1.7 Points To Remember

History : Meaning and Importance

• History is the account of events narrated in a chronological order, and deal with the past of mankind. It connects the past with the present and shows the way to the future.

• This is the period for which written historical records are not found. It is divided into the Stone, the Bronze and the Iron Age.

• Civilizations imply the progress of mankind in all fields. They occurred mainly due to the flourishing of peoples around the rivers: Tigris, Euphrates, Indus and the Nile.

• Egyptian:
  the earliest known civilization

• Mesopotamia:
  This ’Fertile Crescent’ became a melting pot of cultures of mainly the Sumerians, the Babylonians, the Assyrians and the Chaldeans, which made various contributions.

• Phoenicians:
  They served as a link between the Egyptians and the Babylonians, thus connecting the east to the west.

• Hebrews:
  They are credited with having given the world spiritual philosophies upon which Judaism and Christianity are based.

• Indus Valley:
  Prior to the arrival of the Aryans in the Indian sub-continent, there a highly civilized society of the Dasyus had been existing. The history of the Aryans is chronicled in the four Vedas: Rig Veda, the Yajur Veda, the Sama Veda and the Atharva Veda. The Aryan period was followed by a number of important dynasties and India reached the height of glory in the Gupta Age, also known as the Golden Age.

• China:
  An important dynasty of ancient China is the Chou dynasty which brought forward two important philosophers: Confucius and Lao-Tze. They gave Confucianism and Taoism respectively. The Chinese civilization can be credited with the art of making paper and silk-weaving, and the invention of ink, gun-powder and the mariner’s compass.

• Greece:
  This formed the foundation of European culture. It presented the world with the modern alphabet, the concepts of democracy and philosophy as well as the most important philosophers like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.

• Rome:
  Not only did they preserve the Greek heritage against the Barbarians, they also contributed in the field of administration in an important way. Emperor Constantine made Christianity one of the official languages of the Roman Empire.

The Dark Ages

• It lasted through the fourth to the eleventh centuries with the barbarians invading and destroying the Roman Empire completely.

• Such kings as Charlemagne and Constantinople formed the saving grace of civilization at this time of barbarism.

• At the same time, Islam was becoming a dominant religious influence spreading from the Arab land.

• Medieval Europe was characterized by a number of important concepts: nationalism, feudalism, progress in Science, new styles of art and architecture, vernacular literature. It recorded the first signs of modernism.

• Medieval Asia the invasion of the Mongols on Europe and Asia served to provide a Chinese influence on these cultures.

• With the Turks plundering Constantinople, the modern times were ushered in.

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Index

1.0 - Introduction
1.1 History: Meaning and Importance
1.2 Pre-historic Period
1.3 Early Civilizations
1.4 The Dark Age
1.5 The Medieval Period
1.6 Dates & Events
1.7 Points to Remember

Chapter 2