A POWERPOINT PRESENTATION

ON:-
EARLY SOCIAL FORMATIONS
PART 1
SEM I
 CONTENTS:-
1.HUMAN EVOLUTION
2.PALEOLITHIC AGE
3.NEOLITHIC AGE
4.THE BEGINNING OF CIVILIZATIONS AND BRONZE
AGE OF MESOPOTAMIA
5.EARLY EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION
6.FROM BRONZE AGE TO IRON AGE:ANATOLIA AND
GREECE
7.ARCHAIC AND CLASSICAL GREECE
8.ANCIENT ROME
9.THE ARABS ISLAM AND EARLY ABBASID
CALIPHATES
Human Evolution
STAGES IN HUMAN EVOLUTION
HUMAN APPEARANCE ON PLANET EARTH:-
• The story of men starts about 3 million years ago.
• Around 30 or 40000 years ago- Homo sapiens (the species to which present day men
belongs) appeared.
• Over a period of several thousand years,man learnt to join his fellow man and go in search
of foods that nature provided-the nomadic life
(hunting,fishing and gathering )-this period in early man’s development is known as old stone
age or the Palaeolithic age.
• The pace of human progress quickened about 8000 BC or 10000 years ago when man began
to make a variety of fine tools- this period is known as the middle stone age, also called the
Mesolithic age.
• then man learned the art of growing his food. This was the beginning of agriculture. From a
food gatherer,man became a food producer-This marks the beginning of a new age, the new
stone age or the Neolothic age.
• Then began the change in his culture which led to the development of civilizations.
 THE PALAEOLITHIC AGE
• The palaeolithic age is a prehistoric era distinguished by the development of the most
primitive stone tools yet
Discovered and roughly covers 99 percent of human technological prehistory.
• During the palaeolithic human grouped together in small societies such as bands, and
subsisted by gathering plants and hunting or scavenging wild animals.
• The climate during the palaeolithic consisted of a set of glacial and interglacial periods in
which the climate periodically fluctuated between warm and cool temperatures.
• The palaeolithic is the first period of stone age. Traditionally it is divided into three
periods. The subdivisions are:-
1. Lower palaeolithic (c. 2.6 or 2.5 mya-100 ka)
2. Middle paleolithic (c.3 lakh-30000 BP)
3. Upper palaeolithic (c. 45000 or 40000-10000 BP)
PALAEOLITHIC TOOLS:-
• Palaeolithic man made and used only crude stone tools
• Palaeolithic tools fall into three major types
1. Handaxes – held in the fist,either to cut or to
give smashing bolws
- made by removing flakes from the
hard centre of a piece of stone
2. Choppers – used to chop meat
- made of heavy stones, worked to a aharp edge in one direction only
3. Flake implements- smaller and thicker than handaxes or chopper but had sharper edges

PALAEOLITHIC
•ART:-
Towards the last phase of the palaeolithic period, man advances in painting engraving and sculpture.
• Paintings are mostly found in deep in the caves, where sunlight does not reach.
• Paintings and engravings show herds of running bisons,horses, bears, reindeers and mammoths,and interesting hunting
scenes
• The practice of art gave palaeolithic man a sense of beauty. He beautified his body with necklaces, pins and bracelets
made of ivory,bone,stone and shell.
MESOLITHIC AGE
 The Transition Stage
• Man made significant advances in the Middle stone
or Mesolithic age which separated the palaeolithic
times from the new stone age.
• In this age the glaciers were shrinking and the areas
formerly covered by ice were gradually becoming
thickly forested.
• Big animals moved away but the man started
domesticating dogs and later goats which helped
him in hunting game.
• Mesolithic age is marked by the wide use of small
tools known as microliths(used as spear heads and
arrow heads)
• People also used the sledge as a means of transport
over snow and ice.
• They harvested the food grains which grew wild in
some regions.
• Mesolithic started observing the surroundings
paving the way for early stages of agriculture
NEOLITHIC AGE
AN INTRODUCTION TO NEW STONE AGE:-
• The Neolithic age started when man had completely adopted the Mesolithic invention of Agriculture.
• The Neolithic Revolution started around 10,000 B.C. in the Fertile Crescent, a boomerang-shaped region of the Middle
East where humans first took up farming. Shortly after, Stone Age humans in other parts of the world also began to practice
agriculture.
• Agriculture paved the way for a settled life-Men started living in Pit Dwellings,Mud Houses made of wooden pools with
thatched roofs.
• The settlements were near the fields which the people cultivated.Settlements gradually developed into villages and even
small fortified towns ,leading to the development of Organised Social Life.
• Started domestication of large number of animals.Man,thus,obtain food from the soil and also from animals(Mixed
Farming).

Spinning and Weaving

Among the remains of earliest Neolithic villages in West
asia,We find the bigginings of a Textile Industry.Clothes
woven of Linen,Cotton and Wool had started replacing
skins and skirts of leaves.Cotton was grown in Indus Valley
soon after 3000 b.c..wool was used in Iran.
Polished Stone Tools
• Higher utility and more skillful construction.
• Polished Stone Celt-made of a large piece of fine grain stone.
-by fixing it into the end of a stick,it could be used as an axe
-used to clear forest and a hoe to till the land
-also enabled man to cut and shape timber, which led to the growth of carpentary
• Sickle- used to cut and gather crop.
• Great improvements in the weapons of war and Hunting.
• Use of bone and antler for making tools like Needles and Harpoons.

Invention of Pottery
• Baskets made of straw and twigs-used to store fruits and dry things.
• Learned to make Coiled Pots and Baked Pottery(waterproof to hold liquid)

Invention of Wheel

• Potter’s Wheel- made pottery a specialized craft

- used in the drawings of cart which made transportation very much simpler
- used in spinning
By about 2500 BCE, the areas around the Meditarranean Sea and Agean Sea,The Indus Valley, The Hwang-Ho valley in
China,The valley of The Tigris and the Euphrates in Iraq(Mesopotamia) and The Nile valley in Egypt had become
Centres of civilization.
EARLY CIVILIZATIONS: MESOPOTAMIA
• Earliest of all civilizations as people
formed permanent settlement.
• Mesopotamia is a Greek word which
means “between two rivers”so
Basically the area lies between river
Euphrates and Tigris (present day
Iraq).
• Lasted for almost 3000 years.
GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITIONS:-
• Hot and dry climate
• Little rainfall
• Arid soil containing little mineral
HISTORY OF MESOPOTAMIA:-
• Over the centuries, many different people lived in this area
created created a collection of independent states (empires).
THE MAIN STATES:-
• Sumer- Southern Part (3500-2000BCE)
• Akkad- northern part (2340-2180BCE)
• Babylonia- These two regions were unified (1830-1500BCE and
650-500BCE)
• Assyria- Assyrian Empire (1100-612BCE)
MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGION:-
• Position of king was enhanced and supported by religion
• Kingship believed to be created by the gods and the kings
power was divinely ordained
• Each god had control of certain things and each city was
ruled by a different god
• Kings and priests acted as interpretersz
ZIGGURATS:-
• Large temple dedicated to the god of city.
• Earlierly used as a place of worship.
• Later on developed as a symbol of political power as it
controlled most of the functions of the city like canal digging,irrigation etc.
• With the development of temple the power of priests too increased.
• It was a part of temple complex that included a courtyard,storage rooms,bathrooms and living
quarters,around which a city was built.
EARLY CIVILIZATIONS:-
ANCIENT EGYPT
“THE GIFT OF THE NILE”

• Egypt’s settlements arose along narrow strip of land made fertile by the river
Nile.
• Upper and Lower Egypt-most of Egypt’s History focused around Lower Egypt-
around the Nile delta which flows into the Mediterranean sea.Upper Egypt later
developed later upstream
• Unlike Mesopotamia,the Nile was predictable
• Deserts on both sides of Nile –provided natural protection against invaders
- reduced interaction with other people
• Known for-Pyramids,Temples,Architecture,Mummification,Astronomy
RELIGION:-
• The Pharaoh were believed to be the
human representatives of gods on earth.
• Religion played a great role in during the
time of ancient Egypt.
• Ancient Egyptians were polyatheistic.
• There were around 2000 gods and
goddesses in Egypt.
• Some of the Egyptian gods are Ra,
Osiris, Anubis, Isis.
• Sphinx- the mythological animal of
Egypt.
• The great temple of Abu Simbel- Temple
of the rising sun.
NOMADIC PASTORALISM
• Nomadic pastoralism was a result of the Neolithic revolution. During the
revolution, humans began domesticating animals and plants for food and
started forming cities.
• Nomadic pastoralism was historically widespread throughout less fertile
regions of Earth. It is found in areas of low rainfall. Nomadic 
transhumance is also common in areas of harsh climate.
• Nomadic people moved along regular migratory routes and did trade
with the settled peoples of the area and helped to establish long distance
trade networks.This also allowed  for the spreading of culture and
technology (Cultural diffusion).
• Different Pastoral Societies-Bharwad,Rendille people,Maldhari,Oromo
people etc.
THE ADVENT OF IRON
• The iron age started around 700 BCE.
• The first people who discovered how to use iron were Hittites by 14th century
BCE located in Egypt.
• The change in bronze to iron tools had a great impact and effect on civilization
as well as society.
• As with the help of iron better and stronger tools were made which helped the
farmer to explore new possibilities which helped the economy to grow.
• As the use of iron began in weapon making for the army it gave a great strength
to the army and the possibities to win a war increased.
• With the advent of iron great alliances took places between the countries which
led to the growth of trade and economy.
• With the use of iron the overall growth of a country and a civilization took
place.
THE GREEK CIVILIZATION
 THE GREEK RELIGION
• The Greeks were POLYTHEISTIC and did not all worship the same gods.
• Some small villages worshiped the main gods and their own village gods.
• There were hundreds of Greek gods (perhaps around 1,000). Some of the most famous gods were Zeus,
Hera,Apollo,Artemis,Poseidon, Aphrodite, Athena, Demeter,Hermes,Ares, and Hades.
• ZEUS surpassed all other gods in spirit, wisdom and justice and his wife HERA was the queen of the
gods.
• SACRIFICES to please the gods were a major part of every Greek's religion. Most gods preferred an
animal sacrifice - generally a DOMESTICATED ANIMALlike a chicken, goat or cow.
• When an animal was sacrificed, it was burned on top of an altar. After it was fully cooked, it had to be
EATEN ON THE SPOT – usually before nightfall. These sacrifices were the property of the god, and
hadto be eaten in his presence.
• This was especially important because the ancient Greeks believed that the god's spirit was within the
animalsacrificed, and by eating the animal, the worshippers CONSUMED HIS POWER. In this way,
they strengthened the connection between man and god.
ANCIENT ROMAN CIVILIZATION
ANCIENT ROME
• Ancient Rome was an Italic civilization that began on the Italian Peninsula
as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranea n Sea and
centered on the city of Rome.
• It expand ed to become one of the largest empires in the ancient world w
ith an estimated 50 to 90 million inhabitants (roughly 20% of the world's
population) and covering 6.5 million square kilometers
(2.5 million sq.mi) during its height between the first and second
centuries AD.
• For more than 200 years,kings ruled Rome.
• In 509 B.C. Rome became a republic.
• The Roman Senate was an assembly of elected representatives. It was the
single most powerful ruling body of the Roman Republic.
THE CULTURE OF THE ANCIENT ROME
-Society was divided among 3 major groups:

• At the top were the nobles, called patricians, who controlled most of the
land & held key military & gov't positions (made up 5% of Roman citizens).
• Most people were commoners, called plebeians, who were farmers,
shopkeepers, or peasants, Plebeians paid the majority of taxes (made up
95% of Roman citizens).
• At the bottom of society were slaves & other non-Roman citizens Slaves
were treated brutally. Most did not live long and they were considered
property under Roman rule.
ROLE OF CHURCH IN MEDIEVAL EUROPE
Church played a great role in early medieval
Europe:-
• It was the centre of all religious and social life
of the people.
• All Christians in Europe belonged to one
church that is Roman Catholic church.
• The church owned one third of all the lands in
Europe. They were the biggest landholders.
• The church collected a tithe ( a type of tax)-
1/10th of income from the peasants.
• Generally the clergy were the only people
who could read.
• The church kept records for the king.
THE ARABS,ISLAM AND
THE EARLY ABBASID
CALIPHATES
 MOHAMMED AND THE RISE
 
OF ISLAM
• Around 600 AD, a new monotheistic religion began called Islam in the Arabian city of
Mecca.
• Islam was founded by the prophet Muhammad in the Arabian city of Mecca.
• After the Hegira to Medina, Muhammad gained converts & returned to Mecca.
• Islam  is an Abrahamic,universal religion teaching that there is only one God (Arabic:
Allah), and that Muhammad is the messenger of God. It is the world's second-largest
religion with over 1.8 billion followers or 24% of the world's population, most
commonly known as Muslims.
• The primary scriptures of Islam are the Quran
• Muslims consider the Quran in its original Arabic to be the unaltered and final
revelation of God.
• Religious concepts and practices include the Five Pillars of Islam, which are obligatory
acts of worship, and following Islamic law (sharia), which touches on virtually every
aspect of life and society,from banking and welfare to women and the environment.
SPREAD OF ISLAM AND CALIPHATES
• In AD 610 Muhammad received revelation from Allah, people believed his
revelation was the final word of god.
• It led to Foundations of new religion: Islam.
• Muhammad’s teachings were unpopular at first so he had to flee to Meddina.
• Islamic community became known as umma.
• Muhammad’s teaching quickly spread Unified the people of Arabia.
CALIPHATES
• After the death of Muhammad’s death in 632 AD uncertainty prevailed in muslim
community for leadership.
• The uncertainty about the successor of Muhammad prevailed
• Caliph:political and religious successor of Muhammad
-Some wanted Ali (Muhammad’s first cousin) to take over.
-Others felt Abu Bakr (Muhammad’s father-in-law) would be better.
RASHIDUN CALIPHATES (TRUE CALIPHS) (632 AD-661
AD)
• First caliph-Abu bakr (632AD-634 AD)
• Second caliph-Umar (634 AD-644 AD)
• Third caliph-Usman ( 644 AD-656 AD)
• Fourth caliph-Ali(656 AD-661 AD)
UMAYYAD CALIPHATE(661 AD-750 AD)
• Muawiyah I (661 AD-680 AD)
• Yazid I (680 AD-683 AD)
• Muawiyah II (683 AD-684 AD)
• Marwan I (684 AD-685 AD)
• Abd Al- Malik (685 AD-705 AD)
• Al-Walid I(705 AD- 715 AD)
• Sulayman-ibn (715 AD-717 AD)
• Abd-Al-Aziz (717 AD-720 AD)
• Yazid II (720 AD-724 AD)
EARLY ABBASID CALIPHATE
• Al-Saffah(750 AD-754 AD)
• Al-Mansur(754 AD-775 AD)
• Harun-Al-Rashid(776 AD-786 AD)
• Al-Mamun(786 AD- 833 AD)
UDALISM IN MEDIEVAL EUROPE
• Feudalism was a combination of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that
flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries.

•  Broadly defined, it was a way of structuring society around relationships derived

from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour. 

• Feudal society is a military hierarchy in which a ruler or lord offers mounted fighters
a fief , a unit of land to control in exchange for a military service. The individual who
accepted this land became a vassal, and the man who granted the land become known
as his liege or his lord.

• Why was the feudal system effective in medieval Europe? -Feudalism helped protect
communities from the violence and warfare that broke out after the fall of Rome and
the collapse of strong central government in Western Europe. 
How did feudalism affect medieval Europe?
-Feudalism had two enormous effects on medieval society :-

• First, feudalism discouraged unified government. Individual lords would divide

their lands into smaller and smaller sections to give to lesser rulers and knights.
These lesser noblemen in turn would subdivide their own lands into even smaller
fiefs to give to even less important nobles and knights.

• Second, feudalism discouraged trade and economic growth. The land was worked
by peasant farmers called serfs, who were tied to individual plots of land and
forbidden to move or change occupations without the permission of their lord.
The feudal lord might claim one-third to one-half of their produce in taxes and
fees, and the serfs owed him a set number of days each year in which they would
work the lord's fields in exchange for the right to work their own lands.
ADVANTAGES OF FUDAL SYSTEM IN EUROPE-

• A general advantage of feudalism was the stability that it brought. Serfs supported the infrastructure by providing
essential goods and services. This, combined with an organized system of protection, helped maintain a steady
balance that kept the kingdoms running.
THE DECLINE OF FEUDALISM
-The reasons for the decline of Feudalism during the Medieval period of the Middle Ages included:
• The Crusades and travel during the Middle Ages opened new trade options to England
• England started to move from land based economy to a money based economy
• The Black Death - this reduced the population of England by one third. Labour became a valuable
commodity
• The Peasants Revolt - Peasants realised their worth and demanded changes. Charters were granted
but ignored by nobles
• More trade saw the growth of more towns
• Peasants moved away from the country into towns they were eventually allowed to buy their
freedom
• Land was rented and the rights of lords over labour decreased
• The Feudal Levy was unpopular and as time went by Nobles preferred to pay the King rather than
to fight and raise troops
• Armed men were paid a wage and Medieval warfare was financed by taxes and loans
• Nobles became weaker - the Kings took back their lands and power
• A centralised government was established
ESSENTIAL READINGS
 Bogucki, P. The Origins of Human Society. Massachusets and Oxford: Blackwell Publishers,1999
 Childe, G. “The Urban Revolution.” The Town Planning Review, Vol. 21, No. 1 (April 1950), pp. 3-17
 Fagan, B.M. and N. Durrani. The People of the Earth: An Introduction to World Pre-history. 16th reprint, New York:
Routledge, 2016.
 Farooqui, A. Early Social Formations. Delhi: Manak Publications, 2001.
 Flannery, K.V. “Origins of Food Production.” Annual Review of Anthropology, 2 (1973): 271- 310.
 Trigger, B.G., B.J. Kemp, D. O’Connor and A.B. Lloyd. Ancient Egypt A Social History. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1983.
 Villard, P. “The Beginning of the Iron Age: Invention of ironwork and its consequences.” In History of Humanity: From
the third millennium to the seventh century B.C., vol. II, edited by J. de Laet, 196- 204. Paris, London: Routledge, 1996.
 Wenke, R.J. and D.I. Olszewski. Patterns in Prehistory: Humankind’s first three million years.
5th edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007
 Anderson, P. Passages From Antiquity To Feudalism. London and New York: Verso, 1996.
 Berkey, J. The Formation of Islam. Religion and Society in the Near East, 600–1800. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2002.
 Bloch M. Feudal Society vol. I, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1961.