1 History, Culture & Civilization Presented by Md. Rabiul Islam (Rabi) Senior Lecturer, GED Northern University Bangladesh Cell :

2 World History, Culture & Civilization Definition of History The word history is derived from the Ancient Greek, historía, meaning "a learning or knowing by inquiry, history, record, narrative." The word ‘History’ entered the English language in 1390 with the meaning of "relation of incidents, story." History is the Study of the past Politics. History is the study of all the events that happened in the past. History is the continuous, systematic, narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race, as well as the study of all events in time, in relation to humanity.

3 World History, Culture & Civilization Definition of History (cont’d) Oxford Advanced learners Dictionary says- “History is the Study of the struggles and achievements of mankind from early times to present time”. The History we read though based on facts, is, strictly speaking, ‘not factual at all, but a series of accepted judgments’. So on the basis of these definitions we can say that History is the study of the past, focused on human activity and leading up to the present day.

4 World History, Culture & Civilization Father of History Herodotus is the father of history. He was born in Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey) in about 484 BC. Halicarnassus was at that time an ancient Greek colonial town subject to Persian overlordship. That’s why he is considered a Greek historian. He was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a well-constructed and vivid narrative. Herodotus died in 425 BC.

5 World History, Culture & Civilization Father of History (cont’d) Herodotus' work presents the development of civilization as moving toward a great confrontation between Persia and Greece. Extensive travels were the important sources of information to preparing his History. Herodotus believed that the universe is ruled by Fate and Chance, and that nothing is stable in human affairs. Herodotus' effective attempt to draw moral lessons from the study of great events formed the basis of the Greek and Roman historiographical tradition which he is held to have established.

6 World History, Culture & Civilization History and prehistory: The history of the world is the memory of the past experience of Homo sapiens sapiens ( and many others) around the world, as that experience has been preserved, largely in written records. Preservation of Earliest records were started from 2500 BCE. By "prehistory", historians mean the recovery of knowledge of the past in an area where no written records exist, or where the writing of a culture is not understood. By studying painting, drawings, carvings, and other artifacts, some information can be recovered even in the absence of a written record.

7 World History, Culture & Civilization History and prehistory (cont’d): Prehistory divided into 3 ages Stone Age >> Lower Paleolithic: Homo, Homo erectus, >> Middle Paleolithic: early Homo sapiens >> Upper Paleolithic: behavioral modernity >> Neolithic: civilization Bronze Age >> Near East | India Europe China Korea Iron Age >> Bronze Age collapse Ancient Near East India Europe China Japan Korea Nigeria

8 World History, Culture & Civilization Importance of History ►To know the past story of mankind ►To learn from the mistakes of the ancient politics. ►To compare the present civilizations with the ancient civilizations. ►To compare the lifestyle between the ancient people and the modern people. ►History is for human self knowledge. ►History teaches us ‘ Man can do what man has done ’. ►History should be ‘a serious attempt to ascertain the severest truth as to the past and set it forth without fear and favor.’ Henry C. Lea, an American Historian

9 World History, Culture & Civilization History and Geography: The relationship between Geography and History is from the ancient period. Man has been influenced greatly by the environment. His appearance, his actions, and the development of his mentality depends to a considerable degree of on geographical influences. Geography is the study of the earth surface as the space within which the human population live. Man environment and the earth are main subject matter of geography.

10 World History, Culture & Civilization History and Political Science ▶ Political history is the narrative and analysis of political events, ideas, movements, and leaders. ▶ It is usually structured around the nation state. ▶ History, sometimes, focuses on politics, politicians and other high rulers and views them as being the driving force of continuity and change in history. ▶ Influence to International Relations: political history is the study of the conduct of international relations between states or across state boundaries over time.

11 World History, Culture & Civilization Definition of Culture: Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate,") generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures. Culture can be defined as all the behaviors, ways of life, arts, beliefs and institutions of a population that are passed down from generation to generation. Edward Burnett Tylor (1871)described culture in the following way: "Culture or civilization, taken in its wide ethnographic sense, is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society."

12 World History, Culture & Civilization Characteristics of Culture: a) culture links closely with social cultivation, the progressive refinement of human behavior, b) Culture as a stabilizing mechanism: culture itself is a product of stabilization tendencies inherent in evolutionary pressures, c) Culture is a relative things. d) It cover whole things of the society, e) It discuss, mainly, human behavior of the members of a society, f) It is a abstract thing, g) It is a continuous process.

13 World History, Culture & Civilization Definition of Civilization: The rise of civilization in the different regions on the earth is the great achievement of human being. Civilization is difficult to define and evaluate. The word Civilization comes from the Latin word civilis, the adjective form of civis, meaning a "citizen" or "townsman" governed by the law of his city. Lynn Thorndike says that “Civilization is the product of our higher qualities as exercised first by original and superior individuals and then accepted or followed by a sufficient number of human beings to make it a social fact.”

14 Definition of Civilization (cont’d): Modern philosopher Bertrand Russell says- “Civilization is the progress and the predominance of science.” Prominent Anthropologist E.B.Taylor said that, “The habit and the experience and the knowledge of nature, belief, law, morality and behavior that s/he achieved and practice as a member of the society is known as the culture or civilization”. Civilization is a situation or condition where the culture of a social group get the stable form and when the practices or habits of a nation are established.

15 World History, Culture & Civilization Characteristics of Civilization: ▶ Civilizations have been distinguished by their means of subsistence, types of livelihood, settlement patterns, forms of government, social stratification, economic systems, literacy, and other cultural traits. ▶ Civilizations have distinctly different settlement patterns from other societies. ▶ Non-farmers gather in cities to work and to trade. ▶ Highly stratified structures, or chiefdoms, with several inherited social classes: king, noble, freemen, serf. ▶ Civilizations, with complex social hierarchies and organized, institutional governments.