CH 4 TIMELINE AND SOURCES OF HISTORY

Our planet Earth has a very, very long history, of which humans occupy only a tiny part — the
most recent one and History is the study of the human past.

Studying history of Earth and Human Beings

Many people study the history of the Earth. They are trained to uncover the secrets left beneath
the Earth’s surface and help us learn about its past and also our past.

1.Geologists - study the physical features of the Earth, like the soil, stones, hills, mountains,
rivers, seas, oceans and other such parts of the Earth.

2.Palaeontologists - study the remains of plants, animals and humans from millions of years ago
in the form of fossils.

3.Anthropologists- study human societies and cultures from the oldest times to the present.

4. Archaeologists- study the past by digging up remains that people, plants and animals left
behind, such as tools, pots, beads, figurines, toys, bones and teeth of animals and humans, burnt
grains, parts of houses or bricks, among others.
How Is Time Measured in History?
1.Each society and culture has had its own ways of measuring time.

2.At present, the Gregorian calendar is commonly used worldwide.

3. Besides this Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, Chinese and other calendars are also used for calculating
the dates of festivals and other auspicious events.

4. In the West, the year for Jesus Christ’s birth has been taken to be the starting point for this
calendar. Years are counted forward from this point and were marked with ‘AD’ (an abbreviation
for a Latin phrase that refers to the years after Jesus’ birth). However, this is now called the
Common Era or CE across the world.
Eg, 1947, the year India gained independence, can be written as 1947 AD or CE
The current year 2024 can be written as 2024 CE

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

Features of Gregorian Calendar

1.The calendar is now used all over the world. It is the most commonly used calendar.
2. It has 12 months adding up to 365 days.
4.It has a leap year every four years.
3. However, century years — for example, 1800, 1900, 2000 — are leap years only if they are
multiples of 400; so in the three centenary years above, only 2000 is a leap year.

Meaning of terms CE and BCE

1. BCE stands for Before Common Era.
2. CE stands for Common Era.

Timeline and its uses.

1.A timeline is a tool to mark important events.
2, It shows a sequence of dates and events covering any particular period.
3. It runs from the beginning of humanity to the present, with a few important landmarks.
4. It helps in understanding the order in which historical events take place.
5. For example, you can make out from the given timeline that Lord Buddha was born Jesus
Christ.
Terms Used For Time Periods

TERMS TIME PERIOD

Decade A period of ten years

Century It is any period of 100 years.

Centuries are counted every 100 years starting from the year 1 CE.
We are currently in the 21st century CE, which runs from 2001 to 2100.

Millennium It is any period of 1,000 years.

Specific centuries are counted every 1,000 years from the year 1 CE. For
instance, we are currently in the 3rd millennium CE, which began in 2001 CE
and will go up to 3000 CE.

Traditional Indian Calendars

1.Many Indian calendars rely on the positions of the sun and the moon to define the months of
the year.
2.A pañchānga is a book of tables which lists the days of each month along with related
astronomical data.
3. It precisely predicts events like solar and lunar eclipses, times for sunrise and sunset, etc. 4.
Pañchāngas, still widely used in India, often also give weather predictions for the year, dates and
timings of festivals, and more.

Sources Of History
1. A place, person, text or an object from which we gather information about the past.

2.Every object from the past that we find, tells a story. We can put together historical events
through a variety of sources. Its like putting a jigsaw puzzle together.
3. But in the case of history, quite a few pieces of the puzzle may remain missing.

4. Following are the various sources of history

 SOURCES DETAILS

1.Oral Sources Genealogical sources and folktales

2.Literary Sources

a.Indian Literature Vedas and Itihaas , Plays and poems, Historical texts
Collection of stories , Scientific and technological texts

b.Foreign Accounts Travelogues, Historical chronicles

3. Artistic Sources Paintings, Sculptures, Panels

4. Archaeological Sources

a.Structures Mounds, Monuments

b.Excavations Human, animal and plant remains, Tools and weapons

Figurines and ornaments, Pottery and toys,
Habitation and burials.

c. Inscriptions Copper plates, coins, pillars, rock faces, temple walls.

 Problems That A Historian May Face While Using Various Sources.

1. Historian is a person who studies and writes about the past. When historians study the past,
they take care to gather information from as many sources as they can find and consult. This is
very time consuming.

2.Sometimes, the sources confirm each other, sometimes, sources may give contradictory
information. In which case they need to decide which source they can trust more.

3. That is how they try to recreate the history of the period they are studying.

People Who Help To Reconstruct The Past.

●​ Historians
●​ Archaeologists (who excavate and study the remains left behind by our ancestors)
●​ Epigraphists (who study ancient inscriptions)
●​ Anthropologists (who study human societies and their cultures)
●​ Experts in literature and languages.
●​ In addition, in the last 50 years or so, scientific studies have contributed to the
reconstruction of the past. Studies of ancient climates, chemical studies of excavated
materials and studies of the genetics of ancient people have provided fresh evidence, to
support evidence from usual sources of history.

TERMS EXPLANATION

Archaeologists They study the past by digging up remains that people, plants and animals left behind,
such as tools, pots, beads, figurines, toys, bones and teeth of animals and humans,
burnt grains, parts of houses or bricks, among others.

Anthropologists They study human societies and cultures from the oldest times to the present.

Geologists They study the physical features of the Earth, like the soil, stones, hills, mountains,
rivers, seas, oceans and other such parts of the Earth.

Palaeontologists They study the remains of plants, animals and humans from millions of years ago in
the form of fossils.
The Beginnings of Human History

1.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.

2. Life of Early humans (hunters-gatherers)

a. They faced many challenges from nature.

b. They lived in groups to help each other.
c.They had to constantly look for shelter and food.
d. They were mainly hunters and gatherers; they hunted animals, birds, collecting edible plants
and fruits for their survival.
e.Our early ancestors also had certain beliefs about the natural elements and possibly believed in
afterlife (life after death).
f. These groups lived in temporary camps, rock shelters or caves.
g.They communicated with each other using languages that are now lost.
h. They knew how to make and use fire.
i.They made stone tools like stone axes and blades, arrowheads and other tools.
j.Aspects of their life can be seen in rock paintings found in hundreds of caves all over the world.
These paintings depict simple figures, symbols; scenes with animals or humans.
k. In time, these early humans learned to make simple ornaments such as stone or shell beads,
pendants made of animal teeth.
l. They sometimes exchanged items that they made with other groups.

Changes In World’s Climate & Resulting Changes - Neolithic man

1,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’.
2.Later, when the climate warmed up, this ice partly melted, Waters swelled the existing rivers
and drained into the oceans.
3.The last Ice Age lasted from over 100,000 (one lakh) years ago to around 12,000 years ago.
4. Living conditions improved for humans and they started settling down and cultivating
cereals and grains.
5.They also domesticated animals such as cattle, goats, etc.
6. With more food available, these communities grew in size and number, and often settled
down near rivers because:
●​ Of availability of water.
●​ Soil was more fertile there.
●​ It made the process of growing crops easier.

7. As communities grew, society became more complex.

●​ Leaders or chiefs emerged and were responsible for the well-being of the people.
●​ People collectively worked towards the community’s welfare.
●​ There was no sense of individual ownership.
●​ Lands were collectively sowed and harvested.

8. Slowly these hamlets grew into villages that exchanged goods — mostly food, clothing and
tools.
9.These villages began communicating and exchanging items.
10. Some villages grew into small towns.
11. New technologies appeared — for example
●​ pottery, for making pots and other clay objects.
●​ Use of metal (copper first, iron later), which helped make durable tools, objects of daily
use and ornaments.
12. This stage finally led to the emergence of what is called ‘civilisation’.

_____________________________________________________________________

Q1. Suppose we are in the year 2024CE and the Great King Asoka was born in the year 304
BCE. How many years ago was Asoka born?
Ans. In the Gregorian calendar, there is no ‘year zero’. The year 1 CE follows immediately the
year 1 BCE.To calculate the number of years between a BCE date and a CE date, we should add
them but subtract 1.
2024 CE + 304 BCE - 1 =2327 years
Hence, Asoka was born 2327 years ago.

Q2. Who are ‘epigraphists’?

Ans Epigraphists are experts who study ancient inscriptions. They analyze writings on
monuments, coins, and other artifacts to understand historical events and cultures.

Q3. Discuss the different sources that have helped in better understanding of history in the
last 50 years?
Ans.
1.In the last 50 years, several new sources have improved our understanding of history.
2.These include research on ancient climates, chemical analysis of excavated materials, and
genetic studies of ancient people.
3.Other sources are newspapers, electronic media like television, the internet, etc.