Chapter Notes

The Invention of Writing: Before and After

Human history is broadly divided into two major periods based on one crucial invention: writing. Understanding this division helps us appreciate how we learn about our past.

• Before Writing (Prehistory): This period covers more than 99% of human history, stretching from about 3 million years ago to roughly 5,000 years ago.

  • Sources of Information: Since there were no written records, our main source of knowledge is archaeological evidence. Archaeologists study artefacts—tools, implements, and other material objects made by humans—to reconstruct how people lived.
  • Understanding People: Without written documents, it is very difficult to know the specific thoughts, ideas, names, or events of the time. Dating events and cultures is also only approximate.

• After Writing (History): This period covers the last 5,000 years of human history, including our present day.

  • Sources of Information: We can use both material remains (archaeology) and written documents to understand this period.
  • Understanding People: Written literature gives us rich details about people's names, major events, and their social, political, and cultural lives. This allows for a much more detailed and accurate understanding of the past, as documents often mention specific dates for events like wars or coronations.

Why Should We Study Early Human History?

Studying the vast period of prehistory is essential for understanding how we became who we are today. It reveals the long journey of human evolution in response to a changing world.

• Biological Evolution: This refers to the gradual physical and genetic changes our ancestors went through. The process began with early ancestors known as australopithecines and culminated in modern humans, or Homo sapiens.
• Cultural Evolution: This explains how humans adapted their behaviour and technology to survive in their surroundings, especially during the Quaternary Period (the last 2.6 million years). This includes the development of tools, techniques, and social structures.

Over millions of years, human life transformed from hunting and gathering to agriculture. This ability to produce surplus food was the foundation for the emergence of civilisation.

The Great Migration out of Africa

It is widely agreed that our earliest ancestors evolved in Africa. They began to move out of the continent in major waves.

1. First Wave (around 2 million years ago): The first hominin to leave Africa was Homo erectus. They carried stone tools like hand axes and cleavers, and their remains have been found across Asia and Europe.
2. Second Wave (around 125,000 years ago): This migration was associated with early Homo sapiens (modern humans). Having evolved in Africa around 300,000 years ago, they eventually spread across the entire globe.

Who Were Our Human Ancestors?

Our journey begins with ancestors who started behaving in uniquely "human" ways.

• Hominins: Around 3.3 million years ago, some of our ancestors began making the earliest stone tools. This cognitive ability to create tools to solve problems distinguishes them from other animals. Because of this, they are known as hominins, or tool makers.
• Tools as "Extra-Corporal Limbs": The tools they made functioned as extensions of the human body, allowing them to perform tasks they couldn't do with their hands alone, like butchering large animals or digging for roots.
• Fossils and Tools as Clues: When these early humans died, their remains sometimes got buried and, over millions of years, turned into stone. These preserved remains are called fossils. The discovery of both fossils and discarded tools are the primary sources that help archaeologists piece together the story of our ancestors.

Key Human Ancestors

• Homo habilis ("handy man"): Lived in Africa and is known from sites like Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania. They were among the earliest toolmakers.
• Homo erectus ("upright man"): The inventors of handaxes and cleavers. As we've seen, they were the first to migrate out of Africa, spreading into Europe and Asia.
• Homo sapiens ("wise man"): Our own species. While all human ancestors made tools, Homo sapiens developed much more complex technologies, art, and forms of communication.

Periods in Early Human History

Historians divide early human history into periods based on the primary material used for making tools. This classification shows a clear progression in technology and lifestyle.

The Stone Age

This is the longest period of human history, divided into three main stages.

• Palaeolithic (Old Stone Age): From about 2 million to 12,000 years ago. Humans were hunter-gatherers.
• Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age): From about 12,000 to 10,000 years ago. A transitional period where humans adapted to a warmer climate.
• Neolithic (New Stone Age): From about 10,000 to 4,000 BCE. This period saw the "revolution" of farming.

Metal Ages

• Chalcolithic (Copper-Stone Age): People began using copper alongside stone tools. This was a bridge between the Stone Age and the Bronze Age.
• Bronze Age: Began around 3500 BCE. The mixing of copper and tin to create bronze led to stronger tools and weapons, which was a key factor in the rise of the first civilisations.

Palaeolithic Hunter-Gatherers

The term Palaeolithic comes from the Greek words palaeo (old) and lithic (stone). During this "Old Stone Age," humans lived a nomadic life, hunting animals and gathering wild plants.

• Early Indian Sites: In the Indian subcontinent, the oldest human settlements date back about 2 million years. Key sites include Attirampakkam in Tamil Nadu (1.5-1.7 million years ago) and Isampur in Karnataka (1.2 million years ago).
• Tools:
  • Early Palaeolithic: Large cutting tools like handaxes and cleavers were made from stones like quartzite. These were used for chopping meat, digging for tubers, and scraping animal skins.
  • Middle Palaeolithic: Tools became smaller and more refined, including scrapers, borers, and points. These points could be attached to projectiles, improving hunting efficiency.
  • Late Palaeolithic: Humans invented the bow and arrow and created very sharp microblade tools. A special tool called a burin was used for engraving on bone and shell.
• Cultural Developments: Towards the end of this period, Homo sapiens began to show signs of complex thought.
  • They developed symbolic communication.
  • They decorated cave walls with paintings.
  • They were the first to produce beads from stone, bone, and shell.

Mesolithic Hunter-Gatherers

Around 12,000 years ago, the Earth's climate became warmer. This led to major environmental changes and new ways of life.

• New Environments: As ice sheets retreated, forests and grasslands expanded, offering a wider variety of resources like small game, fish, and wild grains.
• Subsistence: This abundance of resources led to the first major population explosion in human history. Fishing became a mainstay of the economy.
• Tools: People developed a variety of microlithic tools (small stone tools) that were well-suited for hunting smaller animals and processing different kinds of food.
• Art and Settlement: Art flourished during this time. People frequently occupied caves and rock shelters. The World Heritage Site of Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh is famous for its hundreds of rock shelters with paintings from the Mesolithic period and earlier.

The Neolithic Revolution

The deep knowledge of seasons and food resources gained during the Mesolithic period led to a gradual but profound shift in human society, known as the Neolithic Revolution.

• Domestication: The key feature of this period was the domestication of select plants and animals. Humans learned to control their breeding through cultivation and husbandry.
• New Tools: While hunter-gatherers made tools for getting food, Neolithic farmers made tools for producing food, such as sickles for harvesting and grinding stones for processing grain.
• Pottery: People developed earthenware pottery in various shapes and sizes for storing food and water.
• Settled Life: For the first time, humans established permanent village settlements. This laid the foundation for the later rise of urban centres and civilisations.

Neolithic Period in the Indian Subcontinent

The transition to agriculture happened at different times in different regions.

• Mehrgarh: Located on the Bolan River in present-day Pakistan, Mehrgarh is the oldest known Neolithic site in the Indian subcontinent, dating back to about 7000 BCE.
  • The people of Mehrgarh built houses from sun-dried bricks and had granaries for storing surplus grain.
  • They cultivated wheat and barley and raised sheep, goats, and cattle.
  • They buried their dead and made ornaments from semi-precious stones.
  • Around 4000 BCE, they became the first people in the region to make copper objects, entering the Chalcolithic period. This development set the stage for the Bronze Age Sindhu-Sarasvatī civilisation.

Sindhu-Sarasvatī Civilisation

The agricultural communities of the Neolithic period, particularly in the Indus and Ghaggar-Sarasvatī river basins, evolved into one of the world's first great urban civilisations.

• The Early Harappan Period: This stage shows a cultural continuity from the earlier Neolithic and Chalcolithic settlements.
  • The introduction of copper tools boosted agricultural productivity and prosperity.
  • Crafts like pottery, shell work, and bead production became more sophisticated.
  • Key developments that would define the later civilisation began to appear, such as building defensive walls around settlements, the use of seals, and the first signs of the Harappan script.
• Advanced Agriculture: At sites like Kalibangan, archaeologists found evidence of ploughed fields with furrows in a grid pattern. This suggests the practice of double crop cultivation—growing two different crops in the same field, similar to the Rabi and Kharif seasons today.
• Standardisation: A key feature of this civilisation was its use of standard weights and measures. Cubical stone weights following a binary system (1, 2, 4, 8, 16...) have been found across many sites, indicating an organized system essential for trade.

Bronze Age Civilisations Outside India

The Sindhu-Sarasvatī civilisation was one of four major Bronze Age civilisations that emerged in fertile river valleys around the world. The others were in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and China. While they developed independently, they shared common features like urban centres, writing systems, and social organisation.

Mesopotamian Civilisation

Mesopotamia, which means "the land in between," refers to the region between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in West Asia. It is part of the 'fertile crescent' and is where the world's earliest city-based civilisation emerged.

Four major civilisations flourished here from 3500 BCE onwards: the Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian.

The Sumerians

The Sumerians were the pioneers of Mesopotamian civilisation.

• Innovations: They were the first to build large-scale irrigation systems (dams and canals) and to use mud bricks for construction. They also invented the wheeled cart and the sailboat.
• Ziggurats: Each city grew around a grand temple called a ziggurat, a massive stepped pyramid dedicated to the city's chief god. The temple was the centre of economic and religious life, controlled by priests who were part of the ruling class.
• Writing: Around 3200 BCE, the Sumerians invented cuneiform, one of the earliest writing systems. Scribes used a wedge-shaped tool to press marks onto soft clay tablets. These tablets recorded everything from myths and laws to farm production.
• Mathematics: Their number system was based on 60, which gave us the concepts of the 60-minute hour, the 60-second minute, and the 360-degree circle.

The Akkadians, Assyrians, and Babylonians

• The Akkadians: Around 2334 BCE, the Akkadians rose to power. They adopted the Sumerian cuneiform script for their own language. Their records show extensive trade with distant lands, including the Harappan civilisation.
• The Assyrians: They dominated northern Mesopotamia after the Akkadians, from around 2154 BCE.
• The Babylonians: A new power that rose in central Mesopotamia from 1900 BCE.
  • Hammurabi: The most famous Babylonian king, Hammurabi (ascended 1792 BCE), created a vast empire.
  • Code of Hammurabi: His most significant contribution was a comprehensive set of laws for civil and social conduct. This code was inscribed on a stone stele and served as a model for future legal systems.

Egyptian Civilisation

The Egyptian civilisation grew along the banks of the Nile River in North Africa. We know a great deal about it from ancient records and the work of early historians.

• The Gift of the Nile: Every year, the Nile would flood, depositing a layer of rich, black mud ('kemet') that was perfect for farming. The Egyptians learned to manage this water with ditches and reservoirs and developed a calendar by counting the days between floods.
• Writing and Records:
  • The Egyptians wrote on papyrus, a type of paper made from a river plant.
  • Their script remained a mystery until the discovery of the Rosetta Stone in 1799. This stone had the same text in three scripts, including Greek, which allowed scholars like Jean-François Champollion to finally decipher the hieroglyphs in 1822.
• Rulers and Religion:
  • The rulers of Egypt were called Pharaohs and were considered living gods.
  • The Egyptians believed that a person's spiritual double, or ka, lived on after death if the body was preserved. This led to the practice of mummification.
  • Pyramids: To protect the mummified bodies of the pharaohs, massive tombs were built. These started as rectangular structures called mastabas and evolved into the iconic pyramids, such as the step pyramid at Saqqara.
• Society: Egyptian society was a strict hierarchy, with the pharaoh at the top, followed by nobles and priests, then scribes and artisans, and farmers and labourers at the bottom. Egyptian women, however, generally had more rights than their counterparts in other ancient societies and could own property and run businesses. Cleopatra is a famous example of a powerful female ruler.

The Chinese Civilisation

The Chinese civilisation flourished along two major rivers: the Huang He (Yellow River) in the north and the Yangtze in the south.

• Dynasties: China's long history is organized into dynasties.
  • Bronze Age: The Shang dynasty (1600–1046 BCE) and Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BCE) were the major powers.
  • Iron Age: The name 'China' likely comes from the Qin (Ch'in) dynasty (221–206 BCE), which first unified the country. The Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE) was another powerful Iron Age dynasty.
• Crafts and Technology:
  • The Chinese mastered bronze metallurgy to create elaborate ritual vessels and weapons.
  • They were famous for carving jade, a precious stone, into ritual objects and ornaments.
  • Silk production was known from the Neolithic period and became a major trade item during the Han dynasty, creating the famous Silk Route that connected China to the West.
• Major Constructions: The Great Wall of China was built over nearly two thousand years. It began as a series of separate walls built by different dynasties to protect against nomadic tribes and was later joined to form a massive defensive system.
• Key Innovations: China was the first country to introduce paper currency and the first to develop a civil service system based on public examinations.