88 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
some discovery or intention in some department of knowledge of Art resulting in advancing the onward march of man.
The development of articulate speech was the first thing which, from the point of view of human progress, divided man from the brute. It marks the first stage of savagery. The Middle period of the state of savagery began with the knowledge of the manufacture and use of fire. This wonderful discovery enabled man to extend his habit almost indefinitely. He could leave his forest home, go to different and colder climates, and increase his food supply by including flesh and fish. The next discovery was the Bow and Arrow. This was the greatest achievement of primitive man and marks the highest state of savage man. It was indeed a wonderful implement. The possesor of this device could bring down the fleetest animal and could defend himself against the most predatory.
The transition from Savagery to Barbarism was marked by the discovery of pottery. Hitherto man had no utensils that could withstand the action of fire. Without utensils man could not store nor could he cook. Undoubtedly pottery was a great civilizing influence.
The Middle state of Barbarism began when man learned to domesticate wild animals. Man learned that captive animals could be of service to him. Man now became a herdsman, no longer dependent for food upon the precarious chase of wild animals. Milk procurable at all seasons made a highly important addition to his dietary. With the aid of horse and camel he traversed wide areas hitherto impassable. The captive animals became aids to commerce which resulted in the dissemination of commodities as well as of ideas.
The next discovery was of the Art of smelting iron. This marks the highest stage of advancement of Barbaric man. With this discovery man became a “tool-making animal” who with his tool could fashion wood and stone and build houses and bridges.
This marks the close of the advancement made by Barbaric man.
The dividing line which marks off Barbaric people from Civilized people, in the fullest sense of the word Civilization, is the art of making ideas tangible by means of graphic signs—which is called the art of writing. With this man conquered time as he had with the earlier inventions conquered space. He could now record his deeds and his thoughts. Henceforth, his knowledge, his poetical dreams, his moral aspirations might be recorded in such form as to be read not merely by his contemporaries but by successive generations of remote posterity. For man his history became safe and secure. This was the steepest assent and the climbing of it marks the beginnings of civilization.