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COVER PAGE

PREFACE
CIVILIZATION OF THE WORLD is a triumph of mind over matter, of reason
over instinct, and of the distinctly human over mankind's animal nature. These are
what have made possible civilization, as well as culture, its constant and necessary
companion. The history of civilizations comprises only a tiny fraction of the time that
the genus Homo has inhabited the earth. Civilized societies those that relied on
sedentary agriculture, developed social stratification and economic specialization,
and created population densities sufficient to support urban life have existed for the
last 9,000 years. The main aim of this report is all-round civilization of the world. This
project report attemps to bring under one cover, the entire hard work and dedication
put in by me in the completion of the seminar work of Social Science.
I have expressed my experiences in my own simple way. I hope who goes through it
will find it interesting and worth reading. All constructive feedback is cordially invited.

Neha Lalwani

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
It is my pleasure to be indebted to various people, who directly or indirectly
contributed in the development of this work and who influenced my thinking ,
behavior and acts during the course of study.
I express my sincere gratitude to .. worthy Principal for providing
me an opportunity to undergo summer training at..
I am thankful to ......... for his support, cooperation, and motivation
provided to me during the training for constant inspiration, presence and blessings.
I also extend my sincere appreciation to who provided his
valuable suggestions and precious time in accomplishing my training report.
Lastly, I would like to thank the almighty and my parents for their moral support and
my friends with whom I shared my day-to day experience and received lots of
suggestions that my quality of work.

Neha Lalawani

CANDIDATES DECLARATION

I Neha Lalwani Roll No. , B.ed

of the K.I.E.T. BANGALORE hereby

declare that the Training Report entitled CIVILIZATION OF THE WORLD is an


original work and data provided in the study is authentic to the best of my
knowledge. This report has not been submitted to any other Institute for the award of
any other degree.

Neha Lalwani
(Roll No. )

Place:
Date:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE..........................................................................................................2
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.................................................................................3
CANDIDATE`S DECLARATION.......................................................................4
TABLE OF CONTENT......................................................................................5
1.

INTRODUCTION........................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
WHAT IS A CIVILIZATION ?
CIVILIZATION- (1) group of people living and working together for the
purpose of creating an organized society.
(2) the highest cultural grouping of people which distinguishes humans from other
species
(3) complex systems or network of cities that emerge from pre-urban culture
DEFINATION

From civis = citizen or member of a larger group.

The cultural achievements of a specific group of people (e.g., Mayan


civilization)

civilized = refined, polite, opposite of barbaric.

CIVILIZATION is a triumph of mind over matter, of reason over instinct, and of the
distinctly human over mankind's animal nature. These are what have made
possible civilization, as well as culture, its constant and necessary companion. A
thorough understanding of what civilization and culture are requires a knowledge
of all the qualities that make up human nature and a full understanding of all
historical developments. Since this is not possible, it is necessary to explain
these terms by the use of definitions and descriptions.
Some Basic Meanings

Both civilization and culture are fairly modern words, having come into
prominent use during the 19th century by anthropologists, historians, and
literary figures. There has been a strong tendency to use them
interchangeably as though they mean the same thing, but they are not the
same.

Although modern in their usage, the two words are derived from ancient Latin.
The word civilization is based on the Latin civis, "inhabitant of a city." Thus
civilization, in its most essential meaning, is the ability of people to live
together harmoniously in cities, in social groupings. From this definition it
would seem that certain insects, such as ants or bees, are also civilized. They
live and work together in social groups. So do some microorganisms. But
there is more to civilization, and that is what culture brings to it. So, civilization
is inseparable from culture.

Civilization, then, is the "city" of human beings, at any given stage of


development, with all of its achievements: its arts, technology, sciences, religions,
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and politics. The word city may seem strange, but it is used advisedly because
the emergence of a civilization and its cultural growth have always originated in
specific localities--in specific cities, in fact. To speak in broader terms--of modern
Western civilization, for instance--is to gloss over the fact that before such a
concept was possible there were first the civilizations of Jerusalem, ancient
Alexandria, Athens, Rome, and Constantinople. These in turn were followed by
the civilizations of Florence, Milan, Venice, Paris, London, Amsterdam, Vienna,
Geneva, Munich, New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco,
Los Angeles, and many more. If there is a Western civilization, it is made up of
ingredients from all of these original city civilizations.

What Civilization Meant


The emergence of the world's first civilization in Sumer brought to fruition the key
features of this form of organization. Sumerian society certainly met the basic
criterion of civilization in that it built on fairly regular economic surpluses. Sumerian
farmers produced enough that they could
be taxed in order to support a small but crucial number of priests and government
officials. They produced enough to allow some trade and specialization, thus
encouraging groups of artisans and merchants who did not farm. The Sumerian
economy also stretched out along the great irrigation
systems of the Tigris-Euphrates. One of the tasks of regional government was to
elaborate and maintain these systems: regional coordination was thus a vital feature.
The advent of civilization in Sumer also involved additional innovations building
on the key features of surplus and coordination: the creation of cities beyond the
scope of individual centers, such as Jericho, where at least several thousand people
lived and considerable specialization developed; and the invention of writing. While
these innovations were not found in all
civilizations, they were vital in Sumer and other early centers such as Egypt and the
Indus River.
Origins
The 17th-century English philosopher Thomas Hobbes asserted that the life of
primitive mankind was "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." From what is known
of primitive tribes that have survived into the 20th century, his statement seems to be
correct. At some time before recorded history, however, people began to group
themselves into settlements and, by cooperative endeavor, to make better lives for
themselves (see Ancient Civilization).
These first settlements, so far as archaeologists have discovered, were in the
river valleys of ancient China, India, Mesopotamia, and Egypt. These ancient
peoples developed tools by a slow and tortuous process of trial and error. But with
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these tools came a true culture. The people devised implements with which to farm,
dig irrigation ditches, construct housing, and make everyday utensils. To aid them in
their endeavors, they must have achieved the use of the tool called language, first
spoken and later written. They also had to learn rudimentary mathematics: how to
measure land and to count objects such as animals and possessions.
At some very early period, too, people developed the tools to engage in the
decorative, musical, and literary arts. The decorative arts probably appeared first,
even before any significant advances in technology. It is known, for instance, that the
remarkable cave paintings of southern France and northern Spain are perhaps as
much as 30,000 years old. Literary arts--poetry and song--could only come along
once spoken language had evolved. It seems likely that before people wrote to each
other they expressed themselves by drawings or pictograms such as the
hieroglyphics used by the ancient Egyptians.
Before Civilization
Between 9000 B.C. and the beginning of the Christian era, western civilization
came into being in Egypt and in what historians call Ancient Western Asia (modernday Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Turkey, southwestern Russia, Iraq and
Iran). The earliest permanent settlements occurred between 9000-6000 B.C. and
were accompanied by the domestication of plants and animals. Between 4000-3000
B.C., the first cities appeared in response to the pressures of population growth, the
organizational requirements of irrigation and the demands of more complex trade
patterns. According to our previous definitions, these societies of Egypt and Ancient
Western Asia correspond to what we would call civilization.
Around 10,000 B.C., many hunter-gatherers living along the coastal plains of modern
Syria and Israel and in the valleys and hills near the Zagros Mountains between Iran
and Iraq began to develop special strategies that led to a transformation in the
human community. Rather than constantly traveling in search of food, people stayed
in one region and exploited the seasonal sources of food, including fish, grain, fruits
and game. At a community such as Jericho, people built and rebuilt their mud brick
and stone huts rather than moving on as had their ancestors. In general, these
communities began to focus on seasonal food sources and so were less likely to
leave in search of new sources.
EIGHT BASIC FEATURES OF A CIVILIZATION:
(1) Writing Systems

Writing was needed for record keeping regarding taxes, trade, written
laws and calendars.
Early writing was made up of pictograms (simple drawings)

(2) Infrastructure- public works such as bridges, roads etc.


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Keeping cities functioning required public works like irrigation systems,


roads, bridges, defensive walls and in some cases plumbing

(3) Government / Laws

Early cities needed a strong government to administer unity, protection,


law, justice and welfare.
Early rulers had heredity rule. This meant they inherited their status
and claimed a right from the gods to rule.

(4) Art / Architecture

The art and architecture of a civilization expressed the values and


beliefs of the people that create them. Such monuments reassure
people of the power of their government and religion.

(5) Social Classes

In cities people were ranked according to their jobs.


Priests and nobles (top)
merchants and artisans (middle)
Farmers (near the bottom)
Slaves (at the bottom)

(6) Organized Religion

Most ancient people were polytheistic, which means they believed in


many gods who controlled the forces of nature and peoples lives.

(7) Job Specialization

City people developed many new jobs with many different skills. Cities
needed craftsmen, warriors, government officials, priests and builders.

(8) Development of Cities

As farmers settled in river valleys, they began to grow surplus or extra


food; this extra food increased the population of the settlements; in
time, the settlements grew into cities (e.g. Ur and Babylon).

Common Features of Civilization

Civilizations have certain characteristics in common. These include:


Advanced Cities and Architecture Cities are centers of trade. They
generally have large and diverse populations and advanced forms of
architecture (like the Ziggurat in Babylonia)
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Advanced Technology Technology is defined as any tool, invention,


or discovery that allows humans to work faster or more efficiently.
These can be as simple as stone tools and farming implements or as
advanced as todays computers.
Complex Institutions
formal institutions.

- Including government, religion, and other

Specialized Workers - People who do one or a few things well.


Examples include farmers, potters, basket weavers, stone masons,
iron workers, priests, scribes, government workers, etc.
Systems of Recordkeeping History doesnt really begin until the
first written records. Everything before it is considered pre-history.
Keeping a written record of even the simplest things in a society (such
as trade) and/or forms of literature, personal recollections, diaries, etc.
help historians understand the collective past.
It is how we
communicate with future generations.

Theories of Civilization
Most modern theories of civilization and culture place great emphasis on
progress. But in the ancient world philosophers examined the events of history and
compared them with the processes of nature. In so doing they concluded that
civilizations went in cycles. Aristotle noted in his 'Rhetoric' that "In most respects, the
future will be like what the past has been." The Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius
stated in his 'Meditations' that "Constantly consider how all things such as they now
are, in time past also were." This cyclic view was typical of the ancient world with a
striking exception: St. Augustine of Hippo, one of the greatest of Christian
theologians, was the first to enunciate a progress theory but one quite different from
modern ones. His notion of progress was not technological. Rather it was the idea of
a journey, from the city of mankind to the end of history and on to the city of God.
With only the exception of French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who
regarded civilization as a decadence from the state of natural man, most modern
theories of culture have emphasized progress. Here again the emphasis was not
necessarily technological. The 18th-century Enlightenment focused upon mankind as
comprised of rational beings who could control their own destiny and remake the
world on their way to perfection. In the 19th century, especially after the publication
of biologist Charles Darwin's works on evolution, there was the theme of natural and
inevitable progress through the means of natural selection. The great socialist writer
Karl Marx worked out a theory of progress that called for revolution growing out of
class conflict.
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In the 20th century a reaction took place against evolutionary theories in the
writings of two noted authors: Oswald Spengler, author of 'Decline of the West' (2
vols., 1918, 1922), and Arnold Toynbee, author of the 12-volume 'Study of History',
published between 1934 and 1961. Both of these men rejected ideas of permanent
progress in favor of cyclic theories. Spengler regarded civilizations as organisms that
are born, mature, and decay. It was his belief that modern Western civilization had
reached the stage of irreversible decay and would soon be replaced by another
civilization. For Toynbee cultures arose through mankind's response to the
challenges offered by the environment, declining through exhaustion because of
decreasing ability to meet challenges. One of the more interesting views of culture
was put forward by the American archaeologist Henri Frankfort. He argued that all
comprehensive theories are probably futile because the forces that motivated the
development of civilizations may never be known.
Cradle of civilization:
The term refers to sites of the emergence of civilization. As the cradle is a
place or region in which anything is nurtured or sheltered in its earlier stage. The
concept of a cradle of civilization has a focus where the inhabitants came to build
cities, create writing systems, experimented in techniques for making pottery and
using metals, domesticated animals, and developed the complex social structures
involving class systems.
Now many scholars believe that civilizations arose independently at several
locations in both hemispheres.
Ancient civilizations:
The Columbia Encyclopedia, in its article titled "Civilization," says that the
earliest civilizations developed in the following parts of the world: "Mesopotamia
Egypt, China, India, the central Andes, and Mesoamerica. However, we will focus on
the most influencing or mysterious civilization of past.
Mesopotamia:
Mesopotamia is an ancient Greek word meaning land between the rivers. The
term now refers to the area between the river Euphrates and Tigris River in Iraq.
Probably the earliest civilization of the human being, As many scholars believe that
Mesopotamia is the cradle of civilization, included Sumer, Akkadian, Babylonian and
Assyrian empires.
Mesopotamian civilization came into being existence due to the fertile soil with
efficient system of irrigation that produces the constant supply of food. People
started to settle themselves into a village shape community which evolved into the
independent city. Due to rare communication and transportation means each city is a
state of itself. Even the Akkadian and Babylonian unite all the cities into an empire.
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The peoples live in the mud houses. Their basic profession was farming however
there were some craftsmen, laborers, merchants and government employees like
governor tax collector or army etc. they develop an education system. Both men and
women are learned to read and write. The importance of education shown by a
Mesopotamian proverb, "he who would excel in the school of the scribes must rise
with the dawn."
Egypt civilization:
Egypt the gift of river Nile is also considered as one of the earliest
civilization. The fertile floodplain of the Nile gave humans the opportunity to develop
a settled agricultural economy and a more sophisticated, centralized society. The
Egypt was united from Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt to a territory lead by almost 30
dynasties.
The king was the supreme leader of the country the commander in chief of the
military and also the highest level spiritual leader. Under him was the vizier with
many of the religious and bureaucratic officials. These bureaucratic officers collects
the tax coordinate irrigation projects to improve the crop yield, drafted peasants to
work on construction and established a justice system to maintain peace and order.
Most Egyptians were farmer. However the rich agricultural economy allows
them to use their potential in other fields of life like architecture music art science
and mathematics. They made many innovations discoveries in these fields especially
the construction and architecture. They develop many of the musical instruments
and mathematical and astrological methods.
Indus valley civilization:
The Indus Valley Civilization, also known as Harappas culture, is among the
world's earliest civilizations, contemporary to the Bronze Age civilizations of
Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt.
The Indus civilization grew out of the culture's technological base, as well as
its geographic expansion into the alluvial plains of what are now the provinces of
Sindh and Punjab in contemporary Pakistan and Northern India. It was discovered
by RD banerjee in 1920. Indus valley is a mysterious civilization with many of their
aspects is still hidden. The Archeologists could not find much of the answers they
needed. Their writing system is still not deciphered. Its means of subsistence and
the causes for its sudden disappearance are still to answer. We dont know what
they call themselves. However the Indus valley civilization is known as the largest of
ancient civilization as it covered almost 1260,000 km. The ruins of Harappa
Mohenjo-Daro Lothal Dholavira Kalibanga and Rakhigarhi remind the preceding
glory, dignity, advancement and maturation of a great civilization. It tells a
sophisticated and technologically advanced urban culture of the Indus civilization.
Ancient Greece civilization:
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Due to the enduring influence of its ideas, ancient Greece is known as the
cradle of Western civilization. There history comprises of almost 3000 years ago,
however our focus will be on the Greece classical age (480-323) BC in which Greeks
reached their highest prosperity and produced amazing cultural accomplishments.
The Greece is a mountainous region and there cities are located in the valleys
or coastal plains. In ancient time these cities acts as individual states based on the
concept of shared social and political rights of citizen such as Athens Sparta and
Thebes. These states guaranteed a share identity, rights and responsibilities to the
citizen.

Alexander the Great:


Alexander led the most astonishing military campaign in ancient history by
conquering Persian Empire which spreads all the lands from present-day Turkey to
Egypt from Iran to Afghanistan and also in the India. His greatness consisted of his
ability to motivate his men to follow him into hostile, unknown regions.

Legacy of ancient civilization:


Throughout the history, ancient civilization developed many unique and
fascinating ideas that only made mark in history, but influenced society today. These
civilizations confined the beliefs of both scholars and the public. Many of the
fascinating and ingenious ideas that were developed throughout that time, including
their distinct social classes, their exceptional government systems, and their strong
belief in religion, influenced today's society. Science, Art, Philosophy, Language,
Literature, Beliefs, Values, Sculptures, Theatre, Architecture, Engineering
techniques, War strategy, Rules, Laws and constitutions all were due to the legacy of
the ancient civilizations to the modern society. Moreover the ancient monuments
their cultural depicters highly attract the tourists from all over the world which not
only a big source of the government revenue but also a strong element to build the
strong relations among the nations.
CONCLUSION
The development of civilization continued the process of enhancing human
capacity for technological and political organization, and the production of
increasingly elaborate and diverse artistic and intellectual forms. In this
quite restricted sense, the term has meaning and legitimately commands the

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attention of most historians. Because of the power and splendor civilizations


could provide, they did tend to spread as other societies came under their
influence or deliberately tried to imitate their achievements. Early
civilizations, however, spread slowly because many peoples had no contact with
them and because their disadvantages, such as greater social inequality, might
be repellent. Thus the initial advent of civilization, while an important
historical milestone, came in clearly circumscribed regions like the
Tigris-Euphrates valley. The history of early civilization focuses attention
on the generation of the first forms of civilized activity - writing and city
administration - and on the construction of linkages in medium-sized
geographical units.
Civilization, then, is the "city" of human beings, at any given stage of development,
with all of its achievements: its arts, technology, sciences, religions, and politics. The
word city may seem strange, but it is used advisedly because the emergence of a
civilization and its cultural growth have always originated in specific localities--in
specific cities, in fact. To speak in broader terms--of modern Western civilization, for
instance--is to gloss over the fact that before such a concept was possible there
were first the civilizations of Jerusalem, ancient Alexandria, Athens, Rome, and
Constantinople. These in turn were followed by the civilizations of Florence, Milan,
Venice, Paris, London, Amsterdam, Vienna, Geneva, Munich, New York City,
Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and many more. If there
is a Western civilization, it is made up of ingredients from all of these original city
civilizations.

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REFRENCE1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
2. http://sanskrit.farfromreal.com/index.php?x=hist_orig
3.https://docs.google.com/a/iitgn.ac.in/viewer?
a=v&q=cache:X0oGapk0jNQJ:sanskrit.safire.com/pdf/ORIGINS.PDF+&hl=en&gl=in
&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESj7hcJmArwnQVz_4YgwvhuAXwe56IMKeJDJSXLWOzJ4O0
YS5j9OGIqEIzIBQe80g7XG1VCOUeSwVyiMbqYPCUGTbLWVhUeyAdhJNXB4bP4
V78EWdoVUg7lHcZ8udw8P-HVHCp&sig=AHIEtbSn2gs_cvWO_lsjpONeeivji5qqpw
4. http://www.thevedicfoundation.org/valuable_resources/SanskritThe_Mother_of_All_Languages_partI.htm
5. http://www.hinduwebsite.com/general/sanskrit.asp
6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanskrit
7. http://evans-experientialism.freewebspace.com/sanskrit_exposure.htm
BIBLOGROPHYI. Friedrich Max Mller (1859), A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, Williams and
Norgate, page-1
II. Sheldon Pollock(2006), The Language OF The Gods In The World Of Men

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