History Career Anna 2018 HISTORY The popular meaning of the word “History” is a narrative or recording or inquiry of past events of men in society. History is the knowledge, relating to the development in science, arts, politics, war, religion and law with human efforts in a particular country. It is a written narrative constituting a continuous methodological or chronological record of events to men in society. STONE AGE CULTURE IN INDIA It is believed that man appeared on the Indian sub-continent five hundred years ago. Due to the climatic conditions, except for the solitary finding of the hominid fossil from Hathnura in the Narmada valley, no early human fossils have been found in India. PLEISTOCENE AGE (ICE-AGE) upto 300,000 B.C. There were a number of geological changes during the Ice-Age(Pleistocene glaciation). It is said that Ice-Age occurred in four phases in the Himalayan Zone. Palaeolithic Age; Old Stone Age (300,000 - 10,000 BC) It was basically a culture of hunting and food gathering. 'Palaeo' means 'old' and 'lithic' means 'stone'. Palaeolithic age in India is divided into three phases: 1. Early or Lower Palaeothic (300,000 - 150,000 BC) : It covers the greater part of the Ice Age and its characteristic feature is the use of hand-axe, cleaners and choppers. 2. Middle Palaeothic (150,000 - 40,000 BC): The Middle Palaeothic culture is characterised by flakes. The principal tools are variety of blades, points and scrappers made of flakes. 3. Upper Palaeolithic (40,000 - 10,000 BC) : It marks the appearance of Homo Sapiens and new flint industries; widespread appearance of a figurines and other artifacts reflecting art and rituals; the appearance of wide range of bone tools, including needles, fishing tools, harpoons, blades and burin tools. Mesolithic Age (10,000 - 6,000 BC) It was the transitional between Palaeolithic and Neolithic ages. Its characteristic tools are microliths all made of stone. Neolithic Age (New Stone Age)(6,000-1,000 BC) The civilisation and culture of the Neolithic age shows distinct traces of progress. The Neolithic men had a settled life. They practised agriculture and grew fruits and corn. Animals, such as the cow, dog, ox, goat etc. were domesticated. The art of producing fire by the friction of bamboos or pieces of stones was known to them. Instead of eating the uncooked flesh of various animals, they now started roasting it. Besides this, bows and arrows were invented and were used for the purpose of hunting. Towards the end of the Neolithic period began the use of metals. First metal to be used was copper and the culture of that time is called Chalcolithic culture. The earliest settlements belonging to this phase are extended from the Chhotanagpur plateau to the copper Gangetic basin. Some sites are found at Brahmagiri near Mysore and Navada Toli on the Narmada. THE HARAPPAN CIVILISATION OR CULTURE [INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION] The beginning of IVC or Harappan Culture coincided with the Bronze Age. The Bronze Age literally referred to the times when most advanced metal working used Bronze. The Indus Valley Civilization encompassed most of Pakistan, extending from Balochistan to modern day Indian states of Haryana, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Punjab. It also extends to Ropar and the upper Sutlej. The civilizations mainly flourished in the towns of Harappa and Mohenjadaro. The main inhabitants of the civilizations were from the Dravidians. IVC was considered to be the first ever urban civilization. The towns developed during that time were well planned and well executed. Mohenjo-Daro was a scientifically constructed city. The streets laid out at right angles and they had a well developed drainage system which can be compared to any modern day drainage system. The Great Bath, the most important structure, was treated as the main meeting point for the community. The Harappan people knew the measuring tools of length, mass, and time. They were the first in the world in developing a system of uniform weights and measures. By around 1700 B.C various factors like the invasion by Aryans, ecological changes resulted in the decline of Indus Valley civilization. Indus Valley Facts at a Glance : The state which has accounted for highest number of Harappan sites after independence : Gujarat Three Harappan sites that have yielded three stages of Harappan Civilization (Pre- Harappan, Harappan and post-Harappan : Rojde, Desalpur and Surkotada ) Most commonly engraved animal on Harappan seals :Humpless bull or unicorn Site which have yielded evidence of a pre-Harappan settlement: Kot-Diji, Kalibangan and Harappa Major Harappan cities that acted as ports : Lothal, Balakot, Suktagendor and Allahdin (Pakistan) The Harappan city with most impressive drainage system : Mohenjo-daro The geometric shape of the region covered by the Indus civilisation : Triangle Wheeler said: Indus Valley is the colony of Sumerians Lions have not been found anywhere in Harappa. Mother goddess was not worshipped at Rangpur. A Kushana period Stupa has been found from Mohenjo-daro. Evidence of cultivation of peas. Till has been traced from Harappa, paddy from Lothal Harappans had trade relations with Mesopotamians around 2300 BC. Largest Harappan site in India is situated in Haryana Rakhigarhi, second largest is Dholavira in Gujarat. Dimension of Brick-length 11 inches, width -5.5 inches, depth -2.75 inches, ratio 4 2:1 Harappan wheels were axeless Mohenjo-daro had 10.5 mt wide road. In Harappa, perhaps because of river Ravi the Granery is outside the fort. In the Lothal Port, there was a dockyard which is 216 meters in length and 37 meters in breadth Sukotada is the only Indus site where remains of a horse have actually been found. Terracoota seals found at Mehargarh were the earliest precursors of Harappan seals. Wider road of Harappa was 30 feet. Most common materials used for the Harappan stone sculpture : Limestone and steatite Vedic Age It is the period of Aryans (1500-600 BC). Aryan means ‘high born’ Most probable home of Aryans is central asia( theory of max muller). Term veda is derived from word ‘vid’ which means knowledge. Rigvedic terms: jana(tribe), kula(family), kulupa (head of family), visah(cluster of gramas), aghanya(cow). Sabha, samiti, vidhata and gana were important tribal assemblies. Vedic Literature FOUR VEDAS Rigveda • It is the earliest Veda. • Contains 1028 hymns and divided into 10 mandalas. • The hymns are considered with prayers to God. • Contains famous gayatri mantra composed by Vishwamitra. • 10th mandal contains purush sukta that describes caste system. Samveda • Rhthmic compilation of hymns for Rigveda • "Book for Chants" contains 1,549 hymns, meant to be sung at the 'soma' sacrifice by a special class of Brahmanas called Udgatris. • Has only 75 fundamental hymns- Karnataka – Jaiminga, Gujarat – Kanthun, Maharashtra - Ranayani Yajurveda • Book of sacrifical prayers • Rituals of yajnas • Is sung by priest "Adhavaryu" • Its mantras tell us how the sacrifices were to be performed and what part the "Adhvaryus"- the Brahmanas who performed the manual work in the arrangement of sacrifice were to play at the time of sacrifice. • Has been compiled in "fourth path" • Has been divided into, Krishna(black) Yajurveda & Shukla(white) Yajurveda Atharvaveda • Mantras for magic spells • Populate ritualistic system & superstitions • Associated with "Saunkiya" and "Paiplad" community • Not included in 'Trai' • Has been divided in 20 "Kandas" • 18th, 19th & 20th 'Kandas' are later works • Provides freedom from evils spirits. • Oldest text on Indian Medicine. The vast literature of the Aryans is divided into two parts - Sruti and Smriti Sruti Literature: The word Veda has been divided from the Sanskrit word Ved, which means 'spiritual knowledge'. The Vedas are four in number - Rig Veda, Samaveda, Yajurveda, and Atharvaveda. The Rig Veda contains references only to the first three Vedas, which suggests that the fourth Veda was composed at some later date. Aranyaka • Literarily, it means 'Jungle' • Provides description of Moral Science and Philosophy • Provides details of hermits and saints who lived in Jungles • Give stress on meditation • Protests the system of 'Yajnas' Upanishada It would be appropriate to describe Upanishadas as mystic writings. There are 108 Upanishads in all, the most prominent of them being Ish, Prasana, Aitareya, Taittiriya, Chhandogaya, Kathoupanishad, Ishopanishad, Brehadaranyaka, etc. 1. Literary meaning is 'Satra' (to sit near masters feet) in which Guru offers band of knowledge to their disciples 2. it’s a combination of Tatva-mimansa and philosophy 3. They are also called "Vedanta" 4. Primitive upanishada are "Brahadaranyaka" and "Chandogya" 5. Later Upnishada like "Katha" and "Swetaswatar" have been written in poetic forms. 6. Brahma is the summary of philosophy, which is the only a 'truth' in the world. 7. Knowledge awards salvation says Upanishadas 8. Oldest possibility Narsinghpurvatapani 9. Latest possibility Allopanishada in Akbar's reign Smriti Literature Smriti is traditional knowledge and designates almost the entire body of post-Vedic classical Sanskrit literature. Smriti literature generally includes the following overlapping subjects:- a.The Vedangas: They refer to certain branches of post-Vedic studies regarded as auxiliary to the Vedas. The Vedangas are conventionally divided into six heading namely:- (i) Kalpa or the ritual canon, including the dharma shastras or legal codes, (ii)Jyotisha or astronomy, (iii) Siksha or phonetics, (iv)Chhanda or metre (v) Nirukta or etymology (vi)Vyakarana (Grammer) b.The Shad-Darsana: Six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy, namely Nyaya, 'Vaiseshikha', Sankhya, Yoga, Mimamsa and Vedanta. c.Itihasa: Legendary or semi-legendary works, specifically the Ramayana and Mahabharata and often extended to the Puranas. d.Puranas: Being a fairly late description of ancient legends, they are heavily coloured with the superstitions. The Puranas represent the most corrupt form of Hinduism. They are 18 in number . e.Upaveda: Also known as the auxiliary Vedas, they deal with medicine, architecture, erotics, archery and various arts and crafts.