ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Society and History Evolution and Change in History Whatever has been discussed so far concerns one of the two , most important problems of history, i.e., nature of history ­whether it is materialistic or not. The other important problem concerns change and evolution in human history. We know that social life is not confined to man alone. Some other living creatures also have social life to some extent.

They organize their lives on the basis of cooperation, division of labour, and sharing of responsibilities according to set rules and regulations. We all know that the honeybee is such a creature. But there is a basic difference between the social existence of man and that of other animals; the pattern of their social life always remains fixed and static.

Any evolution and change do not take place in the system of their existence, or in the words of Morris Metterlink, in their culture, if the term 'culture' can be used for animals. On the contrary, social life of man is ever changing and dynamic. There is not just a movement, but even an acceleration; i.e. the rate of movement increases with time. Thus the history of human social existence has different periods which are dis­tinguished from one another in various aspects.

For instance there are different periods according to the means of livelihood: the period of hunting, the period of cultivation, and the period of industrialization. According to economic system the different periods may be classified as the period of communism, the period of slavery, the period of feu­dalism, the period of capitalism, and the period of socialism.

According to political system, we have the period of tribal rule, the period of despotic monarchy, the period of aristocracy, and the period of democracy; according to sex, the period of matriarchy, and the period of patriarchy. In the same way we may have other classifications from the viewpoint of other aspects. Why isn't such a change exhibited in the social life of other animals?

What is the secret of this change, and what is the main factor responsible for transition of man from one social phase to another? In other words, what is that human faculty that propels human exis­tence forward, and which is not possessed by the animals? How does this transition and advancement occur, what are the laws that govern it, and by what mechanism is it controlled?