Herodotus is usually regarded as the 'Father of History'.

Ancient stories of Mesopotamia are valuable sources of information. As per the stories, Mesopotamia is situated between two rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates. Mesopotamia was one of the advanced civilizations of its time. Its society was divided into three classes, i.e.

1. The upper class
2. The middle class and
3. The lower class

People belonging to upper classes led a life full of comforts and luxury and enjoyed special privileges. Agriculture was the main occupation of the people. Their life was normally prosperous. Religion was an important part of their life and people worshiped many gods and goddesses. Shamas was their main God. It was the Sun. Ziggurat was the name given to Sumerian temples.

Another description from the Bible: According to the Bible, the flood was meant to destroy all forms of life on the earth. However, God chose a man, Noah, to ensure that life could continue after devastating flood on the earth. Noah, built a huge boat, an ark. He took a pair each of all known species of animals and birds on the board, the arks which survived the flood. When other things were destroyed by the flood, his boat remained safe along with all the species. Thus began a new life on the earth. There was a similar striking story in Mesopotamian tradition, where the principal character was called Ziusudra or Utnapishtim.

• City life began in Mesopotamia (Mesopotamia is derived from the Greek words ‘mesos’, meaning middle, and ‘potamos’, meaning river.)
• It is a flat land between the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers that is now part of the Republic of Iraq.
•  In the north, there is a stretch of upland called a steppe, where animal herding offers people a better livelihood than agriculture
• Agriculture began between 7000 and 6000 BCE.
• Soil was very fertile here but agriculture was threatened because of natural causes.
• Ur, Lagash, Kish, Uruk and Mari were some of its important cities.
• The excavation work started 150 years ago.

1. Arab's Contribution in the Field of Science :
(i) The Arabs produced great physicians like Al-Razi and Ibn-Sina who respectively discovered the true nature of smallpox and tuberculosis. They organised hospitals, for the treatment of the infectious diseases.

ii). In Mathematics the Arabs spread the knowledge of numbers and trigonometry in the other regions of the world Omar-Khayyam a great Mathematicians of Arab devised a calendar which is more accurate than the present Christian Calendar.

iii). The Arab astronomers believed that the earth revolves round the sun.

iv). In Chemistry, the Arbs discovered many new compounds like sodium carbonate, silver nitrate, Nitric and sulphuric acids.

By the eleventh century, there is evidence of several technological changes :
1. Instead of the basic wooden ploughs, cultivaros began using heavy iron-tipped ploughs and mould-boards. These ploughs could dig much deeper and the mould-boards turned the topsoil properly. With this the nutrients from the soil were better utilised.

2. The methods of harnessing animals to the plough improved. Instead of the neck-harness came into use. This enabled animals to exert greater power. Horses were now better shod, with iron horseshoes, which prevented foot decay.

There was increased use of wind and water energy for agriculture. More water-powered and wind-powered mills were set up all over Europe for purposes like milling corn and pressing grapes.

3. There were also changes in land use. The most revolutionary one was the switch from a two-field system. In this, peasants could use a field two years out of three if they planted it with one crop in autumn and a different crop in spring a year and a half later.
That meant that farmers could break their holdings into three fields. They could plant one with wheat or rye in autumn for human consumption.
The second could be used in spring to raise peas, beans and lentils for human use, and oats and barley for the horses. The third field lay fallow. Each year they rotated the use among the three fields.

With these improvements, there was an almost immediate increase in the amount of food produced from each unit of land. Food availability doubled. The greater use of plants like peas and beans meant more vegetable proteins in the diet of the average European and a better source of fodder for their animals.

4. Some of these technological changes cost a lot of money. Peasants did not have enough money to set up watermills and windmills. Therefore the initiative was taken by the lords. But peasants were able to take the initiative in many things, such as extending arable land.

• The word ‘Feudalism’ is derived from the German word ‘feud’ which means ‘a piece of land’. Feudalism was a division of society that initially developed in medieval France, then in England and southern Italy.
• It was a kind of agricultural production relationship between lords and peasants.
• The nobility had a privileged role in the social process with absolute control over his land. They raised troops that were called ‘Feudal Levies’. The King of France was linked to his people through the system of ‘vassalage’. The King was accepted as Seigneur, i.e. lord. The nobility lived in manor houses.
• The cavalry and peasant soldiers were called knights. Minstrels and bards toured France, singing tales of brave kings and knights.

When William the Conqueror became King of England in 1066 he introduced a new kind of feudal system into Britain. William confiscated the land in England from the Saxon lords and allocated it to members of his own family and the Norman lords who had helped him conquer the country. Feudalism was introduced in England in 1066 following the Battle of Hastings and the Norman Conquest. The Normans, led by William the Conqueror who was crowned King William I of England introduced Feudalism to England. Feudalism was based on the exchange of land for military service.

Slavery in ancient Rome played an important role in society and the economy. Besides manual labor, slaves performed many domestic services, and might be employed at highly skilled jobs and professions. Accountants and physicians were often slaves. Slaves of Greek origin in particular might be highly educated. Rome's economy depended on slaves to till its fields and work as craftsmen, and its military might had traditionally provided a fresh influx of conquered peoples to put to work. But when expansion ground to a halt in the second century, Rome's supply of slaves and other war treasures began to dry up.

Martin Luther’s birth took place in 1483 AD in Germany. His interest was in analysis of holy tenets. In 1517 AD he created ‘Ninety Five Thesis’. In 1522 AD he translated Bible in German language. Martin Luther was disappointed with the Pope’s grand, unrestricted or dictatorial type of lifestyle. In his heart he developed the feelings of revolt. Another reason was the greed of Christian Popes to collect money on account of or through the medium of apology letter from people. Martin Luther opposed this and started a movement against Catholic Church. He assured people that in order to connect with God there was no significance of Pope as a medium. He published three pamphlets containing thoughts of Martin Luther for distribution.

• Address of German Feudalistic sect: Through this pamphlet Luther sought to end the special powers of Christian Clergy.
• The Bablonian imprisonment of God’s church : By this pamphlet Luther attacked Pope and his methods.
• Liberation of Christian Faith People : In this pamphlet he explained his principles of liberation. Martin Luther gave the name to his movement as protestant improvisation.

He advised rulers of Germany, Switzerland to get free from foreign influence. Pope and Church authorities told Martin Luther to stop anti-church propaganda, but Martin Luther clarified that he could do this only when any of his thoughts is proved against religion. This way he placed belief system in place of assigned work of church. With the result the support base of Martin Luther increased. Each ruler had the choice of freedom for choosing religious faith of people. Before 1552 AD the wealth snatched by Protestants of church was recognized. This way the contribution of Martin Luther in Reformation movement was appreciable.

Until the 1970s, historians used the term ‘industrial revolution’ for the changes that occurred in Britain from the 1780s to the 1820s.
From then, it was challenged, on various grounds. Industrialisation had actually been too gradual to be considered a ‘revolution’. It carried processes that already existed towards new levels. Thus, there was a relatively greater concentration of workers in factories, and a wider use of money. Until well into the nineteenth century, large regions of England remained untouched by factories or mines and therefore the term ‘industrial revolution’ was regarded as inaccurate: England had changed in a regional manner, prominently around the cities of London, Manchester, Birmingham or Newcastle, rather than throughout the country. Could the growth in the cotton or iron industries or in foreign trade from the 1780s to the 1820s be called revolutionary? The impressive growth of cotton textiles, based on new machinery, was in an industry that relied on a non-British raw material, on sales abroad (especially India), on non-metallic machinery, and with few links to other branches of industry. Metallic machinery and steam power was rare until much
later in the nineteenth century. The rapid growth in British imports and exports from the 1780s occurred because of the resumption of
trade with North America that the War of American Independence had interrupted. This growth was recorded as being sharp only because it started from a low point.

Indicators of economic change occurring before and after 1815-20 suggest that sustained industrialisation was to be seen after rather than before these dates. The decades after 1793 had experienced the disruptive effects of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Industrialisation is associated with a growing investment of the country’s wealth in ‘capital formation’, or building infrastructure and installing new machinery, and with raising the levels of efficient use of these facilities, and with raising productivity. Productive investment, in these senses, grew steadily only after 1820, as did levels of productivity. The cotton, iron and engineering industries had accounted for less than half of the industrial output until the 1840s. Technical progress was not limited to these branches, but was visible in other branches too, like agricultural processing and pottery.

• City life began in Mesopotamia (Mesopotamia is derived from the Greek words ‘mesos’, meaning middle, and ‘potamos’, meaning river.)
• It is a flat land between the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers that is now part of the Republic of Iraq.
• Mesopotamian civilization was based on definite plan. 
• The first Mesopotamian tablets, written around 3200 BCE, contained picture-like signs and numbers.
• Mesopotamians wrote on tablets of clay.

Realism, in the arts, the accurate, detailed, unembellished depiction of nature or of contemporary life. Realism rejects imaginative idealization in favour of a close observation of outward appearances. As such, realism in its broad sense has comprised many artistic currents in different civilizations. The movement aimed to focus on unidealized subjects and events that were previously rejected in art work. Realist works depicted people of all classes in situations that arise in ordinary life, and often reflected the changes brought by the Industrial and Commercial Revolutions.  Realism revolted against the exotic subject matter and exaggerated emotionalism and drama typical of the Romantic movement. In favor of depictions of real life, Realist painters often depicted common laborers, and ordinary people in ordinary surroundings engaged in real activities as subjects for their works.

Slaves were included in the family in Roman society.

1. THE CLERGY

• Church was a powerful institution. The Pope, the head of the Catholic Church, lived in Rome. Bishops were religious nobility.
• The church played a major role in influencing the Medieval European society.
• They collected the tithe, a tax from the peasants.
• Church ceremonies copied several formal feudal customs.
• Some Christians chose to live in isolation in abbeys. (‘Abbey’ is derived from the Syriac abba, meaning father. An abbey was governed by an abbot or an abbess)

2. NOBILITY

• The word ‘Feudalism’ is derived from the German word ‘feud’ which means ‘a piece of land’. Feudalism was a division of society that initially developed in medieval France, then in England and southern Italy.
• It was a kind of agricultural production relationship between lords and peasants.
• The nobility had a privileged role in the social process with absolute control over his land. They raised troops that were called ‘Feudal Levies’. The King of France was linked to his people through the system of ‘vassalage’. The King was accepted as Seigneur, i.e. lord. The nobility lived in manor houses.
• The cavalry and peasant soldiers were called knights. Minstrels and bards toured France, singing tales of brave kings and knights.

3. THE PEASANTRY

• Peasants and Serfs were two kinds of cultivators in medieval Europe.
• Free peasants laboured for cultivating the lord’s fields to provide labour rent. They paid a direct tax, called taille, to the king. European monarchs were called New Monarchs.

The Anglo-Saxons had a Great Council, which the king consulted before imposing any tax. This developed into the Parliament, with the House of Lords (its members – the lords and the clergy), and the House of Commons. The English monarch, Charles the First, ruled England from 1629 till 1640 without calling the Parliament.