Chapter 4 — Early Humans and Beginning of Civilisation

Chapter 4 of the Class 9 Social Science NCERT textbook, "Early Humans and Beginning of Civilisation", traces human evolution from australopithecines in Africa through the Stone Age periods to the rise of Bronze Age river-valley civilisations including the Sindhu-Sarasvatī, Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and Chinese civilisations. It explains how archaeology, fossils, and early writing systems help reconstruct prehistoric human life before written records existed.

• Human Evolution and Out-of-Africa Migration — Early human ancestors called hominins evolved in Africa. Homo erectus was the first to migrate out of Africa around 2 million years ago, followed by Homo sapiens—modern humans—who evolved around 300,000 years ago and spread globally between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago.
• Stone Age Periods: Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic — Early human history is divided into the Palaeolithic (Old Stone Age, hunter-gatherers using handaxes and scrapers), the Mesolithic (transitional phase with microlithic tools and warmer climate), and the Neolithic (shift to farming, animal domestication, pottery, and permanent village settlements).
• The Neolithic Revolution and Early Agriculture — The Neolithic revolution marked the gradual transition from hunting-gathering to food production through domestication of plants and animals. In the Indian subcontinent, Mehrgarh on the Bolan River (present-day Pakistan) is the oldest Neolithic site, dating to about 7000 BCE.
• Sindhu-Sarasvatī Civilisation and Early Harappan Phase — Rooted in Neolithic and Chalcolithic communities, the Early Harappan phase (from around 4000 BCE) developed copper working, pottery traditions, semi-precious stone beads, and proto-script graffiti, leading to the mature urban Sindhu-Sarasvatī civilisation by around 2600 BCE.
• Contemporary Bronze Age Civilisations — Four major civilisations emerged in fertile river valleys: the Sindhu-Sarasvatī (Indus and Sarasvatī rivers), Mesopotamian (Euphrates and Tigris), Egyptian (Nile), and Chinese (Huang He and Yangtze). Each independently developed writing, trade, urban centres, and administrative systems.

1. 01Homo erectus, inventor of handaxes and cleavers, was the first hominin to migrate out of Africa around 2 million years ago; Homo sapiens followed in a second major wave around 125,000 years ago.
2. 02More than 99% of human history falls before the invention of writing and is reconstructed primarily through archaeological evidence such as tools, fossils, and cave art.
3. 03The Stone Age is divided into Palaeolithic (hunting-gathering, stone tools), Mesolithic (microlithic tools, warmer climate, population growth), and Neolithic (agriculture, domestication, pottery, permanent villages).
4. 04The Neolithic Revolution was not simultaneous worldwide—Mehrgarh in present-day Pakistan is the oldest Neolithic site in the Indian subcontinent, dating to about 7000 BCE, while farming spread to the Ganga plains later.
5. 05The Sumerians of Mesopotamia were the first to develop a city-based civilisation and invented cuneiform writing around 3200 BCE, the wheeled cart, sailboat, and a number system based on 60.
6. 06Hammurabi of Babylonia compiled the Code of Hammurabi—one of the earliest known sets of laws—which served as a foundational model for future legal systems.
7. 07Egyptian civilisation used the Nile floods to develop calendar science and irrigation; pharaohs were buried under pyramids because Egyptians believed in the ka (spiritual double) that lived on after death through mummification.
8. 08The Chinese civilisation developed along the Huang He and Yangtze rivers; the Qin dynasty (221–206 BCE) first unified China, and China was the first country to introduce paper currency and civil service examinations.