Indus Valley Civilization

THE FIRST URBAN CIVILIZATIONS

by Anne Collins and Margaret Alston

Around the middle of the 4th millennium before Christ in a few areas of the world where agriculture had become intensive, the dispersed villages of Neolithic man gave way to more complex societies and a new phase in world history.
It seems that there arose four independent widely dispersed societies. They developed in the fertile alluvial river basins of major rivers. Agriculture had first begun on the lowlands of the mountains and farming communities spread from the hills to the open plains of the river basins. The four most successful early civilisations were Mesopotamia in the lower Tigris and Euphrates valleys, Egypt in the Nile valley, the Yellow River valley around Anyang in China and the Indus valley around Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, part of the Indian sub continent.
In order to be successful there was a need for a readily available supply of raw materials from neighbouring uplands and a system of irrigation to use the potential of a highly fertile lowland environment to be able to feed the population.
Many features in common were found in these civilisations, arising from the need to organise local production and long distance trade which in turn had brought about smaller regional centres where goods could be gathered.

Writing developed to aid record keeping.

Large public buildings were needed for the administration of city projects.

People who could administer such as priests or secular rulers became important in societies.

Centralised control led to the need for a specialised legal system, a standing army and the emergence of specialised craftsmen. Bureaucracy had begun.

BEGINNING OF INDIAN CIVILIZATION

Men have lived in India since the second interglacial period, from 400,000 BC to 200,000 BC.

Hand axes and chopping tools of the Early Stone Age are found in the Punjab foothills and river valleys as far south as Madras.

The more delicately shaped tools of The Middle Stone Age occur mainly in central and peninsular India. There are rock paintings depicting a hunting culture.

5 of the 6 large ethnic groups which make up the population of India today appear to have been well established by the 3rd millennium BC.

William John Banks - 1786 – 1855

William John Bankes

11th December 1786 – 15^th April 1855

By Judy Cooper

William Bankes was the most interesting of all the owners of the Bankes estate at Kingston Lacy.  An intriguing personality in the history of Kingston Lacy. He spent much of his time travelling, collecting art and mixing with high society.

Mervyn Tuchet, 2nd Earl of Castlehaven

Mervyn Tuchet, 2nd Earl of Castlehaven

by Sue Dunckley

Mervyn Tuchet, Baron Audley, 2nd Earl of Castlehaven lived from 1593 to 1631.

He studied law at the Middle Temple and was knighted by James I in 1608.  He was MP for Dorset in the Addled Parliament of 1614, JP for the counties of Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire.  He succeeded his father as Earl of Castlehaven and Baron Audley on 20th February 1617.

Roman Dorset

Roman Dorset

By Oscar Winsey 

Prior to arrival of Roman legions, the area was inhabited by a Celtic Iron Age tribe known as Durotriges, who were a farming community and as far as we know were illiterate.  Their kingdom stretched from the Avon in the east to the Wylley in the north and the Axe in the west.  They were capable of smelting Iron and made distinctive black pottery.

Caesar visited in 55 BC and returned in 54 BC but due to problems at home returned to Rome.  For 97 years the tribes in Britain were left in peace.  Claudius needed a military victory to gain support of his army so decided to invade Britain and with four legions; 5000 men in each plus auxiliaries, archers, slingers and cavalry, the total force was about 45000. They landed in Kent in 43 AD.  After bloody battles it took about 15 years to subjugate the Durotriges. Evidence found at Hod Hill and Maiden Castle found bodies hacked to death and killed by ballista bolts. Digs showed that Hamworthy was used as a port with a barracks on the water meadows by the present day Wimbourne by-pass and a road joining the two. Vespasian was the Roman general given the task of invading.

The Catholic Martyrs of Dorset

U3A History Group                1^st June 2016-06-12

The Catholic Martyrs of Dorset

by Eileen Mclean

At the junction of South Walks and Icen Way in Dorchester stands a sculpture by Elizabeth Frink. On the ground in the middle of the sculpture are the words “For Christ and Conscience”.  The plaque beside the site remembers by name 15 Catholic martyrs , all with Dorset connections. 7 were executed on this exact spot where the local gallows stood for centuries. 8 were executed in London and elsewhere.  Another 4 are named on the plaque, one who was banished, 3 who died in Dorchester gaol. All this happened in the 16^th & 17^th centuries

Weymouth – the ultimate resort
by Lester Cowling

Just over 200 years ago Weymouth was one of the most exciting and fashionable places in the world. King George III had his summer palace here. The socially aspirational could mingle with the rich and powerful, rub shoulders with the Prime Minister at a ball or even chat with the Royals. For more than a dozen summers Weymouth was at the very hub of the British Empire. It was Britain’s “most fashionable watering place”. That was about as good as it got.

The seaside resort and the seaside holiday are two of Britain’s greatest cultural gifts to the world. Weymouth wasn’t the first such resort. Scarborough, Whitby, Brighton and Margate, and even in its own way Blackpool, preceded it. But Weymouth made massive contributions to the development of the seaside.

·         First, Weymouth’s introduced the concept of the sea front or promenade – called in Weymouth’s case the Esplanade, a word later used in various resorts around the world.

·         Secondly, through the patronage of George lll, Weymouth popularised the idea of the seaside as a summer family venue.

·         Thirdly, it pioneered seaside entertainment.

John White - Founder of Massachusetts 1574 - 1648

by Jenny Meader

Rev. John WHITE (1574/5-1648), depiction during the Westminster Assembly of Divines 1643/46

John White was an Anglican clergyman. He was born in 1574, the second son of six children. He was born into a comfortable family, being brought up in a prosperous farm in Stanton St John in Oxfordshire. A number of his relatives had been clergymen before him and he was educated at Winchester School and then at New College Oxford.

It was at New College that he came under the influence of puritan thinking. Due to the influence of preachers such as Thomas Cartwright, the students there had started to favour the teachings of Calvin. They longed for a simpler form of worship, but walked a fine line between sticking to their puritan views and risking their livings - and perhaps their lives. In 1593, just about the time White entered college, parliament passed the Conventricle Act. At this time the Queen was getting nervous: to her, separatism was subversive, even revolutionary, as the monarch was the head of the church. Therefore, this act gave separatists a choice: stick to the practices of the Church of England, or face exile or death.