If you have a general image of a timeline of major world events in your mind, and a particularly good image of world’s map, then you can understand things a lot better. And this way, events become part of your memory too.
For instance, let’s make a general timeline of the world from religious perspective. We don’t know the years of Adam and Even or even Noah. However, since Abraham, we can generate the following timeline roughly:
- Abraham – ~2,000 BC (Mesopotamia)
- Ishmael – ~2,000 BC (Arabia)
- Isaac – ~2,000 BC (Canaan)
- Joseph – 1,800 BC (Canaan)
- Moses – 1,300 BC (Egypt)
- Aaron – 1,300 BC (Egypt)
- Joshua – 1,200 BC (Canaan)
- Samuel – 1,050 BC (Canaan)
- David – 1,000 BC (Canaan)
- Solomon – 970-930 BC (Canaan)
- Danial – 600 BC (Babylon)
- John the Baptist – 4 BC (Canaan)
- Jesus – 4 BC (Canaan)
- Muhammad PBUH – 570-632 AD (Arabia)
Note: “Canaan” is being used for Palestine, Jerusalem, Israel, Betelhem (Jesus’s birthplace), etc. In modern geographic terms:
Mesopotamia / Babylon = Iraq.
Levant = Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, and parts of Syria.
Persia = Iran.
Now let’s expand the timeline with a slight change in format with center of events around Canaan:
22,000-27,000 BC:
Last Ice Age. Humans crossed Bering Strait of 82-km between Russia and America. That was the first time humans went to Wester Hemisphere (North and South America). After the Ice Age ended, the two continents didn’t meet for centuries (which is why no Abrahamic religion there), pretty much till 1492 when Columbus arrived.
~ a little before 2,000 BC:
Hammurabi ruled Babylon. He gave earliest laws and social codes to humans.
~2,000 BC:
Abraham , father of Abrahamic religions, made two branches – one in Arabia (Ishmael) and one in Canaan (Isaac). Laid the foundation of Kaaba (Arabia) and Aqsa (Canaan).
Ishmael, son of Abraham and Hagar, is the father of Arabs and his lineage leads to Muhammad PBUH.
Isaac, son of Abraham and Sarah, was sent to Canaan. He’s the father of Israelites. Laid the foundation of Aqsa. His son, Jacob, was born in Canaan. who had 12 sons who led to 12 tribes of Israel. One of the sons was Joseph.
1,300 BC:
Moses saved Israelis out from slavery under Ramses II in Egypt. Story of Exodus. 40-year punishment in Sinai (when Manna and Salwa was bestowed on the people) and then they were sent from Jordan to Canaan. Aaron, elder brother of Moses, was his companion.
1,000 BC:
Time of David in Canaan. Special place among Jews.
930 BC:
Solomon expanded Aqsa which then called as “Haikal-e-Sulemani” or “Temple of Solomon”.
586 BC:
The Temple was destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon. Jews were exiled from Canaan for the second time.
539 BC:
King Cyrus conquered Babylon and allowed Jews to return to Canaan. The Temple was rebuilt some years later.
536 BC:
Buddha in India.
469 BC:
Socrates in Greece, followed by his student Plato, who taught Aristotle, who in turn tutored Alexander the Great. And Alexander came all the way to India in 326 BC and fought Battle of Hydaspes (Jhelum River) against Raja Porus.
20 BC:
Herod the Great expanded the Temple.
4 BC:
John the Baptist was killed by Herod Antipas (son of Herod the Great) and his head was presented to Salome. Israelis rejected Jesus; hence, the religious status of Canaan was taken away (according to Islam).
70 AD:
The Temple destroyed by the Romans. Jews exiled.
570 AD:
The birth of Prophet Muhammad PBUH in Arabia.
636 AD:
Conquest of Canaan under Caliph Umar Farooq. Conquered by Muslims and remained in Muslim control till 1099.
1,099 AD:
Crusades. Went under the control of Crusaders.
1,187 AD:
Saladin took Jerusalem but the region remained under different controls till 1291.
1,453 AD:
Conquest of Constantinople by Sultan Mehmed Fateh. That was the end of the Byzantine Empire (which was called Eastern Roman Empire). The Roman Empire was converted into Christianity under the Roman Emperor Constantine (ruled: 306-337 AD) who laid the foundation of Constantinople (todays Istanbul).
Now this is the key event to remember. When Constantinople was taken by Muslims, the land route from Europe to Asia was gone. Hence, Europeans needed something else.
They made ships. Traveled. Made map of the world. Darwinism. Colonialism. America in 1492. This can go on and on for pages. This single event made the modern world possible.
1,483 AD:
Martin Luther (not the King) was born in Germany. He laid the foundation for Protestant Reformation around 1,517 AD to reshape Christianity and opening doors for science.
1,517 AD:
Ottomans took Canaan it and ruled it over till 1917.
1,564 AD:
Shakespeare was born in England.
1,781 AD:
Battle of Yorktown in America. The final surrender of British in America, though America declared Independence in 1776. In Yorktown, it was British General Lord Cornwallis who lost. Later on, he was sent to India as Governor General from 1786-1793. Fought Mysore Wars and weakened Tipu Sultan.
1,799 AD:
Another year of big events. French Revolution in France and rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. Death of Tipu Sultan in Siege of Seringapatam. Rise of Ranjit Singh who captured Lahore and then ruled lands of Punjab and Kashmir till 1839. George Washington died the same year.
1,917 AD:
After WW-I, Palestine became part of British Empire till 1948.
2,027 AD:
The promised rise of His Highness.
Anyway, the main point was to keep it around Canaan and Prophets. Then gradually, you can make timelines in excel sheet. Then you can have multiple timelines. Then sometimes, you merge and play with them. And it’s like the entire history of the world is on your fingertips. Everything becomes so easy.
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