Chapter - 4 Timeline and sources of History

Chapter - 4 Timeline and sources of History 

What is a Timeline?

• A timeline is a way to show important events in chronological (time) order.
• It helps us understand when something happened and how long ago it was.
• Years are often written as BC (Before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini).
• BC dates count backward (e.g., 500 BC is earlier than 100 BC).
• AD dates count forward (e.g., AD 500 is later than AD 100).

History:- The study of the human past.

• Geologists:- Study the physical features of the earth, like the soil, stones, hills mountains, rivers, seas, ocean and other such part of the earth.
• Palaeontologists:- Study the remains of plants, animals and humans from millions of years ago in the form of fossils.
• Anthropologists:- Study human societies and cultures from the oldest times to the present.
• Archaeologists:-  An archaeologist is a person who studies the past by digging up and examining old remains like tools, bones, buildings, and pottery. Their work helps us learn about how people lived long ago.

Fossils:- Impressions of footprints, or parts of plants or animals that are found preserved within layers of soil or rocks.

How Is Time Measured in History?

In history, time is measured to understand when events happened and how they are related to each other. Historians use years, centuries, and eras to measure time.

• Era:- distinct perios of time.
• Gregorian Calender:- The Gregorian Calendar is the calendar we use today in most parts of the world. It helps us keep track of days, months, and years.

Main Features of the Gregorian Calendar

• 12 Months in a Year:- January, February, March, ..., December
• 365 Days in a Year:-  A normal year has 365 days. A leap year has 366 days (February has 29 days).
• 7 Days in a Week:- Sunday, Monday, ..., Saturday
• Leap Year Rule:- A year is a leap year if it is divisible by 4, except years divisible by 100, unless also divisible by 400. Example: 2000 was a leap year, 1900 was not.

AD, CE, and BCE – In history, we divide time into parts to understand when events happened. These are some of the most commonly used time labels:

Term                         Full Form                     Meaning                                 Example

BC                             Before Christ             Before Jesus was born                   300 BC

AD                             Anno Domini             After Jesus was born                           AD 2025

BCE                     Before Common Era     Same as BC, non-religious term           300 BCE

CE                             Common Era             Same as AD, non-religious term           CE 2025

Century:- It is any period of 100 years.

Millennium:- It is any period of 1,000 years.

 Sources of History:-A place, person, text or an object from which we gather information about some past event or period. These are divided into two main types:

a) Primary Sources:- Created at the time the event happened.

• Inscriptions
• Coins
• Monuments
• Ancient tools, pottery, weapons
• Manuscripts written on palm leaves or birch

b) Secondary Sources:- Written or made later, based on primary sources.

• Books written by historians
• Articles and documentaries
• Paintings based on old records

Types of Sources

i. Archaeological Sources:- Related to digging and finding old objects.

Examples: pottery, ornaments, tools, buildings, fossils.

ii. Literary Sources:- Written records of the past.

Divided into:

• Religious texts: Vedas, Ramayana, Quran, Bible
• Secular texts: biographies, plays, books on politics (e.g., Arthashastra)

iii. Oral Sources

• Stories, songs, and folklore passed down by word of mouth.
• Useful for learning about people’s beliefs and culture.

Historian:- A person who studies and writes about past.

Genetics:- The branch of biology that studies how, in plants, animals or human, certain features and characteristics get passed from one generation to thenext.

The Beginning of Human History

• Homo sapiens :- Homo sapiens emerged on the planet roughly 300,000 years ago. 
• They live in bands and groups to help each other.
• In the search of food They move one place to another place.
• They were hunters gathers. 
• For survival They collect food from hunting or collecting edible plants and fruit.
• They were live in camp, rock shelters or caves.

Use of Fire:- 

• To Prepare foods.
• They use fire and started to making object. it makes their life easy. 
• Example:- Stone axe, blades,, arrowheads, etc.

Aspect of life are visible:-

Through painting or symbols their life different aspect are depict.

They also learned to make some simple ornaments such as stone or shell beads, pendants made of animal teeth.

Afterlife:- A life that begins after death.

The first crop:- The first crops mark the beginning of farming in human history. This was a big change in the way early humans lived — from hunting and gathering to growing their own food.

Ice age:- A period of time when Earth covered with ice. Ice age lasted from over 100,000 years ago to around 12,000 years ago.

Life Changed After Farming

• People started living in permanent houses instead of caves.
• Villages and small settlements developed.
• Surplus food led to trading and growth of civilizations.
• Along with farming, people also began to domesticate animals like:

Leaders or 'chieftains' were responsible

With the passage of time communities grew, so Leaders or 'chieftains' were responsible for the well-being of the people, and everyone collectively worked towards the community's welfare.

• There was no sense of individual ownership.
• The land were collectively sowed and harvested.
• Welfare:- Health, prosperity and well being.

Hamlets – A hamlet is a small group of houses where a few families live together. It is smaller than a village and often found in rural or early settlements.

• They exchange:- goods, food, clothing and tools .
• Network of communication and exchange were established.
• New technologies appeared. 

NCERT QUESTIONS: 

Q. 1 - Can you compare historians to detectives? give reasons for your answers.

Answers - Yes! Historians are very much like detectives. 

1. Both Look for Clues

• Detectives look for clues at a crime scene.
• Historians look for clues in old objects, writings, and places to understand the past.

2. Both Try to Solve Mysteries

• Detectives solve the mystery of what happened and who did it.
• Historians solve the mystery of how people lived, what they believed, and why events happened.

Q. 2 - A few exercise with dates:

1. Place these dated chronologically on the timeline: 323CE, 323 BCE, 100 CE, 100 BCE, 1900 BCE, 1090 CE, 2024 CE. 

Answer:- Chronological Order (Earliest to Latest):

• 1900 BCE
• 323 BCE
• 100 BCE
• 100 CE
• 323 CE
• 1090 CE
• 2024 CE

2. If king Chandragupta was born in 320 CE, which century did he belong to? And how many years was that after the buddha birth?

Answer:- Chandragupta belonged to the 4th century CE.

Buddha Born:- Historians generally say Buddha was born around 563 BCE

• From 563 BCE to 1 BCE = 562 years
• From 1 CE to 320 CE = 320 years
• Total = 562 + 320 = 882 years
• So, Chandragupta was born about 882 years after Buddha.

3. Rani of Jhanshi was born in 1828. Which century did she belong to? How mamny years was that before India's Independence?

Answer:- She was born in 1828 CE.

• To find the century, we add 1 to the first two digits:
• 1828 → 19th century CE
• So, Rani of Jhansi belonged to the 19th century.

🇮🇳 India’s Independence

• India got independence in 1947 CE.
• How Many Years Before Independence Was She Born?
• 1947 – 1828 = 119 years
• So, Rani of Jhansi was born 119 years before India’s independence.

4. Turn '12,000 years ago' into a date.

Answer- 2025 CE – 12,000 years = 9975 BCE

So, 12,000 years ago = 9975 BCE (approximately)