Introduction to Civilizations, Communities, and Kingdoms!
Sup kids? Welcome back to KidsCast! So let's immediately start this exciting article. You must've wondered someday or sometime, what are kingdoms, empires, civilizations and much more ancient cities or countries we can say (in other words), which were ruled by famous kings, emperors and rulers? Well, even before that, in the first place, how and why did humans start living together? Well today in this article, we will be clearing all your doubts! So let's begin!
For easy learning and understanding, we'll divide this article into 3 main topics: Communities, Civilizations, and Kingdoms.
Communities:
Introduction:
In today's world, we live in the most developed, hi-tech and brilliant communities humans have ever built. We have made skyscrapers and buildings reaching up to the clouds, we got access to the most remote places in the world, we are able to talk with people, friends and family from all around the world, and so much more! We have now even sent spacecraft, missions and rovers to other planets. We have electricity, and proper access to resources, we also have smart technology, and still are upgrading ourselves day by day.
But in the first place, how did it all start? It was not like we started building large and hi-tech cities from the start. It was not that we had access to so many things together and with efficiency, from the start. So in this section of Communities, we will study what are communities, how were they formed and how did they develop.
What are Communities?
In simple words, a community is a place where a group of people live together, to share the same living locality, resources, habitat and geographical area to live and for other activities. However, in this article, we are talking about ancient communities. Thus, even a small village on any river's bank or beside a river, with a few people living in it in small huts made of bamboo, is a community. Communities can differ in size and features. Some communities can be present in the coastal areas near the sea, and others can be situated in the valleys of high mountains. Some communities can be as small as 5-10 people living in them, and other communities can have thousands or even millions of people living in them.
In a community, people often have different occupations or jobs or activities to do. People have occupations like fishing, farming, cutting trees, hunting, making houses, making weapons, making bamboo houses, etc. But right now, we are talking about ancient communities. If we talk about today's communities, then there are occupations like engineers, teachers, police, government jobs, restaurant chefs, doctors, software management, entrepreneurs and so many more! The count in the list of today's occupations is endless!
How were communities formed?
Thus, this idea of living together to practice agriculture lead to the formation of communities where people started to live together. Unfortunately, we don't have any information about the first ever community formed, due to a lack of historical records, and no one has any information regarding it.
Development of Communities:
So as more and more people started living in communities, they started to become larger and better. Development occurred in terms of better houses, better resources use, etc. Houses made from straw and bamboo were being now made from stone and mud and bricks. Resources were more and more used. Weapons were being built. Subsistence and the ability to sustain with the nearby resources got even better year by year. Agriculture got more and more advanced. So development occurred in almost all fields. People even started to develop social feelings and the feeling of unity.
So communities were basically the start of humans living together for the first time. However, they were not much organised, and also they were not administered or managed properly. It was in civilizations and kingdoms where administration got proper and better. So in a nutshell, we can say that first communities were formed, then civilizations, and finally kingdoms.
Civilizations:
What are Civilizations:
Civilizations were very much developed societies and communities, which had a common culture, and a large number of people lived in them. Today, there are almost no civilizations. Only a few ruins and remains of some civilizations are present. Rest major civilizations are washed away because they were built a long time ago, however of course, after communities. Now, what is the difference between communities and societies? Well, a society is a place where a group of people share the same culture, interests and opinions whereas a community is a place where many people simply live together. Sometimes a place can be regarded as both society and community. However, civilizations are mostly referred to as societies because the practices, regulations, opinions, interests and culture were almost the same for everyone.
Rise of Civilizations:
As we can easily evaluate that civilizations were formed by developing communities and societies to a high level. In civilizations, there were a large number of people living in it, such as workers, sellers, traders, farmers, etc. And on the other hand, there was an administrative council or group of people who managed the civilizations. You can say that some civilizations were ruled by a few people, or simply rulers. However, civilizations flourished rapidly. Most civilizations were developed near river banks and coastal boundaries. Others were developed in mountains. Civilizations were large, with so many houses, and unique cultures. Drawings and transcripts were written and made on clay bricks and other objects. Many civilizations were made up to a large extent, and were made as large as today's cities. However, due to unidentified tragedies and disasters, many civilizations were erased from the earth's face. Only their remains and a few monuments give us the information that there used to be any civilization on a particular surface.
Examples of Civilizations:
There were various ancient civilizations which flourished up to a high extent. Here are the names of some of the well-known civilizations:
- Indus Valley Civilization (Mohenjo Daro, Harrapan)
- Mesopotamia (Sumerian civilization)
- Egyptian Civilization
- Maya Civilization
- Chinese Civilization
- Greek Civilization
- Roman Civilization
In the end, we can conclude that civilizations were much more developed than communities, a large number of people lived in a particular civilization. More trade, more different types of jobs and occupations were there, and so much more! It came into being after communities became large and people became well organised. However, it was still behind the supremacy of Kingdoms!
Kingdoms:
What were Kingdoms?
So kids! For now, of course, we are clear about the concepts of communities and civilisations. Now, what is a kingdom? Well, in simple words, a Kingdom was any very developed civilisation, with one monarch like a king or queen, who rules and manages the kingdom. So in other words, just like we have prime ministers, presidents and world leaders for our countries, kingdoms were ancient country-like very developed civilisations, that were ruled by monarchs, like kings or queens. It was more advanced than civilisations in having a better administration or the ruling and management, it had a better army to fight with enemies, there were more jobs in a kingdom, and it was profitable and sustainable for people to live in a kingdom.
Also, in simpler words, we can simply say that a Kingdom is just a region or land, which is ruled by a king or queen.
The rise of kingdoms may not necessarily be explained briefly, as kingdoms were formed after civilisations became bigger, better and more advanced. Therefore, a royal family ruled the civilisation, which then became a kingdom, and then the next generation's king or queen continued the kingdom rule in the kingdom.
The first ever kingdom was the Sumerian Kingdom and the Egyptian Kingdom. Other kingdoms were formed all over the world, in Arabia, South Asia, India, China, Europe and Africa.
Now, many people get confused between a kingdom and an empire. To clear this confusion, it would be great to discuss what is an empire.
What is an Empire?
While a kingdom is just land or region which is ruled by a king or queen and has its own economy, army and civilisation, an Empire is also ruled by a king or queen, but has several and even hundreds of such kingdoms and regions, and is the extent of the whole king or queen's rule. So in other words, an Empire is a group of several countries, regions and kingdoms, but ruled by a single king or queen. While a kingdom is permanent, empires used to expand. From Europe to America, Africa and Asia, various empires expanded. Some of the most famous empires were: The British Empire, Roman Empire, Mongol Empire, Egypt Empire, Maurya Empire, Gupta Empire, Maratha Empire, Mughal Empire and the Greek Empire. The British Empire was the largest empire ever, in terms of the area of countries or regions they ruled. Countries like India, Half of Asia, Africa and even some of America were ruled by the British Empire.
So kids, oof! This was a really really long article. We are so thankful, and declare you as an elegant reader if you read all the way till here! So that was the introduction to communities, civilisations and kingdoms! Imagine from where we are now existing! From a handful of communities, civilisations, and kingdoms, to this modern world!
Before ending the article, we have a quiz for you on this topic!
So see you soon! Till then, Happy Learning!
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