Man Story of 2021 old Man

Introduction :  This Articles has been designed in such a way that right from the start children would realize that history is a scientific discipline. In the journey of mankind from the primitive to the modern man, nature and the environment must be seen as two very important factors. The blog begins with he question, 'What is history?' As it is difficult to understand history without an understanding of the concept of time, an effort has been made to give a scientific explanation o the concept in simple words. Humans designed and made tools according to their needs. The environment around them changed with the changing climate. As a result, their needs and the nature of their work changed, too. With these change, their tools also went on changing. The stage of civilization achieved by Homo sapiens sapiens is the pinnacle of the prehistoric period and marks the beginning of the historic period. This is how mankind's progress has been described in this blog. However, it is not meant for evaluation. Separate instructions have been given for parents We have tried to provide a variety of exercises to make them interesting for the students. Activities have been given to promote active learning.

             We hope that this blog will receive a warm welcome from students.

What is History ? Man Story of old Man↴

1. History : A science that tells us about events in the past
2. The scientific method of history 
3. History and us 
4. The past and the future  

1. History : A science that tells us about events in the past:

           we studied the life of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and his mission of establishing Swaraj. The time before the birth of Shivaji Maharaj was about 400 Years before now, or in the other words, the time '400 years ago.'

       For our convenience, we divide time in different ways. Often we use words like 'now, some time ago, after some time', or 'today, yesterday, tomorrow', or 'this year, next year', etc. When we use these words, we are actually measuring time in our minds. 'Now'. 'today' and 'this year' are terms that indicate the present. Some time ago.' 'yesterday' and 'last year' are terms that indicate the past. 'After some time'. 'tomorrow' and 'next year' are words that indicate the future.

        The time that has already gone by is the past. The time that we are in now is the present. The time that is yet to come is the future. The past includes many events that have already taken place. For example, if you are 10 years old today, it means that the event of your birth happened 10 years ago in the past. Similarly, after 10 years from now, that is, in future you will be 20 years old. The time gone by between today and the day of your birth is your past - the past in the life of a person.

 The science that tries to understand past events is called 'history'.

              2. The scientific method of history

         Environmental Studies, we have become acquainted with various sciences. The special characteristic of all these sciences is that their facts  or evidence can be tested in  experiments which can be repeated anywhere, any time. The method of using a number of different tests to determine whether the evidence is reliable is called the scientific method.

       There are many things that happened since our birth that we may not know about. However, our grandparents or parents or others often tell us amusing stories of our childhood. Those stories are a part of their memory. However, when different people tell us about the same event, we find differences in their narrations. It makes us wonder which one is right. We need to examine the details of each narration carefully to decide the correctness of the facts.

      It is not possible to conduct experiments to recreate the events that have happened in the past. Therefore, the method of presenting history is different from that of others sciences. Even so, history uses the scientific method at every stage, namely while looking for and collecting evidence, examining the evidence and while putting it together. When required, help is also taken from other sciences. That is why, history is considered to be a scientific discipline. History is not written solely on the basis of imagination. Ancient objects, structures, sculptures, pots, coins, inscriptions, copper plates, books, manuscripts, traditional stories and songs remembered over many generations etc. are the 'sources of history' The sources of history are of three types  :

1.  Material sources 
2. Written sources
3. Oral sources.

        In order to find out what happened in the past and how it happened, evidence available from all these sources is collected and thoroughly examined to determine its reliability. With the help of the evidence that stands these tests, past events are put in a proper sequence and a historical account is written. This is the scientific method.

       3.History and us 

     The study of science helps us to find the answers to many questions, for example, environmental science studies the problems of degradation of the environment, pollution, etc. and looks for their solutions. In the same way, every science has its own areas of study. History studies events of the past. Individual or collective actions of human beings have consequences. They result in an environment that may be either favorable or unfavorable for the progress of society. This affects our day-to-day life. For example, if the people of a village work together and help one another, the village makes good progress. However, if the people cannot come together, it puts obstacles in the way of its development.

        History attempts to find out answers to many questions by studying the way of thinking of past societies, their actions and the consequences. The study of history makes it possible for us to study what is and what is not favorable for the progress of human society. History thus provides us with guidelines about how we should behave today in order to shape a good future. By telling us the life stories of great people, history also serves to inspire and to motivate us. By studying history, we get to know about the give and take that took place between our own and other civilizations. We learn about the progress of human civilization. We also understand how people's way of life went on changing. Every village, city, district, state and country has its own history. Similarly, the earth, its mountains, water bodies, the animal world, mankind all have their own history.

      Every science, too, has a history. It tells of the many scientific discoveries that brought about important changes in human civilization and of the scientists who made those discoveries.

   4. The past and the future:

         The past, present and future are linked by a continuous chain of events, for example, the Indian people fought against the British government to get Independence. This is a historical action. As a result, India became an independent nation on 15th August 1947. so, we can say that Independence was a consequence of an action, i.e., the Indian people's struggle for Independence. In this way, the events of today are linked with past actions. When we understand this, we realize that the future depends on past events. This is what we learn from history. For example, we learn that man began to make tools from materials available in nature, that he learnt how to make use of fire and that he invented the wheel.

            The next generation added to these developments. Technology developed  further hand in hand with the physical and intellectual development of man. This process is going on continuously even today. Inventions of today are only possible on the foundation of the discoveries and inventions of the past.

The Story of Man      

  Man has been living on the Earth for the last several thousands of Years. The life of the early man was altogether different from that of our life today. The early man lived in dark caves or on treetops. He ate only fruits, nuts and the roots of plants. Sometimes, he killed animals and ate their flesh raw. He covered his body with bark of trees or hides of animals.  The early man used sharp edged stones for hunting animals. He also used tools made of stone. For hunting and protecting himself from wild animals, man moved in groups Man made fire by rubbing together two stones. Fire proved to be of great use to man. It kept him warm in winter. It gave him light in the dark. He could roast the hunted animals on fire. Roasting made the meat softer and tastier. At nights he could scare and drive away ferocious wild animals with fire.

     In due course, man learnt farming. He dug and ploughed the land. He sowed seeds and watered the plants. Thus he started growing food grains The early man often saw logs of wood floating in the river. Sometimes, he would hang on to those logs and float on water with ease. He ties a number of logs together and made a raft. He used these rafts for going from one place to another. He used hollow tree trunks also for travelling through river route.  Man then invented the wheel. It was a great invention. He could now travel and carry loads on carts. with the help of the potter's wheel, he could make earthen pots of different shapes and sizes. Thus, after centuries of toil and moil, man could reach the present state of advancement. 

     

Shelters to Village-settlements

From Shelters to Village-settlements

            1. Shelter

          2.Seasonal camps

     3. Village-settlements

         1. Shelter :

        we saw that the Neanderthals lived mainly in caves. At that time, the climate in Europe was extremely cold. The Neanderthals could protect themselves from the freezing temperatures because they wore leather clothing and made use of fire. Perhaps, that was not enough. That is why they used animals hides to erect tents inside the caves for warmth. Wherever necessary, they also built huts in the open.

          2. Seasonal camps    

   In the Middle Stone Age, groups of Homo sapiens had established camps all over the world. At that time, the climate was getting warmer. Everywhere the environment was changing. And with it, the diet of Homo sapiens was also undergoing change. By the time of the Middle Stone Age, big animals like mammoths were on the way to extinction due to the changing environment and also because they were hunted on a very large scale. That is why, Homo sapiens had largely turned to fishing. He also began to depend more on hunting smaller animals like the wild boar, deer, mountain goat and sheep.

         The changed diet pattern enabled the groups of Homo sapiens to roam to faraway regions. They moved their camps to different places according to seasonal changes. There they harvested seasonal wild grains and gathered seasonal fruits and roots. They would find out the best seasons for fishing and use the knowledge to their advantage. By observation, they discovered the best hunting grounds. For these reasons, they stayed in one place for longer periods. They cleared jungles by felling trees and set up their seasonal camps in the clearings.

          3. Village-settlements

         

     The way of life of humans in the New Stone Age was completely different from that of humans in the Old Stone Age and Middle Stone Age. During this period, humans became producers of food grains. The beginning of cultivation is a characteristic of the culture of the New Stone Age. In the hunting and gathering way of life, it is necessary to keep moving all the time. However, agriculture makes it possible to store food and use it over a longer period. Hence, there is no need to keep moving constantly. Moreover, the nature of agricultural work made it necessary to stay in one place. Therefore, people established permanent village-settlements and lived in them generation after generation. In the next lesson, we shall review the social organization and the culture of these village-settlements. 

       

<i><b>The earth is subject to cycles of glacial and interglacial periods. In the glacial period, most of the earth's surface is covered with ice sheets and the climate is extremely cold and dry. The level of water in the sea falls because a lot of it is converted into ice. An interglacial period is the period between two glacial periods. During the interglacial period, a large part of the ice on the ground melts. Sea levels rise. The climate becomes warmer and more humid. When some regions in the world experienced a glacial, Asia and Africa experienced heavy rainfall. On the other hand, when some regions experienced an interglacial, Asia and Africa experienced poor rainfall. About 25 lakh years ago, that is, in the times of Homo habilis, the climate had started becoming extremely cold and dry. During the period from 18 lakh years to 11 thousand years ago, there have been four major cycles of glacial and interglacial periods. This is also the period when the history of human culture from Old Stone Age to Middle Stone Age took shape. About 11,000 years ago, the last glacial period came to an end and the current interglacial began. The climate started to become warmer and more humid again. Agriculture and the New Stone Age also began at about the same time.

             Beginning of Settled Life

             1. Beginning of domestication of animals and agriculture 

             2. Special skills and various occupations.

             3. Community life based on mutual co-operation

             4. Structure of houses

             5. Village-settlement, kinship and family

            

 1. Beginning of domestication of animals and agriculture

           Domestication of animals : Domesticated animals like the dog, goat, sheep cattle, buffalo, etc. are useful to man in many ways. There are three main step in the domestication of a species of any animal.

            1. Capture of the wild animals.

            2. Taming the captured animals; that is, training them to live with humans. 

            3. Obtaining useful materials like milk, etc. From them and training them to work for humans as beasts of burden.

     When the third step is achieved, the animals is supposed to be completely domesticated. Domesticating animals and keeping them for our own use is called animals husbandry.  we have seen that the dog was domesticated in the Middle Stone Age. The dog is the first animal to have been domesticated. Dogs were used to help with hunting. The goat and sheep were domesticated next.

           Agriculture : Archaeological evidence is available to show that agriculture first began about 11,000 years ago in Israel and Iraq. Woman are credited to have started cultivation. They might have used pointed sticks to sow seeds. Women in some tribes still sow seeds by this method. In order to help dig deeper into the soil, the stick was weighted using a perforated stone. In the previous page, we have learnt that people had to stay in one place because of the nature of agricultural work. Agricultural production increased considerably after the plough pulled by animals came into use. Agriculture became the main source of livelihood. Now people began to worship nature and various deities for good crops. Essential things like sharing of agricultural tasks and water resources and the security of the village-settlement gained importance. People in the village-settlements established some rules and customs to manage these things. Thus, a social system based on agriculture came into existence

         2. Special skills and various occupations

        In the times before agriculture, people obtained food such as meat, fruits and roots by hunting and gathering, but could not store it for a long time. Therefore, all the men and women in the community were continuously engaged in getting food. In the agricultural system, it became possible to store food grains for long periods. There was more food available than was needed by the community. Some women and men thus began to get spare time for experimentation and for using their natural creativity to develop special skills.

         Members with such special skills were given work based on those skills. Thus arose crafts like making earthen pots, beads, etc. It is believed that in the New Stone Age Women made earthen pots and other earthen objects by hand.

         3. Community life based on mutual co-operation

        The farmers in the village-settlement were now producing surplus food. They needed skilled craftsmen for tasks like making agricultural implements and repairing them. Such craftsmen were paid in the form of food grains or other articles. The craftsmen needed to obtain their raw material from long distances. The price of this raw material was also paid in the from of food grains, articles, etc. Thus the barter system of buying and selling was established. The barter system also began to be used when there was a need to obtain raw materials, finished objects, other articles of daily use, etc. From other places. Salt is an essential item. Most of the village-settlements needed to obtain it from faraway places. Salt traders also traded articles they received in exchange of salt. The salt trade helped the expansion of trade in the New Stone Age.

      The village community made rules for mutual co-operation in order to keep this system of trade and distribution of resources running smoothly. People responsible for the implementation of these rules became the chiefs of village-settlements. The chiefs were also entrusted with the protection of the village. This is how the village administrative system came into being. Evidence of protective walls and moats around the village-settlements of the New Stone Age has been found in excavations. These walls were built to protect the village-settlements from floods, wild animals and outsiders who stole the village cattle.

           4. Structure of houses

   

      The houses at the beginning of the New Stone Age were made of wattle and daub. The walls were screens woven from sticks or bamboo, plastered with mud or cow-dung. Later, the population of  the village-settlements grew because food was available in plenty. The village-settlements became permanent and expanded. Still later, people began to build quadrangular houses of sun-dried bricks. Some houses appear to have had more than one room. The houses were built very close to each other. Regional differences are seen in the styles of constructing houses, depending on the local climate.

        5. Village-settlement, kinship and family

       It appears from the plans of the houses and the village-settlements that people staying there belonged to a  single clan. It means that they were all related to one another. Thus the entire village-settlement was an extended family. People living in one house were close relations but they were also members of the extended village family.

          A dead person was buried either in the house or in the courtyard. Perhaps, the idea was that the person's bond with the family should not get cut off even after death. Families would also bury various articles with the dead person for them to use even after death.

  Settled Life and Urban Civilization

          1. Use of metals

          2. Pots made on the potter's wheel

          3. Trade and transport

         4. Rise of cities and script

         5. Social organization in the ancient-

      1. Use of metals    

       You may have wondered about the first metal that humans used. Museums in Europe had large collections of pre-historic artefacts and antique objects. A scholar named Christion Thomsen introduced a method for classifying them. It is called the 'Three Age System'. Thomsen classified the objects into three groups.

       1. Stone tools - Stone Age

      2. Copper tools and other copper articles - Copper Age

      3. Iron tools and other iron articles - Iron Age

        Thomsen established with the help of evidence that stone tools were the earliest. The period of copper tools and articles was next. It was followed by the period of iron tools and articles. Accordingly, the three periods were named the Stone Age, Copper Age and Iron Age respectively. This gave rise to the belief that copper was the first metal to come into use.

         Actually, gold was the first metal to be used. Gold is a soft metal. So it could not be used for making tools and implements. Humans then discovered another metal which could be used for these purposes. That metal was copper. The period when copper came into use is known as the ' Copper Age'.

To make it easy to turn the pot while shaping it, a rotating plank was probably used at first. The pot was shaped with one hand while the other was used to turn the plank. It is possible that the potter's wheel originated in the efforts to modify the rotating plank. Till recent times, tribal women in the north-eastern regions of our country shaped the pots by using a rotating plank. A pointed quartz pebble fixed at the bottom of the potter's wheel. This pebble is known as a 'pivot'. When the potter's wheel is put in motion, it is balanced on this pivot and revolves with a great speed. A potter in ancient Eqypt working on a rotating plank or turntable.

            2. Pots made on the potter's wheel

           The Copper Age was the age of many new inventions and rapid changes. The invention of the wheel is the most important among them. It is generally agreed that the wheel was first used by potters. Its used in carts and chariots probably began a little later.

          3. Trade and transport

          Once the potters began to used a wheel, it became possible to make pots in large numbers. In this period, people started making symmetrical and colourfull pots with beautiful designs on them. Potters and other craftsmen began to live close to each other in the village-settlement so as to manage their work more easily. We can say that this became the industrial area of that village, where skilled craftsmen had their settlements and centers of production. This happened mainly in those village-settlements where the raw material was easily available and in those which were conveniently situated for trade. Such village-settlements expanded rapidly.

            As the scale of production increased, trade too expanded with it. Therefore, there was a need to change the old systems of transport. It was in this period that wheeled vehicles like carts and chariots were first brought into use.

            4. Rise of cities and script

         

  Long distance trade, rapid transport of goods and centers of large scale production are factors that brought together people engaged in different types of work. This gave rise to cities. It became necessary to keep permanent records of the expanding trade and growing production. By now, signs and symbols had already come into use for the purpose of record-keeping. Broken pieces of clay pots (potsherds) with such signs have been found in large numbers during excavations. The increase in trade and production and the growth in the volume of records to be kept resulted in much modification and improvement in the signs and symbols used for these purposes. In this way, each culture developed its own script.

Wheeled carts and chariots were first used in Mesopotamia. Harappan civilization (Indus civilization) was the earliest civilization on the Indian subcontinent, Wheeled toy-carts of that civilization.

   

        5. Social organization in the ancient cities

        It is true that rise in trade had been the major factor that contributed to the emergence and development of cities. However, the culture of those cities had its roots in the culture of village-settlements of the New Stone Age. The faith system rooted in the agricultural way of life continued in the urban way of life too.

   Historic Period

            1. What is 'culture'?
            2. Ancient civilization in river valleys
            3. Ancient riverine civilization: 
               Mesopotamia,  Egypt,  China,  Harappa
            4. Sports and entertainment

             Historic period in all ancient civilizations, the art of writing was developed. They used fully developed scripts. In other words, with the rise of ancient civilizations, the New Stone Age came to an end and the Historic Period began.

             1. What is 'Culture'?

             Humans and all other animals are dependent on their environment and nature for satisfying their needs. However, other animals do not cause any significant change in their surroundings. For example, bears live in caves and monkeys live on trees, but humans build houses. It means that we humans change the natural character of our surroundings to some extent. Humans do not eat their food in its natural from as other animals do. They roast or cook the food. Or, in other words, they process foodstuffs before eating them. They process many substances in a similar manner. They work on stone, metal, etc. to make tools and various objects. They make pots, bricks and many other things from clay. They obtain yarn from cotton and weave cloth from the yarn . In short, according to their needs, they change the form of materials available in nature. They need skills to do this. They need to think and plan before they shape an object, Then they have to put in efforts to actually shape it. The tradition of thought, skills and efforts gave rise to various arts. Every generation handed over the knowledge of the artistic skills and traditions to the next generation. With this exchange of thoughts and ideas, language was enriched. The knowledge of various arts, skills, and traditions inherited from generation to generation and the way of life founded on that knowledge is what we call 'Culture'.

             2.Ancient civilizations in river valleys

          Cultures which flourished in the New Stone Age were based on an agricultural way of life. Fertile soil and constant water supply are essential for growing good crops. Naturally, people in the New Stone Age established their village-settlements on the banks of various rivers. The New Stone Age cultures flourished along the river banks.

          In the course of time, New Stone Age cultures gave rise to early civilizations. Increase in production due to various skills, the use of the  wheel, flourishing trade, use of well-developed scripts, etc. Were the major factors responsible for the rise of the early civilizations. These civilization came into existence in roughly the same period, that is, around 3000 BC in four regions of the world. They are : Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indian subcontinent and China. The civilizations in these four regions developed in river valleys, hence they are known as 'Riverine Civilizations'.

         3. Ancient riverine civilization : Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, Harappa 

         Mesopotamia : 'Mesopotamia' is the name of a region and not of any particular country. It means 'the land between two rivers'. Ancient Mesopotamia was the land between the two rivers Tigris and Euphrates. These two rivers mainly flow through Turkey, Syria and Iraq. Ancient Mesopotamia had great cities like Ur, Uruk, Nippur, etc. These cities were home to very prosperous cultures.

             Egypt : The river Nile flows through the eastern part of the Sahara desert, in the north of Africa. One of the ancient civilizations flourished along its banks. It is known as the 'Egyptian Civilization'. The Nile gets flooded every year. The land along her banks has becomes very fertile because of the flood deposits. Also, Ancient Egyptians used to build small embankments on the river to store the flood water. After the soil in the flood water settled to the bottom, the water was used for irrigation.

           China : The ancient civilization of China developed and flourished in the valley of the Huang He River. According to the Chinese tradition, a king named Huangdi introduced agriculture, animal husbandry, wheeled carts and chariots, boats, and clothing in China. Chinese people believe that his queen invented the technique of silk production and silk dyeing. Luoyang. Beijing and Chang' an were among the important cities of ancient China.

   Harappa : The earliest civilization on the Indian subcontinent is known as the 'Harappan Civilization'. It flourished in the Indus valley. Indus is the English word for the name 'Sindhu'. Harappa in Punjab and Mohen-jo-daro- in Sind are the two sites of Harappan Civilization to be discovered first. Now they are in Pakistan. Lothal and Dhola Vira in Gujarat and Kalibangan in Rajasthan are among the Famous sites of Harappan Civilization in India.

         Cities of this civilization are well-known for their systematic town planning. The houses were built in blocks created by parallel roads the crossed each other at right angles. Huge granaries and spacious houses were the special features of these cities. There were bathrooms and latrines in every house and a covered drainage system which indicates a concern for public hygiene. There were carefully constructed private and public wells. The cities were divided into two to four parts, each with a separate fortification.

      The characteristic earthen pots of the Harappans are well-baked, red in colour and with beautiful designs like Pipal leaves and fish scales. When tapped, these pots produce a metallic sound. The Harappan craftsmen were highly skilled in making bronze objects and beads from semi-precious stones of various colours. 

         4. Sports and entertainment

         There were a variety of sports and means of entertainment in the ancient civilizations. Hunting and wrestling were the important ones. Games played with the help of game boards and gamesmen were also popular. In ancient Eqypt, people played a game that was similar to chess. This game was played with a game board and gamesmen. It was known as 'Senat'. In ancient China also, there were many games played with boards. and gamesmen. Similar games were popular in Mesopotamia and Harappan Civilization, too. Many toys are found in the excavations of Harappan sites. They include whirls, whistles, rattles, bullock carts, animals and birds on wheels, etc.

 
      It is true that rise in trade had been the major factor that contributed to the emergence and development of cities. However, the culture of those cities had its roots in the culture of village-settlements of the New Stone Age. The faith system rooted in the agricultural way of life continued in the urban way of life too.

   Historic Period

            1. What is 'culture'?
            2. Ancient civilization in river valleys
            3. Ancient riverine civilization: 
               Mesopotamia,  Egypt,  China,  Harappa
            4. Sports and entertainment

             Historic period in all ancient civilizations, the art of writing was developed. They used fully developed scripts. In other words, with the rise of ancient civilizations, the New Stone Age came to an end and the Historic Period began.

1. What is 'Culture'?

             Humans and all other animals are dependent on their environment and nature for satisfying their needs. However, other animals do not cause any significant change in their surroundings. For example, bears live in caves and monkeys live on trees, but humans build houses. It means that we humans change the natural character of our surroundings to some extent. Humans do not eat their food in its natural from as other animals do. They roast or cook the food. Or, in other words, they process foodstuffs before eating them. They process many substances in a similar manner. They work on stone, metal, etc. to make tools and various objects. They make pots, bricks and many other things from clay. They obtain yarn from cotton and weave cloth from the yarn . In short, according to their needs, they change the form of materials available in nature. They need skills to do this. They need to think and plan before they shape an object, Then they have to put in efforts to actually shape it. The tradition of thought, skills and efforts gave rise to various arts. Every generation handed over the knowledge of the artistic skills and traditions to the next generation. With this exchange of thoughts and ideas, language was enriched. The knowledge of various arts, skills, and traditions inherited from generation to generation and the way of life founded on that knowledge is what we call 'Culture'.

             2.Ancient civilizations in river valleys

          Cultures which flourished in the New Stone Age were based on an agricultural way of life. Fertile soil and constant water supply are essential for growing good crops. Naturally, people in the New Stone Age established their village-settlements on the banks of various rivers. The New Stone Age cultures flourished along the river banks.

          In the course of time, New Stone Age cultures gave rise to early civilizations. Increase in production due to various skills, the use of the  wheel, flourishing trade, use of well-developed scripts, etc. Were the major factors responsible for the rise of the early civilizations. These civilization came into existence in roughly the same period, that is, around 3000 BC in four regions of the world. They are : Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indian subcontinent and China. The civilizations in these four regions developed in river valleys, hence they are known as 'Riverine Civilizations'.

         3. Ancient riverine civilization : Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, Harappa 

         Mesopotamia : 'Mesopotamia' is the name of a region and not of any particular country. It means 'the land between two rivers'. Ancient Mesopotamia was the land between the two rivers Tigris and Euphrates. These two rivers mainly flow through Turkey, Syria and Iraq. Ancient Mesopotamia had great cities like Ur, Uruk, Nippur, etc. These cities were home to very prosperous cultures.

             Egypt : The river Nile flows through the eastern part of the Sahara desert, in the north of Africa. One of the ancient civilizations flourished along its banks. It is known as the 'Egyptian Civilization'. The Nile gets flooded every year. The land along her banks has becomes very fertile because of the flood deposits. Also, Ancient Egyptians used to build small embankments on the river to store the flood water. After the soil in the flood water settled to the bottom, the water was used for irrigation.

           China : The ancient civilization of China developed and flourished in the valley of the Huang He River. According to the Chinese tradition, a king named Huangdi introduced agriculture, animal husbandry, wheeled carts and chariots, boats, and clothing in China. Chinese people believe that his queen invented the technique of silk production and silk dyeing. Luoyang. Beijing and Chang' an were among the important cities of ancient China.

          Harappa : The earliest civilization on the Indian subcontinent is known as the 'Harappan Civilization'. It flourished in the Indus valley. Indus is the English word for the name 'Sindhu'. Harappa in Punjab and Mohen-jo-daro- in Sind are the two sites of Harappan Civilization to be discovered first. Now they are in pakistan. Lothal and Dhola Vira in Gujarat and Kalibangan in Rajasthan are among the Famous sites of Harappan Civilization in India.

         Cities of this civilization are well-known for their systematic town planning. The houses were built in blocks created by parallel roads the crossed each other at right angles. Huge granaries and spacious houses were the special features of these cities. There were bathrooms and latrines in every house and a covered drainage system which indicates a concern for public hygiene. There were carefully constructed private and public wells. The cities were divided into two to four parts, each with a separate fortification.

      The characteristic earthen pots of the Harappans are well-baked, red in colour and with beautiful designs like Pipal leaves and fish scales. When tapped, these pots produce a metallic sound. The Harappan craftsmen were highly skilled in making bronze objects and beads from semi-precious stones of various colours. 

         4. Sports and entertainment

         There were a variety of sports and means of entertainment in the ancient civilizations. Hunting and wrestling were the important ones. Games played with the help of game boards and gamesmen were also popular.

         In ancient Egypt, people played a game that was similar to chess. This game was played with a game board and gamesmen. It was known as 'Senat'. In ancient China also, there were many games played with boards. and gamesmen. Similar games were popular in Mesopotamia and Harappan Civilization, too.

        Many toys are found in the excavations of Harappan sites. They include whirls, whistles, rattles, bullock carts, animals and birds on wheels, etc

A musical string instrument made of gold, named 'Balag' found in the excavations at the city of Ur, a Mesopotamian site. The Balag has 11 strings. Its height is approximately 2.1 metres. It dates back to about 2650 BC. It was found in the burial of a Mesopotamian queen. Her name was Puabi.
  

       

 Music and dance were also very important in early civilizations. They were an essential part of celebrating a festival. Ancient people used many types of musical instruments. In Mesopotamia, a stringed instrument known as 'Balag' was very popular. Besides, instruments like cymbals, rattles, flutes, drums, etc. Were also played . The Egyptian kings were known as 'pharaohs'. On the occasion of certain festivals, the pharaoh himself used to participate in the celebrations and dance. The bronze image of a dancer found in the excavation at Mohen-jo-daro is evidence that dance was important in the Harappan Civilization as well.

        Till now, we have learnt in brief about the history of human civilization from the Stone Age to the early civilizations., we shall study in detail the Harappan Civilization that developed in the Indian subcontinent. We shall also study the ancient history of India.

Do you know this? ⬇

The names of the four ancient civilizations in Mesopotamia are as follows : 1. Sumerian 2. Akkadian 3. Babylonian 4. Assyrian. The Akkadian empire arose around 2350 BC. In the reign of the Akkadian emperor, Sargon, trade between the Harappan Civilization and Mesopotamia flourished to a great, extent. Hammurabi, the king of Babylon (1792 - 1750 BC) WAS THE FIRST TO GIVE A WRITTEN LAW CODE TO HIS SUBJECTS. A unique achievement of the ancient Eqyptioans was their science of architecture. The grandeur of the ancient Eqytians Pyramids and temples are ample evidence of it. Ancient Eqyptians mainly used unbaked stone and bricks for construction. They had made great progress in the fields of mathematics, medicine and irrigation. Eqypt was known for building ships of excellent quality. They had also made significant progress in the fields of production of faience objects (ceramic objects with a blue glaze,) and in making paper from a plant called papyrus. Excavations at Harappa and Mohen-jo-daro began in 1921-22 AD and the Harappan Civilization came to light. Harappa was the place where the civilization was first discovered. Therefore, it is named as 'Harappan Civilization'. Inscription in the Harappan script are found at various sites of the Harappan civilization. Scholars have tried to read those inscriptions. However, so far, efforts.to read them have not been successful. Therefore, those inscriptions cannot be used to learn more about the history of the Harappan Civilization. Considering that the Harappans used a developed script and that the Harappan Civilization is contemporary to other ancient civilizations, its period is called the 'Protohistoric period' of the history of the Indian subcontinent. <b> Characteristies of early civilizations : 1. Permanent agricultural settlements established along river banks. 2. Use of copper and bronze. 3. Developed technology and craft specialization based on speial skills. 4. Centrally controlled distribution of water and a developed irrigation system 5. Surplus production of agricultural and other products. 6. Art of writing based on a well-developed script. 7. Long distance trade and a developed transport system - wheeled vehicles and use of waterways. 8. Planned cities - Protective enclosure walls, paved roads, separation between settlements of administrators and coommon people. 9. Developed science of architecture and sculptural art. 10. Development of sciences like mathematics, astronomy and medicine.

The Rosetta Stone

Stone Age : Stone Tools

               1. Types and forms of tools according to the type of task

               2.  Stone Age tools

  1. Types and forms of tools according to the type of task

               If we saw a shiny object buried in the ground, what would we do to take it out? Perhaps, we would scrape it out with our fingers. If that did not work, we might try to dig it out with a twig or stick. If that too did not work, we would have to look for a pointed stone. That should do the job. But, if it still doesn't, then we would have to get an iron rod to dig that shining object out. This shows that we need to choose the tool according to the demand of the task.  

              The following four factors determine our choice of tools :

1.  Availability of resources.
2. Minimal use of time and energy.
3. Maximum efficiency.
4. Skill of handling tools which is acquired through practice.

           

          Apes like the chimpanzee also use stones to break seeds and nuts. They use sticks to stir the ants out from ant-hills to catch them. Humans, too, have always been using tools such as bones, stones, dried twigs and sticks as tools. With continuous and minute observation, experimentation and their inborn imagination, humans learnt that they could sharpen rods, bones, sticks and stones into tools to carry out their tasks more efficiently. They also learnt that they could give these objects any shape they desired. In the previous lesson, we saw that stone tools were found with the remains of Homo habilis. We can say that he made them because they were found near his remains. But , did he make only stone tools? The answer to this question is 'No'! Because he made tools from other materials as well.

           However, of the tools made by humans thousands of years ago, only the stone tools can be found today. Tools made from bone are rarely found. But since twigs and sticks decompose easily, we do not find any tools made from them.

           Tools made from stones and bones ------

1. A chopper made from a pebble
2. A scraper
3. A circular hammerstone
4. A chopper made from a flake of stone
5. A borer made from a bone
6. An antler used as a pick

          2. Stone Age tools 

          The period from which mainly stone tools are found is called the Stone Age. The Stone Age is divided into three periods on the basis of the shape and the type of tools found.

1. Old Stone Age or Palaeolithic Age ('Palaeo' means 'old' and 'lithos' means 'stone'.)
2. Middle Stone Age or Mesolithic Age ('Meso' means 'middle'.)
3. New Stone Age or Neolithic Age ('Neo' means 'new'.)

        Old Stone Age (Palaeolithic Age): Homo habilis and Homo erectus, who belong to the Old Stone Age, both made their tools using the 'Percussion technique'. This technique involves beating or striking one large pebble against another to obtain stone flakes.
        The first tools made in the Old Stone Age with technique were crude. Only one side of those tools had a sharp edge. Such tools are known as choppers. They could only be used for breaking nuts or bones. The tools made by Homo habilis were of this kind. They indicate that Homo habilis had not yet learnt to hunt. Flakes of stone would be produced while shaping his tools. He used the flakes for scraping meat from hide. For chopping meat and other foodstuffs, for sharpening wooden sticks, etc.

       Tools like the hand-axe and cleaver made by Homo erectus are more proportionate and symmetrical than the choppers made by Homo habilis. A proportionate and symmertrical tool has to be mentally visualized first. Only then it is possible to make it. Homo erectus could mentally visualize his tools even before he actually shaped them, To obtain stone flakes, he used things like antlers as hammers. He further sharpened the edges of those flakes by scraping off smaller pieces to make scrapers with very sharp edges. It means that Homo erectus was using different tools for different tasks according to the demand of the task.

• An antler used as a hammer.
• Removing minute flakes from bigger flakes.
• A stone hammer.
• Removing minute flakes from smaller flakes.
• A chopper.
• A hand-axe.

          With his improved tools, Homo erectus could have a greater variety of food because he could now hunt a variety of big and small animals, These included mainly the deer, bison, rabbit, etc. The Neanderthal Man made further progress in tool-making techniques. He began to make smaller tools.

      Homo sapiens brought about a revolution in the technique of making tools. He devised a technique of obtaining long and narrow blades of stone. He made various implements like the knife, scraper. borer, chisel, etc. From these long blades. He also began to used ivory and rare stones of the quartz variety for making tools and other articles.

      Homo sapiens had made significant progress in gaining knowledge of his environment and in the techniques of making tools and obtaining food. This enabled him to stay in one place for a longer period of time. Groups of Homo sapiens had begun to build huts and live in them. They had also started celebrating social festivals. Many artistic objects and cave painting created by Homo sapiens were possibly meant for these festivals. Homo sapiens had stared using ornaments to adorn themselves. Beads from the time of Homo sapiens, made of shells, bones and animals teeth have been found. Thus, the beginnings of human culture go back to the Old Stone Age.

        Remains of tools from the Old Stone Age have been found in India at various places, from Kashmir to Tamil Nadu. However, not many human fossils from the old Stone Age have been found in India. Fossils of a human skull and the collar bone of an Old Stone Age woman were found on the banks of the Narmade in the vicinity of Hathnora, a village near Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh. Besides that, the fossilized skull of a child from the stone Age was found at a village near Puducherry. Some remains of Old Stone Age humans have also been found in Afghanistan  and Sri Lanka. Gangapur near Nashik and Chirki-Nevasa near Nevasa are among the well-known Old Stone Age sites in Maharashtra. Gangapur is on the banks of the Godavari river and Chirki-Nevasa is in the Pravara basin.

      Middle Stone Age (Mesolithic Age) : Homo sapiens in the Middle Stone Age continued to make progress in many different ways. They domesticated the dog. Due to changes in the climate and the environment in the Middle Stone Age, the way of life of humans had begun to change. Besides hunting, Homo sapiens had started to harvest food grains that grew in the wild and to domesticate animals. Their diet now included various plant foods. They also began to settle in one place for a part of the year. Domestication of sheep and goats also goes back to this period. Taking all this into account, it appears that Homo sapiens now needed several different types of tools that were light in weight and durable for a variety of tasks, such as hunting, fishing, harvestings, cutting of trees, etc. He used to make implements like the knife and the sickle by firmly fixing a row of blades as small as fingernails into a groove in a bone or a piece of wood.

           Many sites of the Middle Stone Age have been found in India. Among them Bagor in Rajasthan, Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh, Langhnaj in Gujarat and Patane in Jalgaon district in Maharashtra are the well-known ones.

           New Stone Age (Neolithic Age): In this period, stone tools that were polished to give a smooth, shiny finish were made for the first time. As this was a new type of tool-making technique, this period was named the 'New Stone Age'.

      By the time of the New Stone Age, agriculture and domestication of animals or animal husbandry had become a routine way of life. Hunting was no more the major means of obtaining food. It became secondary to agriculture and animals husbandry.

        There are many sites of New Stone Age culture in India, especially along the Ganga river and in South India.

<b>In Middle Stone Age, the stone blades used to make implements were removed from the stone by the 'fluted core' technique. Flute means a long, parallel sided depression on the stone, and core means the original stone from which the blades are removed. After the blades were removed from the stone from all sides, the remaining core had such flutes on all sides. Blades removed with this technique are very minute - the size of a nail or slightly bigger. Hence, they are called as 'microliths'. Micro' means very small and'lithos' means stone. In the Middle Stone Age, arrows were made by fixing a microlith at the tip of a stick.

• Microliths - Middle Stone Age.
• A fluted core.
• Arrows with Microliths as tips - Middle Stone Age.
• A knife with an edge like a saw made by fixing microliths - Middle Stone Age.
• Fish - hooks of bones - Middle Stone Age .

The Rosetta Stone

             The inscription known as the 'Rosetta Stone' was discovered in 1799 AD. As the stone is broken, only a section of the original inscription is seen on it. The inscription is in the Egyptian language. Today, the Rosetta Stone is kept in the British Museum in London. At first sight, it appears to have three different inscription in three sections. But actually, the inscription consists of the same matter in three different scripts. The script in the topmost section is ancient Egyptian script known as 'hieroglyphs' . It means 'the script of gods'. The script in the middle section was used for routine documents and is knows as the Demotic script. It was a simplified form of the Egyptian hieroglyphs. The script in the bottom section is Greek.

           This inscription announces the ascension of the new king Ptolemy V to the throne. This inscription has special importance as a source of Egyptian history because it became possible to read the forgotten Egyptian hieroglyphic script with the help of the other scripts on it. The name 'Ptolemius' written in the Demotic script was read first with the help of the Greek script. Later, a French teacher, Jean Francois Champollion was able to read the entire inscription. On reading the word Ptolemius, he realized that other names in the inscription from foreign countries or cultures could also be read in the same way. Hence, he first read all foreign names in the inscription and based on that work, prepared a chart of all the hieroglyphic letters. Thus, Champollion succeeded in reading the forgotten Egyptian hieroglyphic script.

        There is evidence that copper was in use even 7000 years ago. In regions where copper was rare. it was not possible to use copper in large quantities. Therefore, people in such regions kept using mainly stone tools and implements even though they knew how to use copper. Copper objects are found at the ancient sites in such regions but only in very small numbers. Therefore, such sites are called 'Chalcolithic' sites and not as 'Copper Age' sites. 'Chalcos' mean 'Copper'. 'Lithos' means 'stone'. Thus the age of copper and stone is the Chalcolithic Age. 

         Although copper is harder than gold, it is still too soft for making objects from it. However, when tin is added to it becomes sufficiently hard. The mixture or 'alloy' of copper and tin is known as bronze. As people in the New Stone Age had began to use bronze in the making of various objects, the New Stone Age is also known as the 'Bronze Age'. Metals must be melted to make an alloy. Knowledge of how to melt zinc and tin dates back to almost 1000 years before the making of bronze.

   Articles made from Copper - Indus Civilization

• pitcher
• A Mirror
• Plate

                  Evolution of Mankind

Evolution 

1. 1. The concept of evolution
2. 2. The stages of evolution of animals 
3. 3. Apes

           1. The concept of evolution

           The word 'evolution' is generally understood to mean 'gradual and continuous change. Evolution in the plant and animals world can be explained in the following manner : In the process of survival by adapting to environmental changes, certain internal physical changes occur in some animals of a species. Over a period of time, these internal changes become inherited characteristics seen in all following generations. Thus, a new species with characteristics different from the original may be created. Such a species is usually more evolved than the original one. Sometimes, the original species dies out or becomes extinct. Sometimes, more than one species evolve from the original one. The first scientist to give us a systematic explanation of the concept of evolution was Charles Darwin.

         Species which are capable of adapting to environmental changes are able to survive. The ones that cannot do so, become extinct in the process of evolution.

       In ancient times, there were many species of a type of animals called dinosaur. 'Deinos' in Greek means 'terrible' and 'sauros' means 'lizard' or reptile. Dinosaur means a 'terrible lizard'.

      Some of these dinosaurs were enormous in size. It appears that these species of enormous dinosaurs suddenly became extinct. Some sudden natural disaster or environmental change is believed to be responsible for their extinction. Fossils of dinosaurs with wings have been discovered. It is believed that some species of two-legged and winged dinosaurs evolved into birds.

          2.  The stages of evolution of animals

      We have learnt in the previous lesson that life on earth began with unicellular organisms known as protozoa. These unicellular organisms gave rise to multicellular living things. The multicellular organisms evolved gradually and various classes of plants and animals came into being.

    

    The following are the stages of evolution of animals: 

1. Invertebrates : Animals without a backbone are called 'invertebrates', for example, a snail.

         2.   Vertebrates : Animals which have a backbone are called 'vertebrates'. Look at the ones given below :

    -Aquatic animals : Example, fish.

               

           -Amphibians : Animals which live in water and also on land, for example, a frog. 

  -Reptiles : Animals which crawl, for example, a snake. 

        -Mammals : Example, a cow.

   

     Mammals : Mammals are the most evolved animals among vertebrates. The following are the characteristics of most of the mammals. 

              1. Growth of the baby in the mother's womb for some time before birth.

              2.  The baby is fed on the mother's milk for some time after birth.

     

        The platypus and some species of anteater are exceptions to this. They are considered mammals because even though they lay eggs, they suckle their young ones.

            3. Apes 

            Apes are somewhat like humans in appearance. They mostly lived on trees. Those species of apes which continued to live on trees. retained their original apelike form. However, in grasslands, some ape species were forced to move around on the ground. These species evolved gradually and in time, gave rise to the human species. This happened first on the African continent. The first human species is called the 'primitive man'. 'primitive' means 'the first'. In the next lesson, we shall learn more about the evolution of the human species. 

    Evolution of Mankind

1. From Homo habilis to Homo sapiens sapiens.

2. Homo sapiens sapiens and civilization

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          In the previous lesson, we learnt that the primitive man evolved from apes. The next step for humans was learning to use their hands effectively to make tools.

               1. From Homo habilis to Homo sapiens sapiens

         The skilled human : 

The species of humans who could use their hands skillfully is known as 'the skilled human'. The first evidence of this species was found in the border region between Tanzania and kenya in the continent of Africa. The scientist Louis Leakey, who discovered this species, named it Homo habilis because beside their fossilized remains, he found some tools made by them. In Latin, 'homo' means man, and 'habilis' means 'the one who uses his hands skillfully'. Homo habilis could stand on two feet and walk. His spine was slightly bent and not quite erect. His brain was bigger than that of the apes, although his face and limbs were some- what similar to theirs.  The stone tools made by Homo habilis were not useful for hunting big animals. They had limited uses such as scraping meat from the skin of dead animals or breaking bones to get the marrow. We can infer from this that Homo habilis was a forager. He ate the leftovers of animals that had been hunted by other animals. It is possible that he hunted small animals and gathered eggs, wild, fruits and roots to eat.

        Homo erectus : Homo erectus marks an important stage in human evolution. ' Erectus' means 'the one who stands erect', hence the name Homo erectus. Compared to Homo habilis, he had a more developed brain. Humans of the Homo erectus species lived in groups. Having seen wildfires, humans knew about fire. It is likely that Homo erectus had learnt the technique of fetching the burning branches of trees to use that fire. During his time, most of the earth was covered with ice sheets. Therefore, the climate was extremely cold. Homo erectus could survive in that extremely cold climate because he had learnt to use fire. However, he had not yet mastered the technique of making fire.

         

  Tools made by the Homo erectus were more developed and symmetrical compared to those made by Homo habilies. Hemo erectus made tools like the hand-axe. Remains of Homo erectus have been found along with his tools in the continents of Africa, Asia and Europe .Homo Neanderthalensis (Neanderthal Man): One more stage of development in human evolution is Homo Neanderthalensis. He was physically big and strong. He is commonly known as the Neanderthal Man because his remains were first found at Neanderthal, a place in Germany. His brain was more developed than that of Homo erectus.

             The Neanderthals primarily lived in caves. They made tools out of big pebbles as well as from the flakes scraped off from them. Such tools were fixed on a bone or wooden shaft to make weapons like the spear, axe, etc. The Neanderthals hunted big animals. They used scrapers made from stone flakes to scrape meat from the hide of dead animals. They used leather clothing. They were mainly meat eaters. They ate meat roasted on fire. They knew the art of making fire by rubbing sticks of hard wood on each other or by striking one flintstone on another to obtain sparks.

           It is likely that the Neanderthals had developed some artistic skills. Some scientists believe that they also communicated with each other by producing grunts and other primary sounds. However, it is not known whether they had a developed language system to express their thoughts with the help of words. When a member of the group died, the Neanderthals buried tools, horns, etc. along with the dead body. Also, they applied red ochre to the dead body before burying it. It indicates that the Neanderthals had established some rituals of burying the dead.

           In the course of time, some groups of Neanderthals left Africa and migrated up to the continents of Europe and Asia. Naturally, they had to face a different environment. They had to adopt new ways of living and finding food. Therefore, they went on modifying and improving the tools that were essential in their life. However, the improvements in tools took place over thousands of years. 

      'Homo sapiens' in the name used for humans that were more advanced than the Neanderthals. 'Homo sapiens' means Intelligent or Intellectual Man. We shall learn more about him later. The Neanderthals and the Homo sapiens were neighbors' for some time in Europe. It is believed that due to reasons like their conflict with Homo sapiens and inability to adapt to environmental changes, the Neanderthals became extinct. On the basis of C-14 dating, it is estimated that the Neanderthals became extinct about 30,000 years ago.

         Homo sapiens : The human species that was more intelligent than any of the earlier species was named 'Homo sapiens'. In Europe Homo sapiens is also known as 'Cro-Magnon Man.' Their remains have been found in the continents of Europe, Asia and Africa. Homo sapiens made different kinds of tools and implements to suit the tasks they needed to do. They used to make stone blades and fix them in grooves and notches made in wood or bone handles.

         Homo sapiens had evolved to the stage of having a fully developed larynx which could produce a range of sounds with subtle differences. Their jaws and the muscles inside the mouth were well-developed and the tongue was flexible. Hence, Homo sapiens could use them to produce a variety of sounds and modulate his voice the way he liked. Using his imagination, he could give names to the different things he saw and could put his thoughts and feelings into words. Using these words, he could speak and communicate. In short, he had a well-developed language system. He could draw pictures on the basis of actual observation as well as imagination. He even began to make artistic objects. That is why, he has been named 'Homo sapiens', i.e., 'Intelligent Man' or 'Thinking Man'. 

 2. Homo sapiens sapiens and civilization

            Homo sapiens sapiens : Homo sapiens sapiens is the name given to the humans as their capacity to think developed even further than that of Homo sapiens. The capacity of their brain and their grasping power also developed further with time.

     

  We, the modern humans, are Homo sapiens sapiens. The appearance and health characteristics of human beings indicate their similarity to their ancestors. This is known as heredity. Genetics is a science that studies heredity. Genetic research has shown that we have inherited some traits of the Neanderthal Man. Thus, it can be said that the Neanderthal Man and Homo sapiens are both ancestors of the modern humans. Around 11000 - 10000 BC, Homo sapiens sapiens developed the technique of cultivating land and keeping animals. Because of their well-developed capacity to think, the speed at which they improved their technology increased with time. They began to live a more settled life. They began to grow food grains in the fields. As a result, the amount of carbohydrates in their food increased.

         The Changed lifestyle and diet affected the appearance of humans. Their body and face grew smaller than they had been in the earlier generations.

          The name Homo sapiens sapiens reflects their intellectual and cultural rather than their physical prowess. All animals must necessarily meet their basic need for food. However, modern humans are not satisfied with only doing that much. Through their efforts to enrich their lives using their creativity, intelligence and skills, human beings acquired a culture and continue to develop it. The technological and cultural progress achieved by modern humans after the beginning of agriculture and domestication of animals has been extremely rapid. The history of the evolution of humans that began from apes can be divided into various stages. In the following lessons, we shall learn about various facets of human culture at these different stages.

What is History ?

1. History : A science that tells us about events in the past
2. The scientific method of history 
3. History and us 
4. The past and the future  

1. History : A science that tells us about events in the past:

           we studied the life of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and his mission of establishing Swaraj. The time before the birth of Shivaji Maharaj was about 400 Years before now, or in the other words, the time '400 years ago.' For our convenience, we divide time in different ways. Often we use words like 'now, some time ago, after some time', or 'today, yesterday, tomorrow', or 'this year, next year', etc. When we use these words, we are actually measuring time in our minds. 'Now'. 'today' and 'this year' are terms that indicate the present. Some time ago.' 'yesterday' and 'last year' are terms that indicate the past. 'After some time'. 'tomorrow' and 'next year' are words that indicate the future.

        The time that has already gone by is the past. The time that we are in now is the present. The time that is yet to come is the future. The past includes many events that have already taken place. For example, if you are 10 years old today, it means that the event of your birth happened 10 years ago in the past. Similarly, after 10 years from now, that is, in future you will be 20 years old. The time gone by between today and the day of your birth is your past - the past in the life of a person.

 The science that tries to understand past events is called 'history'.

              2. The scientific method of history

          we have become acquainted with various sciences. The special characteristic of all these sciences is that their facts  or evidence can be tested in  experiments which can be repeated anywhere, any time. The method of using a number of different tests to determine whether the evidence is reliable is called the scientific method.

       There are many things that happened since our birth that we may not know about. However, our grandparents or parents or others often tell us amusing stories of our childhood. Those stories are a part of their memory. However, when different people tell us about the same event, we find differences in their narrations. It makes us wonder which one is right. We need to examine the details of each narration carefully to decide the correctness of the facts.

      It is not possible to conduct experiments to recreate the events that have happened in the past. Therefore, the method of presenting history is different from that of others sciences. Even so, history uses the scientific method at every stage, namely while looking for and collecting evidence, examining the evidence and while putting it together. When required, help is also taken from other sciences. That is why, history is considered to be a scientific discipline. History is not written solely on the basis of imagination.

        Ancient objects, structures, sculptures, pots, coins, inscriptions, copper plates, books, manuscripts, traditional stories and songs remembered over many generations etc. are the 'sources of history' The sources of history are of three types  :

1.  Material sources 
2. Written sources
3. Oral sources.

        In order to find out what happened in the past and how it happened, evidence available from all these sources is collected and thoroughly examined to determine its reliability. With the help of the evidence that stands these tests, past events are put in a proper sequence and a historical account is written. This is the scientific method.

          3.History and us 

           The study of science helps us to find the answers to many questions, for example, environmental science studies the problems of degradation of the environment, pollution, etc. and looks for their solutions. In the same way, every science has its own areas of stays. History studies events of the past. Individual or collective actions of human beings have consequences. They result in an environment that may be either favorable or unfavorable for the progress of society. This affects our day-to-day life. For example, if the people of a village work together and help one another, the village makes good progress. However, if the people cannot come together, it puts obstacles in the way of its development.

        History attempts to find out answers to many questions by studying the way of thinking of past societies, their actions and the consequences. The study of history makes it possible for us to study what is and what is not favorable for the progress of human society. History thus provides us with guidelines about how we should behave today in order to shape a good future.

        By telling us the life stories of great people, history also serves to inspire and to motivate us. By studying history, we get to know about the give and take that took place between our own and other civilizations. We learn about the progress of human civilization. We also understand how people's way of life went on changing.

         Every village, city, district, state and country has its own history. Similarly, the earth, its mountains, water bodies, the animal world, mankind all have their own history.

      Every science, too, has a history. It tells of the many scientific discoveries that brought about important changes in human civilization and of the scientists who made those discoveries.

               4. The past and the future:

        The past, present and future are linked by a continuous chain of events, for example, the Indian people fought against the British government to get Independence. This is a historical action. As a result, India became an independent nation on 15th August 1947. so, we can say that Independence was a consequence of an action, i.e., the Indian people's struggle for Independence.

             In this way, the events of today are linked with past actions. When we understand this, we realize that the future depends on past events. This is what we learn from history. For example, we learn that man began to make tools from materials available in nature, that he learnt how to make use of fire and that he invented the wheel.

            The next generation added to these developments. Technology developed  further hand in hand with the physical and intellectual development of man. This process is going on continuously even today. Inventions of today are only possible on the foundation of the discoveries and inventions of the past.

History and the Concept of 'Time'

1. Division of time and the timeline
2. Measurement of time and methods of measuring time
3. Historical periods
4. Scientific methods of measuring time and establishing age (dating)

      1. Division of time and the timeline

      There are different methods of reckoning time. Time is continuous. But, for our convenience, we divide it into periods. The method that we use for reckoning time depends on our purpose for dividing it and the manner in which we do it. For example, at sunrise we say, 'It is morning now; the day has begun!' At sunset we say, 'It is evening now, soon it will be night!' At the end of the day, it becomes dark, and it is night. This means that we divide the day into two parts: day and night.

      Our earth rotates around its axis at a certain speed. Similarly, it also revolves round the sun. The sun has its own light. We receive light from the sun. However, we see light only in daytime. Nights are dark. How does this happen?

          As the earth rotates around its axis, that part of its surface which turns towards the sun becomes bright. The part that moves away from the sun moves into darkness. The earth takes 24 hours to complete one rotation around its own axis. These 24 hours are approximately divided into 12 hours of daytime and 12 hours of night. A period of daytime and the following night together make one day.

             Seven days from Monday to Sunday make one week, two weeks make a fortnight, four weeks make a month. Twelve months make a year. In this manner, we reckon time in bigger and bigger units. One year is followed by another and, when 100 years go by, a century is completed. When ten centuries, i.e., 1000 years are gone, a millennium is completed. Such a method of dividing time is known as a unilinear division of time.

     Common Era (Christian Era): In the unilinear division of time, years that follow one after the other are arranged in serial order. In history books also, a chain of events that follow one after the other is presented in a linear and serial manner. For this, usually we refer to the Common Era (Christion Era) written in short as CE or AD. ('Anno Domini' which means 'in the year of Our Lord'.)

          The calendar we use today is based on the Christian Era, now called the Common Era. This era began in memory of Jesus Christ. The first year of this Era is the year when it began. It is shown with the number 1. The years after that are indicated by the next numbers in serial order. The first hundred years, i.e., the first century of this era is, written as '1 - 100 CE' or '1 - 100 AD'. The period of the first millennium of this era is written as '1- 1000 CE' or '1 - 1000 AD'.

             Time before the Common or Christian Era : The period before the Common Era is known as the time 'Before Common Era' (BCE) or 'Before Christ' (BC). The years of this period are counted and written in reverse order. The first century before the Common Era began at the year 100 BCE and ended with 1 BCE. Similarly, the first millennium before the Common Era began at the year 1000 BCE and ended with the year 1 BCE. So, the first century before the Common Era is indicated as '100 - 1 BCE' and the first millennium before the Common Era is indicated as '1000 - 1 BCE'.

           Let us look at some examples of this method of indicating time before the Common or Christion Era. The lifetime of Vardhaman Mahavir is written as 599 BC - 527 bc. The lifetime of Gautama Buddha is written as 563 BC - 483 BC.

            2. Measurement of time and methods of measuring time

           To measure time is to measure the length of time. We know the following units of measuring time : Second, minute, hour, day, week, fortnight, month, year, century and ,millennium. A second is the smallest of these units. There are various methods of measuring time in different parts of the world. Of these, the Common or Christian Era is the most widely used. We generally indicate a particular day by writing the 'date' of that day. The date consists of the serial number of that day followed by the name or serial number of the current month and then the serial number of the current year.

        There are other methods too. We have seen that the Christion Era began in memory of Jesus Christ. It is an age-old custom to start a new era to commemorate a special event, as for example, the coronation of great king. We know that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj had started a new era or shaka known as 'Rajyabhishek Shaka' in 1674 AD to commemorate his coronation.

         

Birth                         ________________________     1630

Oath of Swaraj        _________________________   1645

Escape from Agra   _________________________   1666

Coronation             _________________________    1674

Death                     __________________________   1680

          Important events in the life of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj ( 1630 AD to 1680 AD )

          3. Historical periods

           We learnt in the first lesson that History is a science that tells us about events that happened in the past. We also learnt that every bygone moment makes up the past. The past is the subject matter of history. In a broad sense, the period of history goes back to the time of the birth of our solar system. Our solar system came into being about 4.5 billion years ago. Our earth is a planet in the solar system. So it is presumed that the earth was also formed 4.5 billion years ago.

        The span of 4.5 billion years since the earth's formation is a vast period of time. It is not easy to grasp this entire period all at once. It is necessary to divide it into a number of stages in order to understand it better. Therefore, the time in history is divided into two main periods----

           4.Scientific methods of measuring time and establishing age (dating)

         We are actually measuring time when we talk about today's date, or day of the week, etc. We have seen that there are various methods of measuring time. These methods allow us to identify a particular day, month or year with respect to an earlier or later day, month or year. For example, if it is June, then we know that the earlier month was May and the next one will be July. If today is the 10th of June, then we can tell that tomorrow will be the 11th of June and yesterday was the 9th of june. Thus, when we measure time, we actually measure its length.     

     The events before the beginning of the Common Era are mentioned as having occurred before the Common Era. Information about some of these events can only be obtained with the help of evidence buried under the ground. This evidence is usually in the form of broken man-made artefacts and fallen structures. With the help of these remains, and using scientific methods, we can determine the time of the events that took place thousands of years ago. 

        There are many layers of soil deposited one above the other under the surface of the ground. The period of these layers and of the remains found in them cannot be stated definitely in terms of dates. However, a rough estimate of how many years ago they existed can certainly be made using scientific methods such as Carbon-14 analysis, Tree-rings analysis (Dendrochronology), etc. These methods are known as 'dating techniques'.

                By using these dating techniques, we learn how old the layers of soil and the remains found in them are. Then we can determine their period approximately. For example, if an earthen pot is estimated to be five thousand years old with the help of dating techniques, we can say that the earthen pot dates back roughly to 3000 BC. Then we can conclude that the period of the culture to which the pot belongs must be around 3000 BC.

      Life on Earth

1. Formation of the earth
2. Beginning of life on the earth
3. The animal world on the earth

     1. Formation of the earth

    

     There are some questions we all wonder about. For example, how did the earth on which we live come to be? When did that happen ? Was it always the way we see it today or has it undergone changes? If it has changes, what exactly are those changes?

The earth

     

          On the basis of scientific research, it is now believed that around 4.5 billion years ago, an enormous cloud of very hot gases and dust spinning at a great speed was formed in space. Its circular motion and great speed caused it to divide into several portions thus creating the sun and the planets which revolve around the sun. The names of these planets are: 

1. Mercury 2. Venus 3. Earth 4.Mars  5.Jupiter  6. Saturn 7. Uranus and 8. Neptune.

                2. Beginning of life on the earth

      

    Among these planets, the earth is the only planet where life is known to exist. After the formation of the earth, it took about 80 crore years for its surface to cool down and for water bodies to be formed on it. It is believed that various kinds of unicellular organisms or living things first appeared in water. They are known as 'protozoa'. Gradually, multicellular living things developed from these unicellular ones. The protozoa are so tiny that they cannot be seen with the naked eye. We need a microscope to see them.

               

          3. The animal world on the earth 

        The living world on the earth consists of plants and animals. Here we shall take into account the animal world. The following are some of the main characteristics of animals:

1. Animals breathe.

2. Animals move in order to get food or for other purposes.

3. Animals of some species lay eggs and their young ones are born out of eggs. Animals of some other species give birth to their young ones.

Archaeology 

      In many places, we see remains of objects and structures created in ancient times by human societies of those times. All of those remains are not always found above the ground. Some get buried under layers  of soil that floods or strong winds deposit over them in the course of many years. The remains of human and animal skeletons also get buried in the same way. The science that studies past cultures with the help of ancient remains is called archaeology. The Latin word 'archaeos' means 'ancient'.

               Archaeologists locate, dig out and study ancient remains. The method of digging the ground in order to bring to light any ancient remains that lie buried there is called 'archaeological excavation'.  Such excavations are done very carefully, and each layer of soil that is dug up is examined scientifically.

         The first step is to identify and make a careful record of places where such ancient remains may be found. The next step is to plan where to dig and how to go about the digging.       
  While studying the ancient remains, archaeologists try to find answers to many questions like the following :

1. To which period do the remains belong?

1. To which civilization do the remains belong?

1. What was the daily life of the people of that civilization like?

1. What kind of relations did those people have with people of other civilizations?

1. In what ways did they make use of the natural resources in their surroundings in order to meet their own needs?

Do you know this?

Mars

          Some scientists feel that there is a possibility of life on Mars. However, no evidence regarding this has been found so far. Like our earth, Mars too has volcanoes, valleys, and deserts. It also has polar regions covered with ice sheets. 95% of its atmosphere contains carbon dioxide. It also has oxygen in very small quantities, as also other gases and water. Hence, it was thought that life may exist on Mars. The soil on Mars is found to contain some components that are essential for the growth of plants. More research is being carried out in the light of all these facts. However, the existence of water in its liquid form is essential for life to exist. It is true that the polar regions of Mars are covered with ice but there is no liquid water.    

      The idea of a 'Man from Mars' has become popular through literature and cinema but scientific research has not confirmed it.

  India launched a spacecraft 'Mangalyaan' to Mars on 5th November 2013 and the mission was successfully accomplished on 24 September 2014. This is a historic event.
      

       Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin  ---- Birth 1809 - Death 1882

         In the year 1859, Charles Darwin proposed his theory of evolution in his blog 'On the Origin of Species' . Before Darwin, the scientist Carl Linnaeus had introduced his method of classifying animals. He had expressed the opinion that going by the structure of the body, the human species and some ape species appeared to be related. In his first book,  Darwin had not expressed any definite opinion about this relationship. In 1871, he published his second book, 'The Descent of Man'. he drew attention to the fact that even though humans do not have tails, the last bone of their spine is a vestige of a tail. He also noted that some other non-functional or unnecessary structures in the human body, such as the  wisdom teeth, are indicators of the process of evolution. He accepted the inference that humans had evolved from tailless apes like the gorilla and the chimpanzee that lived in the jungles of Africa. However, no evidence had been found till then in support of his theory. The necessary evidence became available only in the twentieth century. Next ....