Western civilization is now advanced; Eastern civilization is underdeveloped, although it was the opposite in the past. How did Western civilization surpass the East? But in the beginning, how did they divide the world into two parts?
Today’s Western civilization means Europe, along with Europe occupied by North America and Australia.Eastern civilization refers to today’s China and the vast region of Asia.
Fifteen thousand years ago, Mesopotamia, began a civilization that is the beginning of Western civilization. On the other hand, the river basin of China formed the oriental or Eastern world.
In the beginning, the two regions of the world started their journey in such an isolated way and in time, two camps gave birth to two worlds: East and West.
Different people have different views on why these two civilizations gave birth to two different developed civilizations separately from all other regions.
A group of researchers has come up with an idea in support of why it started its journey from western Mesopotamia. Many historians call it the long-term lock-in theory. According to this, the predecessor of Homo sapiens–Homo erectus settled in Europe in the west about 6 hundred thousand years ago.
Homo erectus, on the other hand, inhabited China, and South Asia, who were comparatively physically weaker than the Homo erectus in Europe.
As a result, the descendants of genetically Europe were physically benefited from the Homo sapiens of the East.
They give one more argument.
During this time most of Europe was covered with ice. Most of the time, they had to spend time in caves. As a result, they gradually became proficient in various fine handicrafts, which later helped them to invent more advanced instruments and techniques.
This theory has not received much support from most historians. Opponents, on the other hand, are of the opinion that modern Homo sapiens originated three million years ago, which originated in central Africa and spread throughout the world. This means that according to Lock’s theory, there was no genetic superiority in Europe over the current Homo sapiens.
At one time, geographical advantages and good weather opportunities were the key to improvement. From the reliance on nature to the efficient use of human resources, the more skilled they became, the more advanced civilization developed.
At the same time, the same kind of centralized power appeared in the East and the West. Formerly an isolated kingdom, the Empire was born at this time. The two superpowers that appeared in the west – the Romans and the Persians. On the other hand, the Han and Johu dynasties of China were formed in the east.
The two civilizations had the same form, just as centrally controlled bureaucrats of different levels, armies, and tax collectors.
The empire of the West had two parts, East, and West; they also had their own conflict. The Eastern civilisation in China was also divided into two parts. North and South. They also had conflicts.
Like two poles, the two civilizations at the two ends of the earth were engaged in their own spheres of internal strife from the manifestation of their respective powers.
All that has been said so far has been the scene of pre-Christian times. A new conflict began in Millennium after Christ. War broke out between the two superpowers of the West, the Roman and the Persian powers. Weaknesses began to weaken each other more.
In the middle of the 600th century, Arab Muslim power emerged. The Muslim Empire conquered parts of both Persian and Roman civilizations. At the same time, the spread of Muslim power provided an opportunity for exchange between the two civilizations.
On the other hand, China’s Han dynasty also began to weaken in the North-South conflict. Born Sue Dynasty, who united most of the north and south.
Such was the simple picture of the world until the eleventh century.
After the eleventh century, four superpowers appeared on the earth. North-western Europe: decaying Roman Christian, central: Middle East, Arab Muslims in Central Asia, East: Su Dynasty of China. Outside of this, Indian civilization in South Asia was an isolated force.
However, in this period of history the West was fortunate, the East was unlucky. In this period of history, the Eastern society was more developed, organized than the Western. The Muslim civilization of the Arabs in the middle was the catalyst of history and the link between East and West.
Born on the Silk Road, goods came from the east to the middle Arabs, who sold them to the west at a higher profit. Venice, Cairo, Damascus, Lisbon, the cities of trade began to expand at this time.
The Mongols did not come to build any civilization, they came to destroy civilization. At first, they hit the East on the Chinese power, destroying the Chinese empire. Then the Arab Muslims of the West were hit, and the Arab powers were defeated by the Mongols. The Mongols went west, breaking up and moving as far as Vienna in Europe. But the Mongols could not move forward. Hostile weather, geographical barriers, saved fragile Europe from being destroyed by the Mongols.
On the other hand, the Arab power and the Chinese empire were isolated, defeated, disease outbreaks, all together decayed. The storm of the Mongols weakened the two superpowers of the world, but the third superpower, the weakest Europe, survived. In the West it was the greatest fortune.
It was only after this period of the eleventh to fourteenth centuries that the West gradually emerged.
After escaping from the destruction of the Mongols, the second fate of the West was the crumbling Muslim empire.
During the Muslim Caliphate, the Muslims came into the hands of the extinct treasures of Greek and Roman knowledge, philosophy, medicine, mathematics. Europe then forgot all this. Arab Muslims preserved, analysed, and practiced them from seven hundred to twelve hundred, during this time.
Such preservation and dissemination of knowledge through the Muslims was the second fate of the West, which they have been using since the fifteenth century and are still ruling the World.
The third fate of the West was geographically stuck. Geographical limitations in the middle, Western Europe was then a kind of captive to the profits of the Arabs.
In search of alternative trade, Western Europe began to increase maritime knowledge along the Atlantic coast of West Africa. New ships began to float on the sea route.
As the situation makes people search for alternatives, in time it becomes a blessing.
Five hundred years ago such fortunes of history changed the fortunes of the West, then they never looked back, going forward, the western world was born.
The writer is a Physican and
writes from England
