Category History

Who was Gautama Buddha?

          The word Buddha literally means ‘The Enlightened One’. This was the title given to Siddhartha Gautama. He became the founder of the religion called Buddhism.

          Buddha was born as a prince in the 6th century B.C. in a warrior community of Nepal called ‘Sakyas’. Although brought up in great luxury, he did not show any attachment to the material delights. Even when young, he had a sensitive and philosophical temperament. Though he had everything necessary for worldly pleasures, he was somehow dissatisfied.

          One day Siddhartha went out of his palace grounds on his chariot to get a glimpse of the town. On his way he saw three, sights which he had never seen before: a sick man, an old man and a dead man. These had a deep impact on his mind and made him sad and thoughtful. He could sense the eternal truths of life and realized that life was full of sorrows and suffering. He wondered if sickness, old age and death ultimately grab everyone’s life then what was the goal of life and how men could best use the comparatively short lives they had on this earth. These questions kept on hunting his mind.

          One night Siddhartha left his palace in the pursuit of his goal. He was then 29 years old, married and father to a son. He left behind his wife and infant son in the palace. He spent several years studying under various teachers, but none could impart him the wisdom he was searching for. Finally, travelling from one place to another he reached a place in North India, now called Bodh Gaya. There he sat for many days under a tree in deep meditation, until suddenly one morning he had a wonderful experience of a starting vision of what he had been seeking. The light that shone in him was the enlightenment he was searching for. Buddha delivered his first sermon at Benares on the banks of river Ganges.

          Gautama Buddha died at the age of 80 at Kushinagar, near Benares. After him, his followers were divided into two sects: Mahayana and Hinayana. Buddhism is now followed in Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Sri Lanka, China, Mongolia, Korea and Japan.

 

What was the Stone Age?

          The Stone Age probably began more than three million years ago. It faded away some 5000 years ago and was succeeded by the Bronze Age. This period has been described as the landmark in the human history when man learned to make and use stone tools. This was followed by the metal age when people learnt the use of metals. 

          The Stone Age has been divided into three periods: the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age; the Mesolithic or Middle Stone Age and the Neolithic or New Stone Age.

          The Paleolithic or the Old Stone Age essentially began with the appearance of the first ‘hominids’ or man-like forms such as the australopithecines. The Paleolithic men were all hunters. Their tools were generally crude and made by flaking. The oldest Paleolithic tools are about 2,500,000 years old. It is likely that apart from the stone tools, the earliest hominids also used tools fabricated from wood and bone. The Pleistoce Epoch began about 2,500,000 years ago and lasted until about 10,000 years ago. During the latter part of the Old Stone Age, people had learned the art of making paintings on the cave walls. They had also learned the sculpture work.

          The Mesolithic period or the Middle Stone Age usually refers to that period when in the north-western Europe certain advancement started in about 8000 BC and lasted until about 2700 BC. During this period finer stone tools were made. The hunters used tiny flakes of flint in arrows and harpoons.

           During the Neolithic or New Stone Age, farming and the manufacture of pottery became widespread in Europe. The New Stone Age began in the Middle East about 9000 years ago. The people in the New Stone Age manufactured smooth axe heads of ground stone as they learned to grind and polish stones. The domestication of animals was an important factor in Neolithic life as was agriculture, including the plant care and growing of crops. This was the period when mining also came to be practiced. By this time agriculture had started and the people started forming villages.

          When the Europeans discovered America most of the Native Americans (Red Indians) were living in a Neolithic state. Some Australian aborigines and tribes in New Guinea still lead largely a Stone Age life.

Who was Columbus?

          Man has always had a burning desire to explore the world around him. This natural urge within him to discover and see what lies beyond his own limited horizon has always led him to explore outside his own land. The explorers of ancient times often undertook perilous journeys across the seas as well as by land for trading, conquest and other purposes.

          But events were somewhat different in the 14th and 15th centuries. It was the period of Renaissance when people again became interested after a long gap, in every aspect of art, science, architecture and literature. New ideas and outlooks were emerging in all fields and the field of exploration was no exception. New lands and sea-routes were being discovered by European explorers. Columbus, a very brave and determined seaman, probably has earned the highest recognition in the history of exploration for his adventures. The most famous among his voyages was the one when he discovered the first sea-route to America, thereby opening it to the rest of the world. 

           Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) was a gifted voyager who had a dream to discover the sea-route to Indies (Asia) by sailing westwards. Sailors of those days used to sail east to reach China, Japan and India and managed to bring plenty of gold, spices and treasure. Columbus was convinced that Earth was not flat but round and thought he could reach Indies quicker by sailing west as this could be the shortest route. To translate his ideas into action he approached the Kings of Portugal and England for help who turned him down. Finally Queen Isabella of Spain agreed to sponsor his voyage and provided him ships, manpower and money, required for the voyage. 

Continue reading “Who was Columbus?”

When did the scout movement begin?

          The scout movement commenced in 1903 after the appearance of a book called Scouting for Boys, written by the then Inspector General of Cavalry in the British Army Lt. Col. Sir Robert Baden Powel. Although the author’s basic intention was only to formulate certain guiding principles to be followed by the existing youth organizations, it soon became evident that a new movement had begun. In fact, Baden Powel came to be known as the father of the scout movement.

          Baden Powel had held an experimental camp on Brown-sea Island in Poole harbour, Dorset, and put his ideas into practice. He believed that the youths should organize themselves into small natural groups of six or seven under a boy leader. Their training should add another dimension to their education by teaching them the art of mapping, signalling, rope knotting, first-aid and all the other skills needed in camping and similar outdoor activities. 

          A boy becomes a scout by joining a scout troop any time between the age of 11 and 16. Before being accepted as a scout, a boy has to take an oath that he would do his duty to God and his country or sovereign, help other people at all times and to obey the scout laws. The Scout Laws are: i) a scout is to be trusted, ii) a scout is loyal, iii) a scout is friendly and considerate, iv) a scout is a brother to all other scouts, v) a scout has courage in all difficulties, vi) a scout makes good use of his time and cares for others’ possessions and property, vii) a scout has respect for himself and for others.

          Almost all of the scout activities are based on the patrol which is the primary unit in scouting. The patrol leader takes part in the planning and running of activities. This does not mean that each patrol works only on its own. The patrols regularly come together for Troop Meetings and activities. The scouts from different patrols may even work for a particular Proficiency Badge in which they share a common interest. The traditional scouting activities are hiking, camping and pioneering.

          Scouting today is a worldwide movement. There is a Boy Scouts World Committee, elected by the Boy Scout World Conference which comprises all National Member Associations. The conference is the General Assembly of world scouts and meets every two years. 

Who were the Incas?

            The Incas were South American Indians who ruled an empire that extended from central Chile to the present Colombia-Ecuador border. The centre of their empire was Peru and they established their capital at Cuzco in the 12th century. The legend goes that the first Inca ruler, Manco Capan was believed to have been descended from the sun god. The Incas began their conquest in the early 15th century and within 100 years they had gained control of an Andean population of about 12,000,000 people. 

            The Inca society was a highly stratified and structured one. The emperor ruled with the aid of an aristocratic bureaucracy that was harsh and brutal in the exercise of its authority. Their technology and architecture were highly developed. Most of the Inca people were farmers and grew maize, beans, tomatoes, chillies, peppers, cotton etc. Nobody paid taxes, but every man was periodically called to serve in the army or to aid in the construction of buildings, roads, temples or mining. The Incas built suspension bridges, hillside terraces, long irrigation canals and immense fortresses, palaces, temples etc. and a few can still be seen throughout the Andes. In addition to all these, medicine and surgery were also highly developed. They made their clothes from the llama wool and cotton. Practically every man was a farmer, producing his own food.

            The Incas were conquered by a Spanish adventurer, Francisco Pizarro in 1532. Pizarro entered the Inca Empire with 180 soldiers. At that time there was a power-struggle going on between Huascar and his half-brother Atahualpa as to who would be the Inca ruler. Atahualpa was winning the contest. Pizarro captured him by treachery. In the meantime Huascar had been captured and killed. Pizarro then killed Atahualpa though the Incas fulfilled the demand of the Spaniards who promised the release of Atahualpa in return for gold. Now the Inca Empire had no leader, and it could not resist the brutal Spanish adventurers. The Spanish conquerors transformed the Inca Empire into a colonial appendage of Spain. Many Indians migrated eastward to escape the brutalities of the colonial system. The Inca religious institutions were crushed by massive campaigns against idolatry. According to many historians, the civilization the Spanish conquerors destroyed was in many ways better than their own. 

When was the United Kingdom formed?

          The United Kingdom comprises England, Scotland, Wales and the Northern Ireland and many other small islands. It was formed in 1801 when the ‘Act of Union’ brought Ireland under the same parliament with England, Scotland and Wales. The official name of the country was changed to the ‘United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland’. But 26 Irish countries left the Union in 1922 and formed the Irish Free State, now called the Republic of Ireland. Five years later the ‘Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act’ named the union as the Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and the monarchy is hereditary.

          Wales was the first to unite with England, having been subdued by King Edward I in 1282. The heir to the English throne has been known as the Prince of Wales ever since Edward gave the title to his infant son in 1301. But it was not until 1536, during the reign of Henry VIII, a Tudor monarch of Welsh descent, that an Act of Union peacefully incorporated the principality into the Kingdom. 

          The name Great Britain came into currency after King James VI of Scotland succeeded to the English throne in 1603 as James I, and United the two crowns, though not the nations. Another ‘Act of union’ brought England and Scotland under one government in 1707.

          The Union flag of the present kingdom is composed of the flag of England (white with an upright red cross), the flag of Scotland (blue with a diagonal white cross) and the red diagonal cross of Ireland.

          On 29 May, 1953, under the Royal Titles Act, a proclamation was issued which gave the Queen the title ‘Elizabeth the second, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the commonwealth, Defender of the faith’.