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300 pages

English

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How did the world become what it is today? How and when were the countries formed? Where did people come from? How did art, technology, science, language and literature begin? In The Puffin History of the World- Volume 1, Roshen Dalal traces the origin of human beings and the different aspects of their development and growth, right from the big bang and the origin of the universe, up to CE 1500. Well-researched and comprehensive, this book speaks of great civilizations and empires, epics, myths and legends, religions old and new, wars and conquests, clothes, food and lifestyle, trade, travel and adventure and much more. It packs in exciting trivia, numerous maps and illustrations that provide a breathtaking overview of global history. Ideal for students and young readers, this amazing reference guide helps to bring the past to life like never before.

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Histoire

History

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Publié par	Penguin Books Ltd
Date de parution	15 décembre 2013
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9788184756951
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

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Roshen Dalal

THE PUFFIN HISTORY OF THE WRLD VOL. 1
Illustrations by Kallol Majumdar

PUFFIN BOOKS
Contents
About the Author
Introduction
1. The World Today
2. The Origins
3. The First People
4. Changing Patterns of Life Across the World 50,000-10,000 BCE
5. The First Villages and Towns 10,000-5000 BCE
6. The Rise of Cities: Mesopotamia 5000-1500 BCE
7. Early Egypt
8. India 3500 BCE -500 BCE
9. Early China
10. Ancient Greece
11. Alexander: King of Macedonia
12. Ancient Europe
13. The Roman World
14. West Asia and Central Asia: The Early Period
15. Christianity
16. Empires of Iran (Persia): Achaemenids, Parthians and Sasanians
17. Africa: Up to CE 500
18. Early North America
19. Early South and Central America
20. China: Early Mongolia and Korea 221 BCE-CE
21. India: Great Empires 500 BCE-CE
22. Japan: Up to CE 794
23. Europe CE 500-1000
24. A New Religion: Islam
25. Great Britain and Ireland: Up to CE 1000
26. Warriors of the North: Scandinavian Vikings CE 750-1100
27. India CE 500-1000
28. China: Mongolia and Korea CE 581-1000
29. Africa CE 500-1000
30. Europe CE 1000-1500
31. Europe: Kingdoms, Wars and Conflicts CE 1000-1500
32. Europe: Art and Culture CE 1000-1500
33. Great Britain and Ireland CE 1000-1500
34. The Mongols CE 1200-1500
35. Russia CE 1000-1500
36. India CE 1000-1500
37. West Asia CE 750-1500
38. West Asia: The Turks
39. China CE 1000-1500
40. Japan CE 794-1500
41. Southeast Asia: Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam
42. Southeast Asia: Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia
43. North America CE 1000-1500
44. South and Central America CE 1000-1500
45. Africa CE 1000-1500
46. Southern Africa CE 1000-1500
47. Australia and New Zealand: Up to CE 1500
Conclusion
Acknowledgements
Read More
Follow Penguin
Copyright Page
PUFFIN BOOKS
THE PUFFIN HISTORY OF THE WORLD VOLUME 1
Roshen Dalal is the author of Religions of India: A Concise Guide to Nine Major Faiths, Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide, The Illustrated Timeline History of the World and the best-selling two-volume The Puffin History of India for Children . She has an MA and PhD in Ancient Indian History from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She has worked on various research projects, taught at school and university level, and written numerous articles and book reviews. She lives in Dehradun.
Introduction
WHAT IS HISTORY?
History is a story of the past, of the people in the world and the way they have lived. It is also the story of the land and of everything that lives and grows, as all life is connected. All the events of the past are not included in history. History includes only those aspects of the past that we think are important, those that we choose to remember. There are different types of histories. There are histories of kings, wars and conquests. There are histories of ordinary people, or of one category of people, such as women or children. There are histories of art, of music, or of sports such as cricket, of education, or even of a single school. There are histories of individual countries, or of regions within a country. Each type of history tells a different story.
CHOICE OF FACTS
In every kind of history, the historian, the person who writes the history, has to decide what to include. Even if someone decides to write the history of one school, perhaps your school, there are so many things that have happened that not everything can be included. Maybe you had a maths test yesterday. Should the history include the marks of everyone who took the test? Should it include how you felt nervous but finally did well? Should it include the story of everyone in your class? Should it have the story of each of your teachers? If your school has existed for fifty years or one hundred years, can the story of each test, and of every person, both students and teachers, who ever went to the school, be included? It would not fit into one book, perhaps not even into ten books. Hence every time anyone writes a history of anything, he or she has to decide what is important.
CHANGE IN HISTORY
Very often we hear the statement the past does not change or facts are facts . Both statements are correct, but the past is not the same as history. History, as we have seen, is only those aspects of the past that we choose to remember. Another factor is that we really do not know everything about the past. Everyday there are new discoveries of early people, of art and craft and of other different aspects of the past. Though the past does not change, the information we have about it, and the way we look at the past, constantly changes.
APPROACHES
There are different approaches to history, that is, different ways of looking at the past. One historian might like to focus on the psychology of the people of the past, another on economy, others on something else. There are also different trends. At the time of the world wars, everyone was thinking about wars and battles. They saw how cities and even countries were destroyed by war. When they tried to understand the decline of civilizations of the past, they thought that those too might have been destroyed by invasions, wars and battles. Today everyone is concerned about the environment. Hence often when they look at the decline of past civilizations they think it could be because of the destruction of the environment, or because of natural disasters like drought. To decide which the more likely theory is, one has to analyse different types of evidence.
HOW WE KNOW ABOUT THE PAST
We know about the past through material remains and various kinds of records. Material remains are the things people leave behind, which are somehow preserved for centuries and can still be seen. Records are writings of different kinds. All these items are analysed by a number of different scientists and experts.
Material remains include:
Fossils : Fossils are the remains of very ancient plants, animals or people. The term fossil is used for remains that are more than 10,000 years old. Paleontologists are scientists who study fossils.
Bones of people and animals : While very early bones turn into fossils, later bones can be found in graves or excavations. Sometimes entire skeletons are found.
Remains of seeds, plants, trees and pollen : These, as well as pollen analysis can help in understanding environments of the past.
Remains of things people have made : These include buildings, tools, coins, art, pottery. Sometimes entire cities are preserved, as at Pompeii and Novgorod.
Records include:
Histories of various kinds
Inscriptions
Writings of any sort
Archaeology
Archaeology and history are two related subjects. Archaeology examines and analyses the material remains of the past. Excavations are an important part of archaeology. Excavations involve a systematic way of looking for things buried underground. Sometimes buildings or cities are deserted. They crumble and fall to the ground. Over time, as the wind blows and the rain falls, they get covered in mud, and can no longer be seen. The archaeologist carefully digs and finds the ancient remains. Archaeologists also look for things that have been deliberately buried. These may be graves, or items in graves, or hoards of various items buried in times of war or disaster. Once the archaeologist has uncovered or found these objects, several specialized scientists are involved in analysing and dating them.
An archaeological culture is a term used to refer to material culture, with similar pottery, tools, houses and other items that occur within a particular period of time and within a certain area.
Dating techniques
There are several different dating methods used. Documents and inscriptions often have a date written on them. Coins sometimes have dates, or have names of kings whose dates are known. But there are numerous items found through archaeological excavations that either belong to a time before writing was used, or have no clear indications of a date. Various methods are used for dating these. Among them are:
Stratigraphy : This is a system of relative dating. During an excavation a site or place is carefully excavated by removing one layer at a time. The higher layers or levels belong to later dates, the lower to earlier. If a higher level can be dated through some item found, then the dates of the lower levels can be estimated.
Radiocarbon dating : This is a chemical process which measures Carbon 14 in any part of an organism that was once alive. After the death of the organism, Carbon 14 diminishes at a certain fixed rate.
Thermoluminescence dating : This is another chemical method that can be used to date objects that have been subjected to heat, for instance, pottery.
Dendrochronology : This is used to date old trees. It is based on the analysis of tree rings. These growth rings are found in the trunk of a tree, and usually one ring is added every year.
Seriation dating : This is another method of relative dating, which can be used where the stratigraphy is not clear. It is based on determining a logical sequence in which artefacts and styles change over time. Statistical methods are used for this.
Obsidian hydration dating : Obsidian, a type of stone, grows a rind at a fixed rate when it is exposed after breaking or cutting it. Measuring this can provide a date.
Genetics and DNA
Genetic studies are increasingly being used to understand the people of the past, or the origin of present people. This is a useful technique. For instance, analysing the genome of a finger bone and two teeth led to the identification of a different, and so far unknown early human species, the Denisovan. However, when used to understand the origins of present people, it has its limitations, as generalizations are often made based on very few samples.
ABOUT THIS BOOK
This book is the first of two volumes about the history of the world. This volu