NCERT Solutions for Class 7th Social Science Chapter 4 New Beginnings: Cities and States
Updated on 2026-09-19
About this chapter
India's ‘First Urbanisation’ ended, and city life vanished for a thousand years. In the early 2nd millennium BCE the Indus / Harappan / Sindhu-Sarasvatī civilisation disintegrated. Cities were abandoned or reverted to a village lifestyle, because every part of the Harappan urban order had gone — big private and public structures, crowded streets and busy markets, specialised occupations, a writing system, a sanitation system, an administration and a state structure with a ruling class. The ‘Second Urbanisation’ began in the 1st millennium BCE in the Ganga plains, parts of the Indus (Sindhu) basin and neighbouring regions, and spread across the Subcontinent. We know it from two sources: archaeological excavations and ancient literature (late Vedic, Buddhist and Jain). This phase has continu
- Chapter opening
- How we know about the Second Urbanisation
- Janapadas and Mahājanapadas
- Reading the map of the sixteen mahājanapadas (Fig. 4.3)
- Comparing the First and the Second Urbanisation
- The Varṇa–Jāti System
- The chapter in three points
- End-of-chapter exercise
Quick revision
| Term | What it means | Where it appears in the chapter | Example from the book |
|---|---|---|---|
| Second Urbanisation | The fresh wave of city life that began in the 1st millennium BCE | Pages 68–69 | Began in the Ganga plains and the Sindhu basin; “has continued right up to today” |
| Janapada | The territory of a clan, led by a rājā | Page 69 | Sanskrit: ‘where the people (jana) have set foot (pada)’ |
| Mahājanapada | A bigger state formed when early janapadas merged | Page 69 | 16 in the usual list, from Gandhāra to Anga to Aśhmaka |
| Sabhā / samiti | The assembly or council of the clan | Page 70 | The words first appear in the Vedas |
| Gaṇa / sangha | A mahājanapada that was not a monarchy | Page 72 | Vajji (Vṛijji) and Malla — scholars' ‘early republics’ |
| Moat | A deep, wide ditch round a fort or fortified city, filled with water | Margin note, page 70 | Visible full of water outside the Śhiśhupalgarh gateway (Fig. 4.7) |
| Punch-marked coins | India's first coins — symbols punched into soft silver | Pages 74–75 | Fig. 4.6, coins from various ancient cities of north India |
| Jāti | A community with a specific occupation tied to its livelihood | Page 76 | Skills in agriculture, metallurgy, commerce or a craft, passed down generations |
| Varṇa | A fourfold category that emerged from Vedic texts | Page 76 | Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Shudras |
| Caste | English word from Portuguese casta | DON'T MISS OUT, page 77 | Used by Portuguese travellers of the 16th century CE |
| Uttarapatha | Route from the northwest regions to the Ganga plains and eastern India | Page 78 | Used for trade, pilgrimage and military campaigns |
| Dakṣhiṇapatha | Route from Kauśhāmbī across the Vindhya Range to the south | Pages 78–79 | Kauśhāmbī is near today's Prayagraj |
Exercises
- Chapter opening — The Big Questions Page 67
- How we know about the Second Urbanisation — In-text Questions Page 69
- Janapadas and Mahājanapadas — THINK ABOUT IT Page 70
- Reading the map of the sixteen mahājanapadas (Fig. 4.3) — LET'S EXPLORE Page 70
- Comparing the First and the Second Urbanisation — LET'S EXPLORE Page 74
- The Varṇa–Jāti System — LET'S EXPLORE Page 76
- The Varṇa–Jāti System — DON'T MISS OUT Page 77
- The Varṇa–Jāti System — THINK ABOUT IT Page 78
- The chapter in three points — Before we move on … Page 81
- End-of-chapter exercise — Questions and activities Page 81