Timeline and Sources of History

Class 06 Social Science

At present, the Gregorian calendar is commonly used worldwide. The conventional year for Jesus Christ’s birth has generally been taken to be the starting point for this calendar.

Years are counted forward from this point and used to be marked with ‘AD’ or the Common Era or CE across the world. For example, 1947, the year India gained independence, can be written as 1947 AD or 1947 CE.

Similarly, the years before the conventional date for the birth of Jesus are counted backward and used to be marked with BC (or Before Christ). They are now called Before Common Era or BCE. For example, 560 BCE is an approximate year of birth of Gautama Buddha.

Beginnings of Human History

Modern humans (Homo sapiens) have walked the planet for about 300,000 (three lakh) years. This appears to be a very long time, yet it is only a tiny fraction of the Earth’s history.

Early humans faced many challenges from nature and lived in bands or groups to help each other. They were constantly seeking shelter and food, and were mainly hunters and gatherers. This means that they relied on hunting and collecting edible plants and fruits for their survival. Our early ancestors also had certain beliefs about the natural elements and possibly also some notion of afterlife.

These groups lived in temporary camps, rock shelters or caves, and communicated with each other using languages that are now lost. They used fire and started making objects that made their lives easier, like improved stone axes and blades, arrowheads and other tools.

Aspects of their life are visible in rock paintings found in hundreds of caves all over the world. Some of those paintings depict simple figures or a few symbols while others are more detailed and represent scenes with animals or humans.

In time, these early humans learned to make simple ornaments such as stone or shell beads, pendants made of animal teeth, and sometimes exchanged them with other groups.

The First Crops

Over long ages, the Earth’s climate has gone through many changes. At certain times, it was very cold and much of the Earth was covered with ice - this is called an Ice Age. Later, when the climate warmed up, this ice partly melted, and the resulting waters swelled the existing rivers and eventually drained into the oceans. The last Ice Age lasted from over 100,000 (one lakh) years ago to around 12,000 years ago.

Afterwards, living conditions improved for humans. In many parts of the world, they started settling down and cultivating cereals and grains. They also domesticated animals such as cattle, goats, etc. With more food available, these communities grew in size and number, and often settled down near rivers. This was not only because of the availability of water, but also because the soil would be more fertile there. It made the process of growing crops easier.

As communities grew, so did their social complexity. Leaders or chieftains were responsible for the well-being of the people, and everyone collectively worked towards the community’s welfare. For example, there was no sense of individual ownership. The lands were collectively sowed and harvested.

As time went by, hamlets grew into sizeable villages that exchanged goods - mostly food, clothing and tools. Slowly, networks of communication and exchange were established among those villages, and some of them grew into small towns.

New technologies appeared - for example pottery, for making pots and other clay objects, and the use of metal (copper first, iron later), which helped make durable tools, objects of daily use and ornaments.