1. 1. In Mesopotamian society the nuclear family was the norm,although a married son and his family often resided with his parents.The father was the head of the family.
   2. We know a little about the procedures for marriage. A declaration was made about the willingness to marry by the bride’s parents. When the wedding took place, gifts were exchanged by both parties, who ate together and made offerings in a temple.
   3. Ur was one of the earliest cities to have been excavated in Mesopotamia. Narrow winding streets indicate that wheeled carts could not have reached many of the houses. Sacks of grain and firewood would have arrived on donkey-back. Narrow winding streets and the irregular shapes of house plots also indicate an absence of town planning.
   4.  There were no street drains of the kind we find in contemporary Mohenjo-daro. Drains and clay pipes were instead found in the inner courtyards of the Ur houses and it is thought that house roofs sloped inwards and rainwater was channeled via the drainpipes into sump sin the inner courtyards.
   5. Yet people seem to have swept all their household refuses into the streets, to be trodden underfoot!This made street levels rise, and over time the thresholds of houses had also to be raised so that no mud would flow inside after the rains.
   6. Light came into the rooms not from windows but from doorways opening into the courtyards: this would also havegiven families their privacy.

The civilization of the Indus River at Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa arose at about 2500 BCE and ended with apparent destruction about 1500 BCE. It is uncertain whether this civilization had its roots in Sumer or Sumer had its roots in this civilization Mohenjo-daro is another major city of the same period, located in Sindh province of Pakistan. One of its most well-known structures is the Great Bath of Mohenjo-daro Mohenjo-daro is located west of the Indus River in Larkana District, Sindh, Pakistan, in a central position between the Indus River and the Ghaggar-Hakra River. It is situated on a Pleistocene ridge in the middle of the flood plain of the Indus River Valley, around 28 kilometres (17 mi) from the town of Larkana.

The Sumerians developed the first form of writing. As Sumerian towns grew into cities, the people needed a way to keep track of business transactions, ownership rights, and government records. Around 3300 BC the Sumerians began to use picture symbols marked into clay tablets to keep their records.

Ali was the fourth Caliph. He fought two wars against those who were representing the aristocracy of Mecca. As a result of these wars, the rifts among the Muslims depened. Later on his supporters and enemies got divided into two sects. These two sects were: Shias and Sunnis. Ali established himself at Kufar and defeated Aisha’s (Muhammad’s wife) army in the Battle of Camel in 657.

Although Ali won this war but he was unable to suppress the group led by Muawiya, a kinsman of Uthman and the governor of Syria. Then he fought another war with him at Siffin, which ended in a truce. After the War of Siffin, Ali’s followers got divided into two groups. Some remained loyal to them, while others who left them came to be known as Kharjis.

Question.
What are the twin objectives of Caliphate?
Answer:
The two in objectives of the Caliphate are as follows:

To firmly establish control over the tribes constituting the ‘umma’.
To raise resources of the state.
 

Teachings of Islam:

• God, i.e. Allah is one. He is omnipresent and omnipotent.
• People should lead a simple life.

A new religion emerged which drew widespread adherence amongst the Arab population. A new and vigorous state emerged bringing peace to the warring tribes of Arabia. Expansion provided a common task for the Arab community, which reinforced the fragile unity of the umma. Muslim conquests following Muhammad's death led to the creation of the caliphates, occupying a vast geographical area; conversion to Islam was boosted by missionary activities, particularly those of imams, who intermingled with local populations to propagate the religious teachings.

A Nation State refers to a country with well defined delineated boundaries, resided by people with a similar culture, shared history and ethnic character. It is also supposed to have a government of its choice. The people in a Nation State are supposed to have unity, strength and cooperation.

• Writing began in Mesopotamia in 3200 BCE.
• Writing became as a records of transactions
• 2600 BCE the letters became cuneiform and language was Sumerian

• Cuneiform Script

  1. Meaning: It is a script of Mesopotamia. The word ‘Cuneiform’ is derived from the Latin words cuneus, meaning ‘wedge’ and forma, meaning ‘shape’. Cuneiform letters were wedge shaped, hence, like nails.

  2. Uses: By 2600 BCE or so, the letters became cuneiform, and the language was Sumerian. Cuneiform writing in the Akkadian language continued in use until the first century CE, that is, for more than 2,000 years.

Adolf Hitler, the leader of Germany’s Nazi Party, was one of the most powerful and notorious dictators of the 20th century. Hitler capitalized on economic woes, popular discontent and political infighting to take absolute power in Germany beginning in 1933. Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939 led to the outbreak of World War II, and by 1941 Nazi forces had occupied much of Europe. Hitler’s virulent anti-Semitism and obsessive pursuit of Aryan supremacy fueled the murder of some 6 million Jews, along with other victims of the Holocaust. After the tide of war turned against him, Hitler committed suicide in a Berlin bunker in April 1945.

The Bedouins were nomadic Arab tribes.

i.They moved from dry to green areas (oases) of the desert in search of food (mainly dates) and fodder for their camels.

ii. Some settled in cities and practised trade or agriculture.

The Bedouins were nomadic Arab tribes.

i.They moved from dry to green areas (oases) of the desert in search of food (mainly dates) and fodder for their camels.

ii. Some settled in cities and practised trade or agriculture.

• Mesopotamia is a flat plain. The excavation work started here about 150 years ago. Sumer region was the lower part of the Mesopotamian civilization. It was the heart of the civilization. Sumerians were the first to develop a civilization in Mesopotamia. That is why the civilization has been named after them i.e. Sumerian civilization.
• As per excavations, there were three types of cities in Mesopotamia. They were religious, commercial and royal cities. Ur, Lagash, Kish, Uruk and Mari were some of the most important cities of Mesopotamian civilization.

The royal capital of Mari flourished after 2000 BCE. Mari is situated much further upstream on the Euphrates; rather than on the fertile southern plain. Some communities in the kingdom of Mari had both farmers and pastoralists. Most of its territory was used for pasturing sheep and goats. Exchange of materials was the norm between herders and farmers. But access or denial of access to water resources often led to conflict between herders and farmers. Nomadic communities of the western desert often came to the prosperous agricultural heartland. Some of them also worked as harvest laborers or hired soldiers. Some of them became prosperous and settled down. A few gained power to establish their own rule. Akkadians, Amorites, Assyrians and Aramaeans were examples of such herders.

When Marwan II won the civil war that led to his ascension as Caliph in 744, the Abbasids sensed their moment. Ibrahim sent Abu Muslim a black flag signaling the start of a revolt. The revolt began in June 747 in Merv, a city center of the Khorasan region. A rebel army 2,000 unleashed their discontent in revolution and their drove out the governor of the region Nasr bin Sayyar into hiding in Wasit, Iraq.

As the revolution raged, the Umayyads imprisoned Ibrahim, where he would die in his cell years later. But even with the imprisonment of the head of the Abbasid cause, the revolt spread growing into a revolution against the Caliphate. In 747, they captured Herat and wrestled for the control of Persia. In 748, they advanced to Iraq capturing Kufa. Other major cities fell such as Istafan and Reyy. By the late months 749, Abu Muslim and the Abbasid revolutionaries controlled Persia and Mesopotamia. In November 749, with Ibrahim dead in prison in the same year, Abu Muslim and the revolution appointed the new head of the Abbasids, Abu al-Abbas, as Amir al-Muminin or commander of the faithful and Caliph.

In 750, the Abbasids faced a threat from the Caliph Marwan II himself marching his army against the rebels. The Abbasid and the Umayyad armies met in the Great Zab River where the former dealt a decisive blow against the latter. The Abbasid victory forced Caliph Marwan II to flee, first to Harran, a city near the modern borders of Turkey and Iraq, and then to Egypt. In Egypt he was captured and executed by Abbasid supporters. Those responsible for Marwan II’s death sent his head, Caliphal staff and ring back to the new Abbasid Caliph Abu al-Abbas.

With the death of the Marwan II, Damascus and other Umayyad strongholds in Syria surrendered. The tombs of the Umayyad caliphs desecrated. Caliph Abu al-Abbas, however, believed his position as precarious as long as other Umayyad princes remained.Tales recounted al-Abbas ended the threat through a banquet. A banquet where he invited the family members of the Umayyad. Then, he treacherously ordered the killings of the members while he enjoyed the food of the feast. The act cemented his nickname As-Saffah – the Blood-shedder. But 1 Umayyad prince escaped the slaughter, Prince Abdul Rahman ibn Muawiya.

He fled Syria and then into North Africa before crossing the Strait of Gibraltar and into the Emirate of Cordoba. There he established a renegade Emirate and later Caliphate – the Cordoba Caliphate. Making the most western province of the Islamic Empire the last bastion of Umayyad Caliphate.  

Town Planning: The discovery of the Sumerian city of Ur has shed light on the lives of the early Mesopotamians. The Mesopotamian cities fell short in terms of town planning as compared to the Harappan centres but followed a uniform pattern nevertheless. The city was divided into three parts - the sacred area, the walled city on a mound and the outer town. The sacred area consisted of the temple tower or the ziggurat dedicated to the patron god of the city. There were also smaller temples of other gods. This area also had the storehouse as well as the offices. People resided in the walled city and the outer town areas. Houses were constructed along the streets, and each house had a central courtyard with rooms attached around it.

Monasteries were Christian institutions of the medieval Europe where devotee Christians lead a life of isolation dedicated to the worship of God. These monasteries were located far from the areas of human habitation. The two famous monasteries were St. Benedict in Italy and Cluny in Burgundy. The functions performed by these monasteries are as follows:

(a) Preaching: Monks and nuns moved from one place to another to spread the words of Christianity among the people.

(b) Charity: Monasteries served the sick and arranged food for the poor people. The monasteries served as inns for the travellers. They could rest in these monasteries and then continue their journey.

(c) Learning centres: Monasteries provided education to the community children and those who wanted to become monks.

(d) Cultural Enrichment:

(i) Most monks and nuns were educated and learned, so they spent their time copying books and masterpieces like the works of Cicero and Virgil. 

(ii) Monks also wrote chronicles; they noted down all important events of their times.

(iii) Monasteries encouraged development of art and architecture. Monks and nuns served God as his creative artists.

One brilliant example is Abbess Hildegard who developed the practice of community singing in churches. Among living beings, it is humans alone that have a language. Humans may have possessed a small number of speech sounds in the initial stage.

• Niccolo Machiavelli wrote about human nature in the fifteenth chapter of his book, The Prince (1513). Machiavelli believed that ‘all men are bad and ever ready to display their vicious nature partly because of the fact that human desires are insatiable’. The most powerful motive Machiavelli saw as the incentive for every human action is self-interest.
• Luther argued that a person did not need priests to establish contact with God.  In 1517 he wrote the ‘Ninety-Five Theses’, challenging the authority of the church.
• However, Luther did not support radicalism. The Catholic Church itself did not escape the impact of these ideas, and began to reform itself from within.
• William Tyndale (1494-1536), an English Lutheran who translated the Bible into English in 1506, defended Protestantism. He said that clergy had forged the process, order and meaning of the ancient texts particularly because it was in Greek and Latin, inaccessible to the common man.