HUMAN HISTORY IN A NUTSHELL

HUMAN HISTORY IN A NUTSHELL Muhammad Imran Ayub Department of English BZU Multan [email protected] 1 INTRODUCTION John Dalberg-Acton says, "History is not a burden on the memory but an illumination of the soul". History is the branch of knowledge dealing with past events and the study of history quenches the thirst for knowledge and there is a great adventure for a curious mind in it. According to J.J Anderson "History is a narration of the events which have happened among mankind, including an account of the rise and fall of nations as well as of other great changes which have affected the political and social conditions of human race." History is important to study because it is essential for all of us in understanding ourselves and the world around us .It gives us a very clear picture of how the various aspects of society — such as technology, governmental systems, and even society as a whole — worked in the past so we understand how it came to work the way it is now. Studying history allows us to observe and understand how people and societies behaved. It can help provide us with a sense of identity and it helps us to understand present-day issues by asking deeper questions as to why things are the way they are. Why did wars in Europe in the 20th century matter to countries around the world?. . This knowledge helps people take an active role in the political forum through educated debates and by refining people’s core beliefs. The following pages give a very brief overview of main themes, important events and major social, political and economic changes in human history in form of short points. 2 EARLY STAGES FROM 13.7 BILLION TO 10000 BCE (Pre Historic Times)  The universe begins 13.7 billion years ago with an event known as Big Bang both time and space are created in this event.  4600 million years ago Planet Earth formed. Dust left over from the birth of the sun clumped together to form planet Earth. The other planets in our solar system were also formed in this way at about the same time.  3850 million years ago first life appeared on Earth and It was very simple single celled organism. Exactly how life first arose is a mystery.  700 million years ago the first animals appeared.  530 million years ago the first vertebrates appeared.  400 million years ago the first land plants evolved.  350 million years ago the first land vertebrates evolved.  225 million years ago the first dinosaurs evolved from lizards.  65 million years ago the dinosaurs went extinct.  130000 years ago according to scientific assumptions Modern human beings appeared. Evolutionary scientists say that homo sapiens evolved in Africa from earlier human like species. Human evolution is still pretty mysterious. There are lot of scientific problems with chemical and biological evolution. Scientists could not provide satisfactory logical answer to these problems.  35000 years ago these Homo sapiens left Africa and migrated to Middle East, Central Asia, Europe and Australia.  25000 years ago people migrated to America.  At this time there were hunting and gathering societies with stoneage technology.  At 10000 BCE there was a global population of 10 million people in the whole world. 3 THE ADVENT OF AGRICULTURE AND EARLY CIVILIZATIONS 10000 BCE TO 1000BCE  Agricultural Society  It is also called Neolithic Revolution and the advent of agriculture was the first sweeping change in the human history it was brought about by the improved tool use and the lake of game .In this period also started the domestication of animals.  First people started agricultural practices growing wheat in Middle East in 9000-8000 BCE then in Southeast Asia in 7000 BCE major crop was rice and then in Central America in 5000BCE and there people mostly grew corn.  Nature of agricultural societies, we can summarize it in following points; (1) Agricultural society had its new economic system as compared to hunting and gathering society. (2) Permanent settlements mostly in villages. (3) Clearing land, digging wells, developing irrigation systems. (4) People started establishing connections among them. (5) This society marked disparities between male and female and society was male dominated. (6) Birth rate increased immensely and at that time children were a source of family labor. (7) Every agricultural society had a concept of week since it was desirable to provide a leisure day.  During this period progress was slow and unequal in different regions of the world due to following reasons (1) limited contacts (2) hunting seemed to be more easy and beneficial at that time as compared to agriculture (3) due to difference in climate and soil conditions all regions could not flourish agriculture equally (4) permanent settlements were at more risk to contagious diseases.  Civilization 4  With the arrival of agriculture the societies complicated their organizational structure means more complex structure and this was the advent of civilization.  Mostly early civilizations flourished along the banks of famous rivers because agriculture is impossible without water.  First civilization developed in3500BC in the Tigris-Euphrates river valley this was known as Mesopotamia civilization, second in Egypt along river Nile, third in Indus Valley, fourth in Northern China at the bank of Yellow River.  Later civilization emerged in Central America but was not based on irrigation system.  Common features of these civilizations , we can summarize them in following points(1)surplus production (2) occupational specialties means professionalism (3) more in equality (4) elaborate cities and urban culture (5) more trade for the exchange of commodities (6) writing system that helped in record keeping and fuller retention of knowledge (7) irrigation system (8) formal governments and law code (9) monuments , art , literature and understanding of science and mathematics .(11) urban development was common feature .  Use of iron formed the basis for the greater agricultural productivity.  By 2250 BCE there were eight cities with 30000 inhabitants each and sixteen cities by 1250 BCE.  Human population doubled every 1600 years and there were 120 million people by 1000 BCE.  End of early civilization period: these civilizations came to a close around 1100BCE. Phoenicians people started to develop 5 cities in the Eastern Mediterranean sea. Rise of Jewish people and religion. Indus Valley civilization disappeared completely. Egyptian and China s Zhou dynasty continued to exist beyond 1000 BCE but decline started. THE CLASSICAL PERIOD, 1000 BCE TO 600 CE  During this period there was expansion and development of major societies in China, India, Persia and Mediterranean.  This era is marked by military organization, migrations, diffusion of cultures that resulted in establishment of civilization zones larger than river civilizations.  There were expansionist Greek city states that ended with vast Roman Empire.  Governments promoted new road systems for trade between nations. Silk Roads was a famous trade route at that time connecting Western China to Mediterranean through central Asia and Persia. Second trade route was through Indian Ocean.  Persians started postal service and each civilization center promoted a common language for better understanding and learning for example Mandarin in China and Greece in Greek City states.  Distinctive Features Of Major Regions  INDIA, the Indian tradition was defined by a strong religious impulse and also by the belief and practices surrounding caste system.  CHINA, it came to emphasize the importance of a strong government plus bureaucratic class linked with Confucian philosophy. 6  GREEKS AND ROME emphasized the importance of politics, aristocratic rule but also literary and artistic tradition related to a civic polytheistic religion.  PERSIA, in this region there was a combination of Zoroastrian religion, Greek tradition and then Islamic tradition.  Between 200 and 600 CE the great classical empires fell. Han dynasty was the first to go, collapsing in 220 CE. The Roman Empire began to decline from about 180 onward.  End of classical period reflected important invasions by hunting or nomadic people especially the Huns of central Asia.  A devastating series of epidemic diseases hit the classical world and new political problems jeopardized the trade.  This period in short; expanding large regional civilizations, with new forms of economic, cultural and political integration creating new ties within the new regional units. THE POST CLASSICAL PERIOD, 500 TO 1450 CE  During this period a large number of new regions established the apparatus of civilization like Japan , Russia , northwestern Europe , parts of sub-Saharan Africa and sections of Andean America  This period also marks the beginning of deliberate imitation particularly in technology and culture Japan imitated China, Russia learnt from Byzantine Empire and Western Europe borrowed from Islamic Civilization.  Religions: Buddhism was a well-established religion by 500 CE in Southeast Asia. Christianity gained ground slowly within Roman Empire during this period. Islam began around 600 CE and enjoyed the most rapid spread as compared to all other religions.  Trade: With the improvements in ships and navigational devices there occurred a huge progress in trans-regional trade and there 7      was a strong trade route across the Indian Ocean ,linking the Middle East to India , southeast Asia and the pacific coast of China . Trade was dominated by Arab traders who were working as a bridge between Asia, Africa and Europe. Technological advances like new sailing ship design and compass etc. was a great navigational gain and increased contacts facilitated technological exchanges and exchanges of different crops. Invasions and expeditions: Mongol conquerors from central Asia swept over China, into the eastern part of the Middle East and conquered Russia but Mongols were expelled from China at the end of fourteenth century. European expeditions down the African coast began to suggest a more assertive European commercial role. Ottoman empire : At this time a new Turkish –led Empire ,the Ottomans formed in the Middle East and that conquered the Byzantine Empire in 1453 CE Russia at that time began creating an independent zone around Moscow, pushing the Mongols back. The European discovery of the Americas in 1492 CE clearly brought the post – classical period to an end. THE EARLY MODERN PERIOD, 1450 TO 1800 CE  Global Exchange: The Americas began to be included in the global interactions for the first time and same is the case with Australia in the middle of eighteenth century. First major phenomenon was biological exchange also called Columbian exchange between America and the rest of world .New diseases like small pox and measles reached Americas and it was very consequential. People from Europe and especially from Africa were brought to Americas mostly as slave laborers. 8  Global Trade: Formation of a global economy mostly dominated by European merchants. Europe took control of major trade routes mainly through use of power. China was also a key figure in world trade through its production and export of silk, ceramics and other goods. India exported printed cotton cloth and spices  Empires: There was improvement in military technologies like the invention of cannon and gunpowder and this assisted the formation of new empires. Portugal, Spain followed by Britain and France and Netherland set up massive empires in the Americas and in ports and island groups in parts of Africa and Asia. Russia began to expand in central Asia, in Europe and East Asia becoming a significant player in world affairs. The Ottoman Empire in western Middle East rivaled by the Persian Safavid Empire. In India the new Mughal Empire gained substantial territory on the subcontinent.  Scientific Revolution: In Western Europe particularly from seventeenth century onward a real scientific revolution occurred that would have implications for world cultures and technologies over time. Learning through the scientific method decreased the importance of religion and philosophy as a source of knowledge. THE LONG NINETEENTH CENTURY LATE 18th CENTURY TO END OF WW1  Industrial Revolution  The key development of this period was the industrial revolution initially in western Europe and the New United States.  The use of fossil fuels and invention of steam engine played a vital role in this revolution.  Application of technology to agriculture resulted in increased food production in surplus. 9  It made urban life possible and population level increased rapidly 1.75 Billion by this time.  Fast transportation and communication by telegraph, railroad and steamship etc.  Imperialism  Using new technologies and industrial production of weapons western forces became better armed.  This period demonstrates the West s global military superiority over world.  No society could now remain separate from a western dominated world orbit.  All these factors helped bringing Western Imperialism mainly during the half of the 19th century European powers took over virtually the whole of Africa, and also gained new colonies in Southeast Asia and pacific.  Imperialism lead to economic exploitation of colonies by colonizers with this economic inequality between west and the remaining world increased immensely.  Revolutionary Ideas  This was also a period of social revolutions and these revolutions headed by the American rising in the 1770s and then the great French revolution of 1789 challenged the rule of kings and other power of aristocrats.  There were new ideas about personal freedom , constitutional and parliamentary rule and also nationalism .  Efforts to promote new rights for women gained ground producing formal feminist movements mainly in west but with some global outreach by the late nineteenth century. 10  Abolitionist movements centered in west moved against the slave trade consequently Britain ended the Atlantic trade in 1808 and the United States proclaimed slave emancipation in 1863.  End of this period with WW1  This period of history ended with the bloodiest World War 1.  This war set basis for new government's forms like communism, fascism and Nazism.  Russian Empire and Ottoman Empire collapsed after this war and there was creation of a whole series of small new nations. THE CONTEMPORARY ERA IN THE WORLD HISTORY  After World War 1 there happened rebalancing of power relationships in world politics.  Nationalist challenges to western rule and then the surge of decolonization after WW2 reduced the one of the west s classic holds over many parts of the world.  The economic rise of Japan to the number two spot in the world and then surge of economies in China, India and Brazil toward the end of 20th century made it clear that the economic dominance of the west was also challenged.  By the early twentieth century western society had experienced what is called the demographic transition with low birth rates and also low infant death rates and expansion of longevity.  The contemporary period in world history is also defined by a series of basic innovations in global communication and transportation and an intensification of globalization overall. 11  New international institutions like UNO which provides a platform for the discussion of international disputes and their peaceful solutions, World Bank which is aimed at facilitating trade and minimizing international economic crisis , WHO also provided new levels of global political contact and the Amnesty International bent on global campaigns over human rights and other issues.  Political and social structures changed clearly, where operative monarchies or imperial regimes had existed in 1914, they were largely replaced by new kinds of authoritarianism or by democracy by the 21st century.  Some Important Events Of This Period:  Russian socialist revolution in March 8, 1917  Establishment of League of Nations in January 10, 1920  Fall of Ottoman Empire in July 24, 1923  Great economic depression from 1929 to 1939  Holocaust that refers to systematic murder by Nazi Germany of approximately six million Jews from January 30, 1933 to May 8, 1945.  World War 2 from September 1, 1939 to September 2, 1945 and the use of atomic bomb for the first time in human history  Formation of United Nations in October 24, 1945  Independence of Subcontinent in August 1947 from British rule and other colonies from western imperialists in different regions of world.  On May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion the head of Jewish Agency, proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel.  Cold war (no peace no war this is called cold war) between USA and USSR from 1947 to 1991.  Dissolution of Soviet Union in December 26, 1991. 12  Incident of 9/11 in 2001 in New York USA  Invasion of USA and NATO in Afghanistan in 2001. War on Terror.  The financial crisis of 2007-2008 also known as the global financial crisis.  The Arab Spring 2010 it was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world.  The COVID-19 pandemic is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019.Its virus was identified in Wuhan China in December 2019.  COVID-19 recession is an ongoing global economic recession in direct result of COVID-19 pandemic.  Twenty years long war in Afghanistan between Taliban and America ended in August 31  , 2021 with the defeat of America.  The basic themes of contemporary era are shifts in global power relationships, population explosion, environmental challenges, globalization and most recently Covid-19 pandemic across the globe. 13