A RABI ROY PRESENTATION
About the Creator 2 I’m neither a historian nor a writer, I’m absolutely a reader. I study many a things to acquire knowledge for developing my level of consciousness related to the human species, in which I, myself, belong to, as well as I, often, share my acquired knowledge with people surrounding me, obviously, with those who are at all interested, aiming to broaden the sphere of my wisdom. My most favourite subjects are history of civilization and rights of human beings achieved through numerous struggles from time immemorial. I never turn down to react when these rights are found violated. I’ve special interest in politics, too. I believe politics is an integral part of civilized human society and everyone should remain updated and aware of the past happenings as well as political system which governs the state, an inevitable institution in the class-based society. Moreover, I like to read literature, short stories, novels and poems befitting the age, watch movies, theatres exposing the time, and hear songs captivating the heart, all of which help me a lot to overcome hopelessness and at the same time bring peace and tranquillity in my mind. Materialism is in the centre of my vision and being an outright atheist, I always oppose spiritual faiths and maintain distance from practicing traditional rituals. I strongly oppose religions; particularly those advocate slavery, support exploitation and propagate caste system. I strongly believe that in course of time mankind will turn again to primitive state-less society, a free society for free men and women, along with its vigorous achievements in science and technology in past two thousand years, and all those will be solely utilized for human beings irrespective of colour or origin. I dream for a global village with no war, but to reach this goal, long drawn bloodshed war, class-war, just war, is a must. May be it is a utopia today, but would be a reality tomorrow, and I consider myself simply a frontline fighter to clear the path, barricaded by moribund anti-human forces, to reach the goal.
‘‘
Quotes
’’
3
The History of Civilization Is a History of Border Walls Since ancient times, border walls have simultaneously assuaged and stoked our fears of outsiders. But a history of walls can't tell the full story of civilization.
Walls are not always built to protect people, but to separate them from each other. 4
Wall 5
Definition The English word ‘Wall’ is derived from the Latin, 'vallus' meaning 'a stake' or 'post' and designated the wood-stake and earth palisade which formed the outer edge of a fortification. The palisades were in use early on and are mentioned by Homer in the 8th century BCE and later by the Greek historian Polybius (c 200-118 BCE) and the Chinese historian Sima Qian (145-86 BCE) among others. Walls have traditionally been built for defense, privacy, and to protect the people of a certain region from the influence or perceived danger posed by outsiders. Source: Ancient History Encyclopedia
6
7
4500BCE: Uruk in Mesopotamia’s first walled city 8 The word `city’ derives from the Latin civitas although urban development pre-
dates Rome by many centuries. In the study of the ancient world a City is generally defined as a large populated urban center of commerce and administration with a system of laws and, usually, regulated means of sanitation. This is only one definition, however, and the designation `City' can be based on such factors as the: population of the settlement, height of buildings, density of buildings/population,
presence of some kind of sewer system, level of administrative government, presence of walls and/or fortifications, geographical area of the settlement, or whether a `settlement' was called a city' in antiquity and fits at least one of the above qualifications. Uruk is the first among cities which fit the above definitions of a `city’ developed in
the region known as Mesopotamia between 4500 and 3100 BCE. The city of Uruk, today considered the oldest in the world, was first settled in c. 4500 BCE and walled cities, for defence, were common by 2900 BCE throughout the region.
9
Walled cities were common throughout Mesopotamia. The most famous and, today, probably the most controversial, city in the ancient world was Babylon. It remains controversial for the same reason as its fame in that the city is featured prominently – and negatively – in so many of the biblical narratives. Far from being a 'city of evil’, however, Babylon was a great and prosperous cultural and intellectual centre, being the first, among other achievements, to perfect the art of glass making c. 1500 BCE as well as further developing the arts and sciences known today as astronomy, astrology, early physics, mathematics, law, literature, architecture, and sculpture. The great king Hammurabi first encircled Babylon with walls in 1792 BCE and built the first sacred temple complex to the god Marduk (the Esagila) including the ziggurat, a high stepped tower (which may have given rise to the famous biblical account of the Tower of Babel) all cantered around the river Euphrates. Babylon reached its height, however, under the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II (who lived 634-562 BCE, reigning from 605-562 BCE) who ringed the city three times around with walls 40 feet high and so thick that chariot races were held atop them. The walls of Babylon, and especially the great Ishtar Gate, appeared on some writer’s lists among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and were considered a marvel, encircling the city for ten miles.
10
Walled cities were common throughout Mesopotamia. The most famous and, today, probably the most controversial, city in the ancient world was Babylon. It remains controversial for the same reason as its fame in that the city is featured prominently – and negatively – in so many of the biblical narratives. Far from being a 'city of evil’, however, Babylon was a great and prosperous cultural and intellectual centre, being the first, among other achievements, to perfect the art of glass making c. 1500 BCE as well as further developing the arts and sciences known today as astronomy, astrology, early physics, mathematics, law, literature, architecture, and sculpture. The great king Hammurabi first encircled Babylon with walls in 1792 BCE and built the first sacred temple complex to the god Marduk (the Esagila) including the ziggurat, a high stepped tower (which may have given rise to the famous biblical account of the Tower of Babel) all cantered around the river Euphrates. Babylon reached its height, however, under the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II (who lived 634-562 BCE, reigning from 605-562 BCE) who ringed the city three times around with walls 40 feet high and so thick that chariot races were held atop them. The walls of Babylon, and especially the great Ishtar Gate, appeared on some writer’s lists among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and were considered a marvel, encircling the city for ten miles.
11
Mesopotamian, and later Greek and Roman cities, were characterized by their walls and this held true of other civilizations as well. The walls of the city known as the Great Zimbabwe (in modern-day Zimbabwe) defined it and those of the city of Benin (in modern-day Nigeria) were equally considered a hallmark of that site. It is unlikely that Mesopotamia influenced these other cultures directly and it seems more probable that walls were erected throughout the world without the influence of cultural transmission and simply as a natural response to the possibility of attack by neighboring cities and the uncertainties of the natural world. In China, the tradition continued of raising walls around a city (except, notably, at Angyang, which was never walled). Even so, there were cultures which constructed cities without walls or, at least, without ramparts of any great height or length. The cities of the Maya of Mesoamerica had no significant walls (though they did have gates) and the Egyptians seem to have dispensed with the concept of the walled city entirely.
The Great Wall of China 12
The Great Wall of China 13 The Great Wall of China (Chinese: 萬里長城 ; pinyin: WànliǐChángchéng) is the collective name of a series of fortification systems generally built across the historical northern borders of China to protect and consolidate territories of Chinese states and empires against various nomadic groups of the steppe and their polities. Several walls were being built from as early as the 7th century BC by ancient Chinese states; selective stretches were later joined together by Qin Shi Huang (220–206 BC), the first Emperor of China. Little of the Qin wall remains. Later on, many successive dynasties have built and maintained multiple stretches of border walls. The most currently well-known of the walls were built by the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Apart from defence, other purposes of the Great Wall have included border controls, allowing the imposition of duties on goods transported along the Silk Road, regulation or encouragement of trade and the control of immigration and emigration. Furthermore, the defensive characteristics of the Great Wall were enhanced by the construction of watch towers, troop barracks, garrison stations, signalling capabilities through the means of smoke or fire, and the fact that the path of the Great Wall also served as a transportation corridor. The frontier walls built by different dynasties have multiple courses. Collectively, they stretch from Liaodong in the east to Lop Lake in the west, from present-day Sino–Russian border in the north to Taohe River in the south; along an arc that roughly delineates the edge of Mongolian steppe. A comprehensive archaeological survey, using advanced technologies, has concluded that the walls built by the Ming dynasty measure 8,850 km (5,500 mi). This is made up of 6,259 km (3,889 mi) sections of actual wall, 359 km (223 mi) of trenches and 2,232 km (1,387 mi) of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers. Another archaeological survey found that the entire wall with all of its branches measures out to be 21,196 km (13,171 mi). Today, the defensive system of Great Wall is generally recognized as one of the most impressive architectural feats in history. Source: Wikipedia
14