NCERT Solutions for Exploring Society: India and Beyond Chapter 5 India That Is Bharat
Updated on 2026-09-05
About this chapter
India is a modern nation, but this land is far older than the nation. Today India has defined borders, defined states and a known population. Five hundred, two thousand or five thousand years ago it looked very different. The region as a whole — the part of the world we call the Indian Subcontinent — has had many different names and shifting boundaries , and we learn about them from ancient texts, from the accounts of travellers and pilgrims, and from inscriptions. The Subcontinent has clear natural boundaries (Fig. 5.2, page 76). In the north stand the Himalayas ; in the north-west, the Hindu Kush . The Arabian Sea lies to the west, the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Indian Ocean to the south. Between them lie the great river systems the map names — the Indus with the Jhelum, Chenab, R
- Chapter opening
- How Indians Named India
- Don't Miss Out
- How Foreigners Named India
- The chapter in three points
- End-of-chapter exercise
Exercises
- Chapter opening — The Big Questions Page 75
- Reading the physical map of the Indian Subcontinent (Fig. 5.2) — THINK ABOUT IT Page 77
- How Indians Named India — LET'S EXPLORE Page 78
- How Indians Named India — In-text Questions Page 78
- How Indians Named India — THINK ABOUT IT Page 80
- How Indians Named India — In-text Questions Page 80
- Don't Miss Out — LET'S EXPLORE Page 81
- How Foreigners Named India — LET'S EXPLORE Page 83
- The chapter in three points — Before we move on ... Page 84
- End-of-chapter exercise — Questions, activities and projects Page 84