women were not
7
enlightened through education, they would never be able to break the barriers. She used
to often consult with her husband about it.
With the help of her husband, Rokeya improved her skills in the English language
significantly. He used to give Rokeya English books and periodicals to read. Therefore,
Rokeya could help her husband in his government job. Right after their marriage, she
became the mother of two daughters. Unfortunately, they died at an early age. In the
meantime, during her free time, she wrote a story titled ‘Sultana’s Dream’, Sakhawat
Hossain sent it to a periodical and without any revision, it got published.
At that time Sakhawat Hossain fell sick. He thought that if he died suddenly, Rokeya
would become very lonely.
That is why he thought of establishing a girls’ school. From his savings, he kept ten
thousand taka aside for establishing the school. Soon after, he died on 3 May in 1909.
After five months of her husband’s death, Rokeya established ‘Sakhawat Memorial
School’ in Bhagalpur. At the beginning, there were only five students. Due to some
family issues, she had to leave Bhagalpur and move to kolkata. And there at number
13 Waliullah Lane on 16 March 1911, the Sakhawat Memorial Girls’ School got
permanently established by Begum Rokeya. Though it started with just eight female
students, gradually the number got increased.
Rokeya did not have any institutional degree. Despite this, she did all the administrative
and academic work flawlessly. She said, ‘Not just the education based on books, our
main objective is to motivate the girls to serve others, serve the nation and dedicate
their lives in the service of the society.’
Rokeya continued with her literary work besides running the school. She wrote poems,
short stories, novels and essays. Truth and justice were the predominant themes her
writing. In her essays, she blatantly and fearlessly criticised the injustice and cruelty
imposed on women in the society.
In 1916, Rokeya established Anjuman-e-Khawateen-e-Islam or Muslim Mahila Samiti
(Muslim Women’s Society). The purpose of this society was to establish women’s role
in the society and the state.
In her life, Rokeya took women’s education as a vow. In her literary works also, she
wanted to reiterate this philosophy and values. She wanted to say over and over again
in her writing that women need to wake up, otherwise no emancipation is possible.
Her other ideal was integrity. She said, ‘Truth, whether you like it or not, we should
understand it, search for it and accept it.’
It was December 9 in 1932. It was her 52nd birthday. She woke up very early in the
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morning and performed her ablution. Suddenly, she felt chest pain. Within a very short
time it got worse and she passed away.
Rokeya is no longer with us, but she left values, beliefs and her glorious legacies around
the development of women in society. Self-dignity, firm determination, knowledge and
8
perseverance are needed for the development of women. Only education can bring such
achievement.
Let us make separate identity charts of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman and Begum Rokeya based on their brief biography.
Now, arrange a debate or a discussion session with your friends at your home or at your
locality on this.
Personal Identity Chart
This time Khushi Apa shows an interesting picture to the class. It is a circular chart.
In this chart, there are spaces where we can write about ourselves. Everybody in the
class writes about themselves in those given spaces. At the end, it becomes a personal
identity chart for each of us.
gs
m bers of siblin Make a
list o
Nu f sib
e s li n g
c ipl s ac
in c
l pr
ord
ona
ing
Pers
to
the d
Write three adjectives that describe
ate of
lor
you
Favourite co
bir
th Favourite food
1.
2.
y
rite hob
3.
u
F avo
Name:
The skill
k
boo
st
at y
h
e
urit o are
ou
Fav o ud o pr
e film f Fav
Favourit ourite song
Now, looking at the answers written on the charts by everyone, Khushi Apa conducts
an open discussion. She says, ‘Have you noticed that the identity of a person doesn’t
depend only on one or two aspects; rather it is multidimensional. It’s quite natural that
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everyone’s personal identity chart will be a unique one. While we have many similarities
with our close friends, we have many differences as well. Therefore, despite personal
differences, people can become good friends.’
Let us fill up the circular identity chart above and find answers to the questions there. Then,
share it to our classmates.
9
Social Identity
In the meantime, we have learned about our identity. Now, we are going to learn about
social identity.
Women’s Football
The next day Khushi Apa asks the class, ‘Do you like football?’
Fatema, Deepa, Nasir, Harun, Bushra, everyone shout in a body, ‘Yes! We do!’
Khushi Apa says, ‘Today we are going to talk about football.’ Everybody claps in joy.
Khushi Apa asks them to read a newspaper report on the football match between
Bangladesh and India under 19 women’s football teams. The students in the class form
groups of 5/6 members. They start reading the match report in groups and become
excited to know how Bangladeshi girls performed very well to be the winning side.
Bangladeshi girls beat India & clinch the championship trophy

Wednesday (22 December): Bangladesh Alongside the Indians, the crossbar became
defends the championship title in the another opponent to the Bangladesh team.
SAFF U-19 Women’s Championship An attack from a throw in the 25th minute
final match by defeating India at was blocked by the side post. In the first
Kamalapur Birshrestha Shahid Shipahi minute of the second half, Shamsunnahar
Mohammad Mostafa Kamal Stadium. Jr’s shot also failed as the bar post stood as
From the beginning, the Bangladesh an obstacle.
team played attacking football and
dominated the match. Bangladesh could But Bangladesh didn’t have to return empty-
have taken lead in the 16th minute of handed in the final of the first under-19
the match. Indian goalkeeper missed women’s football championship.
gripping the ball. The goalkeeper Though Bangladesh team was doing better in
saved Tahura’s shot on the goal line. ball possession and intercepting, the desired
Bangladesh team demanded that the score was not yet within their reach. In the
ball crossed the line. But the referee 79th minute, Anai Mogini earned the lead
didn’t respond to their call. Later on, the for Bangladesh. Ripa made a back-hill pass.
replay showed the ball was on the line. Anai Mogini made a long shot from outside
In the 76th minute of the match, the ball the box. The Indian goalkeeper couldn’t
crossed the goal line and reached the understand the flight. She was able to touch
net. However, it was signaled offside by the ball but couldn’t stop it from crossing
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the assistant referee and wasn’t counted. the goal line. Right then, the crowd in
Kamalapur stadiu m started the celebration.
The match ended with this solitary goal
victory by the Bangladeshi side.
10
Reading the report, all of them feel quite excited and they request Khushi Apa to arrange
the video of the match for them to watch. Khushi Apa smiles and says, ‘That’s a good
idea! But we don’t have enough time to see the full match. All of us together can watch
the match highlights in the class.’ Then they eagerly start enjoying the final match of
SAFF U-19 Women’s Championship 2021 between Bangladesh and India.
Similarity-dissimilarity game and football
‘Now, we are going to find answers to some questions,’ says Khushi Apa. ‘We will
discuss in groups why we supported the Bangladeshi girls.’
Everybody in the class talks about their similarities with Bangladeshi women footballers,
However, they also find some dissimilarities with the women footballers.
Though we are different, we are one
Khushi Apa then shows the photos of Bangladeshi under-19 women footballers from
the textbook. All the students get to know Maria, Anai, Rituparna, Tahura, Ankhi, and
others.
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Bangladesh under-19 women’s football team
11
চ্্যযাম্পিয়নশিপ
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12
Khushi Apa encourages all to find the similarities and dissimilarities among the women
footballers. With much enthusiasm, everybody in groups starts reading the introductions
to the players, and also looks at their photos.
Nazifa: Hey friends, we can list the similarities and dissimilarities between us and the
players.
Nasir: Let’s do it together. Our list will help us record the similarity- dissimilarity chart.
All of them agree happily and make the following chart to understand the similarities
and dissimilarities.
Chart: The similarity-dissimilarity chart
Topic Similarity Dissimilarity
Nationality
Culture
Language
Geographical identity
Gender
Ethnicity
National anthem
National flag
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National symbol
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Our ethnic identity
Khushi Apa: Today we will do an interesting thing. Before that, have a look at the
photos given below.
Chakma Garo Marma Saontal
Hajang Manipuri Tanchangya Bangali

Khuship Apa asks: What do you individually think of the photographs?
Sumon: We can see people of various ethnic groups in the phorographs.
Deepa: Yes, our female footballers also belong to such ethnic groups.
Khushi Apa: You are right. Today we are planning to do something on the cultures of
various ethnic groups in our country.
Omera, Sirat, Taspia, Mahbub, Taifan– all of them form groups. They collect some
pictures of people of different ethnic groups and their cultures and try to understand their
characteristics. They decide to make a table of various ethnic groups with their specific
names and their special cultural elements. Their aim is to analyse the pictures and find out
special cultural features.
They start discussing in groups. Then they start making tables focusing
on the main cultural features of different ethnic groups. They also discuss
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the topic in groups and fill in the above table.

Love for Language
Khushi Apa says, everyone of you loves your mother tongue. The National language
of Bangladesh is Bangla. On in this book ‘Muktijuddha in Our Locality’ chapter, you
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will learn about language movement. We have also many small ethnic groups in our
country. They speak in different Languages. So all of us should show respect to their
mother tongue as well as the mother tongue of the ethnic people.
Robin said, But we donot know their language.
Then khusi apa said, that would be your activity today.
Khushi Apa: Today we will play a game with language. Let’s see who can answer the
most correct answers. Everyone in the class shouts in joy. Everybody eagerly waits for
the quiz questions.
Khushi Apa continues the instructions: There are rules for the quiz, we need to
understand them first.
To answer, you have to raise your hand. The quickest to raise a hand will get the chance
to answer.
If the first one is not correct, the second person will get the chance. In this way, it will
continue till we get the correct answer.
If anybody answers without raising a hand or before being given the chance to answer,
he or she will have a minus mark.
The winner will be those who can answer the most correct answers. understand all?
All the students say that they have understood.
Khushi Apa first speaks about herself in Bangla. Then one by one, she speaks out the
same thing in the languages of some small ethnic groups of Bangladesh. Listen to these
and read all these languages.
Tell
Bangla language
আমাদের প্রিয় দেশ বাংলাদেশ। আমরা সবাই আমাদের সংস্কৃতিকে রক্ষা করবো�ো।
Our beloved country is Bangladesh. We all will protect our culture.
Chakma language
আমার হো�োচপানার দেশ বাংলাদেশ। ইদু জনম লনেয় আমি গর্্ব বিত। মা ভাচ্ আমা রীদিসুদো�োমর অংশ। আমি বেগে
আমার রীদিসুদো�োম বাজেই রাগেবং।
Kakbarok (Tripura) language
বাংলাদেশ চিনি হামজাকমানি হা। চৌ�ৌংং যত্ত চিনি মুকুমু ন্ মা হিল ন্।
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Garo language
আঞ্চিঙংনি নাম্নিগবিগুবা আ’সং য়া বাংলাদেশ। আঞ্্চিিং প্লাক মান্দেরাং য়া আঞ্্চিিংনি দাকবেওয়ালকো�ো রিপিং’না নাংনো�ো।
In this quiz, Khushi Apa will say the words ‘beloved country’, ‘proud’, ‘language’, ‘our
culture’, ‘protect’ etc. in different languages. You have to say in which language the
word Khushi apar is saying. The quiz will start with one word at a time.
15
The map helps us to find a route
So far, we have come to know about our personal and social identity. Now we are
going to learn about geographical identity.
One of the class friends, Robi, lost his direction in an unknown place a few days ago.
When he asked for the direction to the main road, someone told him to go straight to
the north. The sky was cloudy. It was about to rain. Robi couldn’t find the direction.
He was following the wrong direction. He thought he was going north and finally he
mistakenly reached the riverside. Then he was in great trouble. After asking for the
direction to several people, he at last found the way.
When Robi shares his experience in the class, Khushi Apa asks, ‘Can you tell me which
thing could have helped Robi to get the easy direction for returning home?’
Sakib: If Robi had a map of that locality, he could have understood the road directions.
Mili: When my father goes to a new place, he finds the road directly through Google
Maps on his mobile.
Khushi Apa: Wow! You know a lot of things! Well, if Robi had a picture of that area
instead of a map, could he have understood the directions?
Shihab: No, Apa. The picture can’t provide the proper direction.
Khushi Apa: Well, a map has got many details, you see. Okay, let’s have a look at some
pictures.
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First picture Second picture
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Questions:
● What can you see in the first and the second pictures?
● What are the differences between the two pictures?
class gets into groups and they try to find answers to these questions-
Elements in the first picture Elements in the second picture
Sketch of natural scenery of Bangladesh Map of Bangladesh

Trees, river Scale, directions
We can follow them and trace the elements from the two pictures.
Map scale
Sunny: Apa, when I tried to find the differences between a picture and a map, I found that
we need a scale to draw a map. But I don’t understand why we need this. Why can’t we
draw a map without a scale?
Khushi Apa: We can read a story then. Let’s check the problem that the king faced.
The King’s Stable
Once upon a time, there was a princess who was fond of horses. The king made a plan to
buy a fantastic horse as a surprise gift for the princess. The king sent his man to buy a horse.
When the man returned with a horse, the king asked to keep the horse hidden till birthday.
However, to keep a horse the king needed a stable. So, the king decided to make a stable.
The king estimated the space, took help from a carpenter, and started the task himself so
that the matter remained a secret.
The king walked horizontally and vertically
and estimated that he required a stable of 20
steps long and 10 steps wide. Then he asked
the carpenter to make a stable accordingly.
On her birthday the princess became so
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happy to get the gift. But, when she went

to keep the horse in the stable she found it
was quite small in size for the horse. The
king being annoyed asked the carpenter to
explain why that happened.
17
The carpenter got fully puzzled and he couldn’t explain it. He said to the king, ‘I’ve
exactly followed the measurement of 20 steps length and 10 steps width.’ The king then
looked at the size of the carpenter’s feet and realised the fact. The carpenter was smaller
in size in comparison with the king and so were his feet. As a result, the stable built on the
measurement of the carpenter’s feet became smaller than required.
Sunny says, ‘Now I’ve got it, Apa. If the measurement is not specific, it can’t be exact also.’
Fatema says, ‘Yes! if Sunny says his home is at a distance of 50 steps from the school, none of
us will understand whether it is to the north or south or any other direction.’ Sakib comments,
‘And his feet are smaller than mine.’ All of them laugh at this.
Khushi Apa says, ‘You are quite right. That’s why there remain some important features in
a map you have already noticed.’ Nijhum asks, ‘What is the importance of the scale given
underneath the map?’ Khushi Apa replies, ‘To get the answer to this question, we can measure
our classroom.’
Then they form two groups. One measures the length and another the width of the class.
Khushi Apa: Now we will work in groups to draw the classroom.
Robi: But the classroom is too big. How can we draw this on a piece of paper?
Nijhum: Well, what can we do then?
Nazifa: Can we imagine it as a small one?
Shafiq: In that case, everybody might imagine in his/her way like the king’s stable.
Sakib: Instead of imagining, we can assume one centimetre of our exercise book is equal to a
hundred metres of the classroom. How does it sound?
Khushi Apa: That’s right. When we are drawing a map we can follow exact measurement and
draw it in a smaller layout. The original measurement needs to be recorded as a scale on the
map. We can now work in groups to draw the classroom on the exercise books.
Then they draw a map of the classroom. For this, they all work in groups.
Homework
All of them decide to bring a map of their everyday route from home to school.
Shimul says, ‘That means, if our school is at a distance of 7 kilometres from my
home, I can measure 1 centimetre = 1 kilometre.’ Khushi Apa comments, ‘Well, in
this way we can draw and bring the map of the route from home to school. Your work
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will be appreciated.’
18
Let us draw the map of our route from home to school in a similar way.
Home to school map drawn by Deepa
Maps of large and small scale
Lets make a map

Direction:
1. Indicate the direction of
the compass
2. Use minimum five sign
Map of the road from
symbols in your map
home to school
3. Write the title
4. Set the scale
Symbol of sign
School
Tea shop
Pond
Symbol/Sign Home
Hovel
Paddy field
Market
Bottala
Shahid minar
Scale 3 inch = 1 k.m. Tubewell
Home to school map drawn by Deepa

Kushi Apa says, ‘All of you have prepared your maps nicely. Now we will do an interesting
task. You can see two maps in your book.’
Robi says, ‘Yes, Apa. One is the Bangladesh map; another is the map of Chattogram
division.’ Khushi Apa says, ‘That’s right. Now we will work in groups to locate the main
landforms of Chattogram and then note them down on our exercise book.’
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They start doing the activity in groups.
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Landforms of Bangladesh
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মানচিত্র সংগ্রহ- https://bn.banglapedia.org/index.php/
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Map of Chattogram Division (Landform)
ধরন
Khagrachhari
Rangamati
হ্রদ
Chattogram
Bandarban
Cox›s Bazar
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After completing the task, all the groups present their findings in front of the class one by
one.
Khusi Apa asks, ‘With which map did you find it easy to complete the search for the
landforms of the Chattogram division?’ Mili says, ‘When I was trying to find landforms of
Chattogram division using the map of Bangladesh, I wasn’t able to understand well where
the landforms were located. It seemed everything was merged into one.’
Sakib adds, ‘Yes, when we worked with the map of Chattogram division, we found the
landforms very easily.’ ‘That’s right,’ adds Khushi Apa. ‘When we have to work with a
specific area, it is better to look at an enlarged map of that area, isn’t it?’ Taspia adds, ‘For
example, if a picture or text in a mobile is in small font, we zoom it for a better view, don’t
we?’ Khusi Apa replies, ‘You are absolutely right, Taspia. This is how we can make a map
small or big according to our needs.’ Mili adds, ‘What a pleasure! We can even zoom out
and in the maps.’ Everyone smiles after hearing this. Ganesh asks, ‘But how do we use
maps, Apa?’
Khushi Apa says, ‘We are going to play a treasure hunt game tomorrow.’ Hearing this
everyone claps their hands with enthusiasm.
Treasure map
The next day there is much excitement in the class. Sakib has come in the guise of a
detective. When Khushi Apa comes to the class, Mili says, ‘Today all of us are detectives.’
Khushi Apa says, ‘Yes, we are! What things do we need to play the treasure-hunt game
today?’ Roni says, ‘At first we need the treasures.’ Mili adds, ‘And also a map for the
treasure hunt.’ Sakib also adds, ‘And a team of smart detectives.’ Everybody laughs at
Sakib’s comment. Khushi Apa now says, ‘Okay, now we are going to know the rules
for the game first.
In the first stage, we will form four groups. We will draw the maps of four sections
of the school. For example, the first group will cover the portion from the classroom
to the playground. The next group will cover from the playground to the library. Four
different maps will be drawn in this way by the four groups.
In the second stage, I will put an ‘X’ sign on each map to indicate where the treasure
has been stored.
In the third stage, each team will swipe their map with another team.
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In the fourth stage, each team will hunt the treasure according to the directions of the
map they have in hand.
The team who can find out the treasure first will be the winner.
22
All of them say that the instruction is clear to them. Then they start the treasure- hunt.
Family Travel Map
Aysha enters the class with a happy face. Seeing her Robin says, ‘Why are you looking
so happy?’ Aysha says, ‘Because we went on a trip.’ Robin asks, ‘Where did you travel?’
Aysha replies, ‘Cox’s Bazar. I like the sea a lot.’ ‘Really? But I like hilly areas a lot.’
At the time of entering the class, Khusi Apa listens to them and says, ‘I like forests
along with the hills and sea.’ Amit replies immediately, ‘Apa, I have travelled to the
Sundarbans and it is located in Khulna division.’ Anuching adds, ‘Apa, once my
grandfather lived in Bandarban and I like a lot the hills, forests, and fountains there.’
Khushi Apa then says, ‘We have already learnt where the ancient people lived and
where they went. Now, let us do the same task for us.’
Salma says, ‘But we don’t know where we lived in the past.’ Apa replies, ‘You are
right. Now, answer me from where you can collect the information.’ ‘From the elders
of our family,’ everyone replies together.
Rafiq says, ‘Apa, can we add where we want to travel?’ Apa replies, ‘Yes, of course.
You will do the task taking help from the page where you find the map. What do we
name this task? Ganesh says, ‘As we do the task on our family, therefore, we may call
it ‘Family Travel Map’. Everyone supports Ganesh’s opinion.
Then everyone prepares their own ‘Family Travel Map’
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Family Travel Map
23
Following them let us prepare a ‘Family Travel Map’.
In today’s class, Khushi Apa sees Family Travel Map in everyone’s hand and becomes
happy. She congratulates everyone for their work and says, ‘You know that a person
has multiple identities. Many identities are created. Even you are well aware of your
multiple identities. In the meantime, you have read the biography of Bangabandhu
and Begum Rokeya; and you have come to know that thinkers like them have multiple
identities. Through your tasks what you have come to know, is called ‘geographical
identity.’ Khushi Apa wrote the word on the board. Moli adds, ‘Apa, we have worked
with the map of Bangladesh, however, we also live in Asia.’ Khushi Apa replies, ‘You
are right, let us do another task where your continental identities will also be there.’
Then, they take six circular-shaped chart paper. Inside the largest circle put an
identification sign in your continent, country, division, district, locality and in the
smallest circle your home.
Locate me on the map here
Home
Locality
Distuict
Division
Country
Continent
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Following Khushi Apa’s class, let us do the task
Khusi Apa says, ‘So far, we have learned about nationality, language, culture and
geographical location. Let us now organize an identity fair. First, make a group of five
to six members. Every group will work on a theme and present their identity in a stall.’
24
The themes are:
1. Food
2. Clothes
3. Shelter
4. Occupation
5. Entertainment
6. Rituals
7. Culture
8. Other ones
After the identity fair, Khushi Apa says, ‘We perhsps understand that we have diverse
identities. We do not have the same rituals, cultures, food habits and entertainment
etc. Despite these differences, we all live together in harmony. This harmony will be
stronger if we can respect our own identity and the identity of others. This will be
stronger if we can be tolerant towards others.’
Rita asks, ‘Apa, can we sit in groups and figure out how we should behave when it
comes to our own identity and the identity of others?’
Khushi Apa replies, ‘Off course, let us devide ourselves into groups like we did before.
Every group will decide how to show respect to others’ identity and how to behave with
the people bearing different identities.’
Let us divide ourselves into groups and decide what actions to take, taking into account
both our own identity and the identity of others.
Expected behaviour toward others

What to do about our own identity
identity
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25
Active Citizens Club
Today’s class ambience seems quite joyous. Everyone is enjoying their time. Earlier
Khushi Apa has informed the class that everyone is going to play football on the school
ground or at any vacant place during today’s History and Social Science lesson time.
Therefore, everyone is eagerly waiting for Khushi Apa. Some of the students have
brought photos of their favourite players in their bags. They are taking these out every
now and then to show these to everyone. In the meantime, Khushi Apa with a wide smile
on her face enters the class and she carries a football in her hand. There is excitement
among everyone.
Using hand gestures, Khushi Apa asks everyone to be quiet and says, ‘Are you all
ready?’ All enthusiastically reply together, ‘Yes, we’re ready.’
Khushi Apa says, ‘Let us form two teams. First, we need to select two captains. Then,
the captain will select other players. You should bear in mind that the team should be
all-inclusive and must have a good balance of boys and girls, and students with special
needs.’ She also adds, ‘Everyone should have equal opportunities to perform according
to their ability.’
Then Shamima proposes, ‘Neela and Ganesh can be our two captains.’ On the other
hand, Mozammel proposes Francis and Rupa’s names as the captains. Everyone
becomes a bit anxious for a moment thinking about how to select two from these four
names. Aeysha proposes, ‘We can elect two captains by voting.’ Neela and Ganesh are
elected captains by vote. After that, Neela and Ganesh form their own teams.
Going to the school ground, Khushi Apa says, ‘Today you will play in a different way
as there will be no rules. Players can play with liberty.’ Hearing this, everyone becomes
very happy and excited thinking that there will be so many goals today that it will be
hard to keep a count. Khadija, one of their classmates, is acting as a referee for today’s
game. As soon as Khadija blows the whistle, the game starts. With lots of happiness and
enthusiasm, everybody keeps trying to play football without following any rules for 15
minutes. Then, Khushi Apa declares the end of the first half played without any rules.
She then says, ‘Let us now play the game following the rules.’ Then everyone starts
playing football following the rules
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Like teams, let us play football with our classmates dividing

ourselves into two teams.
26
Nothing works well without rules!

In the next class, everybody keeps discussing the game. Coming to class Khushi
Apa says, ‘We had a football game yesterday. How did you feel?’ In reply to her,
everyone says, ‘Very good.’ Then reminding all, Khushi Apa asks, ‘We played football
in two ways yesterday. Was there any difference because of this?’ Chinmoy says, ‘I
was thinking we would be able to score so many goals that no one would be able to
keep a count. Because I was anticipating everyone would surely use hands to make
scores.’ Khadija exclaims, ‘However, none of the team was able to score a single goal!
Yesterday, in the first half, we were playing without rules and when anyone took the
ball by hands, others jumped onto it. Therefore, everyone got tangled in one place and
could not move freely. The same thing occurred repeatedly and thus none could score a
goal. Actually, we weren’t able to play the game without rules.’ Now let us sit together
in groups of 5-6 and find answers to the following questions.
● Do rules exist only in sports?
● Where else can we find rules? Let us make a list of it.
● Where and what kinds of rules are there?
● What sort of problems can arise in the absence of rules?
After the discussion, each group writes the answers on the board or on a poster paper
and presents a list of them. After an open discussion, everyone realises the necessity
and significance of rules. It is needed in their classroom, school, family, society, and in
the state. Let us now find the answers to the following questions with the help of our
peers.
Do the rules exist only in sports?
Answer:
Where else can we find rules? Let us make a list of it.
Answer:
Where and what kinds of rules are there? Where do we find them?
Answer:
What sort of problems can arise in the absence of rules?
Answer:
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At this stage, Shamima says, ‘Now, I understand why we have indiscipline in the
classroom, at the school entrance in the morning and afternoon, during the recess, and
some other times. Nasir says, ‘In this case, we need to prepare the rules or the code and
conduct for the classroom, school, family and society.’
27
Now, everyone gets divided into different groups and starts to prepare some rules to
follow in the classroom and in the school premises. Then they hang it on the wall so
that it can be seen from anywhere in the classroom.
Let us divide ourselves into groups and starts to prepare some rules to follow in the
classroom and in the school premises. Then they hang it on the wall so that it can be
seen from anywhere in the classroom.
Rules to follow in the classroom

1.
2.
3.
...............
................
Rules to follow in the school premises

1.
2.
3.
...............
................
Rules to follow in a family and a society

1.
2.
3.
...............
................
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They have decided to follow these rules throughout the year. If they need to add any
rules, they may add them by having an open discussion. Similarly, they may remove
any if it seems unnecessary. They decide to follow these rules throughout their course
of study at school; if necessary, they will amend some rules and will follow them.
Khushi Apa happily comments that she will also follow these rules.
28
Adnan then says, ‘We do not live alone in this society and this school is also not just
ours. There are diverse people. Some of them do not get any chance to go to school. If
they do not follow and maintain the rules, there will be chaos everywhere. However, it
is a difficult task to motivate everyone to follow the rules. It will be challenging for us
if we want to promote this alone.
Anuching proposes, ‘Let us form a club. A club for making active citizens’
Everybody supports her proposal. Then Robin adds, ‘We may name it Active Citizens
Club.’
Anuching says, ‘We can do many development projects through this Active Citizens
Club, can’t we, Apa?’
Khushi Apa replies, ‘You are absolutely right, Anuching. We can do many develop-
ment initiatives throughout the year though Active Citizens Club. For example, we will
organize book reading programme and engage in nature conservation activities in the
upcoming classes.’
This time Khushi Apa shows the following pictures to everyone. Then students are
asked to discuss which pictures show that people are following rules and which ones
show that people are breaking rules.
Now Khushi Apa shows these pictures during the lesson.
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29
After finishing the discussion on the pictures, she explains that these are only some
pictures of people following or not following traffic rules. Besides, there are many
other areas of work where such events happen.
Then the learners divide themselves into groups of 5/6 to make a list of activities for
the Active Citizens Club. After the groups have presented their list to the whole class,
the proposed club activities are then finalised. They do it over a collective consensus
constructed through group discussions.
Khushi Apa further says, ‘As we have now decided our activities, let’s make a club
committee to carry out these tasks properly.’ The learners discuss the following aspects
sitting in groups –
● Total number of members
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● Names of the posts and designation

● Respective duties
● Eligibility for becoming a general member
● Rights and duties of general members
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Based on the discussion, the learners prepare proposals and present those in groups.
They develop a common guideline and a list of roles and duties by consulting among
themselves. They nominate their History and Social Science teacher as the Adviser of
the club.
Then the learners form the club committee through an election. The new committee
promptly fixes the date for the first meeting. In the very first meeting, they plan the next
steps and start their activity straight away.
Forming the Active Citizens Club

Let us form an Active Citizens Club and plan what activities we are going to do
throughout the year.
As the first activity of the Active Citizens Club, Khushi Apa proposes having a critical
thinking session on traffic rules. Once the learners agree, she asks them to form three
groups.
According to the decision:

● The first group collects information about traffic rules from eligible people,
related books, and other sources.
● The second group collects traffic signs and writes descriptions of them.
● The third group presents a report on the real situation using photos, drawings,
and descriptions after monitoring the local roads with the help of Khushi Apa.
● On a particular day, all three groups present their findings to the class. Others
provide feedback for possible corrections and modifications.
● In this way, they develop a feature report on traffic rules. They also arrange a
display of traffic signs and photographs with descriptions.
Group Work: Ensuring a Safe Journey to School

For those of us who do not live in cities, our roads may not have traffic signals. So,
we do not need to obey the rules of traffic signals. Whether we live in a city or a
village, let’s work together within the Active Citizens Club to establish guidelines
that guarantee a secure and pleasant journey from home to school. For this, let us
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also discuss how we can get help from school authorities and local people. Through
discussion, let us define what we can do and write action plans accordingly.
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Ways of Knowing History
What, indeed, is History?
Welcome to the inquiry into history. The study of history is very delighting. By studying
history, we come to know about people’s past activities. Without knowing the past,
people have no present. People’s future depends on their present. Moreover, the present
is built on the numerous experiences of people from the past. History is therefore very
important. In addition to your grandparents and great-grandparents, there were also
their predecessors many years ago in the past. Our ancestors lived in this world for
thousands of years. When we try to know and understand the successive narration of
their various activities or lifestyles in a logical and scientific manner in the light of
reliable sources and evidence, it becomes history. How humans have sustained their
existence on Earth for millions of years, how they brought about agricultural and urban
revolutions, how they invented language, society, culture, religion, and how they have
reached the present by building kingdoms and states are known only by reading history.
The Study of History
A number of enjoyable history lessons await you in Grade 6. These lessons of history
will help you to know yourself and to know and understand your family, society,
country and people.
How Do We Know History?
Khushi Apa has entered the classroom. She tells the students, ‘Listen to me. Let me tell
you a story.’ A group of boys and girls were playing cricket in the village field. A jungle
was next to the field. Shakib struck a six by hitting Michael’s ball so hard that the ball
got lost in the jungle. Salma went to the jungle to look for the ball. Seeing her delay,
others also entered the jungle. They kept looking for the ball. The ball was nowhere.
The jungle was quite dense. Meanwhile afternoon approached. Daylight became dim.
Suddenly Renu’s shout came from far away– ‘Everyone come here quickly! Here is a
big mound and an old building! The ball seems to be lost here!’
Michael and Shakib said, ‘Let all of us go there to find the ball.’
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Then Shatil and Rabbi said, ‘We don’t know who lives there or if anyone at all lives
there. What if someone hits us? They may hold us captive.’
However, noticing Renu’s courage, Manisha went ahead. The rest of the team also
reached near the mound. By that time, Salma had entered the broken building. One by
one, the others entered the building.
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In a room in that broken-down building, they found a few broken chairs and a broken
table. Some old papers were lying here and there. A few unfamiliar coins were lying
on one corner of the broken table. Entering the next room, they saw an earthen pitcher,
several pieces of broken earthenware and a few terracotta or burnt earthen plaques.
In one corner of the room, some palm leaves with some writing on them were lying
unattended. They tried to read the texts written on the palm leaves. They try to read the
texts.
Although the script looked almost like Bangla letters, it had some differences. The
script looked quite cursive. The text was beautifully written in red ink. They could see
some wall paintings. Also, some carved crafts were there in the room. They entered
two other rooms. The roof was so damaged that some bits of it had fallen down on the
floor. The mound was clearly visible to their sight lying next to a room. It seemed that
something had been slowly covered under ground for a long time. Many creepers and
bushes had entangled a few big trees there. The twilight cast a special color on the old
decrepit building and mound. Evening was approaching. They now started to get a little
scared. It looked like there might be snakes and poisonous animals inside and outside
the decaying building! Almost everyone in the cricket team was upset. They searched
a lot but did not find the ball in that decaying building. However, the old building,
the mound and scattered objects made Renu very thoughtful. Others also had some
curiosity. They went towards their respective families.
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While walking towards home, many questions emerged in Renu’s mind – ‘How old
is this building?’ ‘Who used to live there?’ ‘Why did the people living there leave the
place?’ ‘How did the palm-leaf manuscripts come here?’ ‘What is written on the palm
leaves?’ ‘How old are the pottery and terracotta plaques?’ ‘Could there be any hidden
treasure under that earthen mound?’
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Ways of Knowing History
A thousand such questions kept spinning in Renu’s head. After consulting with her
friends, Salma told everything to the head teacher of the school. Their Head Teacher
was very surprised at finding their courage and intelligence. He told all of them, ‘You
have made a great discovery. Even we the adults are unaware that such history is lying
hidden in the jungle.’ He invited a professional historian to their school. Following the
Head Teacher’s suggestion, students raised many curious questions one by one.
The historian said, ‘You have many questions in your mind. It is the first step in knowing
history.’ He continued saying, ‘The broken-down building is quite old. We can know
how old it is by conducting some scientific experiments. However, after hearing from
you about the presence of the mound, I guess that it may be several hundreds of years
old. All the materials you have seen are sources or materials of history. It may happen
that the person or people who lived in that building were studying ancient history. They
knew how to write history by scrutinizing and interpreting various sources. S/He or
they may have tried to know and write down various events of the past from the writing
on old palm leaves, broken pieces of pottery and terracotta. The house may have been
abandoned after it had fallen to some natural/geographic calamity.’
If you want to talk about the liberation war of 1971 in terms of a century and a decade,
you have to say that it is an event of the seventies of the twentieth century. Similarly,
the language movement of 1952 is another event of the fifties of the nineteenth century.
Bangabandhu’s birth year 1920 is the event of the twenties of the twentieth century.
Again, the Battle of Plassey of 1757 is an event of the fifties of the eighteenth century.
There is one more thing to consider when discussing time. The English Gregorian
calendar begins counting around the birth of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the central figure of
Christianity. Even thousands of years before the birth of Jesus Christ, there were people
in the world and the people had various activities. You must have seen in various books,
that time is marked with the word Before the birth of Christ (BC). Thus, you understand
why the words AD (Anno Domini, in Latin, means when the Christ believed to have
been born) and BC (Before Christ) are used in history.
Before it was known as Bangla or Bangladesh, this land had many other names. At
different times, it was also known as Banga, Pundra, Rarh, Gauro, Samatat, Horikela.
Although known by different names at different times, the territory called Bengal has
some common geographical features and specific natural boundaries. Living within a
geographically defined boundary has created a common cultural and historical bond
among the people here. Therefore, this place has been recognized as a ‘region’.
Why do you need to know history?
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Many may tell you to forget the past. They may tell you that there is no use in knowing
history. They may also say that you cannot earn money by knowing history. It is very
essential for any human being to know history. Let us try to understand this issue
through some relatively different examples.
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Let’s Explore the History of our Neighbourhood, Locality or Village

All of us live in a neighborhood , locality or village. Each of these has its own unique
history. Let us try to know the history of our respective neighborhood, locality or
village. To uncover this history, we’ll gather information by asking questions to the
older residents of our respective neighborhood, locality, or village.
Let us form groups of 5-6. Ensure that everyone in the group belongs to the same
neighborhood/locailty/village.
Each group will prepare some questions to know the history of the neighborhood/
locality/village. They will select 4-5 elderly individuals who can answer their
questions. Before collecting information from the respondents, we must take care of
some things.
Obtaining permission from respondents:
1. Inform the respondent about the anticipated duration of the questioning.
2. Clearly specify the subject for which the questions will be asked.
3. Assure the respondent that there will be no pressure to answer the questions.
4. Clearly state that the respondent is free to refrain from answering any question.
5. Tell them that any personal information (name, age etc.) of the respondent shall be
kept confidential.
6. Clearly mention that the information gathered will be used solely for the intended
purpose.
If a man does not know himself and other humans like him and the history of nature,
that person or such people would not have any identity of their own at present time.
We need to know about the past of our country and nation. If a person has no memory,
the existence that person becomes incomplete. History is the scientific description of
the collective experience of all people living in a specific territory. Keep it in mind
that history uncovers the collective memory of all of us. When we know from history
that we have done something wrong in the past, we can avoid doing that mistake or
bad thing in the future. If we do a good deed that makes us proud on behalf of human
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beings and humanity, that deed will keep us remembered in history. So, we can get an
idea from history about how the course of change was – from the past to the present
– and how this course of change can affect the future. Knowing history is essential to
understand how different civilizations and cultures interact with each other.
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Looking Around through the Lens
of Science
Our friends ‘Nasir’ and ‘ Ayesha’
Do you know Nasir and Ayesha? They have some other friends too. We will be intro-
duced to them too later. Nasir and Ayesha think and inquire about whatever they hear
and see. You must be doing the same. Like you, they also seek help from other class
friends, teachers and neighbours to read books, to investigate and explore the answers
for many questions. This is the way they study and learn. That is fantastic, isn’t it? Let
us join them as a team of mini explorers.
Discussing a photograph
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Today Nasir and Ayesha have found a photograph. It is a photograph of the river
Buriganga. The river flows by the southwest of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. A
few days ago, they went to visit the Buriganga. However, there is a big difference
between the photograph they have and the present Buriganga they have visited. Why
is that so? That is what they are investigating today. Can you help them in this regard?
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Image: The river Buriganga Image: The river Buriganga
Questions:
a. What are two in the pictures?
b. Is there any difference?
c. Which picture do you think is of older times? Which one is more recent?
d. Why are these differences there according to you?
Class Teacher Khushi Apa shows the students some more pictures.
Image: The river Padma Image: The river Padma
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Image: Public transport of Dhaka Image: Public transport of Dhaka

Is there any similarity among these pictures?
Are they related to any particular topic?
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Looking Around through the Lens of Science
Think about the purposes of the vehicles shown in the pictures.
Changes in Our Locality
Today Nisharga comes rushing to school and says to Ayesha, ‘Look, this is an old
picture of our village.’
Ayesha remarks, ‘But, which area is this? I’ve not seen any such place in our village.’
Nasir replies, ‘That’s true. I also can’t recognise the place.’
Ayesha says, ‘Let’s go and check this with Suresh uncle. Uncle is over seventy years
old. He knows many details from the past. His memory is also quite sharp. He still can
recall many things from the past.’
Two friends go to see their neighbour Suresh uncle. They become much surprised to
hear his words. The place in the photograph is apparently a location on the north of
their school where there is a large factory now. Without making any further delay,
with Ayesha’s mother, they go to visit that place in the afternoon. They also take some
photos of that place using Ayesha’s mother’s phone.
On the following day, everyone in the class gazes at those photos with much curiosity and
enthusiasm. Out of excitement, they almost lie over their bellies to see the photos well.
Present picture Previous Picture
Deepa: They make chips in this factory.

Dipankar: That’s why potato is produced in abundance in this locality.
Mili: Was there no potato farming in earlier days?
Deepa: Heard from my grandfather that in the past, rice was a more popular crop.
Nasir: Many things were different in the past. My grandma told me there was no
electricity, no television, no computer, games, or mobiles.
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Mili: Yes, then the kids used to enjoy a lot more by playing sports and games. We don’t
play those anymore. I hope to know more about this topic.
It looks like everyone in the class is interested to know about the changes occurring
around their local area. Some are interested about sports, or outfits and attires, or
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food and culinary while some are keen to know about transportations, agriculture,
topography, or climate and so on. They all express a very diverse interest!
Questions for inquiry
They all go to school with all these questions in their mind. After listening to them,
Khushi Apa applauds them all and says, ‘Let’s investigate; let’s begin our inquiry. Let’s
write down all the questions that spontaneously come to your minds regarding the
changes in your locality.’
The questions I want to explore about my locality
1. What did the children use to do from morning till night in the past? Was that any
different from what we do in the present? How huge is the difference?
2. What was the common process for preserving food before we had refrigerators
in our houses?
Let us write down some questions about the changes in our locality.
1.
2.
Selecting questions
Now Khushi Apa says, ‘Let’s sit in groups of five
or six and share the questions with friends. From
all the questions, we should select such questions
for which we can find out the answers on our
own.’
Are all questions worth inquiring?
Ayesha says, ‘I want to know when our school was established?’
Bushra says, ‘ Ayesha, the other day, the principal mentioned in a speech that our
school was established in 1990. So we already know this. Do you really want to ask
the same question again? Or, do you want to know about any changes that took place
in our school?’
Ayesha replies, ‘No, Bushra! You are right. There is no point of inquiring about the
facts which we already know. So, we better take such questions out. Rather I can ask
how our school was in its early days.’
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At this stage, Munia says, ‘I’m much interested to know about the changes that happened
under or at the bottom of the river in the east. We can easily see the changes happening
on the surface but how can we know the changes at the bottom?’
Ayesha says, ‘First, you grow up to become a skilled diver; then you can try to find an
answer to this question.’
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Munia agrees and says, ‘We may put this question aside for the future. Similarly, we
all should take out similar types of questions that cannot be explored now for various
reasons. For example, it may require us to travel a long distance or it can be unsafe, or
it may involve too many people or may involve a lot of cost.’
They finalise the list after analysing each question in this way.
Let us make a list of our question similarly.
Are our questions worth inquiring? Let us check. Let us put a tick ( ) or cross ( ) mark.
We do not
We are keen We can guess what Possible
know the We can do
to know to do, who to talk to find the
answer the required
Question the answer to, and where to go answer
to this tasks to find
to this to find the answer within the
question till the answer
question to this question timeframe
now
The questions that include all of the above features can be retained in the final list.
Preparing the final list of questions
Let’s sit together in groups and share the questions by reading them out once. Now we
need to hang a poster paper on the classroom wall with the finalised questions written
on it. Then, each team chooses a question from the selected ones. After that, each team
starts finding the answer to that question.
Presentation of the Inquiry Plan
Group name:
Name of the members
1. Question for inquiry (Inquiry Question)
2. Key concepts of the question
3. Where to go and who to talk with to find the answer
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4. How can we know?

Each group can fill in the chart with proper information, write them on the poster paper,
and share it with their classmates. Each group may try to understand different components
of the planning from each other’s presentation. First, we appreciate the strong points of
the plan. Then, we try to suggest some areas for improvement of the plan.
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Analysing the plan
Steps for
Assessment criteria Example
inquiry
1. Inquiry By using the above question table, What kind of food was taken in the past
Question will prepire suitable question for and is taken at the present by the people
of this locality?
inquiry. It will not take more than 2/3
Or,
weeks to get the answer.
Is there any difference between the food
habits of the past and present? If so,
what are these?
2. Key ● Maximum two key concepts in

Previous
concepts the question
in the food habit
questions ● Ideas should be specific
Present
food habit
3. Where ● Source will be realible. Mean 1. Three friends around me

to go and that easily correct information (To know the present food habit)
who to
talk with 2. My grandma and older neighbours
to find out (To know the previous food habit)
the answer
4. How to ● The way followed is the best Questions for interviewing the friends:
elicit the suitable. The set of questions 1. What do you usually have in your
answer needs to be easy and in 5/6 breakfast?
from a questions. 2. What foods do you have for lunch?
particular 3. What do you have as evening snacks?
person, ● Should be relevant to the topic. 4. What food do you take for dinner?
thing, or ● If observe then the results of Questions for the senior participants:
place? observation. 1. What did you use to have in your
breakfast as a child?
● Noting down or recording. 2. ………... lunch …...?
3. ………... evening snacks …?
4. ………... dinner ………?
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Searching for answers to the inquiry question according to the plan
Let us prepare our group plan considering others like Nasir and Ayesha’s opinions
and suggestions. Now let us begin following the plan.
One thing we need to keep in mind before we start collecting information. We should
not forget to get permission from the respondents. We will give the respondent a
clear idea about the following points. We will ask the questions only if they agree to
answer.
Interviewing and note taking Experimenting
Grouop discussion: Five people including two Observing and examining

students from the village sitting in a circle
Obtaining permission from respondents:

1. Inform the respondent about the anticipated duration of the questioning.
2. Clearly specify the subject for which the questions will be asked.
3. Assure the respondent that there will be no pressure to answer the questions.
4. Clearly state that the respondent is free to refrain from answering any question.
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5. Tell them that any personal information (name, age etc.) of the respondent
shall be kept confidential.
6. Clearly mention that the information gathered will be used solely for the
intended purpose.
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Example of an inquiry-based task
Nasir cuts a round paper into four pieces. She writes names of food taken four times
every day on four separate pieces of paper. Here she uses the information collected
through interviews with her friends about their four-time food per day. In the same
way, she also lists the food choice of elderly people.
Present food habit Previous food habit
Morning
Morning 1. Panta bhat
1. Bread/ ( Boiled rice
Night steeped in cold
Noodles Night
1. Rice/ bread water/ a night old
2. Egg 1. Rice/ bread fermented rice)
2. Fish/ meat
3. Vegetable 2. Fish/ meat 2. Tea
3. Puffed rice
Evening Lunch Evening Lunch
1. Tea/ coffee 1. Rice/ bread 1. Puffed rice 1. Rice/ bread
2. Biscuit 2. Fish/ meat 2. Cake
3.Other light 3. Vegetable 2. Fish/ meat
3. Rice 3. Vegetable
refreshments 4. Lentils pudding
4. Rice grist
Findings
In the last 30 years, there have been big changes in the food habits of the people in
our country. At present, people have more choices in terms of food which were not
available in the past. Earlier, people used to depend on homemade food for their life.
Taking a decision or understanding the result becomes easy after listing!
Look! Aeysha has so nicely arranged her display of the food item list per shift! She has
drawn, coloured, and cut the pictures to post them.
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We too can follow different means (interview, observation, questionnaire, etc) to find
the answer to our inquiry question. The information we get in this way (for example:
classification, calculating percentage, calculating average value) can be arranged in a
way so that it can indicate a result of inquiry or a logical decision.
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Group presentation of inquiry-based tasks
We have done a number of activities to find answers to our questions. Let us make a
presentation of what we have done and what findings we have found so far and show
these to your friends. The audience should understand –
How we found the answer and what we have found
We need to be careful so that any point mentioned below is not missing in the
presentation. You can cover any other related topic too in the presentation.
Name of the group:
Names of members:
1. 2.
3. 4.
1. Inquiry question:
2. Key concept of the question:
3. Strategies to find the answers (description of the steps):
4. Answer to the question/ Decision:
5. New, relevant and complementary questions coming to mind:
We can do the presentation in many ways. You too can talk to your groupmates and
try to present through drama, wall paper, reports, news presentations, comics, videos,
and various forms of art.
1. What tasks have I completed?

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2. How did I feel to do the task?
3. Did I face any problem? How did I solve it?
The way I solved/ tried

The problem that I faced Lessons for the future
to solve
4. (You can add

some more questions that you think would help to explain your task)
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Some methods and instruments of data collection
a) Questionnaire: Usually some questions are written or typed on paper on which the
interviewee answers. Answers can be provided as alternatives.
For example, Location of my school:
Rural Urban
b) Interview: Some predetermined questions are asked face to face or over telephone
or by other means. They are stored by writing or through recording.
c) Group discussion: Discussion in a homogeneous group of people (eg. a group
of students or teachers or a group of sanitation workers) on an issue or topic. What
comes out from this discussion on specific topics is usually the information needed
for inquiry.
d) Observation: Through this, we look very closely at a particular person or place
or pattern with a particular purpose in mind. For example, what students do or what
kind of soil is there in a particular area can be observed. Observation data can be
written down and stored using checklists. Example of a checklist is given below:
Classroom Accessories √ (Present) × (Missing) No comment

1. Door √
2.Window ×
3.Teacher’s Table √
4.Teacher’s Chair √
5. Board √
6. Globe ×
7. Students’ Table √ Not Enough
8. Students’ Chair √ Not Enough
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9. Educational Poster on Wall √ Made by Teacher

10. Calendar ×
11. Trash Basket ×
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Khushi Apa:
When we collect data from a source, it is
not likely to always get a direct answer to
the research question. For that, we need to
arrange the data and sometimes we need to
make some calculations too. In this way,
data become significant. Then this organised
data help us to get the answer or to reach the
relevant conclusion. This process of arrang-
ing data is known as
Data Analysis.
Are we researchers?
We need to check whether we followed the steps of the scientific method for our
research or not. Let us check it.
Self-assessment
Steps of scientific study Yes/ no
1. Have selected topic for the research
2. Have mentioned specific research question
3. Have identified the key concepts of the question
4. Have identified the source of data
5. Have selected the tools for data collection
6. Have collected data

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7. Have analysed data
8. Have reached a conclusion
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The inquiry continues………………….
So far, we have worked in groups to make inquiries. Let us now do it on our own. Can
you do it alone? Why do you not try? Your friends are there; Khushi Apa will be there
too. Let us try to find answer to a new question following the steps used earlier. Let us
use the previous checklists and charts to analyse our own initiative.
How Much Have We Learnt?
During our research, we analyse (self-assessment) our steps and at the same time, our
friends and Khushi Apa (teacher’s evaluation) also provide feedback. Do you know
why she needs to do it? It is needed so that we do not get obstructed at any station of
the journey. Each of us can take different time; it can be more for some, less for others
to complete the task. However, are we going to the right direction? To check that out,
we have our friends, we have Khushi Apa.
After completing group research, we need to talk in a group to fill in the chart given
below. Seven learning points are there. For every learning point there are three alterna-
tives. We need to put a tick mark ( ) to indicate our friend’s learning.
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Rubrics for peer assessment

Name:
Type of participation
Learning area Completely achieved Partially achieved Our friend needs
our help
Our friend has presented Our friend has Our friend faces a
1. Presentation more than three presented two/ one problem making
of the question challenging questions challenging question inquiry questions
in the group
Our friend has played Our friend has Next time, our
an important or main participated and given friend is expected
role in the plan for data opinions on the plan to participate more
2. Plan for data
collection. Such as, for collecting data actively in the plan
collection
selecting data sources for data collection
and preparing data
collection tools.
Our friend has Although our friend Next time, our
participated directly in has not directly friend is expected
3. Data collec- the data collection. participated, but to participate more
tion helped in work actively in the data
such as notetaking, collection
recording, etc.
Our friend has helped Next time, our
Our friend has directly to analyse data, given friend is expected
4. Data analysis participated in the data ideas, planned, and to participate more
analysis also helped to do actively in data
some calculations analysis
Our friend has partial-
Our friend has contribut- ly helped to reach a
5. Drawing the ed significantly to reach decision/to conclude Our friend needs help
conclusion a decision/to conclude from arranged data to reach a conclusion
after arranging the data and helped to develop
arguments
Our friend has spon-
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Our friend has sponta- taneously participated Our friend needs to

6. Overall par-
neously participated in in some stages or has be inspired more to
ticipation in the
the whole process of participated in all the be interested in group
inquiry task
inquiry stages but not sponta- work
neously
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Influence of Landform on the History of the
Bengal Region
History deals with people’s past. The word ‘past’ refers to those events that have already
taken place. The activities you performed this morning before coming to school belong
to the past now. Because you have already finished doing those work. Just as the events
of yesterday belong to the past, the events that took place thousand years ago also
belong to the past. And all these events now belong to history.
In the blank columns given below, let’s write some memorable events that took place
in our life in the past:
Events that took place

yesterday
Events that took place last

week
Events that took place last

year
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you have learned that history is the logical account of the past actions of human beings.
The experience that people have gained through various actions of the past can be
known from the study of history. Just like the events that have happened in your life in
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the past, there have been many such events that happened in different eras of history
in the lives of all the people living in the Bengal region full of forest, jungle, water,
and mud. They formed language, society, and culture. They built civilization. In this
chapter, you will find out about the various events that took place in the lives of people
in this region. You will also learn the history of the survival of those people. Apart
from this this history, what you will learn is the geography of the Bengal region. Just as
history is the description of the past activities of people, geography is the description
of the places or locations of those activities. You must have known that all places in the
world are not the same. Even in the village or neighborhood where you live, there are
different geographical varieties.
Is History Dependent on Geography?

There are different types of land around us. There are roads, fields, forests, rivers,
ponds, and deep forests scattered at different places. All these are geographical
elements. Geographical elements are also called natural elements. These elements
affect human activities in various ways. The relationship of human beings with
geography is very deep. For example, people catch fish from rivers, take water from
there for farming, and earn their livelihood by collecting wood and other valuables
from the forest. Conversely, river water also causes floods. There are storms, rains
and cyclones in nature. There are snakes, tigers and other ferocious animals in the
forest.People began establishing settlements by clearing forests for their housing,
transportation, and cultivation needs. As a result, the harmony between humans and
nature underwent a change.
A history of the relationship between man and the various landforms

History is not simply the description of the battles and wars fought by kings and
emperors. In the distant past, everything people observed and utilized was derived
from nature and natural elements. Notably, nature served as the primary refuge for
people. Humans lived by gathering fruits and hunting animals scattered in nature.
Dwellings were made using bamboo, cane, wood, stone, and foliage gathered from the
surroundings. These offered humans protection against storms and the threats posed by
wild animals.
There are numerous regions on Earth, both large and small, and our Bengal is one
of them. It is a geographically defined area with natural boundaries, consisting of
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mountains, rivers, and dense forests. Itis important to note that the Bengal region and
our present-day Bangladesh are not identical. We live in the eastern part of the Bengal
region. Naturally, our curiosity leads us to question when people first began settling in
this particular land.
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Influence of Landform on the History of theBengal Region
The Bengal we know today looked quite different in its early days. The water flowing
down from the mountains surrounding this land on three sides has shaped numerous
rivers and diverse water bodies. In the past, nearly the entire land was covered with thick
forests and jungles. The population was limited, and there were no houses as we see
today. During those times, people lived amidst wild animals and faced natural disasters.
People survived by interacting with these elements of the landscape. This unique bond
between life and nature has been influential in this region since the early days, taking
various forms throughout history. The way the people of Bengal have mastered the art
of survival, overcoming the challenges of the terrain, provides valuable lessons for
people in many parts of the world.
Where is the Bengal Region Located? What is it Like?
In general, ‘region’ refers to a place where people live. But in our discussion related
to history and geography, the word ‘region’ has a different meaning. A region refers to
a place that has natural boundaries around it, has different elements of landform, and
within that boundary there is a group of people who have many variations in respect
of language, society, and culture, and also have many similarities among them. You
must remember that there will be diversity and differences among people who settle
in a region and there will be people with diverse opinions and thoughts. The beauty of
people lies in the act of living in harmony with all.
However, Bengal can be called a region because it has natural boundaries around it.
The natural boundary of the Bengal region has been marked in the eastern part of the
Indian subcontinent. It is bounded by the Himalayas to the north, Tripura, Garo, and
Lusai ranges and forested lands to the east, Rajmahal, the forested hills of Jharkhand,
the mountainous highlands of Chota Nagpur to the west, and the Bay of Bengal to the
south. It looks as if a region is surrounded by mountains, forests, and the sea. Within
this boundary is located the land called Bengal or the Bengal region. Geographically
and historically, it is the eastern part of the ancient India.
A region is basically a specific area of land marked by physiographic boundaries formed
by geographical processes. Human beings do not have any control over its formation
process. It is the landforms that shape the region. Geographically, Bengal is one such
region at the eastern end of the Indian subcontinent. You will also come to know about
a state or province which is politically called Bengal. The boundaries of that Bengal
state/province were determined by the rulers who ruled different parts of the Bengal
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region at different times. At different stages of history, the boundaries have increased
and decreased according to the power of different rulers. The boundaries have been
defined in different ways at different times. So, you need to remember that the ‘Bangla’
state created by the ruling class people and the ‘Bangla region’ created naturally are
not the same.
52
Regional Bengal and Bangladesh (up to 1300 AD or CE)
r
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The Bay of Bengal
tan
kis
Pa
India
Rivers
South
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ion
Asia and
reg
Bengal Bengal region

al
ng
region The red marked part is the assumed

Be
natural border of Bengal region
53
Regional Bengal and Bangladesh (1300-1800 AD or CE)
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map
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up ha
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Be
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iver
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tan
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India Husain Shahi dynasty’s sphere of influence in the Bengal region
Expansion of Akbar’s empire in the Bengal region

Indian Bengal region
subcontinent Expansion of Aurangzeb’s empire in the Bengal region

South Asia and
Bengal region
Assam
Bihar
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Jamuna River
aV
rm
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Gan
ga (
Pa
rive dma)
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The Bay of Bengal

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Odisha
tan
kis
Pa British Province of Bengal (the British Province of
India
South Asia Bengal was formed out of a large part of the Bengal
and Bengal Bengal
region
region)
region
54
West Bengal
Emergence of independent
Bangladesh in Bengal region
Assam
Meghalaya
Bihar
iver
Jamuna R
sam
As
Padma
River
Dhaka Tripura
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The Bay of Bengal
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India
Bengal
South region
Asia and
Bengal
region
The territory bordered by natural boundaries in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent is
known as the Bengal region. The political boundaries of Bengal were subject to alterations,
annexations, and contractions over time as the elite ruling classes extended their power within
the region. At the end of the British rule in 1947, the Bengal region was divided akin to the
partition of India. In 1971, independent sovereign Bangladesh emerged in the eastern part of
Bengal region.
Look carefully at the maps above. One map shows the current Bangladesh while the other
shows the Bengal region. Passing a long way of history, in 1971, under the leadership of
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, independent Bangladesh emerged. But if we start
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exploring history from at least two thousand years ago, you will see only a territory, a
region. At that time, there was no country called Bangladesh in this region, nor was the
name ‘Bangla’. Bangladesh was born in 1971 under the magical leadership of Bangabandhu
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in continuation of several thousand years of events that took place
in the life of people living in this region which is marked by physiographic boundaries.
55
So, how was the history of this region two thousand years ago? You can see the region
called Bangla on the map. In this region, there were many small units, janapadas
or states in ancient times. They were called Banga, Bangal, Pundra, Gauda, Radha,
Samatata, and Harikela. Different types of people have arrived here at different times.
Let’s try to understand with an example. The Mughal ruler Akbar sent troops from
North India and occupied a part of the Bengal region. Bengal was a province ruled by
him. At that time it was called ‘Subah Bangla’. Although the area occupied by Akbar
was called ‘Suba Bangla’, he could not actually occupy the entire Bengal region. A
small part of the Bengal region was under his control. Before the partition of India
in 1947, such incidents happened repeatedly with the Bengal region. Some parts of
this region were occupied, ruled, and exploited naming them as Bangala, Bengala,
Bengal, East Bengal, West Bengal etc. It is hoped that, viewing the map above, you will
understand what the history of the Bengal region and the emergence of independent
Bangladesh is, and how much of its boundaries have decreased or increased over time.
In classes 9 and 10, when you will read the history of the kings who ruled different
parts of Bengal, you will know the names of the kings of Gupta, Deva, Chandra, Pala,
Sena, and Khalji, Shah Sultan, Turko-Afghan and Mughal dynasties.
What are the Landforms of the Bengal Region Like?

You have already known about the boundaries of the Bengal region. Now let’s get some
idea about the elements of landform of the Bengal region.
If we want to discuss the components of landform of the Bengal region, we need to
talk about the rivers first. Rivers have a deep connection with the history of human
migration and survival in this region. Almost all the ancient civilizations of the world
emerged around some rivers. Even in the Bengal region, all the traces of ancient
settlements found by scholars were founded neighbouring some rivers. The Ganges,
Bhagirathi, Padma, Brahmaputra, Jamuna, Karatoya, Surma, Meghna, and Karnaphuli
are still known as the major rivers of the Bengal region. Thousands of branches and
tributaries were connected with them.
A great deal of water released by the melting of the ice of the Himalayan mountains
flows through various rivers into the sea in the south. On the way, the rivers destroy
numerous villages, houses, and towns along their banks. Again, people find a way to
live by farming in the fertile lands adjacent to these river banks. The relationship of
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people’s life and livelihood with the river is therefore very ancient.
Almost all the evidences of early human movement in Bengal are found in the highlands
or terraced areas and mountainous areas adjacent to the rivers. In ancient times, the
lowlands had deep forests. Many areas used to be flooded during monsoon. That is why
56
human beings initially settled in high areas. With the increase of the number of human
beings, people started to migrate to low-lying and forest areas.
The events of cutting down forests and making land for housing and farming are not
fictional stories like fairy tales. They are absolutely true events. The rulers in different
parts of the Bengal region in almost all periods of history received the highest amount
of revenue or taxes from agriculture. That is why they wanted to increase the area of
cultivable land. At that time, most of the land was covered with tall trees and vines.
For making cultivable land by cutting these forests, the kings used to grant revenue-
free land in the wet and muddy forest areas. They used to declare that people would
enjoy tax exempt if they cut down forests to establish settlements and to use the land
for cultivation. You can observe that people in many places are building haats, markets
and various buildings by filling up the rivers. People build houses and other structures
by occupying the canals in the cities. We should never do such things. Due to the filling
of rivers and canals, floods occur in our country. Crops perish due to the scarcity of
water. Even a small amount of rain in the city causes waterlogging, leading to increased
human suffering.
Photo Caption: Picture of increasing farmland by clearing forests. Forests have been
damaged in this way for thousands of years. Many a time, the nature has also been
damaged by filling water bodies or various water sources like ponds, canals, beels,
lakes, haors, baors etc. But remember that protection of life and nature is the first and
foremost duty of all of us as human beings. Otherwise we will not be able to survive.
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The weather and climate of Bengal have also created many advantages and disadvantages
in the life of the people here. Storms, rains, and high waves occur here due to the effect
of monsoon climate. When it rains excessively, water enters most of the crop fields and
houses here. They become flooded. After the flood, agricultural land becomes fertile
57
by accumulating silt. Rainwater brings the advantage of irrigation to crop fields. Every
element of nature has thus provided the people of the Bengal region with different
opportunities over time or put them in the face of various obstacles or challenges. Just
as it has provided people with the opportunities to collect and cultivate food necessary
for survival, it has also created different obstacles on their tasks of food collection
and cultivation in the forms of storms, rains, and cyclones. People of this region have
survived for thousands of years only by negotiating with nature.
Influence of Landform on the History of the Bengal Region
There is a proverb that says, ‘Crocodile in the waters and tiger on land.’ Have anyone
of you heard of it? This proverb has been true in the life of the people of Bengal since
the early days.They have settled here. The main reason for this is the abundance of
food supply in the Bengal region. Forest full of animals and fruits, and rivers full of
overflowing fish provided the people with food for their survival even in the face of
adversity. They have given them strength and courage. And in this way, a relationship
of compromise and understanding has been created between the people of Bengal with
the landforms of the Bengal region.
How many years ago did people come to the Bengal region for the first time? How
can we know about those people? Tools used by the people of the prehistoric age have
been found in some hilly areas in the northern, eastern, and western parts of the Bengal
region. If analyzed carefully, it can be realized that the places where these tools have
been found in the Bengal region are relatively higher than the surrounding areas and
are located on the banks of rivers. These places can be found in various parts of present
day Bangladesh and India’s West Bengal, Tripura, and Assam. The map in this chapter
marks the location of the archeological site known as the Mound of King Pandu.
Pandu Rajar Dhibi: A Civilization that Used Copper and Stone
Passing through the prehistoric era, the people of Bengal gradually entered the historical
era. Between these two ages, a group of people built a civilization using copper and
stone. The name of this civilization of Copper and Stone Ages is Pandu Rajar Dhibi
(Mound of King Pandu). This is the earliest evidence of ancient human settlement in the
Bengal region, and the evidence of the first organized agrarian culture and society. This
civilization flourished about three and a half thousand years ago on the banks of river
Ajay in the western part of the region. The people of this civilization became familiar
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with the use of stone. In addition, they gradually became familiar with the use of copper
also and, much later, with the use of iron. A relatively advanced life system based on
agriculture, industry, and trade was established by them. The archaeological site of
Pandu Rajar Dhibi can be found in Burdwan district of present day West Bengal in India.
Numerous specimens of artefacts used by ancient people in Pandu Rajar Dhibi have
58
been found through archaeological excavations. These include terracotta plaques,
fire-burned handmade pottery, copper beads, rings, fishhooks, quills for applcation of
antimony, arrowheads, needles made of bone, harpoons, iron tools, plates, etc. During
the excavations, a round seal of a kind of black stone was found at Pandu Rajar Dhibi.
Some symbols like an ancient alphabet are engraved on the seal. This particular stone
and the inscriptions have similarities with those found in the island of Crete. Based
on these similarities, historians speculate that about 3500 years ago, the people of
Bengal had trade interaction with the island of Crete in the Mediterranean Sea. Cultural
connection was also most likely established between these regions due to that trade
interaction.
Mahasthangarh: Bengal’s First Urban Civilization
Some enquaries have been made on Pandu Rajar Dhibi. Now, let’s get some information
about the oldest and the largest urban settlement of the Bengal region. The name of
the urban settlement is Mahasthangarh. About two thousand years ago, this urban
civilization was developed in the northern part of the Bengal region. Now it can be
found at Bogura within the borders of present day Bangladesh, on the banks of the
river Karatoya. Over time, the people of this settlement used various experiences to
develop from an agricultural village to a city of fortified fortress. The location of the
Mahasthangarh archaeological site is marked on the map in this lesson.
The whole site of Mahasthangarh had been underground over time. It has been
rediscovered through systematic excavations. Mud houses with earthen floors, various
types of pottery, hearths, plates, pots, mud walls, brick roads, silver bangles and coins,
fragments of bricks, bronze mirror and lamp, coins cast in molds, terracotta plaques
and many other artifacts have been found in Mahasthangarh.
Brick road
discovered in
archaeological
excavations at
Mahasthangarh.
A team of
archaeologists
from Bangladesh
and France have
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excavated them.
59
The relationship between Mahasthangarh and the Karatoa river was inseparable. Pundranagar
established around the Karatoya river. This urban center would not have developed without
the river. Also, the city could not survive without it. Can you say why the relationship between
the urban center and the Karatoya river was so close? Still most of the cities, ganjes and
haats in Bangladesh are located on the banks of rivers. Many of the rivers no longer flow as
abundantly as they did in the past. Some have even dried up. However, the old cities, ganjes
and haats still lie on the banks of rivers. As rivers changed their courses or moved from one
track to another, the settlements also relocated. Present-day communication and transportation
may have become easier through roads. However, earlier when there was water in the rivers
throughout the year, the rivers were the main route for agriculture, communication and trade.
Much like the flow of blood in human blood vessels keeps us alive, the flow of rainwater
between rivers and streams has kept Bangladesh’s people, land and communications alive for
thousands of years. Human settlement in the Bengal region was impossible without a focus
on rivers and dependence on them. Even today, developing a city without a river remains a
significant challenge. [An imaginary picture adapted from Sajid Bin Doza’s Art]
How was everyday

life and settlement
of ordinary people
living outside the
city of Mahasthan?
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[Source: An adap-
tation of the imag-
inary picture by
Sajid Bin Doza]
60
First Stone Inscription and the
Oldest City in Bengal
In the early days of history, kings used
to inscribe their rules, laws and infor-
mation regarding donations on various
stone blocks and copper plates and
sent to different areas. The inscription
found at Mahasthangarh is such a royal
record. Several such scripts are found
in the Bengal region. Among the scripts
found so far, the oldest stone script Brahmi script of Mahasthangarh
is that found in Mahasthangarh. The (300 BCE)
script was written in 300 BCE during
the Mauryan Empire. The writing system in which the script was written is Brahmi.
It is an inscription written on a round stone in only 7 lines. The reference to the word
‘nagar’ meaning ‘city’ was found for the first time in this inscription. From this, it can
be confirmed that the first city and capital of the Bengal region named ‘Pundranagar’
was built around the archaeological site of Mahasthangarh.
The inscription was issued on behalf of the ancient Mauryan Empire to the provincial
ruler working at Pundranagar. It instructed that the treasury of Pundranagar had to be
filled with oil, dum (firewood), rice, and coins so that people could be helped with this
treasure if the crops were destroyed due to any disaster, fire or flood.
Historian Dr. Enamul Haque, The International Center for Study of Bengal Arts
The entire city of Mahasthangarh was like a fort surrounded by brick walls and trenches.
There were four entrances on four sides, security posts, and metalled roads. The city
had separate drainage systems. Considering all these features, it can be said that a full-
fledged city emerged and developed here. It is speculated that after about one and a
half thousand years of existence, the city eventually got destroyed fter becoming
uninhabitable due to an attack by a warrior king or a clan or by an earthquake.
Two Ports of Ancient Bengal
Tamralipti is the oldest port of the Bengal region. This port of Bengal was famous all over
the world in ancient times till 8th century. The trade of various goods including textiles
went on through this port. The ruins of the port can be found in present-day Tamluk in
West Bengal. Another famous port called Samandar was built in the eastern part of the
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Bengal region. The port can be found in present-day Chattogram district of Bangladesh.
Trade communication of the Bengal region was established with different parts of the
world through this port. The port started its operation after the 9th century. Many such
ports were established depending on the favorable geographical environment suitable for
easy communication by river and sea routes of Bengal. Apart from the rivers, some other
geographical elements played an important role in the establishment of these port cities.
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The map in this chapter indicates the location of Tamralipti and Samandar port cities.
Let us now know how the landforms of Bengal played a role during our Liberation War
in 1971. As per the instructions of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the people of
the eastern part of Bengal started to ‘face the enemy with whatever’ they had. In terms
of weapons, our freedom fighters were not as powerful as the Pakistani forces. But they
were ahead in war tactics. The freedom fighters of Bengal were born and grew up in this
geographical and natural environment surrounded by water and forest. They used this
long experience of living in the water and forest of Bengal in the battlefield. By dipping in
water, exploiting the rain, and making proper use of the dense forests, the freedom fighters
launched guerilla attacks on the invading Pakistani forces. On the other hand, the geo-
graphical environment of Pakistan was opposite to that of the Bengal region. They were
not familiar with the heavy rains, water, mud, and mosquito infestation of the monsoon
season. As a result, the Pakistani invading forces were easily defeated by the freedom
fighters.
This relationship between man and nature is created differently in each continent. The
experience of life-nature understanding in the Bengal region is unique. The understanding
of India and other parts of the world is different in many ways. Just as the language-reli-
gion-culture of people on earth differs from region to region, the survival experience of
human beings also differs according to the variation of the earth’s surface. Before know-
ing the life story of kings or the story of wars, it is more important for us to know the his-
tory of human survival. Our real history is the history of human survival through various
adversities in different continents in the long course of history.
You see, different geographical environments have different types of elements. As a result,
human activities are also different in different environments. Historical events are also
different. They go through constant changes.
The Geographical Environment Around Us
So far, we have learned about the landforms and geographical environment of the Ben-
gal region. Now, let’s reflect on the geographical environment in our surroundings.
We will do it in teams. For this, we will form groups of 5-6 students. Through group
discussions, we will develop questions focusing on the following three themes.
1. Elements of geographical environment
2. The influence of geographical environment on our society and culture
3. The association of geographical environment with people’s occupations in our lo-
cality
Note that we will follow the steps of scientific inquiry method to do the task. If needed,
we can revisit the chapter ‘Looking Around through the Lens of Science’.
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Another important point to consider – we will take permission from the respondents
before collecting this information. All of us can surely remember what information to
provide when seeking permission from the respondents. If needed, we can discuss it in
groups to ensure everyone is aware and follows the guidelines.
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Influence of Landform on South Asian
and World History
Do you remember what we learned while inquiring about the influence of landform in
the history of Bengal? We considered Bengal as a region. We have learned about the
influence of landform in the history of the people of the Bengal region. We have also
learned that the physiography of all places of the world is different.
The world has green deserts, high mountains, plateaus, dusty deserts, and
impenetrable forests. There are also snow-covered polar regions and seas and oceans.
The landform of each region is different. People’s activities are also different from
region to region. Natural elements have a deep connection with all human activities.
In the previous chapter, we have learned about this relationship of people with
geography in the context of the Bengal region. This time, let us try to understand it in
the context of South Asia and the world.
Inquiry-based Task
Different types of components of landform exist in our world. Rivers, mountains,

seas, deserts, forests, plateaus - all these are the components of landform of the
earth. Let us name some more physiographic elements like this. Let us try to de-
scribe from our experience how people live in different environments.
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63
Influence of Landform on South Asian and World History
Scholars have been researching for years to know the history of human existence on
Earth. They have found skeletons and bones of early human bodies from around the
world. These bones of the human body are called fossils. Those who work on them are
palaeontologists. Palaeontologists are joined by scholars of various professions, in-
cluding historians. They conduct research on these elements. They also conduct exper-
iments in the laboratory. Thus, by analysing human skeletons and bones from millions
of years ago, they try to know the history of man.
At different times, histo-

rians have recovered hu-
man skeletons or bones
from underground. These
bones become hardened
over thousands of years.
Sometimes, in very hu-
mid climates, the bones
get eroded and disappear.
Whether or not bones sur-
vive depends on the envi-
ronment. Such bones or
body remains are called
fossils.
Along with human fossils, many weapons used by humans are also found in many
places of the world. From those weapons, we learn a lot about the way of life of the
early people. About 3.3 million (33 lac) years ago, humans learned to do small tasks by
making the first stone-made weapons. They lived together in groups and also lived in
caves. Moreover, they could hunt or gather fruits. That period is called the Stone Age.
During the Stone Age, people used stone tools for hunting, gathering food and self-
defence. There are three phases of the Stone Age which you have learned about in the
previous chapter.
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Copper was discovered at the end of the Neolithic period. Copper ore was collected
from rocks and heated to extract raw copper. They used to make weapons with that
copper. This period is called the Copper-Stone Age (or Chalcolithic Age), as copper
started to be used alongside stone.
64
In the early ages, people used to extract copper ore from the rocks. Thus, various
weapons were made by melting the ore in the fire.
Some Copper Age tools and artefacts were found in the northern part of the Indian
Subcontinent.
As you already know, humans first invented agriculture (the science of farming) during
the Neolithic Age. This event is called the ‘Agricultural Revolution’ in history. This
revolution started in the Indian subcontinent and South Asia about nine thousand years
ago. In the Bengal region, it began approximately seven thousand years ago.Before
the invention of agriculture, people had to move from one place to another in search
of food. After learning agriculture (the science of farming), people started to establish
permanent settlements. They mastered the skills of animal rearing. Settlements like
villages and towns were built in various places.
Agricultural Revolution: The First Revolution in Human Civilization

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Eminent archaeologist Gordon Childe first named this revolution ‘Neolithic Revo-
lution’ or ‘Agricultural Revolution’. Through this revolution, people abandoned the
life of food gathering and hunting and adopted the practice of food production. As
a result of this revolution, people got the opportunity to leave the nomadic life and
build permanent settlements.
65
Urban Revolution: The Second Revolution in Human Civilization

The second revolution of human civilization is called the ‘urban revolution’. The
archaeologist Gordon Childe first used the term ‘urban revolution’. He mentions ten
features of urban revolution in his book Man Makes Himself. These features include
the invention of writing, the practice of science and the development of the arts.
When people formed an urban-based society from an agrarian rural society, these
things started to be practised among urban people.
Influence of Landform on South Asian History

Let us know some facts about the influence of landforms in the history of South Asia
or the Indian subcontinent. The territory of South Asia needs to be known clearly to
understand the matter.
South Asia
(Indian Sub-
continent)
You can see a part of the world in the map above. The map shows the location of
South Asia (colour-coded area)
In this discussion of history, you must remember that the land known as India in ancient
times is now called South Asia or the Indian subcontinent. There are currently eight
countries in South Asia. They are Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal,
Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Maldives. Geographically, South Asia has some unique features
that define it as a ‘region’. There is another region in the eastern part of South Asia
called ‘Bangla’ or ‘Bengal’, which you are already familiar with.
Different Types of People

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People of different languages, cultures and physiques have entered the South Asian
land over the ages. The history of the people of South Asia has been described. History
describes their struggle to survive in the presence of different types of people under
various adversities.
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Among the various language groups that settled in different parts of South Asia and
India, we need to mention the Dravidian and Austric language groups first. Following
them, people of the Tibetan, Chinese, and Aryan language groups settled one after
another. Originally, people from different linguistic groups used to move from one
place to another in search of food, shelter, and safety.
Harappan Civilization: First Urban Civilization in South Asia or Ancient

India
About four and a half thousand years ago, some advanced urban civilizations developed
in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent. Among them, the names of the two
main cities are Mohenjodaro and Harappa. One of these two cities currently falls within
the borders of India and the other in Pakistan.
As a result of the excavations, many types of buildings, including well-planned roads,
houses, baths, and granaries, have come out from under the soil of the two cities. Initially,
only the cities of Harappa and Mohenjodaro were found, but archaeologists began to
excavate some other places following the traces of these two cities. Consequently, some
more ancient traces of human settlements were gradually found in present-day India
and Pakistan. Many new places are still being discovered.
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Each city of the Harappan civilization was developed with different physiographic
advantages. In the picture, you can see a town of Harappan civilization. It was origi-
nally a seaportan imaginary view of a port city of Harappan civilization.
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Various settlements, including the Harappa-Mohenjodaro city, have been discovered
along the banks of the Indus River. The first inhabitants started living here mainly
based on agriculture. Over time, industry and trade developed from agriculture. Then
in this progression, big cities came into existence.
Let us know one more interesting fact about the Harappan civilization. When you start to
learn about other world civilizations, you will see that most of the ancient civilizations
were born on the banks of some rivers. Some civilizations also developed in coastal
areas. Some different things can be observed in the development of the Harappan
civilization. Many settlements were built here simultaneously and spread not only along
the river banks but also in mountainous areas, deserts and sea coasts. Different types
of centres of this civilization developed different kinds of landform. Therefore, it is
incorrect to call the Harappan civilization a river-influenced civilization only.
It is a model of a boat. When we examine the size and type of these small terracotta boats,
we can get an idea of the kind of boats people in the ancient Harappan civilization used for
communication between different cities and settlements.
Just as civilizations rise, they also fall. Many believe that in cities, social and political
turmoil emerges at some point. Consequently, their downfall occurs. The geographical
factors behind the fall of the Harappan civilization are also considered with significant
importance. It is said that the journey of these civilizations began by focusing on
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agriculture. Gradually, advancements were made in the fields of industry and commerce.
Due to changes in the courses of rivers, reduced rainfall, and the expansion of desert
land, agricultural productivity was decreasing. The industrial and commercial systems
were losing their momentum. Therefore, people started abandoning these cities and
began moving to other places.
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Influence of Components of Landform on World History
We will now try to see this same issue in the global context.
It is now clear to us that hunting or gathering was the only means of life and livelihood
in primitive tribal life. Whatever everyone hunted or collected from the natural
environment was shared equally among all. As there was no separate property or surplus
products, there was a sense of equality among all. Every element needed for human
survival was collected from nature. After gathering and hunting naturally produced
food and animals, people again sought refuse in the shelter of nature. By accumulating
their experiences, they found the necessary logistics and techniques for survival. The
first revolution in the world happened with the skills and abilities of people acquired
over millions of years – the agricultural revolution. Then the urban revolution began.
North America Europe

Asia
South Asia
Africa Bengla
Region
South America
Oceania
Antarctica
WORLD MAP
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The oldest examples of urban civilization in the world are the Egyptian, Mesopotamia,
Indus, Chinese, Assyrian, Roman, and Maya civilizations. Geographical factors and
the natural environment also played a significant role in the development of these
civilizations.
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Through inquiry, let us briefly know some information about the influence of landform
on the Egyptian civilization developed in Africa and the Greek civilization developed
in Europe. You will learn elaborately about many other important aspects of these
civilizations through your study of the History and Social Science Books of Grades
Seven, Eight and Nine.
Egyptian Civilization: First Urban Civilization in World History
Egyptian civilization developed on the Nile River basin in Egypt in the African
continent. The Nile, the world’s longest river, originates from Lake Victoria in Africa,
flows through Egypt, and empties into the Mediterranean Sea. From agriculture to the
religious, social, cultural, political and economic life of the Egyptians, the influence of
the Nile was extensive. Realising its truth, the father of history, Herodotus, said, “He
who has seen Egypt must have realised that the land is the gift of the Nile.”
Egypt is called the gift of the Nile. The vast plains with fertile land formed by the flow
and flooding of the Nile were cultivated in various ways. This cultivation was one of
the main influences on the development of Egyptian civilization. The above picture
shows ploughing by oxen and sowing of seeds. There are imaginary images of how
the land around the settlements near the Nile was cultivated. There are also images of
making small canals or drains and carrying water through baskets or pots.
If we calculate it from today, the beginning of Egyptian civilization was probably 6000
years ago. This civilization began by subsisting on agriculture supported by the waters
of the Nile and the fertile alluvium along the river. They gradually moved towards
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industry and trade.

The Egyptians were also very successful in the practice of science. Astronomers in
Egypt compiled lunar calendars by determining the signs of the planets and stars in the
sky and their effects on the tides of the Nile. According to the lunar calendar, they used
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to calculate the year in 354 days. Later, observing the arrival of the Sirius star, they
started the solar calendar and calculated the year in 365 days.
The city of Thebes was built beside and within the banks of the Nile,
and various temples and structures adjacent to it. Centred around
agriculture, ancient Egyptian civilization flourished in the fertile delta
of the River Nile. Gradually, it transformed into an advanced urban
society, marked by the expansion of crafts and commercial trade.
(https://jeanclaudegolvin.com/en/karnak/)
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Greek Civilization: An Urban Civilization Developed on the Seashore

Agriculture was the mainstay of the economy of the ancient civilizations that developed
along rivers. Industry and trade gradually developed there based on the abundance
of agricultural production. On the other hand, the ancient Greek and Phoenician
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civilizations emerged, centred on different pieces of land along the shores of the
Mediterranean Sea. Extensive agricultural land or irrigation facilities did not surround
these coastal civilizations. In these civilizations, therefore, the economy developed
differently. They excelled in harvesting fish, pearls and other valuable resources from
the sea. They built their economic life by collecting wood from the hilly areas, building
ships with that wood, and conducting trade activities by sea.
Numerous mountains separated the land of Greece. Because of population growth, the
isolated settlements that developed in different parts of Greece were loosely connected.
The communication facilities were limited. Several city-states gradually developed in
these distinct parts of Greece. Among these city-states, the names Sparta and Athens are
particularly notable. The city-state of Athens developed in a mountainous and barren
area of central Greece.
Greek civilization was developed on the seashore. This civilization was originally a
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conglomeration of many islands. City-states were also developed around individual

islands. The map above shows the location of the city-states of the Greek civilization.
The main geographical features of ancient Greece are the mountains and islands
surrounded by seas. Originally, the civilization of Greece was a combination of many
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island states. These island states were involved in conflicts between themselves at
various times. Besides, they also accomplished many things when they were united. That
is why small city-states were formed in this civilization. The complete development of
Greek civilization took place approximately from 1200 BCE to 500 BCE.
Traditional and Non-traditional sources

At the beginning of this chapter, we learned about the need for sources or materials
as the primary means of knowing history. By examining the skeletons of ancient
people, information is obtained about the physical structure of the people of that time.
Besides, the tools and other materials used by the people (such as terracotta, pottery,
beads, architectural monuments, etc.) provide a variety of information about the daily
life of the people. These are non-traditional sources. On the other hand, we also get
diverse information from written records (such as books, land sale or donation deeds,
travelogues etc.). Let us investigate the lesson above and complete the table below by
identifying the sources of information in history. We will take help from our teacher.
Traditional sources Non-traditional sources
Deed Skeleton
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Nature Conservation Activity
Anuching Mogini is sitting dismayed in the classroom. Mili comes and asks, ‘Hey,
why do you look so sad?’ Anuching replies, ‘On my way to school, I saw a very wicked
incident that made me feel sad.’ Mili says, ‘Look, I’m your friend. Tell me what you’ve
seen.’ Anuching says, ‘Some fishermen caught a shushuk (freshwater dolphin) while
they were catching fish in the river. A huge crowd gathered at the shore after it was
brought there. Then a group of miscreants treated it as a dangerous animal and eventually
killed it.’Khushi Apa overhears their conversation when entering the classroom. She
says, ‘Anuching, you have

seen an unbearable incident.
The lack of consciousness
among humans causes death to
a huge number of endangered
animals every day. Killing
an endangered animal is a
punishable offense. In fact,
today we will work on this
topic.’
Image: shushuk (freshwater dolphin)
Understanding the concept of Nature and environmental pollution

Khushi Apa shows the following images to everyone:
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Bengal florican Hyena
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Peacock Nilgai
Pangolin Sloth bear
Then she asks, ‘How do you like the bird and the animals in the pictures?’
Students reply in a body, ‘The animals in the picture are very beautiful.’
Apa asks, ‘Where can we find these animals?’
Now everybody remains silent. Asad says, ‘Among them, I saw peacock, bear, and
hyena in the zoo. But I have never seen the other animals.’ With a smile Khushi Apa
asks, ‘Not in a zoo, but have you seen them in nature?’
Then she continues, ‘How would you feel if these animals were roaming around us?
Maybe, this is no more possible in Bangladesh since these animals are no longer
available here. None of them is alive in Bangladesh; they are already extinct. But, even
some days ago many of them used to live in different regions of Bangladesh. Let’s talk
about the peacock. Just a hundred years ago, they were available in the Shal forest areas
of Savar and other regions.’
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Now she asks, ‘Do you know why these beautiful animals disappeared from
Bangladesh?’ Again, everyone becomes silent. Only Shafik says, ‘Perhaps people have
destroyed many trees and forests and thus ruined the habitats of these animals. As a
result, these animals left for other places.’ Khushi Apa does not make any comment on
this and asks everyone to observe some more pictures:
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Title of the picture: .......... Title of the picture: .......... Title of the picture: ..........
Title of the picture: .......... Title of the picture: .......... Title of the picture: ..........
When students have finished looking at the pictures, she says:

● What do you think of the pictures? Select a title for each picture and write that
in the space given below the picture.
● Do you find any relation between the pictures and the extinction of wildlife? If
yes, can you say what relation they have?
Then she says, ‘Let’s find out the answers to these questions by discussing in groups.’
Then all of them have made small groups of 5/6 members. They have discussed for ten
minutes and written down the answers. Then they make a group presentation.
Let us follow the same process, work in small groups and find out the answers.
1. What do you think of the pictures? Select a title for each picture and write that in the
space given below the picture.
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2. Do you find any relation between the pictures and the extinction of the wildlife? If
yes, can you say what relation they have?
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Forming the Nature Conservation Activity:

Khushi Apa asks everyone:
● Who is responsible for these problems?
● Who has the responsibility to reduce these problems?
We can think about these too and find out answers to these questions.
Then she asks once again, ‘In that case, how can we ensure our effective role in
protecting the Natural life and the environment?’ In reply, all of them say, ‘Teamwork
can help establish our effective roles.’ Next, she says to all, ‘Shall we make a active
citizen club for protecting Natural life and the environment? We can work in a team
there.’ Everybody gets excited hearing this proposal. Anuching says, ‘That’s great! We
can save our distressed freshwater dolphins then!’ After the decision of founding the
club is finalised, Nasir asks, ‘What would be the function of our club? At this stage, all
of them form separate groups following the inclusion policy and then start reading the
attached story titled ‘Shyamoli.’
Shyamoli
Long ago, there was a scenic
village. The specific location of
the village is unknown to us. It
was by the side of an enchanting
river brimming with water.
Its name was Shyamoli. The
river flowed by one side of it.
On the other three sides, there
was a dense green forest. The
village and the forest were full
of trees and flowers of different
colours. Attractive insects and
birds used to fly on the trees
of the village and the forest. A
variety of splendid wildlife used
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to roam around the forests and

jungles. Insects, animals, birds
and people- all lived together in
happiness and peace.
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Something unfortunate
happened. Within a
few years, grass and
smaller trees began to
gradually disappear.
Then the number of tall
trees slowly decreased.
Rainfall also declined.
Along with the plants,
the number of insects,
animals and birds also
began to decrease. Even
more, rainfall dropped
so low that rivers began
to dry up. The greenery
around disappeared.
Everywhere around dry brown color appeared. As river water and rainfall dropped
low, crop yields in the field also began to decline. There were fears that if this situation
continued for some more days, there might be a shortage of food among the villagers.
The village appeared very much lifeless and dull. Those who came to visit the village
after long years could not recognise it. Is it the village they called Shyamoli!
Everyone simply wondered how the beautiful village turned into a dull place. However,
no one knew how to get back the earlier life of the village Shyamoli. In this situation,
a group of boys and girls from the village got together. They thought that the situation
needed a change! They decided to get back the almost disappearing aspects of the vil-
lage – the greenery, various colourful animals, birds, insects and the river brimming
with water. They did not know how to achieve this goal. One day they sat together for a
discussion. They wanted to figure out a solution. After the discussion, they found they
did not know many necessary things about the problem. That is why they could not
solve the problem. They did a lot of brainstorming and then they came up with some
issues. Without understanding those issues, they could not solve the problem. Those
were -
● What was the number of plants, animals and insects in the forest? And what
was the amount of rainfall and river water before?
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● What is the number of plants, animals and insects in the forest now? And what
is the amount of rainfall and river water now?
● Why these have been decreased?
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● What can we do to increase the number of plants, animals and insects in the
forest, and the amount of rainfall and river water?
They were very happy to be able to identify the problems. Then they began thinking
about where they could go and from whom they could find answers. They came to
know from their teacher that people at the office of the forest department in their village
worked with wildlife and forest-grown trees. They could get answers to their questions
from these people.
Following their teacher’s advice, they looked for information in the library of the forest
department. They borrowed many books and reports which could offer answers to their
questions. They studied those materials for quite some days. They came to know a lot
of things about forests, trees and animals in the forest. The came to know a lot form
the local people. but the local people did not able to say about privious time because
of their transferable job. However, they failed to find a suitable answer. Although the
information was related to their questions, it failed to offer any direct answer to their
problem. The books and reports told them about the number of trees and animals in
the forest in earlier times and in the present time. They noticed that at the start of
the problem the number of wolves dropped all of a sudden. Then the number of trees
decreased quite fast, but the number of herbivores began to increase. They could not
find any direct relationship between this scenario and that of Shyamoli village.
So they again went to their teacher. After listening to them their teacher said, ‘You
need to talk with someone who has a very good knowledge of forests and wildlife.’
Fortunately, there was a person in their village who conducted research on wildlife and
the environment. So the students hurried towards him. The researcher listened to their
problems and questions with much attention. He said, ‘It seems I have understood the
problem you are talking about. At one time, all kinds of plants, birds and animals in the
forest depended on each other and they lived in peace. This is called the food chain.
For example, grass and plants depend on the soil for food while deer, cows and buffalos
survive by eating grass and herbs. On the other hand, wolves hunt herbivores such as
deer, cows, buffaloes, etc. for food. Everything was going well. Problem began when
a group of hunters in the village killed all the wolves on the pretext of ensuring safety
of the village.’
Students asked, ‘What is the relationship between the arising of the problem and the
decrease in the number of wolves?’ The researcher explained, ‘You may have noticed
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that all the animals and plants of the forest depend on each other for survival. The
wolves hunted deer, cows, buffaloes and other herbivores for food. When there were no
wolves, the number of herbivores including the deer increased quite fast. This is why
you have found in the reports that when the number of wolves decreased, the number
of herbivores increased.’ Students exclaimed, ‘Now we can understand! And as the
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number of herbivores increased, the vegetation dropped. The number dropped sharply
because more herbivores ate up more plants.’ The researcher said, ‘You got it right.
And as the vegetation decreased, so did the amount of rainfall in this area. As a result,
the river water also dropped low. The surroundings became dry and dull.’ The students
cried out in excitement, ‘Now we have found out how the problem began. We have to
figure out how to solve the problem.’
Let’s read the story ‘Shyamali’ and figure out how to solve the
problem on our own.
When all the teams present their answers, Khushi Apa asks them, ‘What type of
activities would you choose for your club?’
Again, the students start working in groups of 5/6. They prepare a list of activities
for their club. After the group work, each team presents their list. They use various
media like poster papers. During the presentation, everyone logically analyses the
activities presented by the teams. Finally, they select some achievable to-do ones. They
decide that the members of the club would implement those individually and in teams
throughout the year.
Now let us identify the areas of work to do according to the reality of our locality.
(For your easy understanding, three examples are given below. We can keep these
examples, or if we want, we can ignore them.)
● Plantation of fruit trees and forest-grown ones
● Conservation of wildlife habitat
● Waste management in one’s school and surrounding areas
●
●
●
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When the list of tasks has been prepared, Khushi Apa says, ‘We’ve decided what we
need to do.
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Evaluation
Now let us evaluate the activities we have completed for the Nature conservation club.
For this, we will use the following self-assessment checklist.
Sl. After participation in club Strongly Somewhat Do not

activities agree agree agree
1 I have known at least about three

endangered native species.
2 I/We have taken at least one

initiative in protecting animals/
wildlife/environment.
3 I have become interested in wildlife.
4 My love of wildlife has increased

more than before.
5 I am strongly committed to
protecting wildlife and the
environment in future.
6 I believe the club has benefitted

from my work.
7 I have realised why wildlife and the

environment are important to us.
8 Now I can explain at least 3 reasons

for the extinction of wildlife and
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the environment.
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Muktijuddha in Our Locality
The other day, while reading the newspaper, Nasir’s parents were having a discussion.
Nasir’s father mentioned that the government had initiated efforts to identify and preserve
the sites of genocide. Nasir did not pay much attention to his father’s conversation at
that moment. In the afternoon, as he he is heading to the playground with his classmate
Manik, it strucks his mind. During the walk, Nasir asks Manik, ‘Wasn’t your grandfather
martyred in 1971? Do you know the details of what happened?’ Manik says, ‘I don’t
know all the details very well, but I do know that it wasn’t just my grandfather. On
that day, the occupying forces killed 46 men and women from our locality. Since then,
the neighbourhood has remained deserted. We, along with twenty-three families, have
constructed houses on the southern islet (char) and have been living there ever since.’
‘Do you know the place of genocide?’ asks Nasir. Manik immediately replies, ‘Of
course, I do. Why wouldn’t I know?’ Nasir says, ‘Let’s go there.’ Crossing the southern
islet, when they reach the woody area, they saw that the UNO, the UP Chairman and
some others of their locality are observing something and they were having a discussion.
As Nasir and Manik approach, they can recognize UP Chairman Harun Uncle. Nasir
approaches him and asks, ‘What is going on, uncle, in this lonely place so far away?’
Harun uncle says, ‘I see. You don’t know that in 1971 the Pakistani Army was defeated
and retreated in a battle with the Mukti Bahini in our village. Ten to twelve days after
their defeat, they besieged the village with the help of the treacherous native Razakars,
and tied and shot 43 people dead at this spot.’ Manik says, ‘This means this a site of
genocide.’ At that moment, Mr. Anupam Barua the UNO moves towards them and
says that the government is identifying the sites of genocide and the mass killing sites
(badhyabhumi) all over the country. Monuments will be built in memory of the martyrs.
There will be one in this locality too.
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Hearing this, they become very happy. At the same time, many questions start emerging
in their minds. Why did the war happen? Why were the villagers killed? How long did
the war continue? Who led the war? They want to know everything about it. Manik
says, ‘We have to know this history.’ Nasir says in the same tone, ‘That’s true. We have
to know all the incidents in detail.’
We want to know about the liberation war

On the following day, they start asking those questions together when they meet Khushi
Apa in History and Social Science class. She pauses for a moment and says, ‘Wait a
minute! This means you have visited the site of mass killing at the western edge of our
village. You have done a great job. Well, you all know that our war of independence in
1971 wa s against the Pakistanis. Your questions indicate that you want to know about
Muktijuddha (the Liberation War) occurring in our locality. Can you tell me how we
can know about this?’
Nasir says, ‘Through inquiry-based tasks. What other ways can there be?’
‘Excellent! Let’s try to find this through an inquiry-led project-based task,’ Khushi Apa
says.
Discussion on liberation war

Identification of problems/Questions for inquiry
Now Khushi Apa says, ‘Now let’s talk about the liberation war which makes all of us
curious.’ She asks everyone some questions about muktijuddha. Students know some
of the answers, and some are unknown to them. She says do you know-
a) How did our country attain independence?
b) Why did the war of liberation take place?
c) When and for how long did the war of liberation take place?
d) Under whose leadership, and how did it happen?
e) Did only the famous people contribute to the liberation war? Did ordinary
people like us contribute in any way? Did anyone you know directly participate in
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the liberation war or cooperate in some ways?
f) If someone did so, what kind of role did she/he play?
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Let’s hear the story of Shahid Azad
At one stage, the class starts discussing the contribution of common people in the
liberation war. At that point, Khushi Apa tells
them- the story of Shahid Azad ‘Many of you
may have heard of Shahid Azad. His full
name is Magfar Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury
Azad. During the liberation war, he was a
buoyant young soul. Although a teen, he was
a very brave member of a guerrilla group
called the Crack Platoon. He was never afraid
of launching guerrilla attacks on the Pakistani
Army. At one point during the war, Azad was
captured by the Pakistani forces. After a lot
of searching, Azad’s mother found out that he
had been detained at Ramna Thana (police
station). When she finally met him, she found Shahid Azad
that Azad had been tortured to such an extent
that he could not stand up on his own.
Seeing his mother, Azad told her that the Pakistanis had proposed that if he provided
all information about his co-fighters, they would free him. Azad’s mother instructed
him not to reveal any information about the whereabouts of muktijoddhas (freedom
fighters). She asked him to keep to it even at the cost of his life. Azad complied with
her advice. Azad had become emaciated because of starvation for a long time; and he
asked his mother to bring rice for him. When his mother came back with some rice the
next day, Azad was nowhere. In her next 14 years as a bereaved soul, Azad’s mother
never touched a single grain of rice.
‘This is the story of Azad, just one of the countless martyrs. Stories of thousands of such
martyrs are lying unknown in each of our localities. Will we ever get to know about
these heroes, the valiant martyrs? Are we going to learn about such heroic mothers?
‘We are going to know about them, for sure. However, how are we going to do so? Our
local history is not documented down anywhere. Will we keep ourselves only to the
reading of history written by others? Or, are we going to unearth the local history being
lost in the abyss of oblivion? What if we start exploring the role of common people in
our locality? Then we can make additions to the existing history of theliberation war.’
● The whole class shouts together, ‘Of course, we want to add new chapters in
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the history of the liberation war!’

● Khushi Apa now asks, ‘Well, what things do you want to know about the
liberation war in our locality?’
● ‘What happened in our locality? What brutalities did the Pakistanis employ
here?’ Nasir asks.
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● ‘What did the freedom fighters do here?’ Aeysha asks.
● Fancies says, ‘What did the common people do?’
Khushi Apa writes all the questions on the board. At the end of the discussion, the
questions are grouped into some key inquiries. The whole class intend to find answers
to these questions as a project. Examples of key questions are as follows:
What kinds of tortures were employed on the common people of this locality during
the liberation war?
How did the freedom fighters make resistance against the Pakistani Army?
How did the common people help the freedom fighters?
Let us plan our project-based task to find answers to these questions, the way Nasir,
Ayesha and their friends have been doing.
Preparation (team formation and action plan)
Mili asks, ‘How are we going to execute the task? Individually or in groups?
‘What do you think? What can be an effective way of accomplishing it?’ Khushi Apa
says.
Fancies says, ‘Working it out individually can be quite challenging. Yet again, working
as a whole class might create confusion. So, it might be a good idea to work in small
teams.’
Rasel says, ‘In this class, we are from different corners of this locality. I think keeping
students living in the same area in one group can help us work effectively.’ Another
friend Mubarak says, ‘It would be better to keep the number of group members limited
to 6 to 7. With a bigger number, it will be difficult for all to participate comfortably.’
Then Mili says, ‘Of course, we need to ensure that we will work in the same group
without moving to a new one.’ Khushi Apa says, ‘Thank you for the good ideas. Now
we can form groups considering these issues.’ Everyone participates in the formation
of teams of 6 to 8 members based on their places of residence.
When teams are formed, Khushi Apa asks if any member of their families was martyred
in the liberation war.
Robin informs all that his elder uncle was martyred during the liberation war.
Khushi Apa requests Robin to tell everyone about the events of his martyred uncle.
Robin starts narrating the incidents to the class.
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At this stage, Khushi Apa asks, ‘From where can we know about more such incidents
that took place in this locality during the liberation war?’
‘We can learn from some of the elderly people of our locality,’ says Siam.
‘From the information on the liberation war we find in textbooks,’ says Fancies.
‘From the local library,’ Ayesha says.
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Nasir says, ‘From the contemporary newspapers.’
Mili says, ‘I have heard that a lot of information can be obtained from different websites
and other sources on the internet.’
Khushi Apa says in a worried voice, ‘Well, how do we know if the information from
these sources is accurate?’
Everyone feels quite concerned. Joy offers an interesting idea, ‘We can collect
information from different sources. Then we can compare to sort out the correct pieces
of information.’
Khushi Apa tells the class, ‘Now it’s time to plan. Now you may recall the steps of
scientific inquiry we discussed earlier. To prepare our plan, we can use the methods
of scientific inquiry.’ This way, Ayesha and his friends prepare a plan on how to
accomplish the project about the liberation war in their locality. Of course, they take
help from Khushi Apa.
Now let’s make a plan to find out the history of the liberation war in our locality
through a project-based task, the way this class did.
Ground rules for teams
Khushi Apa asks them if the team members want to follow some rules and regulations
during the long-term group task. The students come up with different opinions. They
assess the opinions and make a list of ground rules to be followed by everyone. They
all agree to it. Some of the rules of the list Nisharga and her friends have prepared can
be seen below. These are simply some examples of such rules. Others can prepare their
list of ground rules according to their situation. Now let us make a list of ground rules
that are suitable for our work.
Ground rules to be followed by the students
1. Ensure essential safety for all members during the project work.
Express your opinion logically and confidently showing respect for the opinions of
2.
everyone in the team.
3. Never hesitate to express your opinion for any reason.
4. After logical analysis, accept others’ opinions with respect.
Ensure active participation of all the members of the team irrespective of gender and
5.
ability.
6. Obtain the permission of the interviewees before interviewing them.
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7.
8.
9.
10
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Review of existing information (literature review)

Today, Khushi Apa asks, ‘Where can you find the events of the liberation war in this
locality, which have already been documented?’ In response to her question, all the
students come up with many answers. Thus, they create a list of items like books,
magazines, documentaries, documents and etc. After a whole-class discussion, they
decide that all the teams would make a list of possible sources of the necessary
information. Then they would collect information from those sources within a specified
deadline. They will discuss the sources, procedures of obtaining information and
obtained information with Khushi Apa.
The next day, during some spare time, Nasir visits Ayesha home. They want to start
working on the project on liberation war.
Ayesha says, ‘We will follow the same method of conducting research that we have
followed earlier. That’ll do. However, I think we need to think differently about just
one aspect.’
Nasir asks, ‘What is that?’
Ayesha replies, ‘In order to make inquiry about the liberation war, we need to know
the significant information about this war first. However, the basic steps we learnt
about inquiry-based tasks earlier did not include a review of existing information (or
literature review). There was no step about collecting information by reading printed
books, magazines and documents. In the case of inquiry-based tasks, it is often easier
to determine what new information needs to be collected if the existing information is
known.’
Nasir says, ‘You are right. I think we can read some books on this topic. Also, we can
talk with someone who knows this issue very well. In that case, we can also get some
relevant books and magazines from him/her.’
When the two friends have reached
Siam’s residence and shared
the thought, Siam also become
very enthusiastic about it. The
three together request Siam’s
grandfather. Siam’s grandfather
loves reading books a lot. Listening
to Siam, Ayesha and Nasir’s curious
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questions, he brings a pile of books

on liberation war from his personal
library. Then, in a fun way, he uses a
question-answer narration technique
to relate the necessary information.
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When did the liberation war happen in reality?

You know that the liberation war took place in 1971? Nevertheless want to know why
it is called Muktijuddha? Why did it happen?
It’s very simple - it was a war for liberation. Well, a question may arise. Whose freedom?
Freedom from whom? Why did the question of liberation arise?
In fact, you all know the answers. It was for our freedom, for the liberation of the people
of this Bengal, that is, the then East Pakistan. We wanted freedom from Pakistan. There
were many reasons why we wanted freedom from them. It’s not that you aren’t familiar
with those reasons. Take some time to think through or let us talk about it among
ourselves to find out the reasons.
To understand the reasons, the important aspects we need to discuss are-
● Movement to uphold rights for mother tongue
● Discrimination and deprivation
● Six-point Movement as an answer to the problems
● The 1969 Mass Uprising
● Victory in the 1970 election and Pakistan’s conspiracy
Let me briefly inform you about these issues from these books I just brought from my
library. You can also learn from your teachers, elders in your locality and from many
other books.
Language Movement
You know about the language movement to some extent. Nevertheless, let me say
something about it in brief. Immediately after the establishment of Pakistan in 1947, a
question arose as to what would be the state language of the new country. It was only
in 1948 that the central government of Pakistan made a clear declaration that only
Urdu would be the state language of Pakistan. However, the students did not make
any delay in protesting strongly against it. However, Bengali was the mother tongue
of most of the people in East Bengal, that is, the then East Pakistan. Between the two
parts of Pakistan, the population of East Bengal was much greater in number. Yet,
their demand for Bengali as state language was being ignored. It was so unjust! So,
the intellectuals, teachers and writers of the country immediately protested against the
decision. Students also burst out in protest. Father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman and most of the political leader supported this movement. But the Pakistani
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government was so stubborn in their decision that the police opened fire on a students’
gathering demanding Bengali as the state language. A few demonstrators were killed.
They are Bhasha Shahid (language martyrs) Abul Barkat, Abdus Salam, Rafiquddin
Ahmed, Abdul Jabbar, Shafiur Rahman and others.
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Salam Rafiq Jabbar Shafiur Barkat

In the end, the government of Pakistan had to accept the demand for the Bengali
language rights. We were victorious without bowing to injustice. Litterateur Abul Fazal
therefore wrote - ‘Ekush’ means ‘not to bow one’s head.’
Deprivation and discrimination
From the very beginning, the central government of Pakistan had been discriminating
against the Bengalis. I am going to describe some facts from which you can understand
the issue clearly. However, before that we need to understand what discrimination
means. In simple words, discrimination means distributing things unjustly without
equal or fair division of the things in question. A few examples below can make the
point clear to you.
Discrimination in the political sector
First, the West Pakistani rulers were reluctant to provide autonomy to East Pakistan
from the very beginning.
Second, although Bengalis were the majority in Pakistan, the number of Bengalis in the
cabinet of Pakistan was very low.
The 1954 United Front Government was removed from office in an unfair move.
Discrimination in the administrative sector
In 1956, out of 42000 officials in the central administration of Pakistan, only 2900 were
Bengalis.
Of the 954 top officials in Pakistan’s ministries in 1962, only 119 were Bengalis.
Discrimination in military sector
The quota for recruitment to the Armed forces was 60% for Punjabis, 35% for Pathans
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and 5% for the remaining parts of West Pakistan and East Pakistan together. However,
in the face of the demands of Bengalis, this number was later reformed a bit. In 1966,
out of a total of 17 top officials in the Pakistan Army, only 1 was a Bengali.
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Economic discrimination
In the 1949-50 fiscal year, the per capita income of East Pakistan was 305 Tk (taka) and
that of West Pakistan was 330 Tk. In 1967-68, it increased to 352 Tk for East Pakistan
whereas in the case of West Pakistan it increased to 530 Tk. The headquarters of almost
all banks, insurance and trading companies, including the Central Bank of Pakistan,
were in West Pakistan. In Pakistan’s first five-year plan, 113 crore Rs (rupees) was
allocated for East Pakistan, i.e., present-day Bangladesh. On the contrary, 500 crore
Rs was allocated for West Pakistan. In 1956, 56.4% (570 crore Tk) of the total budget
expenditure was spent for Karachi’s development while only 5.10% of the budget was
spent for the whole of East Pakistan. To establish the new capital Islamabad, 300 crore
Tk was spent for the construction till 1967. In contrast, only 25 crore Tk was spent for
Dhaka city. The government of Pakistan made innumerable discriminatory examples
in the running of the state. As a result, self-determination (swadhikar andolon) and
independence movement arose in protest in the then East Pakistan.
Six-Point as an answer
That juncture, Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman was a trusted leader among
the people and politicians of East
Pakistan. He wanted to end this
discrimination and deprivation. He
wanted to ensure equality between
East and West Pakistan in terms
of resources, opportunities and
everything else. Why should we
accept injustice? He could not accept
it. So he announced the famous Six-
Point Demand. We are talking about
the year 1966. The Six-Point Programme included demands such as each province
should be able to enjoy their own resources, keep the foreign exchange earned through
exports, and meet the expenses of the province using their taxes.
Mass Uprising
At that time, President of Pakistan
General Ayub Khan was a military
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officer. He threatened to retaliate with

weapons. Later, a sedition case was filed
against 35 people making Sheikh Mujib
as the chief accused. This is known as
the historic Agartala Conspiracy Case.
That, of course, had the opposite effect.
90
The people started such a movement for the release of their beloved leader that Ayub
Khan had to quit power. People made a chorus of a slogan: jeler tala bhangbo, Sheikh
Mujibke anbo (We will break the lock of the jail and bring back Sheikh Mujib). This
was the mass uprising of 1969, in which the students and the mass people took to
streets. Many, including the young Asad and the teenager Matiur, were martyred. The
police and the military could not subdue the movement. Even the deaths of students and
labourers did not frighten the common people. At this juncture, Sheikh Mujib became
free and was conferred upon the epithet of ‘Bangabandhu’ by Kendrio Chhatra Sangram
Parishad (Central Students’ Action Council).
1970 general election

After Ayub Khan, another military officer General Yahya Khan came to power. He
understood that he would not be able to rule the way Ayub Khan did. So, he promised
to offer a new constitution and hold a national election soon. The election was held on
December 7, 1970. The government assumed that even if Sheikh Mujib’s party Awami
League would get some seats, the party would not get a majority in two provinces
together to form a government. However, Awami League had a landslide victory
(meaning absolute victory or victory by a huge margin). Out of a total of 300 general
constituencies to the National Assembly of Pakistan, a total of 169 were allocated for
East Pakistan. Out of these 169 seats, excluding two, 167 members were elected from
the Awami League candidates. As the total number of members of the Pakistan National
Assembly was 300, a party could form a government only if 151 candidates won.
Nevertheless, 167 Awami League candidates won in this election. As a result, they had
a fair claim to form the central government. Bangabandhu would be the first elected
Prime Minister of Pakistan. Most Pakistani politicians, military officials, government
officers, bureaucrats could not accept this bare truth. Accordingly, they started devising
numerous conspiracies.
Their conspiracy and our non-cooperation

Thus came 1971. The first session of the National Assembly was to be held in Dhaka
on the 1st March. Pakistan was still suffering from the ailment of not conforming to
the Bengali leadership. Pakistani politician Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was very ambitious. He
conspired with a number of military officials, and they involved President Yahya Khan
in it. Their main goal was not to hand over power of Pakistan to Bangabandhu Sheikh
Mujib. Being under pressure from Bhutto, Yahya Khan terminated the 1st March
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session. Eventually, the people of East Pakistan became infuriated and they came to the
streets. Bangabandhu also vigorously protested and started non-cooperation movement.
Let us talk about the non-cooperation movement a bit. Non-cooperation means not to
cooperate with someone. It turns into a movement when people start non-cooperation
with any authority. Bangabandhu called for non-cooperation with the government of
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Pakistan. In other words, government employees would not join work, and every office,
court, school and college would be closed. In this way a government can be compelled
to accept the demand of the people. During the British rule, Mahatma Gandhi started
such a movement for the first time in history.
After March 7, all schools, colleges, offices, courts, mills and factories in Bangladesh
were closed on the orders of Bangabandhu. The collection of tax stopped. Bangabandhu’s
control was established everywhere except at the cantonments. In March 1971,
in response to Bangabandhu’s call for non-cooperation, the people of Bangladesh
disobeyed the instructions of the Pakistani government and became completely non-
cooperative. In history, it is known as the Non-Cooperation Movement of the month of
March.
7th March Speech
The historic speech of Bangabandhu
in front of millions of people at the
racecourse ground on March 7 was
another great event of this period
in 1971. There was pressure on the
leader from the people to declare
independence. Pakistan was waiting for
such an opportunity. If Bangabandhu
had directly declared independence,
they were ready with arms to attack the
people and leaders. In contrast, our leader was a visionary and experienced man. He
tactfully ended the mass gathering by declaring independence in such a way that the
tricky task was accomplished without sustaining any loss (the snake was killed but the
stick was kept intact). He declared ‘ebarer sangram amader muktir sangram, ebarer
sangram swadhinatar sangram (The struggle this time is a struggle for our emancipation,
the struggle this time is a struggle for freedom.)’ This acted as the message for freedom
to all. UNESCO has recognised his 17-minute impromptu speech as one of the World
Heritages.
Discussion, Operation Searchlight and genocide
Seeing that the situation was getting out of hand, they offered to hold discussions to
stop the non-cooperation movement. Bangabandhu as a believer in democracy agreed.
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In the pretext of the talks, they gathered troops and amassed weapons in East Pakistan
cantonments.
At one point, they stalled the discussions following their secret plans and returned
to West Pakistan on the evening of March 25. Then at midnight, the most horrible
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massacre in history began in the name of Operation Searchlight. Students, professors,
intellectuals, men and women of different professions, writers, poets and artists were
attacked by the occupying Pakistani Army. This went on for nine months. In this way
3 million (30 lakh) people were martyred in nine months. They did not spare Bengali
women from excruciating torture.
Bangabandhu’s resolve and declaration of independence
Meanwhile Bangabandhu decided that he would
stay in his house and accept whatever was destined
for him. In fact, he made this decision based on two
considerations. First, he thought that if the aggressors
did not find him, they would wreak havoc in Dhaka
city. Second, he felt that he had such a familiar face
that it was impossible for him to go into hiding. Also,
it would be a shame to be caught on the run. It would
be better for everyone to face them with courage.
However, before he got detained, he sent the historic
message for declaration of independence to the EPR
forces after 12 midnight on March 25, i.e. at dawn on March 26. The pronouncement was
first sent to Chittagong by EPR wireless system. It was later sent to other parts of the coun-
try. This was our Declaration of Independence. In the declaration, he affirmed that the peo-
ple of Bangladesh should continue fighting till the last soldier of the occupying Pakistani
forces was expelled from Bengal territory. This is how our liberation war began.
Swadhin Bangla Betar

Some employees at Chittagong Betar, led by veteran artiste Belal Mohammad, decided to
run a radio station from Kalurghat in favor of independence. Accordingly, they started the
necessary work and many people joined the initiative. From this center on the evening of
March 26, Chittagong district Awami League General Secretary M. A. Hannan first read
out Bangabandhu’s Declaration of Independence. Later many more read it out. When the
Pakistanis launched an airstrike on the Kalurghat broadcasting center, the broadcasting
equipment was removed to safety. Later, a full-fledged radio center was set up in Kolkata.
Artists, writers, journalists and intellectuals from all over the country went to Kolkata to
join Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra. During the nine months of the war, music, stories,
dramas and other programs in favor of the liberation war were broadcasted from this center
to keep the people and the freedom fighters motivated.
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First Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh

Tajuddin Ahmed consulted senior leaders of the party and the members of parliament to form
a government. At the same time, he met Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India,
and sought her cooperation. Based on this initiative, the first Government of the People’s
93
Republic of Bangladesh was formed on April 10, 1971. On April 17, this Government took
oath at Baidyanathtala in Meherpur of Kushtia district. This government is also called
Mujibnagar Government or Expatriate Government (prabasi sarkar). Bangabandhu was
declared President in his absence and Syed Nazrul Islam was given the responsibility of
Acting President in Bangabandhu’s absence. Tajuddin Ahmed took over as Prime Minister
and Capt. M. Mansur Ali, A. H. M. Kamaruzzaman, Yusuf Ali and some others formed
the cabinet. Colonel Osmani was declared a General and was assigned to the post of the
Commander-in-Chief of the Army. This is how the journey of Bangladesh Government
officially began.
Nine months of war and victory
one crore people took refuge in India to save their lives during the war. India not only
gave them shelter, but also gave office space to the expatriate government formed
by Bangladesh. They also provided training and weapons to the guerrillas, helped
form naval commandos and air forces and provided all-out assistance in forming our
regular forces. The Indian Government was also active in maintaining balance in the
international arena and gaining support from other countries. In the end, it formed
the Joint Forces with Bangladesh and played an effective role in defeating Pakistan
by participating in direct war. About 6-7 thousand members of Indian Army also lost
their lives in this war. Although the Government of Bangladesh was in exile, the main
goal of this government was to achieve victory in the Liberation War. To carry out the
assigned responsibility with efficiency and discipline, it was important to constitute the
structure of the government and appoint manpower accordingly. Although the number
of ministers in the expatriate government was limited, the number of ministries was
not so few. Government officials, academics and elected political leaders who had
taken refuge in exile were employed to run the government. In July and September,
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the country was divided into 11 administrative regions. After the formation of the
government on April 10, Colonel M. A. G. Osmani was appointed the Commander-in-
Chief of the Mukti Bahini. Lt. Colonel M. A. Rob was appointed Army Chief of Staff
and Group Captain A. K. Khandkar was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff. Besides,
the country was divided into 11 sectors and Bengali military officers were appointed
94
as sector commanders in order to conduct the liberation war smoothly. Bangladesh
Air Force was mainly formed with the Air Force pilots who were able to reach India.
However, a few pilots with experience in flying civilian aircrafts also joined and took
part in airstrikes in the final battle. Similarly, naval commando teams were formed
with naval personnel who fled Pakistani ships and the country. Needless to say, the
importance of attacking the Pakistani fleet and rendering them useless for the liberation
of the riverine, sea-facing country was of infinite importance. As a result, young people
who were interested in joining the war were also recruited into the naval commando
team. After rigorous training, they became the ones who disrupted the supply lines of
Pakistan Army by rendering Chattogram port and various inland ports of the country
useless through Operation Jackpot. Thus the commandos defeated the Pakistani forces.
The desire to join the war for the independence of the country was so strong among
the teen, the youth, the old and the students, the farmers, the labourers, and even the
women throughout the country that many forces were spontaneously formed. Among
them, BLF or Bangladesh Liberation Force, which mainly consisted of Jubo League
and Chhatra League youths, was one of them. Members of some leftist political parties
including NAP, Communist Party and Students’ Union also took part in the war by
forming guerilla forces. As China took the side with Pakistan during the Liberation War,
many of the pro-China left-wing political organizations of Bangaladesh condemned
China’s position and they fought against Pakistan during the Liberation War. However,
some of these pro-China political parties supported China’s position and they sided
with Pakistan. In addition, brave fighters in different regions of the country created
many regional forces by organizing enthusiastic youths. These forces also made a huge
contribution to the struggle for independence that time. Finally, after nine months, on
December 16, the Pakistani forces formally surrendered to the joint Indo-Bangladesh
force at the Ramna Racecourse in Dhaka. We became free from the occupation forces.
In the words of Bangabandhu, they could not keep us subjugated. We became victorious;
we became independent. A new state with the red and green flag emerged on the world
map.
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95
Participation of people from all walks of life
Notice that when the Pakistani army carried out the massacre, they did so without
considering who were rich or poor, and educated or illiterate. They did so irrespective
of the identities of religion-caste-race, and man or woman. They brutally killed the
Bengalis. On the deadly night of March 25, the illiterate poor rickshaw pullers or slum
dwellers were shot dead just the way the world-renowned scholars of Dhaka University
were killed. On that day, Bengalis from all walks of life fell victim to the aggression of
Pakistani invasion forces. Nevertheless, among these people, many young people took
part in the liberation war in groups.
Now you might do one thing. If you look for freedom fighters in every family, you will
get the news of one. Listen to their experiences and write down those narratives. After
coming to school, you can listen to each other’s stories. Only then you will realise how
people of all religions and from all walks of life were involved. Even women were not
lagging behind. You must have heard the names of Taramon Bibi and Kakon Bibi.
Guerrilla warfare
Another issue is of much importance. In the liberation war, the conventional war
between the armies of the two sides was fought towards the end of the war. Before that,
mostly guerrilla warfare took place. The guerrillas disguised themselves as ordinary
people. Then, according to their plans, they suddenly made attacks and quickly mingled
with the general public. This tactic is called ‘hit and run’ method, which means running
away after making an attack. This is why the guerrillas needed secret shelters inside
the country. They needed safe places to store ammunition, and often needed reliable
people’s vehicles, boats or even rickshaws to move around. So it must be remembered
that many families have contributed to the liberation war by providing these things. The
housewives provided food for the guerrillas, while the younger children acted as go-
betweens. As a result, many have played their roles as freedom fighters in the liberation
war without fighting with arms. You may have known about martyred composer
Altaf Mahmood. Altaf Mahmood is the eminent person who composed music for the
celebrated song amar bhaier rakte rangano Ekushey February (the 21st February that is
stained with my brother’s blood). You can read Ekattorer Dinguli (The Days of 1971)
written by Shaheed Janani (Martyrs’ Mom) Jahanara Imam to learn about the guerrilla
attacks made at Hotel Intercontinental. Besides this, it will be much better if you can
listen to a guerilla, or someone actively involved in liberation war. You can try to find
such a person to listen from them.
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One Crore Refugees

Many people were killed and many people’s houses were burnt down in the attack
of the Pakistani occupation forces on the midnight of March 25. In fact, this brutal
massacre continued throughout the year until victory was achieved. As a result, people
96
in groups started migrating to safe shelters from the beginning. Everyone’s goal was to
cross the border of the affected country and seek refuge in the neighboring countries.
Thus, many people took refuge in the border areas of India during that time. They are
the refugees of 1971. At the end of the year, the number of such asylum seekers in India
rose to one crore. They contributed to the independence of the country by leading a
very distressing life. Many of them also participated in the liberation war.
The central government of India, the state government of West Bengal, the state
government of Tripura and the people of these regions have helped the refugees as well
as borne the pressure made by additional people. As a result, the sacrifices of the refugees
and the contribution of the benefactors, these two issues have to be remembered.
The role of nature and climate
You may find it interesting to know about the role of nature and climate during the war.
You know that Bangladesh is a riverine country. There are many rivers and canals in
this country. Besides these, beels, jheels and wetlands are innumerable. It is as if every
village had either a river or a canal. Moreover, there has always been the irritating pres-
ence of the rainy season. The rainy season lasted for a long time in 1971. As a result,
most of the year, the rivers, canals and beels were full and it was difficult to walk in the
mud. Such a landscape and climate are very suitable for guerrilla warfare. The Paki-
stanis were not guerrilla fighters; rather, they were traditional soldiers. Moreover, their
country is uneven and dry. They did not have so many rivers, canals, and beels. They
did not know how to swim, and so they were much afraid of the water. This natural
environment was very advantageous for us in the war. The Pakistanis could not have
survived those nine months if there were no traitors like the local collaborators such
as Al-badar, Razakar and members of the Peace Committee. If these traitors were not
there, at least the villages would have always been free.
The collaborators of aggressors
Unfortunately, everyone witnessed the brutal torture on and killings of the people of
Bangladesh, some people growing up on the Bengal soil took a stand against their
own country. They handed over brothers and sisters of their country to the Pakistanis.
By betraying the people of their native land, these people participated alongside the
Pakistanis in the brutal killings. These include the National Student Forum (NSF), an
organization of then pro-Pakistan students who served as the anti-Bangladesh force
during the Liberation War. Moreover, before the surrender of the Pakistani invasion
forces, the local collaborators of the Pakistanis called the Al-Badar and the Razakar
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killed the best descendants of Bangladesh. In fact, they killed people throughout the
year in 1971. In fact, they killed people throughout the year in 1971. Several political
parties, including the Jamaat-e-Islami, the Muslim League and some other parties, sided
with the occupying Pakistanis. Under their leadership, peace committees were formed
to act as puppets in the hands of and accomplice to the aggressors. They also formed
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Razakar, Al-Badar and Al-Shams forces and used them to assassinate freedom fighters
and pro-liberation intellectuals, teachers, doctors, journalists, writers and artists. We
know that we have attained this independent country in exchange for three million
(thirty lakh) martyrs. We have to add the incidents of coldblooded torture of two to
three lakh women. Thus, this freedom has been achieved through the sacrifice of many
people. We have gained this red-green flag with the sacrifice of millions of lives and
with the heroic role of many people. It is the sacred duty of all of us to respect this flag
and protect the independence of this country.
Bangladesh during the war
You should keep in mind that the way people from all walks of life participated in
this war, none of the 64 thousand villages in the country was perhaps excluded from
this war. The pakistani barbarrous army set fire in almost all the village of Bengal
Sometimes, they committed genocide. How many sites of massacre spread all over the
country! The massacre of three million people is not an easy task. All over the country,
this brutal massacre went on for nine months.
As a result, in such a situation, people did not have the attitude of celebrating Eid,
puja and other festivals as they used to do. How could they celebrate! Some families
might have seen their sons going to war while other families were awaiting anxiously
after receiving the news that their boy with his team would come at night to have some
food. In some places, there was urgent need for arranging the treatment for wounded
freedom fighters while some were working undercover for the weapons to be delivered
to a specified place safely. There were families who would have already lost one or
more members already. It was difficult for them celebrate the festivals when they just
mourned the loss of someone dear to them. Every moment there was fear of death. The
country was seemed to be a mortuary. The war did not stop even on the day of Eid-
ul-Fitr and other festival days. As a result, people experienced a different kind of Eid
or worshipping. Yes, you can also learn about the festival days of 1971 from the elder
members of any home. That year the 21st February was before the war, and so it was
celebrated with much enthusiasm. But Nababarsho (the New Year) came during the
war, and so it could not be celebrated in a befitting manner. It is also possible to know
the condition of the small tribes who celebrate Vaisabi, Sangrai or other festivals on
the occasion of New Year. Based on this you can do a project called Ekattarer Utsav
(Festivals during 1971).
In 1971, secondary and higher secondary examinations could not be held properly. At
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some places, people in favor of the liberation war distributed leaflets asking students
not to take examinations. At some other places, they displayed the writing on the gates
of the examination centers. At some places, there were grenade attacks in the surround-
ing areas of the centers. All these were done to prove to the world that nothing was
normal in the country under Pakistan’s occupation. What other ways could there be!
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Conclusion
During the nine months of war, Bangladesh as a country was under siege, and life was
abnormal. People awaited the hours of freedom even in the midst of terror; they worked
for it.
Siam’s grandfather’s continuous speech stirred up much excitement among the three
students. The words spoken by him created a sense of awe among the three. Thousands
of questions start churning in their mind. Nasir and Ayesha return home as they ponder
over the questions. They decide to come up with an effective plan and get down to a
project work.
Inquiry and data collection
Nasir says to Ayesha, ‘We accomplished a good job with the help of grandpa and
Khushi Apa. With their support, we got a lot of necessary information from books and
magazines. Now let us collect information from the elders of our family and locality.
We’ll talk with them who have witnessed the liberation war. They may know many
important facts about the liberation war.’
Mala speaks out, ‘That’s okay. But what will we ask them?’ Ayesha says, ‘You raised
a good point. We need to develop an interview questionnaire. Let’s do it.’
Interview Questionnaire
Questions for inquiry Interview questionnaire
1. What kinds of tortures were inflicted 1. Where were you during the liberation war?
upon the common people of this locality 2. How old were you then?
during the liberation war? 3. Do you know if Pakistani army came to this
area?
4. In case of a ‘yes’, what kinds of tortures and
oppressions did they inflict?
(Students can develop more questions as need-
ed according to the samples above.)
5. ..................................................
6. ........................................................
7. ..............................................................
2. How did the freedom fighters make Students can develop their own interview
resistance against the Pakistani army? questionnaire following the sample questions
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above. 1.
2.
3. .........................................................
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3. How did the common people help the Students can develop their own interview
freedom fighters? questionnaire following the sample questions
above.
1.
2.
3. .........................................................
Name of the interviewer:
Date:
Let us develop our interview questionnaire the way Nisharga, Ayesha and their
friends have done. We can then collect information.
Then Nasir, Ayesha and their friends get divided into teams and start collecting
information from their families at first. All the members of the team assemble their
information and discuss it. Every team discusses the information they have collected
with Khushi Apa. Khushi Apa asks each group to share at least one special event
collected from their relatives. They have to share it with everyone in the class on behalf
of the groups.
● After the presentations of each group, Khushi Apa asks them to find out new
information available about the places mentioned in their presentations. She
also asks them to find out if the Pakistanis faced any obstacles in their locality
due to natural and environmental factors (such as abundance of rivers and
canals etc.). The teams look for those places. Then, according to the teams’
decisions, they visit the places, collect data using interviews from eyewitnesses.
They also interview the senior citizens there. Before going to field work, the
teams share their plans with their teacher.
● Khushi Apa oversees and checks if the project is going on according to the
plan of each team. She provides all necessary institutional support for the
collection of data. However, she never imposes any opinion; rather, she
simply offers the groups necessary advice. When it is necessary, she provides
technical support (such as recorders, cameras for collecting data, etc.) and
administrative assistance (such as giving a letter on behalf of the headmaster if
special permission is required to enter a place).
● The student groups visit their respective localities/neighborhoods and
interviewed senior citizens or expert informants about the situation during
the liberation war, special incidents, or significant places. They also ask them
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about the contribution of individual members of society, families, or groups.

Attempts are made to find out the real situation of the local people during
the liberation war. Moreover, data are collected about the inter-relationship
between natural and social environment and liberation war, non-communal
environment, and the inter-relationship between different festivals and the
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spirit of liberation war. They try to know about places with war memories
and ones that are associated with events of the liberation war. They also try to
know about eyewitnesses and other related things. Team members take notes
of important details. In the light of the information obtained, they create a map
by marking the memorable places of the liberation war in their area. They use
various symbols and marks in mapping.
Let us draw a map of our work
Khushi Apa cautiously ensures that each member of the team can participate in and
contribute to different activities by turn.
Data verification and analysis
● Khushi Apa repeatedly takes ideas from the teams on how to verify the
accuracy of information and accordingly gives necessary advice. However,
she never imposes any opinion on the teams.
● Everyone analyses the information collected by the teams after verification
and confirmation. They either accept or discard some data. Then they present
their experiences of data collection and verification processes to Khushi Apa
and other groups in the classroom.
● Preparation and presentation of findings
● At this stage Khushi Apa asks, ‘How can you make others know about the
events of the liberation war that you have found out through this task?’
● Everyone discusses in their groups and comes out with different creative and
innovative means. Some of these are photobook, documentary, diary, poster,
leaflet, photography or painting exhibition, book, drama etc. Khushi Apa
allows them complete freedom in this regard. However, she makes them aware
of the possible challenges and issues. Keeping to her advice, the teams start
implementing their plans and sharing those with the students of other classes
on some national days.
● This time Khushi Apa says, ‘You can present your findings in front of teachers,
students, parents and members of the community at your school. You can do
this during the celebration of national days. These days are the 7th March, 17th
March- the birthday of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman and National Children’s Day, 25th March- the Genocide Day, 26th
March- the Independence Day, 14th April or Pahela Boishakh (Bengali New
Year), 15th August- the National Morning Day, 14th December- the Martyred
Intellectuals Day, 16th December- the Victory Day etc. We will make
arrangements to preserve your findings about the liberation war institutionally
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or nationally for further research.’

● Based on the necessary advice and feedback from the concerned teachers, the
friends of Nisharga and Ayesha organise a presentation of their project. School
teachers, thana education officers, guardians, local elders/freedom fighters are
present as guests.
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Initiatives to conserve the memory of the liberation war

Khushi Apa asks if there is any permanent way to preserve these memories of the
liberation war. She says, ‘As an accomplishment of the results obtained in your project
work, you can adopt various plans or proposals. One example is the designing of
‘Erection of Liberation War Memorials by Students.’ You can also go for modernization
or preservation or reconstruction of existing monuments or memorials in your area.
You can apply to schools and local administration (of upazilla or district) for their
support and cooperation to implement these initiatives.’
Now let us evaluate everyone in our team using the peer evaluation table attached at
the end of this chapter.
Documentation
Finally, the teams formally store information on various stages of their teamwork.
They also storedwritten records of self-reflection and summaries of acquired learning
(in pictures/videos/written form/hard or soft copies of the draft) in their school by
submitting those to Khushi Apa.
4.1 Rubrics: Performance assessment of the teams by the students Team No. -
Project Title:
Class:
Deadline:
Subject:
Field of Order of students in the group

evaluation
A B C 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Very interested Although she/ It is necessary to

in working on he is not very create interest in
project tasks. interested in the project work.
Tries to get other work, she/he She/he needs to
Interest team members somewhat does work more in
interested too. his/her part. team with others.
Plays his/her own
role in the team.
Participates Does not take We will further

actively in team active part in help this friend
decisions and team decisions so she/he can
Participation
action plans and work, in work according
in team
and carries out team planning; to team’s
planning
his/her tasks works alone, not decision and
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ccordingly. in collaboration plans.

with others.
Works on time; Sometimes This friend is
submits his/her works according having much
Time
work on time. to deadlines. Not difficulty
management
always. submitting work
on time.
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Shares own Practice is
remarks, Rarely
needed for
opinions with expresses
expressing
everyone on own remarks
The opinions
the team in an or opinions;
practice of at team
unambiguous speaks more
democracy manner, meetings or
than others
and listens giving others
in group
attentively to a chance to
discussions.
others. speak.
Offers his/
her opinion
with reason; Accepts defeat
promptly in an argument More practice
corrects or debate, but is required
any mistake might feel a to accept
logical pointed out by bit upset about others’ rational
stance a teammate; it; sometimes opinions with
makes an wishes to keep respect, and
effort to settle arguing even to admit one’s
disagreements after losing an own mistakes.
or disputes argument.
among others
in the group.
More practice
Respects the In case of a
is needed to
differences difference
show respect
and diversity in others’
for dissent.
in others’ opinions, she/
Mutual In case of
views and he accepts
respect constructively differences,
it but does
criticises she/he
not want to
others’ avoids it or
change his/
opinions. aggressively
her position.
argues.
Helps others
in their work
and gives
Only
effective,
identifies the
realistic
weaknesses Practice
feedback.
of others’ of giving
She/he
work; effective
identifies
Giving identifies the direction /
both the
feedback strengths and
direction of feedback
development for the work
weaknesses
but is not of others is
in others’
able to give needed
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work and
directions for
also guides
development.
others in the
development
of the work.
103
She has
to accept
Accepts
Learns from feedback
criticism or
mistakes offered by
feedback,
Receiving identified in others in an
but cannot
feedback others’ work easy manner
improve
and tries to and has to
the work
do better. develop his/
accordingly.
her work
accordingly.
Names, roll numbers and signatures of all students in the group according to the serial
of roll numbers:
Serial Name Roll Signature
7
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Teacher’s Name: Signature and Date:
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The Emergence of Independent Bangladesh
in the Bengal Region after a Journey of
Millennia
Nilanta is sitting on a seat next to the window. Through the window, he sees a flock of
birds flying freely in the open sky. Meghla sits next to him. Nilanta does not even look
aside.
Meghla wants to know, ‘Hey, what are you looking at?’
Nilanta looks back in shock, and absent-mindedly replies, ‘Looking at the open sky, the
land of clouds and the birds flying and thinking about the story of Dalimkumar heard
from my grandfather last night.’
Meghla says, ‘I have also heard the story of Dalimkumar many times. Dalimkumar was
the king’s son. Their kingdom was vast. There were elephants and horses in the stables.
They went to wars with many soldiers. A captive princess was rescued from the clutch
of a demon.’
Nilanta is still wandering in the world of thoughts. He asks Meghla, ‘Was there really
such a king in the past? Were there kingdoms and princes? Do these still exist? Is
Dalimkumar’s story true?’
From behind, another friend Tanha chakma laughs and says, ‘Do you want to be a
prince, Nilanta?’
Nilanta does not join the laughter. As before, he calmly says, ‘No.’ He thinks, a long
time ago, was our country run by kings? What kind of people were those kings? Did
they really fight with so many elephants and horses? How were the common citizens in
their kingdom? Did they really exist, or are the stories we hear all made up by people
or fairy tales?’
After listening to them, many of the class looks back with great interest. They are also
thinking of ways to answer the questions. After Khushi Apa enters the class, Nilanta
stands up first and asks the questions one by one.
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Let us try to find answers to these queries. In fact, there are many stories that spread
orally, some of which may be true, and some of which may be completely imaginary.
However, if you really want to know about the past of people, you have to read history.
Remember, history and fairy tales are not the same. Fairy tales are fictional stories
made up by people; and history is the description of the experience gained from all
105
The Emergence of Independent Bangladesh in the Bengal Region after a Journey of Millennia
the activities that happened in the life of people in the past. When we try to understand
the continuous description of people’s multifarious activities or lifestyles logically and
scientifically in the light of reliable sources and evidence, it will then become history.
One more thing to note here – history is not just a description of princes, kings or
kingdoms. How people have sustained their existence on earth for millions of years,
brought about agricultural and urban revolutions, invented language, society, culture
and religion, built kingdoms and states, and reached the present day is known only by
reading history. By reading history, we come to know how people were in the early
ages, roamed in the forest and hunted animals, and slowly formed tribes or qawms
from small groups to survive against various adversities. Then how people passed one
era after another, how they developed technology and science, built civilization, at one
stage formed an independent country – all these facts are known from reading history.
From Food Gathering to Production: The Beginning of Dominance
About 10,000 years ago in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent i.e. Bengal, the main
struggle for human survival was to gather food. Then with the discovery of agriculture
and farming techniques, the struggle for food production began. Consequently, People’s
lives changed. Man discovered agriculture approximately 7,000 years ago. While
collecting, hunting and producing food in the Bengal region, many people died due to
poisonous snake and insect bites and wild animal attacks. However, the introduction of
agriculture was the first revolutionary event in human history. This period is therefore
called the period of ‘agricultural revolution’ in history.
Along with the collection and production of food in the Bengal region, people also
learned to store it. When people began hoarding food, disparities in food distribution
within tribes and societies began to emerge. This disparity added a new dimension to
the history of human survival. The more food or resources a tribe accumulated, the
more they tended to exercise their power and dominance over people. By hoarding
food, one class of people became ‘wealthy’ and ‘noble’, and they began to dominate or
rule the other common people.
Then came the urban revolution in the history of Bengal region. From this time people
started to discover and use letters. Written records of human activities were created.
Historians say that urban civilization began in history from this time. In the cities, there
appeared kings, royal families, and a small class of elites who enjoyed all the privileges
of the time, including wealth and power, whereas, common people had little space.
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The Emergence of Independent Bangladesh: Distant Connection

We have learned about the urban civilizations developed in different parts of the world,
such as the Harappan, the Egyptian and the Greek civilizations. At the same time, we
have studied King Pandu’s Mound, Pundranagar and Tamralipti. As you grow up, you
106
will learn more about the different types of human settlements in different parts of
the world and their diversities. Today, let’s start our central discussion. Let us try to
understand how independent Bangladesh emerged in 1971 in the eastern part of the
Bengal region located in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent. This is the history
happening over millennia. At the same time, let us try to understand how common
people united under the unique leadership of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
and made an exemplary contribution in this development. In this discussion, we will
make an attempt to understand how events from the distant history of the Bengal region
are linked to the Liberation War. We’ll look into the events in sequence. In Class Six,
we’ll explore events up to 1300 CE, then in Class Seven up to 1800 CE, and in eighth
and ninth Grades up to 1971.
Rare Natural geo diversity: Barrier or Advantage
The land of the Bengal region has been fertile since ancient times. There were many
fish in the river. There were various fruits in the forest. Again, there was a lot of danger
here for people. Due to the influence of the monsoon, there were more storms here. The
people of the Bengal region had to acquire the ability to survive in these adversities. All
the places in Bengal where the tools of ancient people have been found are marked by
a slight elevation from the surrounding area. In ancient times, the rivers of Bengal were
much more turbulent. As numerous rivers spread like nets in the Bengal region, there
were dense forests and jungles on the ground. People, therefore, chose the elevated
grounds bordering the forests along the banks of the rivers as their place of residence.
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How primitive man used fire
107
These are pictures of the collective life of primitive people. Fire was one of man’s main
weapons and a shelter until the prehistoric times. Man passed the longest period of his
existence on Earth by playing with fire and rock.
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A town and a boat on the banks of a river. Imaginary drawing of Pundranagar,

Bangladesh (Source: Adaptation of Suja-ud-Daula’s drawing)
The ‘Banga’ janapad (township) was formed with the people having the name-identity of
Banga. This janapad was formed with the greater parts of Dhaka, Faridpur and Barishal
108
in present Bangladesh. Around the 6th century, an independent kingdom called Banga
was formed around this janapad. In the western regions, its boundaries occasionally
stretched as far as the current Kolkata in West Bengal. Today we find the then capital
of Bengal at Kotalipara in Gopalganj district of Bangladeshy. To the east of Bengal
was another ancient town ‘Samatat’. This janapad was formed with Cumilla, Noakhali
and the adjacent areas of present-day Bangladesh and major parts of the present-day
Tripura state in India. These small townships were the first political units of the Bengal
region.
er
riv
u tra
map
ah
Br
Kamarupa (Pragjyotisha)
Sompur
Mahavih r
ara rive
Ganga R
iver aputra
arh
hm Shrihatta
Bra
ng
Pundra
tha
Ra
as
jm
ah
ah
M
al Jam
una
r
ive
Riv
aR
er
thi River
hn
eg
M
a
Devparvat (Mainamati)
ng
Bhagira
Ba
Mo Ra
und rh
of Samatata
Kin
Ch
garh
gP
an
and
dr
u
ketu
ad
wi
Harikela
ndra
p
Cha
Suh
ma
The Bay of Bengal
The Bengal region in ancient times. Independent Bangladesh was born

in 1971 in the eastern part of this region.
tan
kis
Pa
India
Rivers
Bengal region
South Asia and Bengal region
Bengal region The janapadas of Bengal region have been marked in the above map
The inhabitants of the janapadas were mainly people of the Austric language group.
Besides them, two or three other major language groups spoke Dravidian, Sinitic,
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Tibeto-Burman languages and their numerous sub-sects. For thousands of years, they
lived in their own villages with their own language, folk religion and culture. You need
to know that in many places of the Bengal region (present-day Bangladesh and West
Bengal, Tripura and other parts of India), there are still small indigenous small ethnic
groups called Kol, Bhil, Santal, Shabar, Pulind, and Nishad. All of their languages
109
belonged to the Austric and Dravidian language groups. Besides, Chakma, Marma,
Murong, Garo, Khasia and many other ethnic groups settled within or around the
borders of Bengal territory and are still living there. Most of them belonged to the
Chinese, Burmese and Tibetan language groups.The question may arise in your mind
as to why there are so few people of indigenous ethnic groups now. When and how did
the arrival of Bengali-speaking billions of people take place outside this population?
What is their identity?
More than 300 million people are currently living in the Bengal region. Among them,
there are about 170 million people in Bangladesh alone. Most of these people are
Bangla-speaking Bengalis. Over the course of millennia, the people of different physical
structures and language groups who entered the territory of Bengal have formed the
Bengali community. This population is thousands of years old. Nevertheless, judging
by the language formation process, the Bengali language is roughly one and a half
thousand years old.
Since prehistoric times, people of different languages, religions, cultures and peoples
who came to Bengal in search of fortune, in need of food, and trade have lived together
in harmony and conflict. Many of them settled in different parts of the Bengal region. All
the people of the Bengal region who have the ability to survive on earth by overcoming
the adversities of water and jungles have written history in this land with different
experiences. So, the influence of and control over geographical factors are significant
in this history which you have known and learned from the early chapters in History
and Social Science book.
King, kingdom, politics, struggle for enancipation of human being
Kings, princes, princesses and kingdoms are seen in different ways in the ancient history
of different parts of the world. Our Bengal region is no exception. Among them were
Mauryan kings, Gupta kings, Sena kings, Khalji kings, Hussain Shah Sultan, Mughal
rulers, Nawabs, British and Pakistani rulers. They came from different corners of the
world and established dominance over the Bengal region. In this way, new kingdoms,
diverse peoples, new languages and people of different religions and cultures came
and dominated the Bengal region. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the architect
of independent Bangladesh, was the only leader who emerged from the mud, rivers,
beels, haor-baor, rain and greenery of the Bengal region, and led this land. Before him,
no other leader from this land in the history of Bengal worked at the risk of life for the
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liberation of common people, for maintaining love and harmony among all people of
all religions.
The boundaries of Bengal, Pundra, Gaura, Rarha and Samatat etc. were never constant.
As the power and authority of the kings increased, the boundaries changed. This
situation continued until 1905 when Bengal was partitioned for the first time. Then in
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1911, the partition was revoked and the province of Bengal was reestablished. Bengal
was also partitioned for the second time during the partition of India in 1947. One
of the two parts was first known as East Bengal and later as East Pakistan. In 1948,
the government of Pakistan declared Urdu as the state language, which heavily hurt
the common people. In 1952, the people of Bengal established their right to speak
Bengali language through a blood-spilling movement. Thus, the people of Bengal
protested against the various exploitations of the Pakistan government. We achieved
a land called independent and sovereign Bangladesh through the six-point movement
of 1966, the popular uprising of 1969 and the nine-month bloodstained war with the
Pakistani occupiers in 1971. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman led this struggle
for achieving this territory called independent Bangladesh. We have learned about this
in detail in the chapter ‘Muktijuddha in Our Locality’.
Practice Activity: Group Presentation on Bangabandhu

We have learned a lot of information about Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Let’s organize a group presentation on Bangabandhu’s unique leadership and his
contributions to ensuring the participation of people from all walks of life in our
Liberation War. Alongside the discussion in this presentation, you can showcase any
photograph or poster on Bangabandhu, and anything else that can help realize his
contributions to the common people. In this group presentation about Bangabandhu,
you can collect information from the chapter titled ‘Muktijuddha in Our Locality’ and
from the website mujib100.gov.bd.
The arrival, transformation and assimilation of various religions, cultures

and politics towards the emergence of independent Bangladesh
The history of the arrival, settlement and assimilation among the people of different
religions, cultures and politics in the Bengal region is very rich. According to the
research of prominent historian Mamtazur Rahman Tarafdar, during the reigns of
the Deva, Chandra, Pala and Sena dynasties, people following the sanatan religion,
Buddhism, Vaishnava and folk religions coexisted in ancient Bengal. In particular, the
Pala dynasty ruled the northern and northwestern parts of Bengal and several parts
of Bihar for about four hundred years. During this time, many educational centres
were established in the Bengal region. These educational centres were called Bihars.
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Buddhism and other scriptures were mainly taught in such a Bihar. The people living
in the Bengal region gradually began to accept the various streams and sub-streams of
Buddhism.
After the Palas, in the middle of the 11th century, the Sena kings from the Deccan
of India took over a large part of the Bengal region. Some historians claim that in
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the 12th century Vijayasena was the first king who unitedly ruled the entire region of
Bengal. In fact, it cannot be concluded that any single ruler could ever rule the entire
territory of unbroken Bengal. During the time of the Sena rule, pirs, sufis, fakirs and
dervishes came in contact with the coastal areas of Bengal through Arab traders. We
come to know from various historical sources about the commercial travels and cultural
transfers through trade and commerce happening from 1000 to 1300 CE.
After 1200 CE, a Turko-Afghan fortune-seeker named Bakhtiyar Khalji extended
his rule over parts of present-day West Bengal and Bihar province in India. When
Bakhtiyar Khalji reached the Sena kingdom to expand his territory, King Laxmansen
is said to have retreated to his capital at Bikrampur (present-day Munshiganj district
of Bangladesh). Afterwards, Laxmansen was associated with the administration of the
eastern part of Bengal for some time. The power of the Sena dynasty continued till the
year 1220 CE. According to various sources, a powerful king named Danuj Ray arose
in the eastern part of Bengal including Bikrampur after the Senas.
Bakhtiyar Khalji most probably established his capital at Lakshmanavati, later known
as Lakhnauti (present-day Murshidabad and adjoining areas in West Bengal, India).
Khalji warriors and kings were followers of Islam. The people of the Bengal region
were followers of Hinduism, Buddhism, and popular folk religion. Gradually, the
preaching of Pirs, Sufis, Dervishes and rulers also made Islam known to the common
people of Bengal.
For this reason, despite the natural barriers and differences in various religions, castes,
languages and cultures in regional Bengal, which is surrounded by natural boundaries,
all the people here are bound by a wonderful bond of fellowship and affection. Human
identity has always been more important here than religion.
However, one thing must be remembered; you cannot know and understand the people
of this land just by reading the history of the kings. If you want to know the people, you
have to know the culture, customs and traditions of the people. You will see different
dynasties emerging in different centuries. The struggle to establish supremacy in the
eastern part of Bengal continued with the northern part of India. Different dynasties
ruled each part of regional Bengal. Ambitious or fortune-seeking groups of warriors
came from distant lands and occupied different parts of Bengal. In this way, various
social and cultural factors have changed and transformed the prevailing trend in the
Bengal region over time.
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From Plassey to the Partition of Bengal and Towards the Emergence of

Independent Bangladesh
You must have heard about the Battle of Plassey that took place in 1757. After this war,
the English East India Company took control of a part of Bengal. Those who came in
112
the name of trade ruled a vast territory of India, including Bengal, for a hundred years.
In 1858, the ruling power of Bengal was taken directly under the British Raj after
removing the company from power. British power occupied the territory of Bengal for
almost two hundred years and controlled economic and political power. In the past, the
dynasties who came from distant lands to the eastern part of India, namely regional
Bengal, mostly settled here and mingled with the local people. As a result, people
protested less, but those forces greatly influenced their lifestyles. Instead of settling
here, the British were more focused on extracting the resources of this land. They
collected more and more revenue and forced the common people to cultivate indigo on
land. As a result, the people became very angry against the British rulers and started
revolting. Due to the effect of these rebellions and resistance movements, British power
was forced to leave the subcontinent and Bengal.
When the British partitioned India in 1947 and returned to their homeland, Bengal was
also divided during this time. Instead of following the thousand-year-old tradition of
living together irrespective of religion and caste in the Bengal region, a new political
identity based on the majority religion was used. Making an inappropriate connection
to history, the eastern part of the Bengal region was named East Pakistan. The earliest
name of Bengal territory as ‘Banga’ got lost. East Bengal within the Pakistani state-
structure became a colony of the West Pakistani ruling group. Exploitation and
discrimination occurred in all areas from language to education, culture, economy
and politics. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman started a systematic movement
to free the people of East Bengal from this exploitation. Bangabandhu got the
farmers, labourers, students, the rich and the poor of Bangladesh alongside him in this
movement. Bangabandhu’s trust in Bangla and the Bengalis and his ability to love all
people irrespective of caste and creed took him to a matchless height.
However, in the journey over thousands of years, the name ‘Banga’, based on the
manifold experiences of the people living in a certain territory and the action and
reaction to various events, the independent sovereign state of ‘Bangladesh’ came into
being under the leadership of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1971. In the
chapter ‘Muktijuddha in Our Locality’, we have already learned about the context of
the bloodstained liberation war of Bangladesh. We have also known about the robust
leadership and contribution of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in this war.
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113
Book Reading Programme
Upon entering the classroom, Khushi Apa asks, ‘Are you ready? We have already
formed an Active Citizens Club. Let us prepare some rules and an action plan for
reading through Active Citizens Club. Students of Khushi Apa’s class visit the library
on the first day as part of the book reading programme. On the first day, they take
Khushi Apa to the library as part of the action plan for the reading club. There they
become members of the library so that everyone can borrow books of their choice from
the library. They will be reading those books. Throughout the class hour, they sit in the
library and happily read some books.
The outcome of the formation of this club is amazing. Nowadays every one of the class
joyfully reads books every day and roams around in the world of boundless joy.
Evaluation
Now let us evaluate our activities connected to the reading club by filling out the self-
assessment table attached below:
Strongly Somewhat
Sl. After participation in club activities Disagree
agree agree
1 I have read at least 3 books.
My interest in reading books is

2
increasing.
I share with others what I learn from
3
reading books.
I have a list of books that I want to

4
read in future.
5 I encourage others to read books.
6 I enjoy reading books a lot.

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By reading books, I have learnt many

7
new things.
I believe the club has benefitted from

8
my activities.
114
Evaluation:
How are our club activities running
At the end of the year, using the table below, we will analyse the activities of our club
and our learning from the club. To do so, we will take help from our teachers. This
evaluation will help us participate more efficiently in the club activities in future.
A. Details of club activities:
Name of the club:
Objectives of the club: 1 2 3
The number of meetings held:
Names of the members of the Executive Committee:
Details of activities planned Status of the activities Comment(s) of the teacher

for the present academic planned (completed/
year running)
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Book Reading Programme
B. To be filled in by President/Vice President/Secretary (for every member):
Role (e.g.
Comments
President/
and
Vice Attendance
signatures
Name of President/ at meetings
Types of participation in club activities (President/
the club Secretary/ (e.g. 7 out
Vice
Member/ of 5)
President/
Not a
Secretary)
Member)
More active
participation
Very active: Moderately
is desirable
enterprising, active:
in future:
participates in participated
participated
discussions, actively
only in
stays active in in some
some
club activities activities
compulsory
activities
Active
Citizens
Club
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Natural and Social Structures
What is a structure?
Khushi Apa has brought some beautiful pictures for today’s lesson. These are the
pictures:
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Khushi Apa says, ‘Let us organize ourselves into groups and look at the pictures and
try to find answers to the following questions.’
Serial Question Answer
What do the structures/shapes of the houses/
1
buildings look like? Do these have any names?
2 What are these constructions made of?
3 What are these used for?
Is there a relationship between the structure and
4 climate/environment? If there is a relationship,
what kind of relationship is there?
Are there differences in the structures of the houses/
5 buildings according to their uses? If so, what
differences are there?
Each group presents their answers in front of everyone in the class. Neela and Fatema
start a conversation while others are presenting.
Neela says, ‘Have you noticed one thing? Every house, building, infrastructure etc. has
a specific shape. We can call it ‘kathamo’ in Bangla or ‘structure’ in English.’
Fatema adds, ‘Have you noticed another thing? The look of the structure depends on
many aspects. For example, what is it used for? Who uses it? In which area is it located?
Of what period is it? Various other issues may also affect it.’
Tamal says, ‘Again, the structures change over time, don’t they?’
The whole class cannot but agree.
Now Anai says, ‘Well, houses, places of worship etc. are man-made structures. Aren’t
there other types of structures around us?’
The bell starts ringings and thus today’s class ends. So, Khushi Apa finishes the
discussion and says, ‘We will discuss different types of structures another day.’
Different geographical locations and their features (mountains, deserts,
plateaus, polar region, pastures)
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Neela has got hurt today after stumbling while playing. Everyone brings her to the class
and lets her sit comfortably. After the tiffin period, Khushi Apa enters and then Fancies
says, ‘Apa, Neela hurt her legs today.’ ‘Is it so?’ asks Khushi Apa and adds, ‘But how?’
Neela replies, ‘While running around the high mound at the corner of our school field,
I have got myself hurt.’ Khushi Apa says, ‘I feel sorry for you. We should have been
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more careful while playing because we should avoid hurting ourselves. If you notice
carefully, you will be able to see that our playground is uneven and bumpy, right?’
Ganesh replies, ‘Yes, Apa. In the south, some parts of the ground are a bit high.’ Khushi
Apa says, ‘Yes, you are right. Similarly, the natural environment surrounding us is not
alike, right?’ Sakib replies, ‘Yes, Apa. There is a river beside our house.’ At this point,
Khushi Apa says, ‘Now, let us see some pictures.’
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Questions
● Do you know the geographical structure of these pictures?
● Do you find any similarities/dissimilarities among them?
● What kind of similarities/dissimilarities do you see?
● Do you know the name of any other landform besides these?
Then Khushi Apa says: Well, how would you feel if each of us make a dictionary of
known and unknown landforms?
Ayesha asks, ‘Apa, how would that be if we use drawings or pictures from a book, the
internet, or with help of the elders makes a dictionary about the landforms that are not
known to us?’
Khushi Apa says, ‘Yes, you can definitely do it. You may take help from the History
and Social Science: You will not only use your History and Social Science book but
also other sources, such as the internet, additional books and even textbooks of other
grades.
Ratul adds, ‘Apa, if we come to know about any such unknown landforms in the future,
that too can be added here, right?’
‘Definitely,’ replies Khushi Apa.
Following them, let us a dictionary of landforms.
Tuhin’s dictionary of landforms
Hill River
Landforms with a height of more than A natural body of freshwater that runs into
300 metres but less than 1000 metres are a sea, ocean, lake, or river or another water
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called hills. body.

Tomal says, ‘In our country, we have many types of landforms like this. We may find
them out.’
Khushi Apa says, ‘Tomal, you are right. Let us look at the map of Bangladesh.’
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Landforms of Bangladesh
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Map collection- https://bn.banglapedia.org/index.php/
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Khushi Apa says, ‘You’ll find many diversities where you live and where you roam
around in your locality.’ Anuching says, ‘I live in hilly areas and Nazifa lives beside
a river bank.’ Shawkat adds, ‘My maternal uncle lives in Sunamganj; there I saw
big marshes. In the rainy season, it looks like a sea and there are many waves in it.
We wandered in a boat there. I also visited the same place in winter and there I saw
green paddy fields all around.’ Subodh adds, ‘We have travelled the forest areas – we
along with some families visited the Sundarbans.’ Rupa adds, ‘We visited Dulahazra
Bangabandhu Safari Park, a wildlife sanctuary, on our way to visiting my grandpa’s
house in Cox’s Bazaar. We had also visited Chunati Reserve Forest, the sea beach of
Cox’s Bazaar and seen big sea waves during high tides.’ Through this discussion, they
make a list of different landforms in Bangladesh. After completing the list, they intend
to identify the places on a map.
Anuching says, ‘Our hilly areas are very beautiful and pleasant but we have an acute
scarcity of water during winter. In the rainy season, the hilly slopes create huge problems
and, in some areas, landslides occur when the rainy season prolongs.’
Khushi Apa says, ‘There are many places like Anuching’s dwelling place which are
prone to natural disasters. Landforms are also connected with those incidents.’ Then
Neela adds, ‘For example, rivers are connected to floods.’ ‘You are absolutely right,’
replies khushi Apa.
After that, they sit in groups and each group selects one division. Now, each group marks
the land configuration features of the selected division on the map with colour and
prepares a list of natural disasters which are related to the landforms of the respective
areas.
Let us prepare a similar map of landforms and a list of natural disasters

like them.
After completing the task, they show it to everyone and tell everyone the features they
have identified. Listening to others’ opinions and in-house discussions, they complete
the list and present it to everyone.
Khushi Apa congratulates everyone and says, ‘Let us play a game through which, sitting
here, we may roam around all the continents of the world and observes landforms of
them.’ Everyone claps with happiness.
Khushi Apa then brings a landform ludo board which makes everybody surprised.
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What type of ludo is it? Khushi Apa says, ‘If we follow the rules properly, as we have
seen earlier, it makes the game a pleasant one. Following some rules, we will play this
game. Everyone please sit in small groups in circles.’
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Rules of Playing Ludo in Teams

● On every board, only two teams can participate. Each
team has one captain.
● Toss will decide which team plays first.
● Rolling 1 on dice will open the door to the world tour, and not before
that. The starting point of the tour is Dhaka.
● One nominated member from each team will start playing. The captain
of each team will select the person who starts the game.
● Each team can substitute a player at any time during the course of the
play. However, the replaced player will not have the opportunity to
play again.
● The game has some playing rules. Each team should follow those rules
mentioned in the conditions section. (Rules at Appendix 3)
● Every board will have a nominated referee to examine whether the
game is operated following the rules or not. The referee will be selected
by the captain of two teams. The referee cannot participate in the game
as a player.
● Andaman and Nicobar Islands possess 100 points, that is, the ending
point of the play. Each team should reach this point. The team who
reaches the ending point first will be the winner.
Fatema says, ‘Apa, if two of us together want to play the game, we can play it. Right?’
Khushi Apa said, ‘Sure you can. We can see the sample Ludo given in Appendix 2, and
then we can collect world maps and make a World Travel Ludo. Then we will see the
rules in Appendix 3 and play the game.’ Then everyone participates to make the Ludo
and ends the game in a happy atmosphere.
Let’s Go on a Study Tour

Next day Neela tells Harun, ‘We have many types of landforms in our country. We may
go on a study tour there.’ ‘Let us tell Khushi Apa about it,’ Mili adds. In the meantime,
Khushi Apa enters the classroom. Mili then informs Khushi Apa about the study tour.
‘It’s a very good proposal,’ replies Khushi Apa and adds, ‘It’s a big arrangement.’ Then
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everybody decides together whose help they need and what the arrangements are.
Let’s arrange a study tour like them.

Lets check when the list of activities completed
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Selection of Day, date and Transport Teachers Food Fee
place time
1. 1. Breakfast:
2. 2. Lunch:
3. 3. Dinner:
Khushi Apa says, ‘Wow! You have a well-planned arrangement.’ Salma tells Khushi
Apa, ‘We have arranged a picnic earlier for a science subject.’ Khusi Apa praises their
endeavour and asks, ‘Are a picnic and a study tour similar?’
Nazifa says, ‘No, they are not similar. In a study tour, we can learn through a visit.’
Arman says, ‘Apa, for example, we have learnt about many types of landforms through
pictures and other mediums. Now, if we have the opportunity to visit those places
directly, then we may relate it to our background knowledge of the subject.’ Ripon
addresses Khushi Apa and adds, ‘If we find something new about the landforms, we
may write it in the landforms dictionary which we made earlier.’ Salma adds, ‘In the
study tour, we are going to see and know many things. Thus, if we all make a travel
diary and write about the things we see, take photos or draw pictures about them, and
paste the photos or pictures of those places in the diary. We will be able to see them
whenever we want.’ Roni says, ‘That’s a great idea. It would be fantastic to look back
at these things when we become grown up.’ Khushi Apa appreciates them saying, ‘You
have said well. Let’s start our arrangement for the study tour.’ Everybody clap at her
words. They start doing their work.
Nasir’s Travel Diary Aeysha’s Travel Diary
Diary
ডায়েরি
.................................
...............................
................................
................................
You all shouldn’t miss sharing your travel logs with your friends at the end of the tour.
Social Structure
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Entering the class, Khushi Apa says, ‘We have got some ideas about different structures.
Let’s work on social structure this time. What if we start the work with a story?’
Everybody becomes happy. Khushi Apa then says, ‘Let’s read the story of Dharmagola
(ধর্্মগো�োলা) from our textbook. Who is going to start?’
Mili stands up and starts reading it aloud.
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The Story of Dharmagola
Demra is a typical village. The means of livelihood of the people of this village is agriculture.
Most of the people live together; they abide by the manners and customs of the community and
nurture the culture of public welfare. Moreover, they celebrate all kinds of festivals together.
Once, the village was severely affected by a flood. The whole village was almost drowned.
People took shelter in a school building. Food supply was scarce and inadequate at that
point. The village people could overcome the challenge with the help from the government,
NGO’s and different voluntary organisation. People had to stay away from home for several
days and at that point, burglary and theft hiked up significantly. To keep the law and order
situation in check, police force were deployed from the headquarters. At the time of the flood,
the Union Parishod became active in distributing relief materials. With the initiatives taken
by the Education Board, some of the losses around teaching and learning could slightly be
recovered. However, the real problem started after the flood.
Flood water severely damaged all the crops which were still growing in the field. It also
completely damaged the food grains stocked up in the storage. As a result, there occured a
food crisis. However, the traditional community which was still active in the village used to
believe that nobody could live well alone. People used to take pride in helping others and
that used to be rearded as good deed. Elderly people in the village got together for a meeting.
One of them said, ‘Except for few, all of us dealing with shortage of food. It will be hard to
solve this problem alone. Some of us have rice, some have dal and some have vegetables.
None of us have everything needed to prepare food. However, together we can share our rice,
dal, vegetables, oil and salt to cook meals for all of us. Then, we can share the cooked meal
according to the need of each family. In such way, we can temporarily solve the problem.
Everyone may not be able to contribute the same amount of food ingredients, however, they
can contribute through physical labour, organising fuel or providing assistance in cooking
and distribution. Everyone’s participation is most important. While distributing the meals,
children, pregnant women, sick and old members of a family will get the priorities before
any one else.’
The scarcity in food supply could be addressed in suvh way. However, this situation may
arise again in the future. What would happen then? To discuss this, everyone within the
community sat together. They decided to build a food storage (Gola) to face the crisis in the
future. The storage was named as Dharmagola. It was decided that after the harvesting of the
new crop, each family would contribute one maund/mun/mann of rice/paddy or wheat, dal,
mustard, or any other food grains to be stored in the gola. People would be able to borrow
the grains in time of any crises and at the end of it, they would return the same amount they
took. Therefore, paddy/rice would be stored in Dharmagola all the time to combat any food
crisis in future.
‘Golaghor’ was made in the village to store paddy/rice and/or other food grains. Every family
in the community became a member of Dharmagola Society. An executive committee was
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formed for the smooth operation of the society. Besides males, the females were equally took
part as members of the committee. Many rules and regulations were formed for collecting,
preserving, borrowing and returning rice/paddy or other grains. This system was proven very
effective. This is an example of how we can use community initiatives along government
schemes to combat any crisis successfully. In different parts of Bangladesh, this particular
initiative is known as ‘Rice Bank’.
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Let us now use the following table to find out what institutions of the society, and law
and order were mentioned in ‘The Story of Dharmagola’.
Name of the social institute
Serial Works/Name of the initiatives
or values and customs
Rules and regulations,
1. What helped to unite the village people? customs and philanthropic
culture of a society
Where did the people take shelter during the
2.
flood?
3. Who provided the relief?
4. Who was/were active in distributing relief?

Who did the work of maintaining law and
5.
order?
Who took the initiative to mitigate the learning
6.
loss?
7. What sustained in the village?
8. Who made the Dharmagola?
Using the table above, the students identify all the institutions, their rules, culture and
values mentioned in ‘The Story of Dharmagola’.
Using the table above, let us identify all the institutions, their rules, culture and
values mentioned in ‘The Story of Dharmagola’.
Khushi Apa says, ‘We have successfully identified all the institutions, their rules,
culture and values mentioned in ‘The Story of Dharmagola’. Let us know more about
the important aspects of society and social institutions.’
From Society to Social Structure

What is society?
Who are the members of society? What are the elements of society? And through which
procedure do we construct the society?
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To understand these questions, we need to know the social structure. By understading

social structure we understand how society is organised.
Khushi Apa says, ‘People in various institutions in society interact with one another.
These institutions and human interactions occurring there can be called social structure.’
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Let us use the concept from ‘The Story of Dharmagola’ and find out about social
institutes and human-human interaction.
At first, Nasir says, ‘In the story of ‘Dharmagola’ we see some families as social
institutions. After a flood, they got rid of disastrous situation through mutual cooperation.
This way they had human-human interactions.’ Anneshwa adds, ‘Each family of the
society came forward with whatever food items they had- rice, pulse, vegetables, oil,
salt etc. They gathered all these for their society. Those who possessed no food items
contributed with physical labour and played their role for the well-being of the society.
Thus, the people of Demra village had interactions.’
Ganesh adds, ‘In the story, besides families, many organisations also worked in parallel
with the society. For example, the Government provided relief and the Union Council
distributed them.’ Mozammel adds, ‘Yes. The school, education department, police
and other institutions also worked for the betterment of others.’ Shihan adds, ‘For the
management of -dharmagola,a new social institution emerged- Dharmagola Association.
This institution also worked for the welfare of the people in Demra viallge.’
Annai says, ‘Yes, in this way the interaction and communication occurred between
human-human and other social institutions, in the story of Dharmagola, for the people
of Demra.’
Khushi Apa becomes quite happy listening to them. She now says, ‘You’ve described
everything neatly. Now answer me, how did the interaction develop between human-
human and human to institutions in Demra? That is, why did the humans and the
institutions interact?’
Bushra answers, ‘I know the answer. They interacted for the well-being of themselves
and others.’ Khushi Apa asks, ‘Everyone wants one’s own welfare. Why did they want
to do good for others?’ Nandini adds, ‘Two families in Demra village had enough food
but the rest did not have everything to eat. Many had nothing at all. They felt that if
everyone got together and ate together, everyone would benefit. So if you want to do
your own good, you should also do good for others.’ Anuching says, ‘Everyone has
done good for others for their own benefit.’ Javed suddenly speaks out, ‘I got it! It is
ecause they believed that one cannot live well alone and they were proud to help other
people.’ Khushi Apa asks, ‘Why do they seem to think that helping others is a good
thing?’ Milli says, ‘Surely they have seen from long experience that no one can do
everything alone in society. Moreover, when someone performs good deeds towards
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others, everyone calls him good. So, everything is good only if everyone lives well
together by helping all.’
Khushi Apa says, ‘Great! That’s right. Also, the different beliefs of people, ideas about
what is good and what is bad – all these ideas determine how people behave in a society.
Most people want to be known as good persons to the society; so they try to do what
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society deems good. These beliefs and notions of right and wrong are what we call
values. Again, there are some rules in the society which people have been following for
many years. As part of society’s culture, people generally follow these rules without
question. We know them as customs. Examples include standing up when the teacher
comes to class, exchanging greetings when meeting someone, entertaining guests, etc.
As we saw in the Dharmogola story, children, pregnant women, the sick and the elderly
were given food first. Again, every family in the society was a member of Dharmagolo
Association. Men as well as women were equal members of the management committee.
These things come from prevailing values and customs. Also, various rules were made
for collecting, storing, lending and repaying rice. Those were created in the light of
society’s values and norms. Thus, the laws of the country are formed through these
social norms and values. The people in the society obey these. Otherwise, you have to
get various punishments.
Asif says, ‘Right, Apa. In Dharmogola story, we saw that when the problem of thieves
increased in the village, the police came to maintain law and order. The police must
have caught the thieves and punished them.
The long-term interrelationships between social institutions or the orderly
interrelationships between different parts of the society are called social structure.
It involves people living together and human-to-human interaction or exchange.
Values, culture, norms and customs are formed and through these again the pattern
of human-to-human interaction is determined. That is, values, culture, norms and
customs etc. determine how human behavior will be in a scoiety.
Now Khushi Apa instructs, ‘Let us identify a collective initiative or something like that from
our locality. Then, in that initiative or subject, let us investigate the interaction between human-
human and human to institutions. Now, write an account of human-human and human to
institutions interactions in the following table.’
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After that, Khushi Apa says, ‘Okay, tell me what clothes men wear and what the women
wear most of the time in our country.’
Everyone replies together, ‘Women wear saree and men wear lungi.’ ‘You’re right. But
who defines what the men should wear and what the women should wear?’ Khushi Apa
asks.
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Neela replies, ‘We learn it from our fathers and mothers.’ Then Khushi Apa asks, ‘From
where did your fathers and mothers know it?’ Shamima replies, ‘From our grandfathers
and grandmothers.’
Khushi Apa says with a smile, ‘If I ask again, from where did your grandfathers and
grandmothers know it? Then you must talk about the grandparents’ parents. Although
the cut of the clothes has changed a little with the passage of time, there is already a
certain style and variation in the clothes of boys and girls. We usually follow them.
That means, we can see that the way we dress is determined before we are even born.’
Actually even long before we were born, our social structure was formed. The same
is true for social organization. Social structure determines our behaviour. In different
situations, what we do, what we say, what we wear, how we behave with whom –
almost everything is determined and established by the social structure. We just follow
those in most cases. However, social structure is changeable. Though slowly but it
changes and adapts.
● The interrelated social groups and all the institutions in which people live,
grow and become a part – the collective form of all this is called the social
structure. These social groups include family, educational institutions, religious
institutions, clubs etc. Through this, human-to-human relationship is created
and this relationship builds the bond of harmony in the society.
● Social structure provides people with social security, opportunities to develop
their position and present themselves to others. Here the individual gets
the scope to cross the boundary of his relatives and also engage in mutual
interaction with strangers. Through this, s/he also presents her/himself as a
part of the collective.
● The purpose of social structure is to fulfill the collective goals of people living
in a group. It helps everyone to develop as a person with the ability to play a
role in the development of society. It helps a person to adapt to the culture of
the society.
Suppose, Shapla is a 12-year-old girl who is a student in class six and she has come to
an important phase of her life. She has started to understand that she is an individual
person. Shapla has joined the school football/kabaddi team because she likes the game.
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Through playing she has made some friends. With the passage of time, the team has
noticed her as an excellent player. The team has developed her socially as a teammate.
Her interaction with the coaches, teachers, and with other players helps her personal
development. This development, as an individual, has made her different from others.
On the other hand, her sister Nazifa has become a member of the science club. Her
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friends, familiar people and communication are with the persons who are interested
in science and with science-related institutions. Though she and Shapla belong to
the same family, their individual developments have been completely different from
each other. They have completely different social communication and interaction with
others, that is, they belong to different social structures and for this their upbringing
has been different. There are many differences in their language and thought. However,
being members of the same family, they also have many similarities. Such cases can be
seen everywhere in the society. This type of incident usually happens in every sphere
of our society. From this, we can understand that social structure plays a strong role for
an individual and for all the people of a society.
Elements of social structure

The elements of social structure can be divided into two broad parts.
1.Social norms: These include conventional norms, values, beliefs etc. These play a
role to determine the thoughts and social behaviours of a person.
2. Social structure and group: These include family, education, culture, media,
government and stae – which control or mangae social the structure.
Social institutions and groups are formed through human-to-human social interaction
or communication. These institutions and groups are the basis of social structure.
A person is simultaneously located in various institutions and groups of the social
structure. There s/he plays a role according to her/his position in the light of customs,
values, beliefs etc. prevailing in the society.
Our body has different organs like eyes, nose, mouth, ears, hands, feet, brain, lungs,
heart etc. By combining these together, the human body is formed. If they all work,
our body works properly. In the same way, the society is active in the combination of
various institutions and customs. These are called social structures. Again, the organs
are specially arranged in our body. Again these organs are specially arranged in our
body. We can call this arrangement the physical structure.
However, society is an abstract thing. We cannot see him; we can’t say that society
is walking or running. But we can see individuals or families. We can see different
groups. Society is made up of individuals and groups. People have different positions
or roles. Some are fathers, some are daughters, some are teachers, some are rich while
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some are poor, there are men and women, and children and elders. Their roles or
functions are also different. Society has different cultures, different identities, different
values, beliefs, individuals and groups. These groups, institutions, the position and role
of individuals, values, beliefs, etc. all the elements of the society are arranged in an
orderly manner to form the social structure.
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Social status
Age, possessions, acquaintances, reputation, position, education, culture, gender,
family tradition etc. form social position. How much respect or importance a person
will get among certain groups in society is determined by social position.
Social roles
The values, responsibilities and behaviors that society expects of a particular person
in a particular situation are generally called social roles. Different people perform or
behave differently according to their position in a society. People usually try to fulfill
the behavior that society expects of them while doing these things. When someone’s
social status changes, social roles also change. For example, what society expects from
a player is not expected from a cleaner. Society expects different social roles from boys
and girls. However, they have the ability to play a role beyond society’s expectations.
Note that the social roles of children and adults are different.
Social networks and intercommunication

The interaction between the members of a group and the interaction of a group with
another group is called a social network. For example, Salma is a member of the
school’s Active Citizens Club. For this reason, she may need to contact the local Union
Parishad and Upazila Social Services Directorate. Being a member of a club, she can
connect with several other organizations. Thus, Salma is associated with many more
individuals and organizations due to her club membership. This is the social network
of Salma and her club that has created a web of communication and relationships with
different types of people and organizations.
Group and institution

A grouo and an institution refer to established and permanent form of social relations.
We can see some typical institutions around us. These include family, culture, politics,
law, government, state, economy and education. Groups and institutions create
opportunities for a greater social structure and help create relations among people. For
example, Khushi Apa’s class has 42 students. It means, Khushi Apa can communicate
with 42 students’ guardians (84 mothers or fathers) through her students. On a greater
scale, Khushi Apa has the opportunity of interacting with 42 families.
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Family as a social structure

The most important primary element of social structure is the family. The first social
group or organization for a human being is the family. Family plays the biggest role
in a person’s development. What s/he eats, how she/he talks, what s/he reads, what
s/he does, etc. is largely determined by the family. A person understands the role he
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has to play in the larger society through his/her family. What is considered good or
bad is determined there. For example, if Suman is humble and polite when interacting
with outsiders, everyone will like him. If Suman follows this family teaching, he will
be known as a decent boy by others. And if Salma sees her family members always
behaving rudely, she will get used to such behavior. She will then be known as rude
to everyone. People will dislike her. Thus, the influence of the family in shaping the
position and role of the individual in the social structure can be observed.
Culture
Culture is the specific pattern or style of behaviours of people as a group in a locality.
Almost all behaviours related to our lives are part of our culture. For example, the
kinds of food we eat, the way we eat, our language, clothing, games and sports, rituals
and functions, art-culture, religious and other beliefs and many more things are part
of culture. There may be differences in elements of culture within a single country
or among different regions of the same country. For example, there are differences in
some cultural characteristics between the people of the North Bengal area and those of
coastal area of Bangladesh. There are greater cultural differences between the Bangla
speaking people and those of the small ethnic groups in the hilly areas and the plains.
Our culture in Bangladesh is comprised of all these diverse ones.
Sometimes, the culture of a country, a region or a religious community and other beliefs
may seem strange or amusing to people of another country, region, religious and other
beliefs. For example -
1. If you are invited to a friend’s house in Venezuela, and you show up on time,
they might think that you are gluttonous and greedy. It is their culture to be a
little late on such an invitation than be on time.
2. On the other hand, you should never congratulate a friend in China with a gift of
a bouquet of flowers. It is because, according to Chinese culture, it is customary
to offer flowers only to the dead people.
It is natural that everyone finds their own culture fitting and appropriate. That is why a
culture can not be judged and labelled as good or bad. The culture, rituals and religious
beliefs of one country can not be compared with that of another. The world seems so
beautiful because of the existence of such varieties of cultures.
Laws and regulations, values, norms, custom:

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Social structure is governed by local and national laws and regulations, values, norms and
custom. People follow these rules-regulations, values, norms and custom as part of the
social structure. Various aspects of human life such as quarrels, conflicts, land ownership,
inheritance, and issues related to various opportunities are governed by this structure.
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Government
Government provides uninterrupted safety and security to the citizens throughout their
life. For this, it uses laws and regulations and law enforcement agencies like the police,
the Ansar etc.
State
The State itself is part of a larger social structure. Besides being a social structure itself,
it plays a great role in developing the principles of the State. At the same time, the State
plays a role in changing the social structure through its various institutions. It makes
its existence visible to us by providing various services (such as education, medical
facilities, food, housing, security, communication, entertainment etc.) to the citizens.
Inquiry-based Task
Khushi Apa asks, ‘Well, have we ever considered how our culture was in the past? Was it
the same as we see it now? We now have many questions in our minds, don’t we? Let us
do an inquiry-based task on this topic. We will collect certain information by following
the steps of inquiry. To start, we need to formulate questions. Let us find out how the
culture of our country was before. Let’s discuss and decide for how many years of
cultural data we want to collect. Then we will collect data from 3 to 4 senior citizens. We
can present the data obtained in various ways. As a group, let’s decide on the presentation
format – it could be a poster, a wall magazine, or a report, among other options.
society, river,
sea, state, desert, plain land,
religion, mountain,
government, law, culture
Khushi Apa now suggests, ‘Using knowledge from the discussion so far, let’s attempt
the following task. First, organize yourselves into groups of 5 or 6 members. Now,
identify the positions and roles of the family members in our family and society.
Afterward, complete the table below.’
Let us complete the table below.
Family position and role Social position and role
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The interrelation between natural and
social structures
Influences of surrounding environment on social changes
Neela, Roni and Salma, on their way to school, see many people standing by a canal.
As they come near, they can see many dead fishes floating around. They feel very sad
to see the dead fish.
Salma asks, ‘Why have the fishes died?’
‘I think the water in the canal has become poisonous. So, the fish are dying. Can’t you
see how the water has turned black?’ Neela answers.
Now Roni says, ‘Look, there is a factory next to the canal. All the waste water of that
factory is falling into the canal.’
Ayesha adds, ‘There is a brick kiln next to our house. When the black smoke comes out
too much, I have much trouble breathing.’
Sakib says, ‘You see, factories can create many problems. By the way, we can explore
what other effects factories are having on our environment.’
Ayesha says, ‘In that case, we should visit a factory to observe these.’ Because we need
to factory. Only look that these do not damage our environment.
Rina adds, ‘That’s right. We also need to formulate some questions based on what we
want to inquire about. So, let us meet Khushi Apa.’
After hearing everything Khushi Apa says, ‘This is a good idea. Now you can prepare
some questions. What do you want to know when you visit the factory?’
They now get divided into groups and formulate some questions:
Table for inquiry on raw materials
raw material Source of raw Impact on environment due Result
materials to collection and use of raw
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materials
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Table for inquiry on fuel/energy required to manufacture products using
raw materials
Fuel/ power Source of Fuel/ Impact on environment for Result

power the collection and use of
fuel/ energy
Table for inquiry on waste materials

Waste Source of waste Impact of waste material on Result
material materials the environment
After all these preparations, they intend to visit a factory with the help of Khushi Apa.
After the investigation, they, as a group, have presented their data in front of everyone.
Let us prepare questions like Khushi Apa’s students and visit a factory.
Global impact
The next day at the beginning of the class Roni says, ‘We have exposed the effects of
factories on our surrounding environment. Are these effects functioning only around
us? Are these affecting the whole world?’
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Munia responds saying, ‘There are factories in every country. So, the whole world is
suffering from these problems.’
‘You’re right, Munia. Let’s see if we can find these out through some experiments.
We will now divide ourselves into three groups to do the experiments,’ Khushi Apa
comments.
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The interrelation between natural and social structures
They begin experiment in three groups

group
‘Our first team will experiment in the shade of a tree in our school premises; they
will keep a block of ice in an open bowl and carry a watch. The second group will
experiment in the sun; they will keep a block of ice in a container and carry a watch.
The third team will carry two thermometers and a glass jar with its mouth closed. Teams
1 and 2 will measure the time it takes for their ice to completely melt. Team 3 will place
one thermometer in the open sun and the other in a glass jar with its mouth closed in
the sun. This team will record the temperatures at intervals. Next 10-15 minutes we will
wait at our respective positions,’ Khushi Apa instructs the class.
Let us divide ourselves into groups the way they did. We need to be ready with
the equipment
They do the experiments and return to the classroom to share their experiences with the
other two groups. They write their findings with reasons on chart paper.
Experiences of the 1st and 2nd teams
Team No. 1 The time for ice melting Causes
Team No. 2
Experiences of the 3rd team
Thermometer No. 1 Temperature after 10-15 minutes -----
Thermometer No. 2 Temperature after 10-15 minutes ------
Mili now says, ‘We found in the experiment that where there were no trees, the
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temperature rose faster.’

Sakib adds, ‘This means if plants decrease, the temperature of the earth will increase.’
Khushi Apa says, ‘Let us read a comic strip to see how it will actually be.’
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The Earth Getting Green

You seem quite Hurray! Yes, this will be a
excited today. great camping experience!!
Mother, Can I go for a walk

near the sea?
Yes, You can. But, don’t

go too far. Don’t touch
any rubbish. I saw lots of
garbage there. Get back
soon. There is a surprise
for you.
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It’s so dirty! I wish I could clean the beach in a

moment with my superpower!
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Ah! I feel tired walking! Ah! walking!

Lemme take a rest on this soft Lemme take a rest on this soft
sand. sand.
What’s wrong? I’m flying in

the air! Where is our camp?
So much water! How can the
ocean become so big?
Who are you?
I’m Nature, I’m here to

save the polluted earth.
I’m Brotee. But when did

the earth collapse? We were
camping.
I have brought you 150 years into the

future from your time! Let me show you
how the world is becoming polluted.
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Which place is it?

It’s so hot here!
This is the north

pole.
But where are the icebergs here?
All of them melted and flooded the earth.
Travel with me to know how

the world polluted. Let’s go.
How can such huge amounts
of ice melt?
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So much black smoke, I can’t

see things properly! Oh, bad Previous
smell! Yak! The huge noise generations
makes me deaf. of people set
industries
everywhere
destroying plants
and forests. As
Greenhouse gas! What a result, carbon
is it? How does this dioxide and
gas affect the rise of other greenhouse
temperature? gases spread in
the environment.
Consequently, the
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temperature also
rose.
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Now, let me explain the

matter to you.
The gases you see are known
as green house gas. They
retain the heat of the sun.
Nitrous
Carbon Oxide
dioxide
Methane
If they do not exist, the

earth’s temperature would
have been 18 Degree. Then, gases are good they
are keeping up the earth’s
temparature. But why do they
look so terrible?
The growth of industries, the use of fossil fuels, and the black smoke which emits
from the vehicles have increased the amount of these gases in the earth’s atmosphere.
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141
Trees are our friend. They use

carbon dioxide to prepare food
for themselves. Thus, they help
maintaining the amount of carbon
in earth’s atmosphere.
People cut those tress and

established industries.
However, they didn’t plant
trees.
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Thus, the density of

green house gases
increased.
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Green house
gases are like
glasses. Glasses
retain the heat
and these gases
do the same.
As the amount
of them are
increasing in
the earth’s
atmosphere,
they started
to retain more
heat. They don’t
obstruct the heat of the sun to enter into the earth’s
atmosphere, however, they obstruct temperature to
escape. This incident is known as green house effect.
Thus, the earth’s temperature is gradually increasing
due to the green house gases. This situation is known
as global warming. That means, the increase of earth’s
temperature.
As a result of this global warming, all the polar ice is melting, the sea level is rising .......
and the climate has changed.
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143
There is no ice anymore in the north pole that you
have seen. That’s because the temperature needed
for ice to exist has changed. There are some other
weather factors such as rainfall not being as much
as it should have been, sometimes less than that
and sometimes more. As a result, plants are not
growing where they are supposed to grow, and
plants are growing where there are not supposed
to. Let me take you to another place….
Where is it? This is Sahara desert.
Oh my god! There are many trees. That means

the climate of the desert is changing.
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You are right. Let us go back

to the previous place.
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Dear me! Look, the fish is eating a
plastic bag... The sea is filled with
much dirt...The earth is full of dirt too...
+ Doctor’s chamber
And thus everything in the world has become poisonous... For so much pollution,
people have become ill... And they are dying too...
O Nature, please Nothing can

save the earth...! be done now...
If you did not
create such
a situation,
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the world
would not get
polluted...
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No, no, no!! In no

way, we will let
anything destroy
the earth...Tell us
what we should do
to prevent climate
change! What do we
have to do...I will
do it...I give you my
word!!
Well, listen to me.
Don’t use things unless it is

Plant more trees. absolutely necessary! You
will reuse things as much
as possible, use them after
recycling.
Turn off electronics devices when not in use.
Don’t waste anything.

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Throw waste in specified places.
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Hey, here is
our mom,
our camp...
oh mom...
Hey Brotee, you’ve been sleeping here!

And we’ve been looking for you for quite
some time...
See, what a surprise we’ve got for you!
Wow, a yummy
cake...
Oh dad! Why did you Sorry. I’m putting it in

throw the packet here after the right place now...
having the cake? If it goes
into the sea, the fish will
think it is food and eat it...
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147
And daddy, you said earlier

that you would give me a gift
on my birthday, didn’t you? Right, so tell me what
you want...
Dad, I don’t want any

toys; I have plenty,
no need to waste
them. Mere wasting
will never help, dad.
I want to plant 100 trees in

the bare land around us...
100 trees! Why a

hundred...
Don’t we have to save

the earth? (I have given
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word to Nature)
148
Roni says, ‘It’s really a good idea; but if the greenhouse gas really increases this way,
it will be a terrible situation.’
Mili says, ‘There’s more to it. The pollution of the world/earth has increased too!’
‘Apa, I have learnt a lot by reading this comic strip. Now I feel much worried about the
earth,’ Rimi says in a worried voice.
Khushi Apa says, ‘Right, from the comic, we have known about different reasons for
the destruction of the earth. Let us now fill in the following table using what we have
learnt about these things.’
Then they get divided into groups to find out the causes of the destruction of the
earth and why these happened. Now they fill in the table and present their points with
explanations -
Pollution Greenhouse Effect Global Warming Climate Change
At the end of the work, Mili says, ‘It’s great that we’ve been able to identify what’s not
good for the earth.’
‘Because of global warming, the ice in the polar region is melting quite fast. Eventually,
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it is getting difficult for the animals there to survive,’ says Tina.

Sakib says, ‘We experimented that where there were trees, it took longer for the snow
to melt.’
‘That’s right. However, day by day, we humans are cutting down trees for no reason,’
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Mili says.
Tasnim exclaims, ‘Oh, why do we humans do such bad things!’
Khushi Apa says, ‘On the other hand, it is we humans who can keep the earth in good
condition. We just need to do some good deeds! Everyone says, ‘It is right. We need to
consider the issue of environment while building any factory. Nowadays, many eco-
friendly factories are being built in our country as well.’
Effects on social life for changes in natural structures
When Khushi Apa comes to class today, Sakib says, ‘Apa, we have seen how gravely
we are damaging and destroying our nature. If everything in nature continues to change
like this, it can impact our lives greatly too, can’t it?’
Mili adds, ‘We found this in the story ‘Shyamali’ too.’
Khushi Apa explains, ‘That’s right. Well, let’s go through the story ‘Shyamali’ again.
Let us find out what effects the changes in nature had on people’s lives.’
So the whole class gets into groups to find out the effects of the natural change.
Then Khushi Apa asks, ‘We all have seen rivers, haven’t we? What things have you
seen by the river?’
Ovi responds saying, ‘There is a river beside my uncle’s house. There were paddy
fields on the bank of that river. Again, there were some houses at a distance.’
‘Apa, we went to visit our village during the vacation. There, I saw agricultural land
beside the river and there was also a brick kiln a little further away,’ Tasnim adds.
Khushi Apa now suggests, ‘Well, I got the ideas of the rivers you have seen. Now if I
ask you to build a river, around which you can place agricultural land, cities, factories,
houses, etc., how will you feel?’
Everyone starts clapping out of joy.
Rules for making a river puzzle

Khushi Apa asks them to get into small groups. Now she says, ‘There is a river puzzle
attached to the appendix, at the end of your book. Cut those two puzzle pages using
scissors. Separate them from the book. Then cut the pictures inside the rectangular boxes
on the puzzle pages and separate the small pictures.’ Students look at the appendix. She
again instructs the class, ‘Each team will place the ‘source’ part, that is, the beginning
of a river, at the top of the chart paper. You will place the ‘mouth’ part, i.e. the end of
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the river, at the bottom of the chart paper.’

Each team begins making the course of the river. When finished, they attach their river
to a chart paper using glued-tape. They also write down what objects/places they have
marked along their river.
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Let us make rivers with the help of puzzles like them. Get us divided into
groups like them.
Effect on the local area
After seeing everyone’s river, Khushi Apa congratulates everyone with a big round of
applause and says, ‘Each and everyone of you have made beautiful rivers. Now think,
what if the rivers don’t exist anymore or the river course has changed a lot or the river
bank started to dissolve under water?’
Everyone becomes thoughtful about the question.
Then Khushi Apa showed some pictures of them.
Can you find any reason for the rivers to be like this?’
Fatema answers, ‘Apa, if a river faces an obstacle in its path, it can change its course.’
Sakib says, ‘That’s right. For example, if we build a dam on a river, this may happen.
We have placed a dam on the river we have made. Oh God, what a mistake we’ve
made.’
Khushi Apa says, ‘Don’t worry Sakib. You did not do wrong. Sometimes we build a
dam on the river to meet our needs. However, it has to be planned properly.’
‘Apa, if the river dries up, there will be irrigation problems for the neighbouring
agriculture,’ Roni comments.
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Khushi Apa explains, ‘That’s not everything! Let us find out what more effects there
might be.’
So the whole class gets into small groups. The teams try to find out the causes and
effects of river erosion, its drying up and changes in course. They gather their collected
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information on a table like the following one.
River conditions Causes Impact on social life
1. 1.
2. 2.
River erosion
3. 3.
4........ 4........
1. 1.
Drying up of the 2. 2.
river 3. 3.
4........ 4........
1. 1.
Changing of river 2. 2.
course 3. 3.
4........ 4........
Let us get into groups like them and fill in the table with cause and effect
of river course change.
Influence of rivers on the life of ancient people
Today, at the beginning of the class Omera speaks out, ‘Apa, yesterday after returning
home, I was talking about our inquiry about rivers. Our helping assistant aunt told me
that such an incident had happened in her life too.’
Omera continues her story, ‘Aunt said that their house was in a village which was on
the bank of river Jamuna. The Jamuna was a little distance away from their house. They
had a pond teeming with fish and they also had paddy fields. They used to have a lot of
paddy. Other crops were also produced in their land. Aunt also said that the land along
the river is usually very fertile. This type of land produces much crop. The sad fact is
they have no house, land, or pond now because of river erosion. Her husband now runs
a rickshaw in the city, and she works as a helping hand at our house. You know, aunt
was crying while saying these words. I felt very sad.’
Khushi Apa comforts Omera saying, ‘We all feel very sad hearing about your aunt’s
life. You know that such incidents happened not only in Omera’s aunt’s life, but also
to many others. There are many people whose life stories will match that of Srijita’s
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aunt’s.’
‘Well, in ancient times, there were much larger rivers than there are now. Weren’t there?
Moreover, the river was one of the major means of transportation in ancient times. So,
the river must have had a lot of influence on the lives of the people, right?’ Shihan says.
152
Sakib replies, ‘Yes, I have read in History and Social Science: An Inquiry-based Reader
that Egyptian civilisation developed centering on the Nile River.’
Roni suggests, ‘Let us investigate and find out the history of the river-centered
civilisations of ancient people.’
Khushi Apa says, ‘That’s a good idea! We want such an inquisitive mind.’
Tingku says, ‘We can search in our library if there is any book related to this.’
Khushi Apa instructs, ‘That’s right. You can take the help of History and Social Science:
An Inquiry-based Reader to investigate this. Again, you can also collect information
through the internet by taking the help of elders.’
Then the whole class starts exploring the history of ancient riverine civilisations. In
this case, they have used group discussions and booklets, and presented their findings
on a world map. They have written two characteristics of those civilisations that were
influenced by rivers.
Name:
The History of River Civilizations
of Ancient Man
Feature: 1 Feature: 2
Let us also inquire the history of river-centered civilisations of ancient people. We

will follow the process Khushi Apa’s class has followed. Then we will mark those
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civilisations on the world map and write two special features of them that were
influenced by rivers.
Khushi Apa congratulates everyone for their good work.

Mili says, ‘We saw ancient civilisations migrated to new places whenever there was a
153
lack of suitable environment. Some civilisations have also become extinct.’
Now Roni says, ‘In ancient times, people were few in number and there were much
space for them to live in. Also, they did not need any permission like passports or visas
to move. Therefore, they found ways to discover places of their choice. On the contrary,
now the amount of habitable space on Earth is much less than humans need. Again, we
cannot go and live in any place of our choice. As a result, what will happen now if we
destroy our space for residence by our own corrupt activities?’
Sakib says, ‘It means we will also become extinct. If we try to keep our habitats in a
good condition, our anxiety can be reduced a little, right?’
Khushi Apa says, ‘Right, you all are acting like a thoughtful person. If any natural
structure gets changed, it will definitely affect our social life. However, you all are still
quite young. Therefore, to do these activities, you will need a little help from the elders.
Won’t you?’
Ganesh says, ‘Almost every one of us has some older people in our homes or in our
area. We can get help from them to complete such work.’
Mili says, ‘Moreover, since we are investigating ancient civilisations, it would be better
to get assistance from the older people of our locality. It is because they have more
experience than anyone else,’.Everyone S ‍ upported her.
Khushi Apa says, ‘Wow! That would be great. So, discuss and find out what you
want to do to keep your locality in a better condition.’ We will do this work through
active citizen club. As a result, the whole class has a group discussion to make a list
of activities. These are the activities for which they want to take help from the older
people of their area.
A list of tasks to keep their locality in better shape
1. Keeping the roads clean
2. Making people aware of the use of dustbins in the area
3...................................................
Let us now make a list of some tasks to keep our neighbourhood in good condition.
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We can follow Khushi Apa’s class. We will select tasks that we can do with the
help of the senior citizens of our local area.
Now they all pledge that they would not do anything to make this world uninhabitable
in the future. They will start with small tasks in their neighbourhood. However, such
small tasks together will play a big role in keeping the whole world better.
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Society and Resources
Khushi Apa inquires about everyone at the beginning of the class. Then she instructs,
‘Let us start working with some pictures today. Let’s look at the following pictures and
try to understand what these mean.’
Water Natural Gas Sunlight Hammer
Money Trees Coal Farmer
Cook Passenger Bus Teacher Tractor

When everyone has finished looking at the pictures, Khushi Apa asks, ‘Now tell me
what we can call the above pictures together?’
Ayesha answers, ‘The people and everything else shown in the picture are of use to us
in one way or another!’
Anui says, ‘We can produce a lot of things using these people’s labor, other materials
and the remaining things.’
‘We get a lot of services through them!’ Dipankar adds.
Khushi Apa says, ‘Well done! You have just mentioned their important characteristics.
You’re right. All of them have these characteristics. That is why we call them ‘resources’
in one word. Whatever we see around us, everything is our resources. It is because -
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anything that is used by humans and comes of use to nature to produce something
or to provide services is a resource.
Now let us get into groups and separate the above pictures into categories into the three
columns of the table below.’
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Then everyone gets into groups and re-arranges similar resources from the pictures
above into the three columns. After all the groups have presented, the whole class can
see re-arranged information in the table below.
Water Farmer Hammer
Coal Nurse Stone
Natural Gas Teacher Passenger bus
Khushi Apa seems quite happy observing everyone’s work. She says, ‘Have you noticed
one thing? We have been able to divide the resources present in the images into three
parts according to the three types. In the first column we have water, sunlight, plants,
coal and gold. Can anyone tell me the similarity that is present here?’
Ayesha says, ‘The similarity is that all these are found directly from nature, none of
these are man-made.’
Resources that are not man-made but directly obtained from nature are called
natural resources. Water, air, sunlight, copper, iron etc. are some examples.
Can you name some other natural resources? Now everyone in the class find examples
of various natural resources scattered around.
Let us find examples of natural resources scattered around us.
Serial Name Where found
3
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Mili comments, ‘In the second column, we can see farmers, cooks and teachers. They
are all humans. They provide some sort of services to the people in the society. This
is why they have been placed in the same column. All of them belong to ‘human
resources’.’
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Generally, people who create or produce various types of goods or provide services
are included in the human resources sector.
Now everyone in the class looks for some more examples of human resources.
Let us find examples of human resources existing around us. We can follow Khushi
Apa’s class!!
Serial Name of Human Resource What service is attained
3
Now talking about the third column, Subhash shows that hammers, tractors and
passenger buses are in this column. He says, ‘Humans use these to make various things
or to provide services.’
Khushi Apa says, ‘This type of resource is generally called a ‘transformed resource’.
So we can find some more examples of transformed resources.’ Together the class
brings out some more examples of transformed resources.
Generally, the goods, machinery or tools that people use to perform various tasks,
produce goods and provide services, are called transformed resources.
Let us find examples of transformed resources existing around us and then fill in the
following chart.
Serial Name of Transformed Resource What service is attained
3
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Now the class plays a fun game. Khushi Apa takes out a pre-made list. She says that the
list has 20 names of resources. She instructs the class saying, ‘First, you get into groups
of six.’ Everyone feels excited and makes groups following the rule. Now Khushi Apa
says, ‘Before beginning, listen carefully to the rules of the game.’
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● Each time I will mention a name of a resource-
● The team who knows the type of resource- natural/ transformed/human will
raise their hand to answer.
● The team that raises its hand first will get the opportunity first. Each correct
answer will bring 5 marks.
● If the answer is not correct, the next team will be given the opportunity. In
case the second team fails to provide the right answer then the third team will
get the same opportunity. If no team can provide the correct answer then that
resource name will be dropped and another will be chosen. At the end of the
game, I will tell the names of the resources that are not answered.
● Each team will write the names of the resources used in the game in the
following chart according to their types. The resources that are answered
correctly will have 5 marks in the number section beside them. Then submit
it to me.
● The highest scorer will be the winner.
Natural resource Transformed Human resource Marks obtained
resource
Total=
Khushi Apa then says: Let’s have a look at the natural resource list once again. Do you
think all the resources in the list are the same? Do they have any differences?
All of them become silent.
Khushi Apa continues: Okay, I’m giving you some more clues. Think whether the
resources have the same condition after use or not.
Nandini raises her hand first and says: I know there is a difference. Water, air, and
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sunlight are such natural resources that are not extinguished. When we use them, nature
refills them. But coal, gold, iron, or petroleum are the resources that can be finished
after being used once. Nature doesn’t refill them.
Khushi Apa: Right! All the natural resources of the world can be classified into two
groups.
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The natural resources which are replenished to replace the portion depleted by usage
and consumption either through natural reproduction or other recurring processes in
a finite amount of time in a human time scale are called renewable natural resources.
Such as air sunlight etc.
Then she continues - Now you can easily guess that other natural resources which
can be depleted by usage forever and can not be replenished by nature, are called
nonrenewable natural resources. Such as coal, natural gas, petroleum, copper, etc.
But one thing you need to remember is that -
Some natural resources seem to be renewable but they are not so. Because once
used they can not be regenerated. Again, the storage of water that we have under
the ground can not be readjusted within any of our lifetime. If renewable resources
are in such a level that they take a long time to replenish, they are then treated as
nonrenewable resources. Such as water, plants, etc.
Khushi Apa: Okay, so now we know that whatever we have in our surroundings and
whatever we use from there are resources. They are either natural resources – renewable
or non-renewable; or transformed resources or human resources, or recycled resources
produced from other resources.
Market, goods, product

Now, tell me! Who amongst you have gone to the market?
Looks like most of the students in class have gone to market at some point. Khushi
Apa : ‘Very good. Those who haven’t gone yet, should visit a market with one of your
family members. Now tell me, what happens in a shop or a market?
Nasir: ‘Lots of things are stored there for sale. People go there and buy things for
money.
Khushi Apa : ‘Very good. Do you have any idea whether without going to the market
physically we can buy things from our home? Ayesha: Yes, we can. A few days ago my
uncle bought a shirt online.
Khushi Apa: Right. It means to buy or sell something or to set up a market, a particular
place is not always necessary. Even without any particular or physical place, the
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presence of buyers and sellers can create a market. That’s why according to Economics
If there is a group of people with adequate money to buy a product then that particular
group of buyers is considered a market of that product in that instance.
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Well, let me tell you something interesting at this moment.
The things stored in a market for sale are called products. So what things we see in
the market shop and online displayed for sale are products. And when people produce
some things for their use those are called goods. Let us see an example. When a farmer
produces rice for his consumption it is called good. But when he produces to sell that
rice or carries that rice to market for sale then it is a product.
Picture: Product
On the other hand, when people do things for other people, those are called services.
Services can also be paid. For example, when mother cooks for us at home, it is a service
but not a paid one. However, when a chef cooks to prepare food for the restaurant,
even if it is a service, he sells the service in exchange for the money. All of you note
one thing that all the work mother does throughout the day is service. However, she
does not accept any money from us for these services. In a similar manner, everyone’s
father also gives free services. Additionally, grandmothers, grandfathers, uncles, aunts
or many close ones offer us various services, for which they do not take anything
in return. It is because they love us. Have you ever realised the value in money our
mothers provide every day? How much could it be if we ever converted her services
into monetary value? That would surely be a mammoth sum!
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Picture: Services
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Khushi Apa takes a little break in speaking. She now speaks out again, ‘Now tell me if
the dress you are wearing is goods or a product.’
Anai Moginee raises her hand first and she answers, ‘Our clothes are goods! Because
we are not selling them; rather, we are using them ourselves. However, when we bought
them from the clothes store, these goods were products.’
Khushi Apa seems quite happy listening to Moginee’s answer and says, ‘Your answer
is quite right.’ After this, everyone happily picks some items from the various things
noticed around them. Then they start playing the game of categorising the items as
goods, services and products.
Let us use the following table to make a list of various things around us. Then separate
them as services, products and goods by placing tick marks in the appropriate column
on the right side.
Serial Name of item Goods Product Service
9
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10
Then Khushi Apa says: Let’s do another thing in groups. We will make an approximate
list of the things that we use from morning to night and where they are produced. Then
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all of them make a chart using the table below:
Serial
Goods/product name Where produced
no.
1 Biscuit Factory
2 Egg Poultry farm
3
4
Then each group presents its tables.

We can make similar tables to show the list of the goods/products and where those
are produced.
After the presentation, Khushi Apa says: You have seen that many of the goods and
products we use daily are produced in the factories. Have you ever visited any factory
to see the production process? Do you like to visit any nearby factories?
Everybody reply altogether: Good idea
Khushi Apa says: Okay, get prepared for a factory visit in the next class. Then Khushi
Apa gives a list for preparation.
● A permission letter from the parents with their signature
● List of things to do
● Safety guideline
Visiting a factory
In today’s class, the other teachers are also present except Khushi Apa. Some guardians
are also present who are free from work. Preparation was going on for the last one
week to make today’s event successful. The reason for such an arrangement is that
today all the sixth graders will go on an industrial visit. Though everybody wanted to
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visit an ice cream industry but there was no such industry close to school. Considering
transportation cost, time, distance and safety, they have decided to visit a brick kiln
nearby.
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After discussion, Khushi Apa has divided all into groups according to their locality
one week earlier. With the help of Khushi Apa, the students get divided into groups
and they have formed a preparation team for visiting a small industry. Besides, Khushi
Apa has discussed the matter with the Headmaster and with the other subject teachers;
and included them in the visit. Moreover, many guardians are informed and they also
decide to join.
Everyone has reached there timely. To inquire about the brick kiln, they have prepared–
● Questions for the inquiry,
● Plan for the inquiry,
● Data collection plan, and
● Interview questions for data collection, etc, earlier.
To do the task, they took help from the chapter ‘Looking Around through the Lens of
Science’.
Inquiry Question (Questions for inquiry)

The things we see around us from where and how are they made? And how are they
related to the environment?
Data collection (Observation and Interview)

They developed some questions to explore how products are made in factories and
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what impact it has on the environment.

Let us also make some similar questions to explore how different products are
manufactured in factories and what impact it has on the environment.
After that Khushi Apa says, ‘We have already seen how the people produce goods
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nowadays. Did the people in the past produce the same way as the present? Was it
always produced in the same way in the past?’
Hearing these questions, everyone gets worried but no one can find any answer.
Everyone remains silent.
Then Nandini says, ‘We perhaps do not know anything about it. However, this matter
seems very interesting. I have a plan. What if we run an inquiry-based project about it?
‘It will be interesting,’ everyone replies together.
Khushi Apa says, ‘It feels good after knowing your thoughts. You are trying to learn
about different topics on your own. Well, let us run an inquiry-based project. Let us
divide ourselves into several groups and try to make a set of questions of what we want
to know about how the production was made in the past and how was the method of
production.’
Then, everyone divides themselves into several groups and has made some questions
about the method of production for inquiry.
Inquiry Question (Questions for inquiry)

How was production or food/goods produced at different times and places in the past
and how were people involved in these activities at that time?
After that, Khushi Apa makes everyone aware of one issue. In this way, the past we
are talking about refers to fifty-to-one hundred years ago from the prehistoric period.
In addition to books and internet, elderly relatives of the family can give a lot of ideas
about this.
Then all the groups prepare and present questionnaires to collect data in order to find
answers to the questions. Based on the answers to the questions of all the groups and
after discussion, they prepare the following questionnaire.
Let us also formulate similar questions mentioned in the above table the way Khushi
Apa’s class did and make Inquiry Questions about the production methods of the past.
After preparing the questionnaire, Anai Moginee says, ‘But we cannot go back to the
past. So, how are we going to investigate the lives of people in the past?’
Hearing this, Khushi Apa says, ‘We can learn from history about what people did in
the past. We can find many accounts of people’s past activities from our History and
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Social Science: An Inquiry-based Reader. We will use our History and Social Science:
An Inquiry-based Reader and also use relevant information from any reliable sources
including books, magazines or internet for this inquiry.’ Moreover, we can get a lot of
information from the elders of the family.
164
Then in groups they begin inquiring how production and manufacturing processes
used to take place in different periods in the past. With the help of Khushi Apa, they
have learned a lot about the production processes of different times and of different
geographical locations. Through these, they aim to inquire about the process of
production in different times and geographical locations.
For this assignment, they have gathered information not only from the History and
Social Science book but also from sources such as other books, the internet and various
educational websites. They have already learned from the Digital Technology subject
about how to collect information from the internet. Also, they have gathered a lot of
information from the elders in their families.
With the help from the History and Social Science: An Inquiry-based Reader other
books and the Internet let us also explore how people in the past used to produce and
manufacture different products.
At the end of the inquiry, each team prepare a report by analysing the data they gather.
Based on the report, they make models of the tools or machinery used in production
Role-play of ancient people’s production process
In this task, the students use different types of media or materials like clay, paper,
hard-board, wood or bamboo etc. Using these models, they present the production and
manufacturing methods of the past. Khushi Apa’s students plan to role-play according
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to the findings mentioned in their report.

Following their example, let’s conduct research on production methods used in the
past. We will create reports using the information. Then we we can engage in role-
playing activities by constructing models of tools and machinery.
165
Appendix 1
A Sample Plan of Study Tours
Before the study tour ● Loading up goods and luggage in vehicles
● Scheduling possible dates in the ● Assigning responsibility to teachers
school’s annual plan for tours at - children’s attendance according to
convenient times their grades
● Fixing travel destinations according ● Getting destination tickets ready -
to the objectives of the study tour toll on the road where applicable
● Researching/knowing in detail about During the study tour
the travel destination (with higher ● Assigning teachers in charge of
class students) accommodation and grouping
● Obtaining permission for entry/visit students according to the plan
at the destination ● Work as per detailed travel plan
● Informing district police/tourist ● Constant monitoring (not being after
police/administration them for all the time) of students and
● Formation of Tour Committee encouraging them to work
comprising of teachers and students ● Assurance of security
● Preparation of a detailed tour ● Monitoring work progress as per
schedule keeping in mind the project/assignment and providing
objectives of the study tour necessary assistance
(Attachment)
● Ensuring everyone’s participation in
● Making a list of required learning team work
materials (books, paper, pens,
reference books etc.) ● Incorporation of stories, adda
(chats), games and cultural activities
● Preparation of budget, distribution After the tour
of responsibilities of teachers,
formation of student teams ● Handing over of students to their
● Transportation, accommodation, guardians
food and overall security ● Organization of an exhibition with
● Letter for the parents or guardians students’ work
(Attachment) ● Submitting the account of expenses
● Orientation of students (why go on to school authorities
a study tour, what to do, what not to ● Students’ evaluation of participation
do etc.) in the study tour
● Continuous communication with the Special Note-
representative of the tour destination ● No one should be bullied
● List of other necessary materials ● No one should wander away
such as first aid box, sports, musical disobeying rules
instruments, devices, banners ● Safety for girls in the sleeping place
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● Selection of menu for food at night

(preference for local food) ● What to do if a girl student is having
On tour day menstruation
● Handing over of students by ● Whether there is anything illegal
guardians at selected places– with participants or they are doing
waiting at selected places anything illegal
166
Appendix -২
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167
Appendix
Sample of world Travelling ludu

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168
Appendix 3
Rules for World Travel Ludo Game
Single player rules Team playing rules
● Each board can be played by ● The game can be played by students divided
a maximum of 4 players and a into teams of 5-6.
minimum of two. ● Two teams can play on each board.
● When you roll a 1 on the dice, ● Each team has a captain.
you can start your journey around
the world, not before that. The ● A toss decides which team will start the game
starting point is Dhaka. first.
● Upon discussion among ● You can start your journey around the world
themselves, players decide who when the dice rolls a 1, not before that. The
starts the game. starting point is Dhaka.
● The game must be played ● Anyone of the team can start the game. The
according to the rules attached to captain will select the first player.
the story in this book. ● Players can be changed at any time during the
● Scoring 100 points takes a player game. However, whoever leaves the game once
to Andaman and Nicobar Islands. to a substitute player will not be able to play
This is the final destination for all again in that round.
the players. The first to reach 100 ● The game must be played according to the rules
points wins the game. attached to the story.
● A referee has to be appointed for each board to
see that the game is being conducted according
to the rules. The captains of the two teams
decide who will act as referees. Referees cannot
participate in the game.
● At 100 points, the location is Andaman and
Nicobar Islands. The target for all the players
is to reach this place. The first team to reach
100 points becomes the winner.
Rules and Instructions of Ludo Game:

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The following rules must be followed while playing this Ludo game. If you reach those
places during the game, the conditions mentioned should be followed as if those were
true. However, these rules, questions and locations are only sample ones. You will
definitely create new conditions every few days and thus keep the game enjoyable all
the time.
169
Appendix
Troublesome Places:
1. Ajanta Caves, Aurangabad (One question has to be answered to find the path to escape from
this cave. Question: What is Ajanta Cave famous for?) If you can answer this question, you
will move 2 steps forward to the Taj Mahal; if not, you will move 2 steps backward to the
Bay of Bengal.
2. Mount Everest (If you reach the peak of this mountain, you have to stay here for two days to
cross it. Therefore, you cannot play two turns.)
3. Maosinram (It is the place with the highest rainfall in the world. Here you will fall in the
midst of heavy rainfall. Answering a question will reward you with an umbrella and will take
you 5 steps ahead to Ulaanbaatar. If you cannot answer, you will go backward 5 steps to the
Kabul desert. Question: What problems can occur because of heavy rainfall?)
4. The Great Wall of China (You must have the assistance of a guide to cross this wall. You
must roll a 1 to get a guide. You cannot proceed until you roll a 1.)
5. Mt. Fuji (volcano, Japan) (To survive the eruption of the volcano, you must wait until the
eruption is over. As a result, you will stop playing the game for one turn.)
6. West Siberian Plain (Russia) (Question: What are the main features of the plain? If you can
answer this question, you will move 1 step to the Trans-Siberian Railway (Russia); if not,
you will move 1 step backward to Lake Baikal.)
7. Greece (Athens, Mt. Olympus) (Mention two significant aspects of the civilisation known
here. If you can answer the question, you will get a chance to play again; if not, you will stop
playing the game for 1 turn.)
8. Death Valley, California, United States (Hottest place on the earth) (Question: Name another
hottest place on Earth which is located in Africa. If you can answer this question, you
will move 6 steps forward to Hawaiian Islands; if not, you will move 6 steps backward to
Southampton Island, Canada.)
9. Bering Sea (Bering Strait) (Question: Which two continents are separated by this strait? If
you can answer this question, one member of your team can take up a helper for 5 turns; if
not, your opponent will get a helper for 5 turns.)
10. International Date Line (180 degrees) (Question: Which places does this line bend on the
map? If you can answer this question, you will directly move to Micronesia; if not, you will
land at London (Greenwich, UK).)
11. Amazon Rainforest (Here you get lost in the jungle; you have to roll a 6 to find the way.
You cannot move on until you roll a 6. When you roll a 6, you will find a diamond mine in
South Africa.)
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12. Antarctica (You will need a special transport to survive the blizzard. You will get the
transport only when a player on your team can stand as ice-statue for one game-turn time.
If your team member can stand as ice-statue, your team will move 6 steps ahead to Victoria
Falls (Zimbabwe); if not, you cannot play for 2 turns.)
13. Cape of Good Hope/Uttamasha Antarip (South Africa) Divides the Atlantic and Indian
Oceans. (Here you will face a sea storm. To move to the next step, you have to tell others
170
about an experience in your life that inspires you to move forward.)
14. Sahara Desert (You will face extreme heat and sandstorms. To get relief, you have to wait
for 1 day until the storm stops. As a result, you will stop playing for one turn.)
15. The Nile (Egypt) (Question: Which civilisation was established on the banks of the Nile?)
If you can answer the question, you will move 1 step forward to the pyramids; if not, you
will go back 1 step to the Sahara Desert.)
16. Madagascar (Savanna) (Question for this step: Why don’t big trees grow in the grasslands?
If you can answer the question, you will move 2 steps forward to Francois Perron National
Park (Australia), if not, you will move 2 steps backward to the Arabian Desert (Saudi
Arabia).)
17. Mariana Trench (world’s deepest trench) (If you reach here, you will lose 40 points and fall
into the trench of the North Pacific Ocean.)
Advantageous places:
1. Pamir Plateau (Tajikistan) (If you reach the biggest plateau in the world, you will get the
chance to play twice in a row as a reward.)
2. Trans-Siberian Railway (Russia) (If you reach here, you will move 3 steps forward from here
to Caspian Sea (Kazakhstan).)
3. Moscow Clock (Russia) (If you reach here, your opponent team has to name another amazing
place in the world. If the opponent team fails to come up with an answer, one member of that
team has to stand as a statue for one game-turn time.)
4. Black Sea (between Greece and Ukraine, a healthy place) (If you reach here, you will get
one game life. The advantage of this is that you will not face any difficulty when you reach
a difficult place in a move afterwards.)
5. Netherlands (Land of flowers) (If you reach here, the opponent team has to offer a real
flower/paper flower as a gift.)
6. South Africa (diamond, minerals) (If you reach here, your team will own a lot of diamonds;
and, as a result, you will move 5 steps ahead to the Congo Rain Forest, DRCongo.)
7. Pyramids (Egypt) (If you reach the country of the pyramids, you can ask the opposition
friends a question. The question has to be related to the pyramids/Egypt. If the opponent
team fails to answer the question, they will move 5 steps backward.)
8. Iraq (ancient civilisations and oil resources) (If you land on this country rich in archaeological
and mineral resources, you will move 10 steps ahead to Nauru (small island, South Pacific).)
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9. Sydney Opera House (If you reach here, the opponent team has to act out something.)
10. Kiribati (Christmas Island, North Pacific Ocean) (If you reach here, you can actually reach
the Andaman Nicobar Islands by getting 10 extra points.)
11. Andaman and Nicobar Islands (If you reach here, your team will get a rescue ship and reach
Dhaka by the ship.)
171
Appendix
Appendix 4
River puzzle
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172
Cut the page and separate it from the book. Then cut along the dotted lines to create
small rectangles from page 172. Use these rectangles to decorate the river as you
wish, starting from its source and extending to the mouth. Follow the instructions
provided in the book.
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173
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174
Appendix
Cut the page and separate it from the book. Then cut along the dotted lines to create
small rectangles from page 174. Use these rectangles to decorate the river as you
wish, starting from its source and extending to the mouth. Follow the instructions
provided in the book.
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175

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Developed by the National Curriculum and Textbook Board as a textbook according

History and Social Science

National Curriculum and Textbook Board, Bangladesh

[All rights reserved by National Curriculum and Textbook Board, Bangladesh]

Published: December, 2022

For Free Distribution by the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh

Professor Md. Farhadul Islam

Active Citizens Club 26-31

Ways of Knowing History 32-35

Looking Around through the Lens of Science 36-49

Influence of Landform on the History of the Bengal Region 50-62

Influence of Landform on South Asian and World History 63-73

Nature Conservation Activity 74-81

Muktijuddha in Our Locality 82-104

Book Reading Programme 114-116

Natural and Social Structures 117-133

Society and Resources 155-165

Our similarities and differences

Let us prepare identity charts of the prominent and notable individuals

Bangladeshi girls beat India & clinch the championship trophy

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Bangladesh under-19 women’s football team

Chart: The similarity-dissimilarity chart

Topic Similarity Dissimilarity

Chakma Garo Marma Saontal

Hajang Manipuri Tanchangya Bangali

the topic in groups and fill in the above table.

First picture Second picture

Sketch of natural scenery of Bangladesh Map of Bangladesh

happy to get the gift. But, when she went

Maps of large and small scale

Lets make a map

Home to school map drawn by Deepa

They start doing the activity in groups.

মানচিত্র সংগ্রহ- https://bn.banglapedia.org/index.php/

Map of Chattogram Division (Landform)

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Family Travel Map

Following Khushi Apa’s class, let us do the task

Expected behaviour toward others

Like teams, let us play football with our classmates dividing

Nothing works well without rules!

Rules to follow in the classroom

Rules to follow in the school premises

Rules to follow in a family and a society

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● Names of the posts and designation

Forming the Active Citizens Club

According to the decision:

display of traffic signs and photographs with descriptions.

Group Work: Ensuring a Safe Journey to School

Let’s Explore the History of our Neighbourhood, Locality or Village

Image: The river Buriganga Image: The river Buriganga

Image: The river Padma Image: The river Padma

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Image: Public transport of Dhaka Image: Public transport of Dhaka

Present picture Previous Picture

Deepa: They make chips in this factory.