UPSC History World History Short Notes - World History

Short Notes - World History

Category : UPSC

WORLD HISTORY

World Ancient History

Mesopotamian Civilization

Time Period	Events
5000-3500 BC	The first city built by Sumerian people in southern Mesopotamia.
3500 BC	Writing started with pictogram based script and took about a thousand year to be evolved in full cuneiform script.
2300 BC	The first akkadian ruler Sargon started to conquer Sumerian cities
2112-2095 BC	The central city of Ur was built by Ur-Nammu and called as the third dynasty of Mesopotamian.
1792-49BC	Development of Babylonian civilization by king Hammurabi along Euphrates River.
1530 BC	Kassite came into being in Hammurabi's rule in 1750 BC and categorized into minorities of Mesopotamia.
1500 BC	Northern Mesopotamia is conquered by an Indo-European ruler called Mittani. He has also conquered Syria and Asia Minor.
1200-900 BC	Assyria started to lose its importance due to political instability engulfing Anatolia Syria and the Levant coast.

Egyptian Civilization

Time Period	Events
5000BC	Farming started along the bank of Nile River.
3500-3000 BC	Starting of Pre dynastic period which was characterized by permanent settlement.
2650BC	Old kingdom began to flourish which was known to be the era of dynamic development of Egyptian art.
12575-2465 BC	Pharaoh Khufu built Great pyramid of Giza having a height of 481 feet
2381-2345 BC	The Old Kingdom ended during the realm of Unas.
12055-1650 BC	The era of middle kingdom started with reunion of Egypt.
1539 BC	With the expulsion of the Hyksos and reunification of Egypt, it became the leading power in the Middle East. \|
1344-1328 BC	The first ever instance of monotheism had been illustrated by the religious reforms of pharaoh Akhenaton.
1336-1327 BC	The realm of Tutankhamen.
1279-1213 BC	The existence of Ramses Realm when Egypt experienced the heigh- of its power.
728 BC	Nubian kings took over the power of Egypt.
639 BC	The period of revival started with the expulsion of Assyrians by Egyptians.
525 BC	Persians started ruling the Egypt.
332 BC	Alexander the great conquered Egypt.
305BC	A greek-speaking dynasty was established by one of the generals of Alexander the Great.
30 BC	The last queen of independent Egypt died and Roman empire occupied Egypt

Greek Civilization

Time Period	Events
776 BC	The first official date of Olympic Games
750BC	Greek started planting colonies on the Mediterranean coast
490-479	Athens and Sparta took lead for defending their land against invasion from the huge Persian Empire
447BC	Athenian Empire was at the height of its power
431-404	Athens was defeated by Sparta in the Second Peloponnesian War
399	Socrates, the famous philosopher of Athens was sentenced to death as he was questioning conventional ideas
338	The Greek city-states were defeated by King Phillip II of Macedon

Roman Civilization

Time Period	Events
753 BC	Rome was founded
509BC	Roman republic was built
390BC	Rome was sacked by the Gauls
264-241BC	First Punic War between Carthage and Rome took place
218-202 BC	Second Punic War consisting of several small battles took place where Rome was the ultimate winner
83-31 BC	Decline of Roman Republic due to the continuous phases of civil wars
27 BC	Augustus established himself as the first of the Roman emperors
117AD	Roman Empire became the largest empire of its time
312AD	Constantine the Great got converted to Christianity
410AD	Goths sacked Roman Empire
476AD	The last Roman emperor was thrown out by German Tribes

Seven wonders of Ancient World

Hanging garden of Babylon
Pyramids of Egypt
The Pharaoh at Alexandria
Statue of Zeus at Olympia
Colossus at Rhodes-912 ft. statue of Helos, the sun god, stands at one side of the harbour
Temple of Diana at Epheus (Rome)
Mausoleum of Mausolus [Ruler of Halt-carnassus)

World Medieval History

MEDIEVAL EUROPE CIVILIZATION

Time Period	Events
500-600 AD	· A monastery was built in Italy. · Christianity was introduced in England. · The foundation stone of Roman Catholic Church was laid by Gregory the Great.
650-700 AD	History of the English Church and People was written by Bede
800 AD	Charlemagne, the King of the Franks, was crowned as Holy Roman Emperor.
850-900 AD	First Russian states founded at Kiev and Novgorod
900-950 AD	Viking raids across Western Europe
1000-1050	Medical school set up in Salerno, Italy (1030)
1050-1100 AD	· William of Normandy invaded England and becomes king · First Crusade was pro-claimed
1150-1200 AD	Construction of the cathedral of Notre Dame
1200-1250 AD	· St Francis of Assist sets up a monastic order, emphasizing austerity and compassion · Rebellion against the king by the Lords of England as he signed the Magna Carta, accepting to rule according to law.
1250-1300 AD	Establishment of the Habsburg dynasty that continued to rule Austria till 1918

AFRICAN CIVILIZATION

Time Period	Events
830AD	Ghana Empire was created
1050- 1100AD	Expansion of Almoravid kingdom from Ghana to southern Spain
1100-1150AD	Emergence of Zimbabwe as a centre for producing gold and copper artifacts and long distance trade.
1200-1250AD	· Christian churches established in Ethiopia · Kingdom of Mali was established in West Africa, with Timbuktu as a centre of learning
1375 AD	Gao rebelled against and Songhai started to expand its realm
1465 AD	Songhai conquered Mema and after three years seized Timbaktu
1588-91 AD	Songahi was attacked by Moroccan forces with firearms and they kept on conquering Tondibi, Timbuktu and Gao one after the other

ARAB CIVILIZATION

Time Period	Events
571AD	· The great Prophet of Islam, was born in Mecca · With the rise of new religion Islam, the Arab civilization started expanding its realm
632AD	After the death of Mohammad his successors continued to spread his teachings and were known as Caliphs or Khalifas
13th Century AD	The Islamic Empire came to an end with the defeat of Abbasids by Seljuq Turks

Islam in Arab Civilization

Hazrat Prophet Muhammad Saheb founded the Islam as a religion.
He was born on Monday, April 22^nd, 571 A.D. (12th Rabi Ul Awwal) in Mecca.
His father was Abdulsah & mother was Aminah.
His father died in Madina before Muhammad was born.
His grandfather was Abdul Muttalib.
He was suckled by Haleema (Dai).
His mother died when he was 6 year and grandfather died 2 years later.
His uncle - Abu Talib took care of him.
Khadijah (a rich widow lady) of age 40 years married Muhammad (25 yrs).
Hijri Era started on 24th September 622 when lie migrated to Medina.
He attained enlightment, i.e. the first revelation came to him on Monday, August 10th, 610 AD (21st of Ramadan) at 40 years of age at Gaare-Hira (Hira cave).
First persons who embraced Islam were Khadija (wife), Zaid (slave), Alt (cousin), & Abu Bakr (friend).
Prophet Muhammad died on Monday, 8th June, 623 AD and was buried at Medhina.
Islam divided into shia and sunni cults after his death.
His successors were called Khalifa.
Eid-milad-un-Nabi is celebrated as his birthday of the prophet.

Christianity

It was founded by Jesus Christ (i.e. Merriah).
He was born on 25th December to Mother Mary (Marium) in Bethlehen (Nr. Jerusalam)
Bible is the holy book of Christians.
His crucifixion [hanging) on cross was happened in about AD 33.
So, sign of 'cross' is Christians holy symbol.

Zoroastrianism (Parsi)

Prophet Zoroaster founded the Parsi religion.
The holy book of Parsi is Avesta.
Parsis believe in one God-Ahur.

Medieval China

From the early 7th century, China was ruled by the Tang dynasty.
The rule of Tang dynasty [618 AD - 906 AD) was followed by the Sung dy- nasty for about 300 years.
After this, for about 100 years China was ruled by the Mongols.
The rule of the Mongols in China was followed by that of Ming dynasty which continued for about 300 years.
In 1644, China was conquered by the Manchus who continued to rule until 1911 AD.

Contributions of Medieval China

To prevent drain on the country's wealth the Sung rulers started the use of paper-money.
The invention of gun-powder was made in China in the 10th century about 400 years beforethe knowledge reached the western world.
The Chinese made iron-chain suspen- sion bridges as early as the 10th cen- tury.
The Chinese devised the first method of printing in 10th century. The impor- tance of this invention for the spread of knowledge was as great as the invention of paper.

World Modern History

Renaissance

The European era between 14"' to 17"' pnturies AD was designated as the Age ,f Renaissance generally known for "Revival of Learning". The Florence city nf Italian reion Tuscany was well known as the birth place of Renaissance.

It is said to have began from the capture of Constantinople (at present Istanbul) bv the Turk in 1453 and the dispersal of the scholars throughout Europe, who sought asylum in Italy.

Great Litterateurs of Renaissance

Italian	Dante ( ?Divine Comedy?), Petrarch ( founder of Humanism & known as the ?father of Humanism), Boccacio ( Decameron?),Machiavelli ( ?The prince?)
Spanish	Cervantes (?Don Quixote?)
Portu- guese	Comeos (?The Lusiad?).
Dutch	Erasmus (?In the praise of Folly?).
French	Rebelais (?Pantagruel? & ?Garhantua?), Montaigne (?Essais?).
German	Thomas Kempis (?The Imitation of Christ?).
English	Claucer (?Canterbury Tales?),Spenser (?The faerie queen?), Bacon (?The Advancement of Learning?) Shakespeare (?Romeo & Juliet?, ?The Merchant of Venice?, ?As You Like It? ?Julieus Caesar?, ?Hamlet?, Macbeth), Thomas More (?Utopia?).

Reformation: It was a social movement, started by Martin Luther in Wittenburg, Germany in 1517 by publically protesting against the sale of letters of Indulgence [as passport to heaven).

It was against Roman Catholic Church.
As a result Western Europe was divided between Catholic & Protestant countries.
Other leader was Caloin of Switzer- land. So the movement was a challenge to the authority of Pope.

Glorious Revolution: It was glorious be- cause of Bloodless Revolution focused on securing freedom of worship from Catholics and unifying whigs and Tones of Anglican church against the Roman Catholic ruler James-II.

Industrial Revolution: It was the pro- cess of change in earning livelihood by adopting industrial processes rather than agriculture in 18th century in Britain. It was due to technological inventi-ons, egs. Spinning jenny power loom, etc.

American Revolution: It was the mutiny of people leaving in 13 colonies of Eng- land in North America in late 18th century

French Revolution

It put an end to French monarchy
It started in 1789 and ended in 1799.
It was carried out by Napoleon in later expansion of French Empire.

Russian Revolution

It was based on the Marxism ideology
It took place in 1917.
As a result of this revolution Soviet Union was created.

Geographical Discoveries

Discovery	Year	Discover ( Nationality )	Sponsored by
Cape of Good Hope	1487	Bartholomew Diaz (Portuguese)	Portugal
America	1492	Christopher Columbus (Geneo, Italian)	Spain
Newfound land	1497	John Cabot (Italian)	England
Sea-route of India via Cape of Good Hope	1498	Vasco da Gama (Portuguese)	Portugal
Brazil	1500	Pedro Alvarez Cabral (Portu- guese)	Portugal
Strait of Magellan	1520	Magellan (Portuguese)	Spain
Island of Tasmania & New Zealand	1642	Tasman (Dutch)	Holland
Sandwich Island/Hawaiian Island	1770	Captain James Cook (British)	England
North Pole	1909	Robert Peary (American)	USA
South Pole	1911	Amundsen (Norwegian)	Norway

World Wars-I & II and other Warsf

War	Countries	Duration	Causes	Consequences
I	Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey (i.e Central powers) Vs. France, Russia, Britain, US, Italy (i.e. Allies or Entente Powers)	28-07-1914 to 11-11- 1918	1, Murder of Austrian King A. Ferdin and 2. Militarism...	1. End of German, Russian, Ottoman, etc. empires 2. Formation of league of Nation
II	Britain, France, USSR, US, (i.e. Allies or Entente Powers) vs. Germany, Italy & Japan (i.e. Axis or Central Powers)	01-09-1939 to 02-09- 1945	1. Conflict between German & Poland 2. Treaty of Versailles (1919)	1. Collapse of Nazi Germany 2. Fall of Japanese & Italian Empires
Trojan War	City of Troy Vs. City of Sparta	10 years	Kidnapping of Queen Helen	Victory of Greek & destruction of Troy
Persian War	Greek vs. Persia	499 BC to 449 BC	Darius I of Persia attacked Athens	Victory of Greek over Persia
Hundred Years War	France vs. England	1453 B.C. to 1337 B.C.	King Edward III & England invaded France	Victory of France over England
Russo- Japanese War	Russia vs. Japan	1904 to 1905 AD	For imperial authority over Manchuria & Korea	Japanese won the war
Vietnam War	Vietnam with Soviet union vs. China	1955 to 1975	To check spread of communism all over South-Asia	? Victory of North Vietnam ? American forces backed out from China
Iraq-Iran War	Iran vs. Iraq	1980 to 1988 AD	Border disputes between them	Iranian invasion failed

UPSC History World History Short Notes - World History

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