Download Foundation Unit

Foundation Unit
Neolithic Period:
The Neolithic period was a developing time period, meaning that much advancement were
made and many changes were made. This advancement meant that any nation that remained with
stone tools could potentially be taken over by a nation with metal tools because metal tools were
stronger than that of stone. Another key change that occurred was with the gathering of food. There
was a huge shift from hunter gathering to an agricultural. This change was not an “all of a sudden”,
it occurred over time slowly. It was a very difficult change, too. The term civilization was coined
during the occurrence of settlement. Civilization was a group that is a group of people that have a
set way of communicating, government, and settlement, form of providing food, culture, economy,
and social structure. An important civilization group/village was Catal Huyuk. They were a
Neolithic village, which was located in southern Turkey. This group of people had houses made of
clay with a timber frame and few windows. A powerful leader, named Hammurabi, made a law
code, known as Hammurabi’s law code. Its purpose was to “promote the welfare of the people”.
China:
China was an isolated empire, which greatly influenced how they were influenced by other
empires. During the Classical-Period of China, time was divided into dynasties. The most important
of the dynasties were Shong, Zhou, Qin, and Han dynasties. During the Zhou dynasty (which lasted
from 1029-258 BCE and flourished until 700 BCE), the people didn’t establish a powerful
government, but alliances were made between regional princes and nobles. In 700 BCE, a decline
began to happen due to political infrastructure and frequent invasions by the Nomadic people. The
Zhou Dynasty didn’t result in much besides internal chaos. During the Qin dynasty, a leader, known
as Shi Huangdi, “answered the call”, but later proved he was nothing more than a tyrant. During
this dynasty, central government and central authority were stressed. During the Han dynasty,
which lasted 400 years, the political and intellectual structure was rounded off. The famous leader,
known as Wu Ti (140-87 BCE), sought peace throughout the entire continent. During this dynasty,
it was known as the age of economic prosperity.. The political government that was divided into
sections was known as commentaries. China focused a lot on three philosophies, called Daoism,
Legalism, and Confucianism. Confucianism became the fundamental for “human’s most enduring
and greatest civilization”. The social classes went as followed: emperor, followed by nobles,
followed by everyone (except slaves), and then slaves. The way that people dressed depended on
what social classes. Trade economy was centralized around the Silk Road, a trade route network of
trade between India and other nations’ empires. The silk industries were very important for China’s
economy.
India:
During the Classical Era, India was heavily influenced by religion, geography, and
cultural connections due to international trade. Location had its positives and negatives for India.
Positives being that it had trading opportunities on the left and right of its country. This got the
country more involved with other nations surrounding the country, which made them a profitable
country. Negatives being that it was located relatively close to the Himalayas, which caused trade
and communications delays due to the time that it took to get through to another city state/country
due to those mountains. On top of geography influences, the country also had very large religious
influence; the two main religions were Hinduism and Buddhism. Hinduism contained mainly the
belief that all be united under one principle belief. This religion also came with other factors, such
as arranged marriage, social class division, etc. The importance of Buddhism was that it cut into
cultural and social limitations, along with political ones. Another important idea was Brahma,
which is where there was a holy ghost which created everything. It was broken down into seven
parts, the two main ones where Vishnu (the preserver) and Shiva (destroyer). India had also
developed a social structure, called the cast system. This caste system was broken down into five
different levels (generally described as a pyramid). The top of this pyramid was the warriors (also
known as the government class) and the priestly class (Brahmins), then the Valsyas, and the
traders and farmers, next came the Sudras (common laborers who worked on estates), then the
bottom on the fifth class was the untouchables (who worked to carry dead body and refuse
hauling). People could not move up and down between social levels, unless they died and had been
reborn through recantation.