A History of Agriculture in India v1.c41: Appendix I. Landmarks in the Evolution of Man, His Culture and Agriculture
A History of Agriculture in India v1.c41
- Language
- English
Appendix I. Landmarks in the Evolution of Man, His Culture and Agriculture
v1.c41.2
| 70 | Million Years Ago | Prosimians, earliest primates, develop in trees. |
| 40 | ” | Monkeys and apes evolve. |
| 20 | ” | *Dryopithecus*, a giant ape in the Siwaliks, India. |
| 15 | ” | *Ramapithecus*, oldest-known primate with apparently man-like traits, evolves in India and Africa. |
| 5 | ” | *Australopithecus*, closest primate ancestor to man, appears in Africa. |
| 3 | ” | Oldest known tool fashioned by man in Africa. |
| 1½ | ” | First true man, *Homo erectus*, emerges in Indonesia and Africa. |
| 1 | ” | *Homo erectus* migrates throughout Old World tropics. |
| 800 | Thousand Years Ago | *Homo erectus* populates temperate zones. |
| 500 | ” | *Homo erectus pekinensis* learns to control and use fire. |
| 400 | ” | Man begins to make artificial shelters from branches. |
| 90 | ” | Neanderthal man emerges in Europe. |
| 60 | ” | Ritual burials in Middle East suggest belief in afterlife. |
| 32 | ” | Cro-Magnon man arises in Europe. |
| 28 | ” | Man reaches Australia. |
| 22 | ” | First artists decorate walls and ceilings of caves in France and Spain. |
| 19 | ” | Invention of needle makes sewing possible. |
| 10 | ” | Dog domesticated in Iraq. |
| 9000 | Years B.C. | Jericho settled as the first town. |
| 8700 | ” | Sheep domesticated in Middle East. |
| 7700 | ” | Goat domesticated in Iran. |
| 7500 | ” | Invention of polished stone implements. Man cultivates his first crops, wheat and barley, in Middle East. |
| 6400 | ” | Loom, basketry and hand-made pottery |
v1.c41.3
invented in Middle East.
v1.c41.4
” Cattle and pigs domesticated in Middle East.
v1.c41.5
5000 ” Cave paintings at Adamgarh, Madhya Pradesh.
v1.c41.6
4400 ” Maize cultivated in Mexico.
v1.c41.7
3500 ” First potatoes grown in South America.
v1.c41.8
3400 ” Wheel invented in Sumer.
v1.c41.9
3000 ” Bronze used to make tools in Middle East.
v1.c41.10
2900 ” Plough invented in Middle East.
v1.c41.11
Irrigated farming in Iraq.
v1.c41.12
2800 ” Sumerians invent potter's wheel.
v1.c41.13
2700 ” Silk-moth domesticated in China.
v1.c41.14
2300 ” Harappan Chalcolithic Culture.
v1.c41.15
Cities rise in the Indus Valley.
v1.c41.16
Cultivation of wheat, barley, grams, peas, sarson and cotton.
v1.c41.17
Poultry, buffalo and elephant domesticated in Indus Valley.
v1.c41.18
2200 ” Harappan culture spreads to East Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat.
v1.c41.19
Cultivation of rice in Lothal and Rangpur, Gujarat.
v1.c41.20
1800 ” Ragi (*Eleusine coracana*) cultivated at Hallur, Karnataka.
v1.c41.21
1780 ” Kulthi (*Dolichos biflorus*) cultivated in Tekkalkota, Karnataka.
v1.c41.22
1725 ” Jowar (*Sorghum bicolor*) cultivated at Ahar, Rajasthan.
v1.c41.23
1700 ” Herdsmen of Central Asia learn to tame and ride horses.
v1.c41.24
1600 ” Aryans in North India. They bring wheeled *rathas* drawn by horses.
v1.c41.25
Pulses (*urd, moong* and *masur*) cultivated at Navdatoli, Madhya Pradesh.
v1.c41.26
1500 ” Tusser silk in use at Nevasa, Maharashtra.
v1.c41.27
Vedic Aryans in India.
v1.c41.28
Cultivation of barley, rice and sugarcane.
v1.c41.29
Irrigation from wells.
v1.c41.30
1400 ” Iron in use in Middle East.
v1.c41.31
1000 B.C. to 600 B.C. Later Vedic Period.
v1.c41.32
Second wave of Aryan migrants in India.
v1.c41.33
The age of iron and painted grey pottery.
v1.c41.34
Invention of iron ploughshare and axe. Clearance of jungles and expansion of cultivation in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
v1.c41.35
*Note*
v1.c41.36
While the diffusionists believe that iron technology diffused from the Hittite empire to Iran and other countries, some believe that it could have a multiple origin. D.K. Chakrabarti¹ is of the view that early iron-using centres in India could have developed in many places where iron ore was available. According to him, the iron age sites in India date from 1100 B.C. to 700 B.C. The earliest date is however much later than for Anatolia. It seems that while in North India iron technology diffused from Anatolia via Iran, in South India it may have been discovered independently.
v1.c41.37
¹ D.K. Chakrabarti, ‘Distribution of iron ores and the archaeological evidence of early iron in India.’ *Jour. of the Economic and Social History of the Orient*, Vol. xx, Part II