DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN SOCIETY CHRONOLOGY/TIME LINE OF WORLD HISTORY

                            

 DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN SOCIETY CHRONOLOGY/TIME LINE OF WORLD HISTORY

 

Where do we begin?

Before we tell the stories that make up world history, it is useful to ask: where do we begin? Where did our human stories start?

Homo sapiens is part of a group called hominids, which were the earliest humanlike creatures. Based on archaeological and anthropological evidence, we think that hominids diverged from other primates somewhere between 2.5 and 4 million years ago in eastern and southern Africa. Though there was a degree of diversity among the hominid family, they all shared the trait of bipedalism, or the ability to walk upright on two legs.

Migration and the Peopling of the Earth

How and why?

Between 70,000 and 100,000 years ago, Homo sapiens began migrating from the African continent and populating parts of Europe and Asia. They reached the Australian continent in canoes sometime between 35,000 and 65,000 years ago.

Scientists studying land masses and climate know that the Pleistocene Ice Age created a land bridge that connected Asia and North America (Alaska) over 13,000 years ago. A widely accepted migration theory is that people crossed this land bridge and eventually migrated into North and South America.

 

How were our ancestors able to achieve this feat, and why did they make the decision to leave their homes? The development of language around 50,000 years ago allowed people to make plans, solve problems, and organize effectively. We can’t be sure of the exact reasons humans first migrated off of the African continent, but it was likely correlated with a depletion of resources (like food) in their regions and competition for those resources. Once humans were able to communicate these concerns and make plans, they could assess together whether the pressures in their current home outweighed the risk of leaving to find a new one.

 

Map of the world showing the spread of _Homo sapiens_ throughout the Earth over time. _Homo sapiens_ are reflected with red arrows (shown populating the entire world over time), _Homo neanderthalensis_ is reflected in orange in what is Europe and the Middle East today, and _Homo erectus_ is represented in yellow in Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.

 

 

 

Evolution

Scientists have several theories about why early hominids evolved. One, the aridity hypothesis, suggests that early hominids were more suited to dry climates and evolved as the Africa’s dry savannah regions expanded.

According to the savannah hypothesis, early tree-dwelling hominids may have been pushed out of their homes as environmental changes caused the forest regions to shrink and the size of the savannah expand. These changes, according to the savannah hypothesis, may have caused them to adapt to living on the ground and walking upright instead of climbing.

Hominids continued to evolve and develop unique characteristics. Their brain capacities increased, and approximately 2.3 million years ago, a hominid known as Homo habilis began to make and use simple tools. By a million years ago, some hominid species, particularly Homo erectus, began to migrate out of Africa and into Eurasia, where they began to make other advances like controlling fire.

Though there were once many kinds of hominids, only one remains: Homo sapiens. Extinction is a normal part of evolution, and scientists continue to theorize why other hominid species didn’t survive. We do have some clues as to why some species were less successful at surviving than others, such as an inability to cope with competition for food, changes in climate, and volcanic eruptions.

 

                                ASSINGMENT- 2

THE ADVANCE OF HUMAN SOCIETY

·     CHRONOLOGICAL REVIEW CONTINUED HISTORY OF WORLD

·     DEVELOPMENT OF CIVILIZATION: MESOPOTAMIA

·     DEVELOPMENT OF CIVILIZATION: EGYPT

 

CIVILIZATION MESOPOTAMIA

 

Civilizations born along rivers

By roughly 6000 to 8000 years ago, agriculture was well under way in several regions including Ancient Egypt, around the Nile River; the Indus Valley civilization; Mesopotamia, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers; and Ancient China, along the Yellow and Yangtze rivers. This is because the regular river floods made for fertile soil around the banks and the rivers could also supply fresh water to irrigate crops. It’s no coincidence that as agriculture allowed for denser and denser populations along with more specialized societies, some of the world’s first civilizations developed in these areas as well.

 

Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia—mainly modern-day Iraq and Kuwait—in particular is often referred to as the cradle of civilization because some of the most influential early city-states and empires first emerged there—although it’s not the only place! Its modern name comes from the Greek for middle—mesos—and river—potamos—and literally means a “country between two rivers.” Those two rivers are the Tigris and Euphrates. Not only was Mesopotamia one of the first places to develop agriculture, it was also at the crossroads of the Egyptian and the Indus Valley civilizations. This made it a melting pot of languages and cultures that stimulated a lasting impact on writing, technology, language, trade, religion, and law.

Associated with Mesopotamia are ancient cultures like the Sumerians, Assyrians, Akkadians, and Babylonians. Learning about this time period can be a little confusing because these cultures interacted with and ruled over each other over the course of several thousand years. These terms can also be associated with city-states, languages, religions, or empires—depending on the time and context we are looking at.

Babylon

Babylon was a minor city-state in central Mesopotamia for a century after it was founded in 1894 BCE. Things changed with the reign of Hammurabi, from 1792 to 1750 BCE. He was an efficient ruler, establishing a centralized bureaucracy with taxation. Hammurabi freed Babylon from foreign rule and then conquered the whole of southern Mesopotamia, bringing stability and the name of Babylonia to the region.

EGYPT

Overview

Egyptian civilization developed along the Nile River in large part because the river’s annual flooding ensured reliable, rich soil for growing crops.

Repeated struggles for political control of Egypt showed the importance of the region's agricultural production and economic resources.

The Egyptians kept written records using a writing system known as hieroglyphics.

Egyptian rulers used the idea of divine kingship and constructed monumental architecture to demonstrate and maintain power.

Ancient Egyptians developed wide-reaching trade networks along the Nile, in the Red Sea, and in the Near East.

Early Egypt

Much of the history of Egypt is divided into three “kingdom” periods—Old, Middle, and New—with shorter intermediate periods separating the kingdoms. The term "intermediate" here refers to the fact that during these times Egypt was not a unified political power, and thus was in between powerful kingdoms. Even before the Old Kingdom period, the foundations of Egyptian civilization were being laid for thousands of years, as people living near the Nile increasingly focused on sedentary agriculture, which led to urbanization and specialized, non-agricultural economic activity.

Evidence of human habitation in Egypt stretches back tens of thousands of years. It was only in about 6000 BCE, however, that widespread settlement began in the region. Around this time, the Sahara Desert expanded. Some scientists think this expansion was caused by a slight shift in the tilt of the Earth. Others have explored changing rainfall patterns, but the specific causes are not entirely clear. The most important result of this expansion of the Sahara for human civilization was that it pushed humans closer to the Nile River in search of reliable water sources.

Apart from the delta region, where the river spreads out as it flows into the sea, most settlement in the Nile Valley was confined to within a few miles of the river itself (see map above). The Nile River flooded annually; this flooding was so regular that the ancient Egyptians set their three seasons—Inundation, or flooding, Growth, and Harvest—around it.

This annual flooding was vital to agriculture because it deposited a new layer of nutrient-rich soil each year. In years when the Nile did not flood, the nutrient level in the soil was seriously depleted, and the chance of food shortages increased greatly. Food supplies had political effects, as well, and periods of drought probably contributed to the decline of Egyptian political unity at the ends of both the Old and Middle Kingdoms.

 

Old Kingdom Egypt: 2686-2181 BCE

During the Old Kingdom period, Egypt was largely unified as a single state; it gained in complexity and expanded militarily. Old Kingdom rulers built the first pyramids, which were both tombs and monuments for the kings who had them built. Building monumental architecture—such as the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx in Giza, and temples for different gods—required a centralized government that could command vast resources.

 

Middle Kingdom: 2000-1700 BCE

The Middle Kingdom saw Egypt unified again as kings found ways to take back power from regional governors. From the Middle Kingdom era forward, Egyptian kings often kept well-trained standing armies. The ability of the Egyptian state to create and maintain a standing military force and to build fortifications showed that it had regained control of substantial resources.

Political fragmentation led to the Second Intermediate Period. The precise dates are unclear; even though writing allowed for more events to be recorded, most things still were not, and many more records have been lost or destroyed.

Taking advantage of this political instability in Egypt, the Hyksos appeared around 1650 BCE. They were a Semitic people, meaning they spoke a language that originated in the Middle East, which indicated that they were not native to Egypt. The Hyksos imposed their own political rulers but also brought many cultural and technological innovations, such as bronze working and pottery techniques, new breeds of animals and new crops, the horse and chariot, the composite bow, battle-axes, and fortification techniques for warfare.

New Kingdom: 1550-1077 BCE

Around 1550 BCE, the New Kingdom period of Egyptian history began with the expulsion of the Hyksos from Egypt and the restoration of centralized political control. This period was Egypt's most prosperous time and marked the peak of its power. New Kingdom Egypt reached the height of its power under the pharaohs Seti I and Ramesses II, who fought to expand Egyptian power against the Libyans to the west and the Hittites to the north. The city of Kadesh on the border between the two empires was a source of conflict between the Egyptians and the Hittites, and they fought several battles over it, ultimately agreeing to the world’s first known peace treaty.

Third Intermediate Period: 1069-664 BCE

The costs of war, increased droughts, famine, civil unrest, and official corruption ultimately fragmented Egypt into a collection of locally-governed city-states. Taking advantage of this political division, a military force from the Nubian kingdom of Kush in the south conquered and united Lower Egypt, Upper Egypt, and Kush. The Kushites were then driven out of Egypt in 670 BCE by the Assyrians, who established a client state (a political entity that is self-governing but pays tribute to a more powerful state) in Egypt.

In 656 BCE, Egypt was again reunited and broke away from Assyrian control. The country experienced a period of peace and prosperity until 525 BCE, when the Persian king Cambyses defeated the Egyptian rulers and took the title of Pharaoh for himself, along with his title as king of Persia.

 

                            Assignment 3

 

THE ADVANCE OF HUMAN SOCIETY

DEVELOPMENT OF CIVILIZATION: GREECE

DEVELOPMENT OF CIVILIZATION: ROMAN

DEVELOPMENT OF CIVILIZATION: CHINA

DEVELOPMENT OF CIVILIZATION: GREECE

Historians divide ancient Greek civilization into two eras, the Hellenic period (from around 900 BC to the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC), and the Hellenistic period (323 BC to 30 AD). 

During the earlier Hellenic period, substantial works of architecture began to appear around 600 BC. During the later (Hellenistic) period, Greek culture spread as a result of Alexander's conquest of other lands, and later as a result of the rise of the Roman Empire, which adopted much of Greek culture.

Before the Hellenic era, two major cultures had dominated the region: the Minoan (c. 2800–1100 BC), and the Mycenaean (c. 1500–1100 BC). Minoan is the name given by modern historians to the culture of the people of ancient Crete, known for its elaborate and richly decorated palaces, and for its pottery painted with floral and marine motifs.

ARCHAIC PERIOD

The Archaic Period is preceded by the Greek Dark Age (c.1200- 800 BCE), a period about which little is known for sure, and followed by the Classical Period (c. 510- 323 BCE), which is one of the better documented periods of Greek history, with tragedies, comedies, histories, legal cases and more surviving in the form of literary and epigraphic sources. 

In the Archaic Period there were vast changes in Greek language, society, art, architecture, and politics.

HELLENISTIC PERIOD

The Hellenistic period spans the period of Mediterranean history between the Death of Alexander the Great and the End of the Macedonian Empire 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and the conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt the following year.

The Ancient Greek word Hellas (Ἑλλάς, Ellás) was originally the widely recognized name of Greece, from which the word Hellenistic was derived. "Hellenistic" is distinguished from "Hellenic" in that the first encompasses all territories under direct ancient Greek influence, while the latter refers to Greece itself.

The Hellenistic period was characterized by a new wave of Greek colonization which established Greek cities and kingdoms in Asia and Africa.

 Angelos Chaniotis ends the Hellenistic period with the death of Hadrian in 138 AD, who integrated the Greeks fully into the Roman Empire  and a range from c. 321 BC to 256 AD may also be given.

CLASSICAL GREECE

Classical Greece was a period of around 200 years (5th and 4th centuries BC) in Greek culture. This Classical period saw the annexation of much of modern-day Greece by the Persian Empire and its subsequent independence. Classical Greece had a powerful influence on the Roman Empire and on the foundations of Western civilization. Much of modern Western politics, artistic thought (architecture, sculpture), scientific thought, theatre, literature and philosophy derives from this period of Greek history.

 

In the context of the art, architecture, and culture of Ancient Greece, the Classical period corresponds to most of the 5th and 4th centuries BC (the most common dates being the fall of the last Athenian tyrant in 510 BC to the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC). The Classical period in this sense follows the Greek Dark Ages and Archaic period and is in turn succeeded by the Hellenistic period.

GEOGRAPHY

Mainland Greece is a mountainous land almost completely surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea.   

Around 80% of the Greek mainland is mountains. Greece has more than 1400 islands.

 The country has mild winters and long, hot and dry summers.

SCULPTURE

Greek sculpture is usually in stone and bronze and sometimes in gold and ivory – was solid and formal, much like that of the ancient Middle East. In the Classical period, sculptures strove for realism, and their work became more graceful and elegant. They applied mathematical ratios to achieve aesthetic beauty. As time went by, and their skills improved still more, they sought to represent movement and emotion.

PHILOSOPHY

The earliest school of Greek philosophers were those of the Ionian tradition (7th-5th centuries BC). Ionia was in what is today western Turkey, and it is tempting to see the influence of the ancient Middle East on their work. Much of these involved quasi-religious speculations about the origins and structure of the universe: but this led them on to quasi-scientific propositions, such as that all matter comes from water (reminiscent of Mesopotamian beliefs).

Greek philosophy reached its high point in the careers of three thinkers who lived and worked in Athens, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Socrates (469-399 BC) challenged the thinking of his contemporaries by posing penetrating

 Questions. In this way he aimed to strip away the prejudices we all bring to our thinking. He developed the “Socratic method”, based on questions and discussion, rather than on lectures and received teaching. He believed that reason and clear thinking could lead men to truth and happiness. In 399 BC, he was put on trial in Athens for “corrupting the minds of the youth” and not revering the gods. He was executed by poisoning.

Plato (427-347 BC) was a disciple of Socrates; it is through him we know of Socrates’ teaching. Plato believed that the material world is not real, but an imperfect image of the real, or ideal. He founded the “Academy”, the first known institute of higher education in the West.

Aristotle (384-322 BC) was a student of Plato’s. He spent some time as tutor to the future king of Macedon, who would become known to history as Alexander the Great. After this, he founded the Lyceum in Athens. Aristotle left behind a vast body of work. To help clear thinking, he developed a system of formal rules of logic. These became extremely influential in future Western thought. He believed ideas were indistinguishable from matter, in that they could exists only through material objects. He believed that God was the “first cause” of all things, and that the good life can be achieved through moderation.

ARCHITECTURE

Greek architecture is known for its grace and simplicity. The finest buildings the Greeks erected were their temples; and the most famous of these is the Parthenon, in Athens.

The center of each temple was space known as the “cella”. Here was located the statue if the god. In front of the cella was the porch, and both porch and cella were surrounded by a colonnade of columns. Each column was topped by a “capitals”, a carved block of stone. On top of these rested the “entablature”, a band of carved stone on which, in turn, rested the roof. These elements went together to form a simple yet gracious building.

ROMAN EMPIRE

The term Ancient Rome refers to the city of Rome, which was located in central Italy; and also to the empire it came to rule, which covered the entire Mediterranean basin and much of western Europe. At its greatest extent in stretched from present-day northern England to southern Egypt, and from the Atlantic coast to the shores of the Persian Gulf.

The Economy and Society

Ancient Roman society originated as a society of small farmers. However, as it grew more powerful and more extensive, it became one of the most urbanized societies in the pre-industrial world. Scholars used to think that this massive operation acted as a drain on the economy of the empire – it was, after all, paid for out of taxes. More recently, they have begun to view it as having acted as a huge stimulus to trade. The ships which carried the grain would also have carried other goods, which would have subsidized the long-distance trade of the empire.

ART

Roman art was closely related to late Greek art – indeed, as the Romans conquered more and more Greek cities, more and more Greet art found its way to Rome. The same is true of Greek artists, who found in the Roman ruling classes keen patrons of their work. Culturally, the Roman period is to a large extent an extension of the Hellenistic period, especially in the eastern parts of the empire. Nevertheless, Roman sculpture in particular has an unmissable characteristic all its own. The sculptural portraits of leading Romans of the late Republic and early Empire are simple and dignified, and above all startlingly realistic. We really do know what Julius Caesar looked like! To see them “in the flesh”, so to speak, is an awe-inspiring experience.

LITERATURE

Roman literature is written in the Latin language. Latin writers of the period lived more conventional literary lives: the poets Virgil, Catallus, Horace, Ovid, Martial and Juvenal; the historian Livy. In fact these too were all near the seat of power, but as writers, not as politicians. The elegant, “upper class” literature of Rome and the more urgent literature of the Christian Church come together in the works of St Augustine of Hippo. He was a man right at the top of Roman society, and a deeply committed Christian. He wrote works reflecting on his life and times, and in doing so greatly influenced western thinking for centuries to come.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

The Romans were clearly adventurous and highly skilled engineers. More than anything else, this is seen in their roads, which ran for hundreds of miles across all sorts of terrain, and played an important part in knitting the empire together so effectively. Laying out these roads involved advanced surveying techniques, using instruments which were adapted from those used by astronomers to measure angles.

ANCIENT ROME IN WORLD HISTORY

The rise and fall of Ancient Rome formed a crucial episode in the rise of Western civilization. Through Rome the achievements of ancient Greek civilization passed to Medieval Europe – with unique Roman contributions added. Roman architecture, sculpture, philosophy and literature all built on Greek models, developed their own distinct elements, and then left a legacy for later periods of Western civilization to build on.

However, it was in law and politics that Roman influence can be felt most strongly today. Much European law is still derived from Roman law. The ideas of equity (true justice), equality before the law, citizens’ rights and elected officials, whilst originating with the Greeks, were all taken further by the Romans and have came down to us in a basically Roman form.

We will deal further with the impact of Rome when we look at the roots of Western civilization.

PHILOSOPHY

Roman thinkers looked to Hellenistic philosophy for inspiration. A major philosophical strand of thought in the later Roman empire was Neoplatonism. This taught that there was a “being beyond being” who created and ordered all things, and that humans should strive to become one with this being through practicing virtue and asceticism.

Development of civilization china

THE GEOGRAPHY OF ANCIENT CHINA CIVILIZATION

China is a vast country with a huge range of terrains and climates within it: mountains, deserts and coastlands and above all, the great river systems of China, The Yellow River to the north and the Yangtze to the south. All these have helped shape Chinese civilization.

MUSIC, DANCE, INSTRUMENT

Music and dance were closely associated in the very early periods of China. The music of China. Some of the oldest written music dates back to Confucius's time. The first major well-documented flowering of Chinese music was exemplified through the popularization of the qin (plucked instrument with seven strings) during the Tang Dynasty, although the instrument is known to have played a major role before the Han Dynasty.

Bian Lian("Face-Changing") Performer There are many musical instruments that are integral to Chinese culture, such as the Xun (Ocarina-type instrument that is also integral in Native American cultures), Guzheng (zither with movable bridges), guqin (bridgeless zither), sheng and xiao (vertical flute), pipa (pear-shaped plucked lute), and many others. Dance in China is a highly varied art form, consisting of many modern and traditional dance genres. The dances cover a wide range, from folk dances to performances in opera and ballet, and may be used in public celebrations, rituals and ceremonies. There are also 56 officially recognized ethnic groups in China, and each ethnic minority group in China also has its own folk dances. The best known Chinese dances today are the Dragon dance and the Lion Dance.

Interesting facts about Ancient Chinese Literature

v Chinese inventions such as paper, woodblock printing, and movable type helped to spread Chinese literature throughout the Chinese Empire.

v A group of legendary poets called the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove got into trouble around 260 AD when they wrote poems criticizing the leaders of the Jin Dynasty.

v One of the world's most famous military books, The Art of War, was written by Sun Tzu around 500 BC.

The Three Perfections

The three perfections were calligraphy, poetry, and painting. Often they would be combined together in art. These became important starting with the Song Dynasty.

Terracotta Army

 The Terracotta Army is a fascinating aspect of Ancient Chinese art. It was created for the burial of the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, in order to protect him in the afterlife. It consists of thousands of sculptures that make up an army of soldiers. There were sculptures of over 8,000 soldiers and 520 horses in the terracotta army. These weren't tiny sculptures either. All 8,000 soldiers were life-sized! They had details too, including uniforms, weapons, armor, and each soldier even had his own unique face.

Interesting Facts about Daily Life in Ancient China

 Merchants were considered the lowest class of workers. They were not allowed to wear silk or ride in carriages.

 Young girls had their feet painfully bound to prevent their feet from growing because small feet were considered attractive. This often caused their feet to become deformed and made it difficult to walk.

 Three generations (grandparents, parents, and children) usually all lived in the same house. Most homes in the city had a courtyard in the middle that was open to the sky.

 Tea became an important part of Chinese culture around the 2nd century. It was called "cha".

Life as a Farmer

The majority of the people in Ancient China were peasant farmers. Although they were respected for the food they provided for the rest of the Chinese, they lived tough and difficult lives. The typical farmer lived in a small village of around 100 families. They worked small family farms. Although they had plows and sometimes used animals like dogs and oxen to do the work, most of the work was done by hand.

Working for the Government

Farmers had to work for the government for about one month each year. They served in the military or worked construction projects like building canals, palaces, and city walls. Farmers also had to pay a tax by giving the government a percentage of their crops.

Taoism

 Taoism was founded during the Zhou Dynasty in the 6th century by Lao-Tzu. Lao-Tzu wrote down his beliefs and philosophy in a book called the Tao Te Ching.  Taoism believes that people should be one with nature and that all living things have a universal force flowing through them. Taoists didn't believe in a lot of rules or government. In this way they were very different from the followers of Confucius. The idea of Yin and Yang comes from Taoism. They believed that everything in nature has two balancing forces called Yin and Yang. These forces can be thought of as dark and light, cold and hot, male and female. These opposing forces are always equal and balanced.

 Confucianism

 Not long after Lao-Tzu founded Taoism, Confucius was born in 551 BC. Confucius was a philosopher and thinker. Confucius came up with ways that people should behave and live. He didn't write these down, but his followers did. Confucius' teachings focus on treating others with respect, politeness, and fairness. He thought that honor and morality were important qualities. He also said that family was important and honoring one's relatives was required. Unlike Taoists, followers of Confucius believed in a strong organized government.

Buddhism

 Buddhism was based on the teachings of Buddha. Buddha was born in Nepal, just south of China, in 563 BC. Buddhism spread throughout much of India and China. Buddhists believe in a "rebirth" of the self. They also believe that the cycle of rebirth is complete once a person lives a proper life. At this point the person's soul would enter nirvana. Buddhists also believe in a concept called Karma. Karma says that all actions have consequences. So actions you take today will come back in the future to help you (or hurt you) depending on whether your actions were good or bad.

 

                     Assignment 4

 

                 WORLD CIVILIZATIONS: MONGOLIA, TIBET, JAPAN, OTHER                          SOUTH EAST ASIA

Mongolia

The Mongol Empire of the 13th and 14th centuries was the largest contiguous land empire in history and the second largest empire by landmass, second only to the British Empire. Originating in Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire eventually stretched from Eastern Europe and parts of Central Europe to the Sea of Japan, extending northward into parts of the Arctic; eastward and southward into the Indian subcontinent, Mainland Southeast Asia and the Iranian Plateau; and westward as far as the Levant, Carpathian Mountains and to the borders of Northern Europe.

Religions

At the time of Genghis Khan, virtually every religion had found Mongol converts, from Buddhism to Christianity, from Manichaeism to Islam. To avoid strife, Genghis Khan set up an institution that ensured complete religious freedom, though he himself was a shamanist. Under his administration, all religious leaders were exempt from taxation and from public service.

 

Eventually, each of the successor states adopted the dominant religion of the local populations: the Chinese-Mongolian Yuan dynasty in the East (originally the great khan's domain) embraced Buddhism and Shamanism, while the three Western khanates adopted Islam.

Arts and literature

The oldest surviving literary work in the Mongolian language is The Secret History of the Mongols, which was written for the royal family some time after Genghis Khan's death in 1227. It is the most significant native account of Genghis's life and genealogy, covering his origins and childhood through to the establishment of the Mongol Empire and the reign of his son, Ögedei.

Another classic from the empire is the Jami' al-tawarikh, or "Universal History". It was commissioned in the early 14th century by the Ilkhan Abaqa Khan as a way of documenting the entire world's history, to help establish the Mongols' own cultural legacy.

Mongol scribes in the 14th century used a mixture of resin and vegetable pigments as a primitive form of correction fluid; this is arguably its first known usage.

The Mongols also appreciated the visual arts, though their taste in portraiture was strictly focused on portraits of their horses, rather than of people.

SCIENCE

The Mongol Empire saw some significant developments in science due to the patronage of the Khans. Roger Bacon attributed the success of the Mongols as world conquerors principally to their devotion to mathematics. Astronomy was one branch of science that the Khans took a personal interest in. According to the Yuanshi, Ögedei Khan twice ordered the armillary sphere of Zhongdu to be repaired (in 1233 and 1236) and also ordered in 1234 the revision and adoption of the Damingli calendar. He built a Confucian temple for Yelü Chucai in Karakorum around 1236 where Yelü Chucai created and regulated a calendar on the Chinese model. Möngke Khan was noted by Rashid al-Din as having solved some of the difficult problems of Euclidean geometry on his own and written to his brother Hulagu Khan to send him the astronomer Tusi.  Möngke Khan's desire to have Tusi build him an observatory in Karakorum did not reach fruition as the Khan died on campaign in southern China.

HISTORY

The area around Mongolia, Manchuria, and parts of North China had been controlled by the Liao dynasty since the 10th century. In 1125, the Jin dynasty founded by the Jurchens overthrew the Liao dynasty and attempted to gain control over former Liao territory in Mongolia. In the 1130s the Jin dynasty rulers, known as the Golden Kings, successfully resisted the Khamag Mongol confederation, ruled at the time by Khabul Khan, great-grandfather of Genghis Khan.

The Mongolian plateau was occupied mainly by five powerful tribal confederations (khanlig): Keraites, Khamag Mongol, Naiman, Mergid, and Tatar. The Jin emperors, following a policy of divide and rule, encouraged disputes among the tribes, especially between the Tatars and the Mongols, in order to keep the nomadic tribes distracted by their own battles and thereby away from the Jin. Khabul's successor was Ambaghai Khan, who was betrayed by the Tatars, handed over to the Jurchen, and executed. The Mongols retaliated by raiding the frontier, resulting in a failed Jurchen counter-attack in 1143.

In 1147, the Jin somewhat changed their policy, signing a peace treaty with the Mongols and withdrawing from a score of forts. The Mongols then resumed attacks on the Tatars to avenge the death of their late khan, opening a long period of active hostilities. The Jin and Tatar armies defeated the Mongols in 1161.

During the rise of the Mongol Empire in the 13th century, the usually cold, parched steppes of Central Asia enjoyed their mildest, wettest conditions in more than a millennium. It is thought that this resulted in a rapid increase in the number of war horses and other livestock, which significantly enhanced Mongol military strength.

TIBET

Lying between India and China, Tibet has developed a distinctive civilization which exhibits both Indian and Chinese features, but within a distinctively Tibetan context.

Tibet is the highest country in the world. This gives it a cold, harsh climate. Its land is generally unsuitable for farming, and its people therefore have traditionally been mostly pastoralists. There are few towns and villages. The exception is along the south-western fringes of the country where some fertile river valleys are home to dense agricultural populations.

 

Tibet emerged as a unified state in the 7th century CE, and in the 8th century grew to cover a large area, from the borders of Afghanistan in the west to those of the Chinese empire in the east.

 

This empire came to an end in the mid-9th century, and Tibet never again achieved the same power again. The country was conquered by the Mongols in the 13th century, and remained under Mongol rule until the mid-14th century.

 

Over the preceding centuries Buddhism had become established as the dominant religion in Tibet. After the driving out of the Mongols, different factions of Buddhist priests, centered on various monasteries, vied for power. In the 16th century, one of these factions, the Gelug school, assumed dominance after a long civil war, and since then its leaders, the Dalai Lama, has been the traditional leader of Tibet.

 

In the 18th century Tibet came under the rule of the Qing empire. As under the Mongols, it maintained a high level of autonomy, but under the general control of Beijing.

 

With the fall of the Qing in 1912, Tibet became an independent country, with the Dalai Lama as the head of state.

 

In 1950, having taken control of China the previous year, the Communist Party of China annexed Tibet to China. They granted the Tibetans a great deal of autonomy under their traditional leader, the Dalai Lama. In 1959, however, the Tibetans revolted, and the Chinese sent in forces to occupy the country. the Dalai Lama fled the country to India, where he set up a government-in-exile.

 

JAPAN

The first human inhabitation in the Japanese archipelago has been traced to prehistoric times around 30,000 BCE. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi people in the first millennium BCE when new inventions were introduced from Asia. During this period, the first known written reference to Japan was recorded in the Chinese Book of Han in the first century CE.

 

Around the 4th century BCE, the Yayoi people from the Korean Peninsula immigrated to the Japanese archipelago and introduced iron technology and agricultural civilization. Because they had an agricultural civilization, the population of the Yayoi began to grow rapidly and overwhelm the Jōmon people, a native of the Japanese archipelago who were hunter-gatherers.

 

Between the fourth to ninth century, Japan's many kingdoms and tribes gradually came to be unified under a centralized government, nominally controlled by the Emperor of Japan. The imperial dynasty established at this time continues to this day, albeit in an almost entirely ceremonial role. In 794, a new imperial capital was established at Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto), marking the beginning of the Heian period, which lasted until 1185. The Heian period is considered a golden age of classical Japanese culture. Japanese religious life from this time and onwards was a mix of native Shinto practices and Buddhism.

MUROMACHI CULTURE

In spite of the war, Japan's relative economic prosperity, which had begun in the Kamakura period, continued well into the Muromachi period. By 1450 Japan's population stood at ten million, compared to six million at the end of the thirteenth century. Commerce flourished, including considerable trade with China and Korea. Because the daimyōs and other groups within Japan were minting their own coins, Japan began to transition from a barter-based to a currency-based economy.During the period, some of Japan's most representative art forms developed, including ink wash painting, ikebana flower arrangement, the tea ceremony, Japanese gardening, bonsai, and Noh theater.Though the eighth Ashikaga shogun, Yoshimasa, was an ineffectual political and military leader, he played a critical role in promoting these cultural developments. He had the famous Kinkaku-ji or "Temple of the Golden Pavilion" built in Kyoto in 1397.

 

Culture and philosophy

 

Samurai could kill a commoner for the slightest insult and were widely feared by the Japanese population. Edo period, 1798.

The Edo period was a time of cultural flourishing, as the merchant classes grew in wealth and began spending their income on cultural and social pursuits.Members of the merchant class who patronized culture and entertainment were said to live hedonistic lives, which came to be called the ukiyo ("floating world"). This lifestyle inspired ukiyo-zōshi popular novels and ukiyo-e art, the latter of which were often woodblock prints that progressed to greater sophistication and use of multiple printed colors.

 

Forms of theatre such as kabuki and bunraku puppet theatre became widely popular.These new forms of entertainment were (at the time) accompanied by short songs (kouta) and music played on the shamisen, a new import to Japan in 1600. Haiku, whose greatest master is generally agreed to be Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694), also rose as a major form of poetry. Geisha, a new profession of entertainers, also became popular. They would provide conversation, sing, and dance for customers, though they would not sleep with them.

 

The Tokugawas sponsored and were heavily influenced by Neo-Confucianism, which led the government to divide society into four classes based on the four occupations. The samurai class claimed to follow the ideology of bushido, literally "the way of the warrior".

ECONOMY

Japan enjoyed solid economic growth at this time and most people lived longer and healthier lives. The population rose from 34 million in 1872 to 52 million in 1915. Poor working conditions in factories led to growing labor unrest, and many workers and intellectuals came to embrace socialist ideas. The Meiji government responded with harsh suppression of dissent. Radical socialists plotted to assassinate the emperor in the High Treason Incident of 1910, after which the Tokkō secret police force was established to root out left-wing agitators. The government also introduced social legislation in 1911 setting maximum work hours and a minimum age for employment.

WORLD WAR 2

On August 6, 1945, the US dropped an atomic bomb over Hiroshima, killing over 70,000 people. This was the first nuclear attack in history. On August 9 the Soviet Union declared war on Japan and invaded Manchukuo and other territories, and Nagasaki was struck by a second atomic bomb, killing around 40,000 people. The surrender of Japan was communicated to the Allies on August 14 and broadcast by Emperor Hirohito on national radio the following day.

 

 

ASSINGMENT 5

 

ISLAMIC RELIGION AND THE ARAB CIVILIZATION

EUROPEAN RELIGION AND EMPIRES, EXPANSIONISM, POLITICS AND IMPERIALIZM

 

ISLAMIC RELIGION AND ARAB CIVILIZATION

Arabian religion,

 Beliefs of Arabia comprising the polytheistic beliefs and practices that existed before the rise of Islam in the 7th century CE. Arabia is here understood in the broad sense of the term to include the confines of the Syrian Desert. The religion of Palmyra, which belongs to the Aramaic sphere, is excluded from this account. The monotheistic religions that had already spread in Arabia before the arrival of Islam are also mentioned briefly. For historical background, see Arabia, history of: History and cultural development: Pre-Islamic Arabia, to the 7th century CE.

Nature and significance

In the polytheistic religions of Arabia most of the gods were originally associated with heavenly bodies, to which were ascribed powers of fecundity, protection, or revenge against enemies. Aside from a few deities common to various populations, the pantheons show a marked local particularism. But many religious practices were in general use. The study of these practices is instructive in view of their similarities with those of the biblical world and also with those of the world of Islam, for, while firmly repudiating the idolatry of the pre-Islamic period, which it calls the “Age of Ignorance” (Jāhiliyyah), Islam has nevertheless taken over, in a refined form, some of its practices.

 

Sources of modern knowledge

Knowledge of pre-Islamic Arabia rests mainly on original archaeological and epigraphic data from the region itself. Countless pre-Islamic sites are scattered over the whole Arabian Peninsula: ancient lines of circles of raised stones, cairns, graveyards, and so on. In addition there are more recent constructions such as fortified towns and ruins of temples and irrigation systems. Many rock faces are covered with incised drawings. The oldest drawings, barely visible under a dark patina, date back to several millennia BCE and provide evidence, for instance, of an ancient cult for the bull and the ostrich. These ancient drawings also depict peculiar ritual scenes that refer to a still obscure mythology. More explicit and much later (at least no earlier than the end of the 2nd millennium BCE) are tens of thousands of alphabetic rock graffiti in ancient Arabian dialects, written in related local South Semitic alphabets. These graffiti were clustered predominantly along the natural routes followed by nomads and caravaneers, as well as less numerous monumental inscriptions from the sites formerly occupied by a sedentary population.

Sources of modern knowledge

Knowledge of pre-Islamic Arabia rests mainly on original archaeological and epigraphic data from the region itself. Countless pre-Islamic sites are scattered over the whole Arabian Peninsula: ancient lines of circles of raised stones, cairns, graveyards, and so on. In addition there are more recent constructions such as fortified towns and ruins of temples and irrigation systems. Many rock faces are covered with incised drawings. The oldest drawings, barely visible under a dark patina, date back to several millennia BCE and provide evidence, for instance, of an ancient cult for the bull and the ostrich. These ancient drawings also depict peculiar ritual scenes that refer to a still obscure mythology. More explicit and much later (at least no earlier than the end of the 2nd millennium BCE) are tens of thousands of alphabetic rock graffiti in ancient Arabian dialects, written in related local South Semitic alphabets. These graffiti were clustered predominantly along the natural routes followed by nomads and caravaneers, as well as less numerous monumental inscriptions from the sites formerly occupied by a sedentary population.

SOUTH ARABIA

From the middle of the 2nd millennium BCE a sedentary agrarian civilization developed in Yemen in the oases along the edge of the desert. The people of this civilization had gradually mastered techniques enabling them to accumulate water from seasonal mountain rivers and distribute it into extensive irrigation systems. At the end of the 8th century appeared the oldest monumental inscriptions so far recorded, displayed on the walls of buildings. A total of about 8,000 such texts, whole or fragmentary, which correspond to 13 centuries of South Arabian history, have been discovered.

RELIGION

Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia included pre-Islamic Arabian polytheism, ancient Semitic religions (religions predating the Abrahamic religions which themselves likewise originated among the ancient Semitic-speaking peoples), Christianity, Judaism, and Iranian religions. Arabian polytheism, the dominant form of religion in pre-Islamic Arabia, was based on veneration of deities and spirits. Worship was directed to various gods and goddesses, including Hubal and the goddesses al-Lāt, Al-‘Uzzá and Manāt, at local shrines and temples such as the Kaaba in Mecca. Deities were venerated and invoked through a variety of rituals, including pilgrimages and divination, as well as ritual sacrifice. Different theories have been proposed regarding the role of Allah in Meccan religion. Many of the physical descriptions of the pre-Islamic gods are traced to idols, especially near the Kaaba, which is said to have contained up to 360 of them.

 

Other religions were represented to varying, lesser degrees. The influence of the adjacent Roman and Aksumite resulted in Christian communities in the northwest, northeast and south of Arabia. Christianity made a lesser impact, but secured some conversions, in the remainder of the peninsula. With the exception of Nestorianism in the northeast and the Persian Gulf, the dominant form of Christianity was Miaphysitism. The peninsula had been a destination for Jewish migration since pre-Roman times, which had resulted in a diaspora community supplemented by local converts. Additionally, the influence of the Sasanian Empire resulted in Iranian religions being present in the peninsula. While Zoroastrianism existed in the eastern and southern Arabia, there was no existence of Manichaeism in Mecca.

EUROPEAN RELIGION AND EMPIRES AND POLITICS

Religion in the European Union is diverse. The largest religion in the EU is Christianity, which accounted for 72.8% of EU population as of 2018. Smaller groups include those of Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism, and some East Asian religions, most concentrated in Germany and France. Also present are revival movements of pre-Christianity European folk religions including Heathenism, Rodnovery, Romuva, and Druidry.

 

Over the last several decades, religious practice has been on the decline in a process of secularization. Eurostat's Eurobarometer survey in 2010 showed that 20% of EU citizens don't believe there is any sort of spirit, god, or life force. Many countries have experienced falling church attendance and membership in recent years.

 

The countries with the most people reporting no belief in any sort of spirit, god, or life force are France (40%), Czech Republic (37%), Sweden (34%), Netherlands (30%), Estonia (29%), Germany (27%), Belgium (27%) and Slovenia (26%). The most religious countries are Romania (1% non-believers) and Malta (2% non-believers). Across the EU, belief is more common with older age and is higher amongst women, those with only basic education, and those "positioning themselves on the right of the political scale (57%)".

RELIGION WAR

The European wars of religion are also known as the Wars of the Reformation (and the Counter-Reformation). In 1517, Martin Luther's Ninety-five Theses took only two months to spread throughout Europe with the help of the printing press, overwhelming the abilities of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and the papacy to contain it. In 1521, Luther was excommunicated, sealing the schism within Western Christendom between the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutherans and opening the door for other Protestants to resist the power of the papacy.

Although most of the wars ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, religious conflicts continued to be fought in Europe until at least the 1710s.These included the Savoyard–Waldensian wars (1655–1690), the Nine Years' War (1688–1697, including the Glorious Revolution and the Williamite War in Ireland), and the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714). Whether these should be included in the European wars of religion depends on how one defines a 'war of religion', and whether these wars can be considered 'European' (i.e. international rather than domestic).

The religious nature of the wars has also been debated, and contrasted with other factors at play, such as national, dynastic (e.g. they could often simultaneously be characterised as wars of succession), and financial interests. Scholars have pointed out that some European wars of this period were not caused by disputes occasioned by the Reformation, such as the Italian Wars (1494–1559, only involving Catholics) and the Northern Seven Years' War (1563–1570, only involving Lutherans). Others emphasise the fact that cross-religious alliances existed, such as the Lutheran duke Maurice of Saxony assisting the Catholic emperor Charles V in the first Schmalkaldic War in 1547 in order to become the Saxon elector instead of John Frederick, his Lutheran cousin, while the Catholic king Henry II of France supported the Lutheran cause in the Second Schmalkaldic War in 1552 to secure French bases in modern-day Lorraine. The Encyclopædia Britannica maintains that "[the] wars of religion of this period [were] fought mainly for confessional security [clarification needed] and political gain"

 

 

 

 

ASSINGMENT 6

INDIAN CIVILIZATION RECAP HER ROLE FOR ASIA

INDIA’S ROLE IN GLOBAL UNITY AND FUTURE OF HUMINITY

THE IDEAL OF HUMAN UNITY

India's history and culture is dynamic, spanning back to the beginning of human civilization. It begins with a mysterious culture along the Indus River and in farming communities in the southern lands of India. The history of India is punctuated by constant integration of migrating people with the diverse cultures that surround India. Available evidence suggests that the use of iron, copper and other metals was widely prevalent in the Indian sub-continent at a fairly early period, which is indicative of the progress that this part of the world had made. By the end of the fourth millennium BC, India had emerged as a region of highly developed civilization.

The History of India begins with the birth of the Indus Valley Civilization, more precisely known as Harappan Civilization. It flourished around 2,500 BC, in the western part of South Asia, what today is Pakistan and Western India. The Indus Valley was home to the largest of the four ancient urban civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, India and China. Nothing was known about this civilization till 1920s when the Archaeological Department of India carried out excavations in the Indus valley wherein the ruins of the two old cities, viz. Mohenjodaro and Harappa were unearthed. The ruins of buildings and other things like household articles, weapons of war, gold and silver ornaments, seals, toys, pottery wares, etc., show that some four to five thousand years ago a highly developed Civilization flourished in this region.

INDIA’S INFLUENCE ON ASIA

Southeast Asia was under Indian sphere of cultural influence starting around 290 BC until around the 15th century, when Hindu-Buddhist influence was absorbed by local politics. Kingdoms in the southeast coast of the Indian Subcontinent had established trade, cultural and political relations with Southeast Asian kingdoms in Burma, Thailand, Indonesia, Malay Peninsula, Philippines, Cambodia and Champa. This led to Indianisation and Sanskritisation of Southeast Asia within Indosphere, Southeast Asian polities were the Indianised Hindu-Buddhist Mandala (polities, city states and confederacies).

 

Unlike the other kingdoms within the Indian subcontinent, the Pallava empire of the southeastern coast of the India peninsula did not have culture restrictions on crossing the sea. Chola empire also had profound impact on Southeast Asia, who executed South-East Asia campaign of Rajendra Chola I and Chola invasion of Srivijaya. This led to more exchanges through the sea routes into Southeast Asia. Whereas Buddhism thrived and became the main religion in many countries of the Southeast Asia, it became a minority in India.

 

The peoples of maritime Southeast Asia — present day Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines — are thought to have migrated southwards from southern China sometime between 2500 and 1500 BC. The influence of the civilization of the subcontinent gradually became predominant among them, and among the peoples of the Southeast Asian mainland.

 

Southern Indian traders, adventurers, teachers and priests continued to be the dominating influence in Southeast Asia until about 1500 CE. Hinduism and Buddhism both spread to these states from India and for many centuries existed there with mutual toleration. Eventually the states of the mainland became mainly Buddhist.

 

UNITY AND HUMINITY

As a theistic-pragmatic theory it was conceived indirectly around 200 B.C. at the time of Vedas and Upanishads in India. The Prayer begins with "SARVATRA SUKHINAH SANTU SARVE SANTU NIRAMAYAH;" means that `Let all be happy here and let all enjoy full health' of Vedic Sages echoed this Universal welfare. The earthly life constitutes the central concern for the Vedic Aryans. The sacricial re-rites which were evolved during Vedic period had social welfare as its motto; the motive was to prepare the land for agriculture for abundance and welfare of human race.

Among the many ancient knowledge systems that guided humanity down the millennia, the manual for man India developed proved outstanding and singularly perfect. Out of the many, India developed the most coherent system – a harmony of values resulting in a perfectly balanced worldview. All-inclusive was its outlook, versatility its hallmark and concordance its culture. “India is an epitome of the world” – this comment by the world’s most noted philosopher-historian explains well India’s all-comprehending culture that took to the innermost recess of its heart all the noble aspects of the world’s cultures, living as well as dead.

 

British historian Arnold Joseph Toynbee believed India is a living civilisation whose vitality would enlighten the future humanity, contribute to human unity and strike a balance between the extremities of all kinds. True, many centuries have elapsed, invaders carrying fire and sword pounded India one after the other. Torn to fragments geographically and psychically, India of the present even bleeds in terrorist violence whose profile has occupied volumes of literature. It is as if India’s glory has become almost irretrievably stooping with bandicoots of all types eating into the vitals of her national life. Denunciation of the motherland, derogatory writings and statements that blackmail its culture and declining it for mere kickbacks and pay-offs are commonplace. Indeed the problems confronting our nation are legion. Yet, in the turbulent ocean with its currents flowing against and furious tides lashing out, India sails safe, looking at its distant destination, reminding one of the lonely traveler left untouched by the surroundings, venting its way to a fixed goal.

 

“The most important idea is that the unity of the human race can be achieved neither by uniformity nor by domination and subjection. Only a synthetic organisation of all nations, each one occupying its true place according to its own genius and the part it has to play in the whole, can bring about a comprehensive and progressive unification which has any chance of enduring.