An Indian computer scientist and cryptographer named Yajna Devam has claimed in an article written in 2022 that he has decoded over five hundred inscriptions or “seals” from the Indus Valley Civilization
Yajna Devam, a computer scientist from India, claimed to have read over 500 ancient seals of the Indus Valley Civilization. This was in the year 2022.
In India, the imposition of colonial rule by the British East India Company in the eighteenth century and then the British Empire in the 19th had a long-lasting effect on interpretations of the Indian past.
This quote brings out the influence of British dominance in India on the understanding of Indian history
The most significant of these cultures was known as the Yamnaya. These cart-using pastoralists originated in what is now Ukraine and eastern Russia about 5,300 years ago and spread through Europe over the next 700 years.
The quote indicates that Yamna culture was one of ancient cultures in and around modern-day Ukraine and eastern Russia. They made use of cart transport, domesticated and raised livestock, and had their influence spread over a wide area of Europe over many centuries.
In a sense, this chapter is a sort-of transition from moving very quickly and taking a very "50,000 foot view", to zooming in on the details. This made the chapter extra challenging to write. And longer.
Indicates the change in the focus of the chapter from the big picture approach to examining events, which took longer to write.
After the First Punic War’s losses, Carthage rebuilt in its power in Spain. While Rome was a rising power, Carthage still controlled most of the western Mediterranean.
Carthage, having lost the First Punic War, began to strengthen its position in Spain. Rome, although expanding, still had Carthage reigning over most of the West Mediterranean.
In 264 BCE, Rome was a regional power. The republican city controlled most of the Italian peninsula and a population of about 300,000. Carthage was a trade-based empire that spanned the Mediterranean. When a group of mercenaries seized the city of Messina in Sicily and asked both Rome and Carthage for help, Rome decided the empire had expanded into Italy quite enough, and intervened.
Carthage at this point was a strong trading empire that extended to the Mediterranean. When mercenaries occupied the city of Messina in Sicily and asked for their assistance, Rome decided to involve itself in the conflict despite this action causing them to enter areas outside Italy.
Zeno of Citium founded Stoicism around 300 BCE, in Athens. Born about 334 BCE in Cyprus, Zeno was a wealthy Phoenician merchant who lost his fortune in a shipwreck.
Zeno of Citium was born in 334 BCE in Cyprus. In about 300 BCE, he started the Stoic school in Athens. Zeno was a wealthy businessman whose money was lost during a shipwreck.
This kingdom would last 335 years, until it was conquered by Rome after its last monarch, Cleopatra VII, got involved in the Roman Civil War
the kingdom lasted 335 years and came to an end because of the Roman conquest that took place because Queen Cleopatra VII joined a Roman civil war.
Jesus was convicted of sedition against Rome for allowing himself to be called "King of the Jews" and executed by crucifixion, a method typically reserved for slaves, rebels, and bandits; but not uncommon. Historians have estimated that until the practice was abolished by Constantine in the third century, Rome executed tens of thousands and possibly up to 100,000 victims in this way. For example, after the slave revolt led by Spartacus, about 6,000 men were crucified along the Appian Way, the major road from Rome to southern Italy.
Jesus was crucified for being known as the ‘King of the Jews, which was a punishment for slaves or rebels by the Romans. It was a common act in which thousands to as many as 100,000 people were subjected to this punishment; for instance, the followers of Spartacus.
Caesar's grand-nephew, Gaius Octavius, returned to Rome from Illyria (the Balkans) and took the name Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus. Although he was only eighteen, Octavian quickly raised seven legions of veterans of Caesar's wars. This forced a power-sharing arrangement between the allies of Caesar, which became the Second Triumvirate.
His grand-nephew, Octavian, came back to Rome at the age of 18, adopted the name Caesar, and soon amassed an army. This resulted in a power-sharing arrangement with some of Caesar’s followers, who were named the Second Triumvirate.
by the Xiongnu and held for a decade, but he escaped and completed his mission, traveling over 12,000 miles through modern Xinjiang and Uzbekistan. He returned to China in 126 BCE with maps of thirty-six kingdoms, exotic goods, and credible stories of an interconnected world beyond the Pamir Mountains.
He had been captured by the Xiongnu for ten years, but he managed to escape and accomplish the journey, covering more than 12,000 miles. He returned to China in 126BCE with atlases, foreign products, and information about the territories beyond the Pamir Mountains.
Chinese cultural traditions based on Confucuianism, Daoism, and Chinese writing, continued in both south and north. The Eastern Jin continued Han administrative techniques including the Nine-Rank System of official appointments.
China culture, such as Confucianism, Daoism, and writing, existed in both the south and the north. The Eastern Jin dynasty continued Han administrative practices, such as the Nine-Rank System on how to select officials.
The Sasanian Empire had begun in 224 CE, when a conqueror named Ardashir I who claimed descent from Achaemenid emperors, overthrew the Parthians. Internal strife and perennial conflict with the Roman Empire had weakened the Parthian, and Ardashir organized a more centralized state, with a capital at Ctesiphon on the Tigris River in present-day Iraq, about twenty miles from Baghdad.
The Sasanian Empire began in the year 224 CE when Ardashir I overthrew the Parthian Empire under the claim that he was a successor to the previous Achaemenid rulers. He founded a strong centralized state, which was headquartered at Ctesiphon near present-day Baghdad
The new religion focused on building communities that would support their members, and on embracing all believers regardless of their status as free or enslaved
The above quote implies that the new religion was intended to form communities and welcomed all people, whether they were free or slaves.
The prophet's continuing revelations established the Islamic requirements called the Five Pillars: a profession of faith, prayer five times a day, fasting during Ramadan, charity, and for those who can afford it
This quote reveals that the five pillars of Islam came as a result of following the teachings of the prophet, belief in God, performing five prayers a day, fasting in Ramadan, giving charity, and if possible, going for a pilgrimage.
The Sasanian Empire in Persia fell under Muslim control in 651, after nearly two decades of conflict. Muslim forces had begun raids into Mesopotamia under Abu Bakr, beginning in 633.
After fighting for about 20 years, the Sasanian Empire in Persia was overrun by Muslim armies in the year 651. The attack on Persia was earlier, in the year 633, under Abu Bakr."
In other cities such as Rome and Ravenna, plague killed up to 40%; while as many as 20% of country people died. These types of losses, added to the impact of the Gothic War, lend some credence to the claim that up to half the Italian population was wiped out in the 540s.
In other cities like Rome and Ravenna, the plague resulted in the death of 40% of the population, and rural areas saw the death of up to 20% of the population. Deaths of this nature, together with the effect of the war with the Goths, give some truth to the fact that the Italian population could have lost half its numbers in the 540s.
The 10% tithe paid to the Church funded schools, libraries, and scriptoria where texts were copied. In day to day life, Carolingian customs and written law was taken up throughout western Europe.
This quote indicates that the 10% tax to the Church was used to finance the construction of schools, libraries, and scriptoria, where the copies were made. The Carolingian tradition and legal system spread to Western Europe.
In 788, Charlemagne annexed Bavaria, and in the early 790s he had extended his rule into territory along the Danube River near Vienna (Austria) that had been held by the Avar Khaganate, an northeastern Asian empire that extended from north of the Black Sea to the Danube between the middle of the sixth century and the early 800s.
In 788, Charlemagne overran Bavaria, and by the early 790s, he had enlarged his empire to include territories around the Danube River, which were under the rulership of the Avar Khaganate, a great empire from northeastern Asia.
In India, fragmentation in the north produced a variety of regional kingdoms frequently at war with each other. In contrast, the Chola Empire expanded from its origin in Tamil Nadu in southeastern India to Sri Lanka, the Malabar Coast, and the Maldive Islands.
The regions of North India were split up into small kingdoms which frequently warred amongst each other, while the Chola Empire in the South expanded, dominating regions such as Sri Lanka and the surrounding islands.
The arts thrived with masterpieces in painting such as landscape scrolls, poetry, ceramics, and literature. Pre-Qin bronzes and jades were collected and imitated, reflecting an ongoing reverence for the past.
The phrase means that there was a great deal of art and culture, excellent paintings, poems, ceramics, and books, and people were appreciating the best works of the bygone era.
The Magyars (Hungarians) had originated east of the Ural Mountains but had been pushing westward since the beginning of the Common Era.
This quote indicates that Magyars, or Hungarians, originally inhabited areas to the east of the Ural Mountains, which they migrated over time to the west.
After John's death, the regency government of his young son, Henry III, reissued the document in 1216, stripped of some of its more "radical" content. It is still remembered as one of the earliest documents in the English traditions leading to developments such as the US Bill of Rights.
when King John died, the new regime under his young son Henry III re issued the Magna Carta in 1216, except for its most extreme clauses. This is still remembered as one of the earliest movements toward things such as the US Bill of Rights.
Perhaps the most famous Muslim traveler was the Moroccan Ibn Battuta (1304-1369) who over a period of about thirty years is said to have traveled 73,000 miles across North Africa, the Middle East, India, China, Southeast Asia, the edge of Europe (Constantinople) and sub-Saharan Africa (Mali).
That Ibn Battuta, a Moroccan traveler, is very renowned for traversing 73,000 miles over a 30-year period. His destinations included Africa, Middle East, India, China, Europe, and Mali, which lies in sub Saharan Africa.
One of the reasons written charters like Magna Carta and the [Charter of the Forest](Charter of the Forest) of 1217 were becoming more influential in England is that the level of education was beginning to rise. Before the eleventh century, education had been almost exclusively monastic.
Its implies that the significance of documents such as the Magna Carta and the Charter of the Forest rose in England because more people were being educated. Before the 11th century, education was restricted to monks.
In the late 1370s, Florentine Ciompi (wool-carders) briefly seized power and created a guild to protect their interests; but a counter-coup defeated them, dissolved their guild, and executed their leaders.
By the late 1370s, the poor wool guild workers in Florence took control of power briefly, establishing an association that helped them secure their rights. Shortly after, the ruling class regained control of power and eliminated the guild organized by the workers by killing the guild leaders.
After 1350, tenant farmers also began refusing to do the two to five days per week of work on the lord's behalf that had been traditional, and they began breaking the laws and customs that tied them to particular lands. Peasants fled either to towns or to manors that offered lower rents and more freedoms.
In 1350, most farmers ceased doing the unremunerated services they owed to their lords and also disregarded some terms that tied them to their estates. This action led them to move to other locations, which included cities, in search of cheaper rentals.
Zhu joined a rebel group called the Red Turbans. Zhu quickly became a successful rebel leader, showing tactical talent and building a strong personal network of refugees and orphans like himself.
Zhu allied with a rebel group known as the Red Turbans, and later on, he demonstrated leadership qualities. He was very good at strategizing and could rally people with similar backgrounds, which were poorer refugees and orphans.
Yongle was also very interested in resuming China's contact with the outside world, which had been deemphasized during his father's reign
Yongle realized that it was necessary for China to interact with the rest of the world. His father cared only for what was going on in China, but Yongle wanted the situation to change. He promoted travel, trade, and interactions with the outside world.
Men hunted big game, defended the band from predatory animals, and fought; women gathered, fished, trapped small animals, and grew the "three sisters" of corn, beans, and squash in garden plots they shifted when soil fertility began to wane.
Men are more dominant than women physically, since they have to hunt, defend, and fought. The women are strong too, but they have less physical things to do, like grow and gather stuff.
There is some value to reminding ourselves that we humans are relatively new, and certainly our recorded history only makes up a tiny sliver at the end of a very long past.
This sentence is reminds me and other people have been around for only a short time compare to how long the earth has existed, and our writing history is just a small part of that long time. This help us stay humble and remember that many thing we think are important may not last forever
After the death of Solomon, the Hebrew kingdom is split into Israel and Judah. Israel, with its capital at Samaria, was criticized for falling into the worship of calves and Baal and was conquered by the Assyrians in 722 BCE.
Solomon’s death, there were two kingdoms: Israel and Judah." Israel had its capital at Samaria, where they worshipped idols, and they were conquered by the Assyrians in 722 BCE.
Brutus faced Octavian while Antony's legions fought Cassius. Both Cassius and Brutus committed suicide. Antony is said to have covered Brutus' body with a purple cloth as a sign of respect. They had not been friends, but Brutus had insisted, as a condition of going along with the plot to kill Caesar, that Antony be spared.
In the battle that ensued after the death of Caesar, Brutus fought Octavian, and Cassius battled Antony. Brutus and Cassius took their own lives. Antony showed respect to Brutus when he covered him with a purple cloth, considering that Brutus was one of those who ensured that Antony was not harmed when they conspired to kill Caesar.
Flavius Constantius, a Roman army officer, became one of four joint emperors in the Tetrarchy system, and his position passed to his son, Constantine, when he died in 306
That Flavius Constantius, a Roman military leader, was one of the four rulers that the Tetrarchy governed. Constantine took over when Flavius Constantius died in the year 306.
Although Justinian succeeded in reunifying much of the old Roman Empire, his victory was fleeting. The reduced population weakened the Mediterranean region's defenses against adversaries from remoter parts of Europe that had not been affected by plague.
Even though Justinian was able to regain much of the old Roman Empire, his success was short-lived because this deterioration of population had also made the Mediterranean area vulnerable to attacks from rival European regions that had not been hit by the plague.
The Vikings also sailed their ships into the unknown in the North Atlantic, and in 874 a settlement party reached Iceland, led by Ingólfur Arnarson, who is traditionally considered the founder of Reykjavik. There had been stories of a large island dating back to at least 330 BCE, when a Greek explorer named Pytheas had described his travels.
The Vikings sailed west to the North Atlantic, and in 874, they, under the leadership of Ingólfur Arnarson, settled in Iceland, where Reykjavik was established. There were stories about Iceland, even dating back to 330 BCE.
Paper notes called Sakk (what we would call checks) were also used, beginning in Harun's era. And Suftaga (letters of credit) were used by medieval Jewish merchants called Radhanites and by Sogdian (Uzbek) caravan drivers. Because many of these merchants operated in family or clan based businesses, informal transfers based on trust, called Hawala, were also widely used.
That during medieval Europe, traders were using rudimentary forms of what we know today as 'checks' (Sakk) and 'letters of credit' (Suftaga). In addition, traders also used family-run businesses or ‘Hawala’ systems in order to transfer funds.
The new English king was killed in the battle and William moved on to London where he was greeted with the submission of the English nobles. He was crowned King William I of England on Christmas Day.
when the English king was killed during a battle, William moved to London, and the nobles welcomed him. He was subsequently crowned King William I of England on Christmas Day.
In Mediterranean Africa, a new Muslim dynasty was established by Muhammad ibn Tumart (c. 1080–1130), a charismatic Berber scholar from the High Atlas Mountains in southern Morocco.
That Muhammad ibn Tumart, a renowned and motivational scholar from southern Morocco, began a new Muslim ruling dynasty in North Africa.
In the next decades, during the fifty-year reign of Edward III, the Commons forced the king to redress grievances before they would raise revenue for him, and forced him to accept that no money could be raised through taxes or loans without Parliament's consent. At the end of the 1340s, the Commons started meeting separately from the Lords and the knights and burgesses began electing a Speaker for their body.
This quote states that during the long reign of Edward III, the power of the Commons increased. They forced the king to solve their problems before giving him any money, but they could not grant any funds without approval from the Parliament. Gradually, the Commons met on their own and even appointed their own leader, known as the Speaker
While the Portuguese were expanding down the African coast, trading for gold and hoping to find a route to Asia, they were also building a commercial empire on the "white gold", sugar.
The Portuguese were exploring Africa for gold and a route to Asia, they were also bringing in quite a lot of funds through the production and trading of sugar, which was very valuable then.
By 1455, Gutenberg was able to pull all these elements together and printed his most famous product, a Bible that was so perfect that its readers couldn't tell whether it had been hand-lettered or printed
In 1455, Gutenberg managed to put all his ideas together to print the Bible. The printing quality was so good that people could not differentiate whether it was done manually or by a machine.
This explosion of new knowledge and ideas into Europe sparked what we call the Renaissance, which literally means rebirth. The infusion of so much new material also democratized knowledge a bit. Young scholars at European universities were seeing these texts at the same time as their teachers, which challenged the scholasticism of the past, when interpretations formed generations or centuries ago carried so much weight.
This tells us that with many new ideas and new books pouring into Europe, there came a “rebirth” period for knowledge during which many people were able to share in knowledge and not merely senior experts. The learners and teachers studied new ideas simultaneously, and therefore, everyone doubted former knowledge without accepting anything presented by experts long before.
Potatoes are even older than corn, developed by South Americans over the period from 10,000 to 7,000 years ago, in a high-altitude plateau region of what is now Peru and Bolivia called the altiplano. Even today, markets in many remote villages still sell hundreds of potato varieties that people outside the region have never seen. South Americans bred potatoes for a wide range of uses. Because potatoes have a higher water content than grains, farmers learned to freeze-dry them for long-term storage. Potatoes would among the first “New World” products carried back to Spain by the conquistadors.
It is very interesting that people in South America were growing many different types of potatoes 10,000 years ago. They even learned how to freeze dry them to keep them for a long time. This was long before the Spanish brought potatoes to Europe.
During the nineteenth century, a period when Great Britain ran a colonial empire that included India, historians used this linguistic data to tell a story of an "Aryan Invasion" that brought the Sanskrit language and civilization to India from Iran, wh
This comment the writer thinks the idea is interesting and connects it to something they heard before. This makes me believe they understand how people in the past saw the taming of animals. It’s not completely clear but I can see the link.