History of Arts
Class 9 · Arts
4 ideas in Class 9 Arts, explained in plain words, with games and quizzes to practise.
Timelines and Rock Art
Part of: Art through time
The chapter weaves Theatre, Music, Dance and Visual Arts into one shared timeline. Artefacts, writings, monuments, oral histories and living practices all serve as evidence. The earliest span runs fifty thousand to four thousand BCE, known only through digging since writing did not exist. Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh holds ancient painted shelters with animals, hunts and daily life in earth colours, joined by Lakhudiyar plus caves across five more states, while the world kept Indonesian, French and Spanish caves, bone flutes and figurines.
Why it matters. One timeline shows Indian culture as unique yet connected to the world.
Try it in two minutes
- Name the four art forms.
- State the first period span.
- Name two rock art sites.
Try at home. Draw animals and hunters like a rock artist.
Sindhu-Sarasvati Towns
Part of: Art through time
Between four thousand and five hundred BCE, the Sindhu-Sarasvati civilisation left painted pottery, jewellery, seals, bronze figurines and a few stone sculptures. Ordered architecture reveals well-planned towns. Far away, Mesopotamia, Egypt and China left matching kinds of pottery, jewellery, seals, bronze and stone sculpture, plus musical instruments and manuscripts, proving craft travelled widely.
Why it matters. Town planning plus tiny seals show how organised ancient India was.
Try it in two minutes
- State the period span.
- Name four artefact types.
- Name three world regions.
Try at home. Draw a grid town with a great bath.
Pillars, Caves and Treatises
Part of: Art through time
From five hundred BCE to six hundred CE, pillars like Sarnath's lion capital rose while stupas, chaityas and viharas spread nationwide. Sarnath, Mathura and Gandhara became sculpture hubs, and mural schools bloomed at Ajanta and Sittannavasal, where earth pigments still glow after fifteen centuries. Thinkers wrote the Natyashastra, the Chitra-sutra and the Silappadigaram, while Sanskrit plays starred performer heroines and Ashvaghosha pioneered drama with his Buddha epic.
Why it matters. Stone, colour and script together raised Indian art to classical heights.
Try it in two minutes
- Name three building types.
- Name two mural caves.
- Name two art texts.
Try at home. Copy an Ajanta-style face with earth colours.
Temples and Bhakti
Part of: Art through time
Between six hundred and twelve hundred CE, rock-cut and structural temples rose thick with carvings, while Chola bronzes, murals and manuscript paintings won fame. Sanskrit and Tamil plays flourished as Bhakti devotion spread through poet-saints into a social movement, steering music and dance toward the divine. Temple craft even travelled to Southeast Asia, and new manuals on music, dance and theatre kept knowledge flowing.
Why it matters. Devotion plus stonecraft shaped the arts Indians practise today.
Try it in two minutes
- Name two temple types.
- Name one bronze fame.
- Say what Bhakti means.
Try at home. Draw a temple tower with carvings.
What your child will practise
- Pillars, Caves and Treatises: Desert Quest (Flip and Match)
- Pillars, Caves and Treatises: Space Quick Fire (Quick Fire)
- Sindhu-Sarasvati Towns: Time Travel Quest (Collect the Answer)
- Temples and Bhakti: Space Puzzle (Clue Puzzle)
- Timelines and Rock Art: Explorer'S Map Quest (Match It Up)
- Quiz: Pillars, Caves and Treatises (8 questions)
- Quiz: Sindhu-Sarasvati Towns (8 questions)
- Quiz: Temples and Bhakti (8 questions)
- Quiz: Timelines and Rock Art (8 questions)