MB 1 NOTES

THEME 1 INVESTIGATING THE PAST

THEME 1: INVESTIGATING THE PAST

1. WHAT IS HISTORY?

a) History is the story of people and past events in a sequence of

time.
b) History is the study of how man and society changed from the past to
the present.

2. WHY DO WE STUDY HISTORY?

History helps:
a) Us to understand the present and prepare us for the future.
b) To explain our customs and beliefs
c) To learn good examples from our predecessors (e.g forebears)

3. A HISTORIAN is person who uses historical evidence to write the story of

the past.

4. AN ARCHAEOLOGIST is a person who makes a study on the ruins and

remains of old civilizations to provide historical evidence to be used by the
historians.

5. The remains of old civilizations include broken jars, coins, parts of wrecked ships
or houses or so on.

6. AN ARCHIVE is a place where the official written records of a country are

kept.

7. A MUSEUM is a place where objects of interest are kept and shown to the
public.

8. MEASURING THE PAST

a) One of the ways to measure time is to use a calendar.

9. THE CALENDAR

a) The Gregorian Calendar

• This calendar uses the birth of Prophet Isa as a starting point.
• The first year is known as AD 1 (AD stands for Anno Domini)
• To Muslims, this calendar is called Masihi.

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THEME 1 INVESTIGATING THE PAST

• The letters B.C (Before Christ) is used to count time before the birth of
Prophet Isa.
• We count the centuries from the year Prophet Isa was born:
A decade = 10 years
A century = 100 years
A millennium = 1000 years

CENTURIES YEARS
First 1 – 100
Second 101 – 200
Third 201 – 300
Four 301 – 400
Fifth 401 – 500
Sixth 501 – 600
Seventh 601 – 700
Eighth 701 – 800
Ninth 801 – 900
Tenth 901 – 1000
Eleventh 1001 – 1100
Twelfth 1101 – 1200
Thirteenth 1201 – 1300
Fourteenth 1301 – 1400
Fifteenth 1401 – 1500
Sixteenth 1501 - 1600
Seventeenth 1601 – 1700
Eighteenth 1701 – 1800
Nineteenth 1801 – 1900
Twentieth 1901 – 2000
Twenty-first 2001 - 2100

b) The Muslim Calendar

• Muslims date events from the Hijrah.
• Hijrah is the journey made by Prophet Muhammad from the Holy City
of Mekah to the Holy City of Medinah.
• The first year of Hijrah (1 Hijrah) is in AD 622 (in Gregorian Calendar)

10. CHRONOLOGY is the arrangement of events according to the dates of times

at which they occurred.

11. TIME CHARTS or TIME LINES helps us to remember the events in history in
correct order of time.

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12. THE DIVISONS AND PERIODS OF HISTORY

We divide History in Pre-Historic Times and Historic Times. These times were
called periods or ages.

a) Pre-Historic Times
• This was the time before people learnt to read and write.
• It is divided into THREE AGES:
i. The STONE Age
ii. The BRONZE Age
iii. The IRON Age
• These THREE ages were divided according to the materials people
used for their tools and weapons.

b) Historic Times
• It refers to the period after people learnt to read and write.
• Historians divide the HISTORIC times into THREE periods.
i. Ancient Times – From the end of Pre-Historic Times to the end of
Roman Empire in 450 A.D
ii. Middle Ages – From 450 A.D to 1500 A.D
iii. Modern Times – From 1500 A.D onwards.

13. EVIDENCE is a sign or indication that something happened in the past. We use
historical evidence to study the history of the past.

 TYPES OF EVIDENCE

a) ARTEFACTS – weapons, tools, pottery, coins and others.

b) FEATURES – ruins of old buildings, roads, bridges, tombstones and
temples.
c) PICTORIAL EVIDENCE – pictures and photographs.
d) WRITTEN EVIDENCE – letters, documents, journals, inscriptions (on
tombstones) and others.
e) ORAL HISTORY – verbal information given by people who experienced a
particular event.

14. YOUR FAMILY HISTORY can be passed down by your grandparents and
parents and other members of your family.

15. SOURCES OF HISTORICAL EVIDENCE OF ANCIENT BRUNEI

a) The THREE types of evidence about Ancient Brunei were:

i. Archaeological findings
ii. Historical sources of Brunei
iii. Written records

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b) ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDINGS

i. Remains at Kota Batu

• A 10th century Arab account describes Sribuza as a city with houses
floating on rafts at the edge of a great bay.
• Archaeological findings in Kota Batu matched this description.

ii. Evidence of Po-ni’s trade

• Archaeologists found pottery and coins from China at a beach in
Muara.
• Another excavation of a 15th century burial ground in Lumut uncovered
ceramics from Siam and China.

c) HISTORICAL SOURCES OF BRUNEI

i. Syair Awang Semaun : an epic with stories relating the founding of
Brunei.
ii. Salasilah Raja-Raja Brunei: a record of the Sultans of Brunei after
Brunei accepted Islam.

d) WRITTEN RECORDS
i. Written records
• Chinese and Arab archives
• E.g. A Chinese report dated 977 A.D mentions a visit to China by
three traders from Po-ni by the name of Abu Ali, Khadi Qasim
and Shih Nu.

ii. From tombstones

• Chinese tombstone found in a cemetery in Ranggas dated 1264.
• Muslim tombstones dating back to 15th century with Arabic
script found in Bandar Seri Begawan.