History defination

History

History defination

History is the study of past. History word comes from the Greek word :"Historia" which means leaning or knowing by enquiry.The word history was introduced by the greek historians Herodotus. Historians seek knowledge of the past using historical sources such as written documents, oral accounts, art and material artifacts, and ecological markers. Historians also debate the nature of history as an end in itself, as well as its usefulness to give perspective on the problems of the present.

Why do we study history?

1.it helps us to know our past. Through its help we come to know our ancestors,their struggle for existence and the great achievements they made.

2.Through its study we come to know about a great many kings and statesmen as well as ordinary peaple who have shaped the pages of history.

3. Its study enables us to gain a knowledge of the continuous development of man's culture and civilisation. It includes the study of art, architecture, literature, religion, etc.
4. The study of ancients of history helps us a lot in understanding the present day problems and in seeking their solution in a better way.

4. It is from the study of history that we come to know the origin and evolution of different languages that we speak today.

5. the study of history helps us to understand the basics nature of our society.

Sources of History

As one can hardly glance at the yonder shore of the sea, so it is quite difficult for the present day student of history to peep into historical past. Still there are certain sources are called historical sources are called historical sources which can be easily classified into two major groups:(a)Literary sources ,(b) Archeological sources.

Literary source

The story of man on this earth goes back to several thousand years. We can learn about it from the evidences left by our ancestors. About the near past, we have written records there was no paper to write on, our encestors wrote their records on various objects like the dried 'bhojpatras', the bark of tree, plates of copper or even solid rocks, pillars and stones on which they incribed important events of their time. Later on they wrote on paper. It is from this recorded evidence that our historians have constructed the history of mankind as we know it today.

The handwritten account of contemporary events, that help us in knowing aur past, are called 'Manuscript'. These manuscript were prepared by the few learned men of their age in different languages and scripts. Remember, by script we mean the form manuscripts have been lost or destroyed throught the past centuries but still the historians have succeeded in construncting the wonderful story of men.

The literary sources have proved very useful for the study of history in their own way.

Religious literature

the religious books of the Hindus the vedas, the brahmanas, the Aranyakes, the Puranes etc. the Buddhist books Tripitakas, jatakas, Dipvamsa and Mahavamsa, etc. and jains book Angas, through purely religious, throw a food of light on the social, religious, political and economic life of the ancient peaple The vedas tell us a lot about the life and culture of the Aryans.From their study we come to known as to how the Aryans worshipped the different forces of nature. An account of the Aryans Struggle with the aborigines(original inhabitants) whom they called 'Dasyus' is also to be found in the vedas. An important information relating to the area occupied by the Aryans is also furnished by the vedas. The Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the two great epics, give us a good deal of information about the social and political life of the Aryans of the Epic Age. Not only are the names of rulers like Dasratha, rama, janaka, Yudhisthira and Duryodhana mentioned but a picture of the extent of their empires, their relations with the neighbouring states, models of warfare and their social customs and practics is also vividly drawn. From their study we come to know that gambling, 'Swayamvara', polygamy and other such practices were prevalent in the Epic social.

The eighteen puranas, through full of mythology, still provide useful information regarding certain historical dynasties and their rulers. The Tripitakas and jatakas of the Buddhist and angas of jain also throw very valuable light on some very obscure(very difficult to understand) periods of the indian history. Through purely religious, they do contain here and there some very useful references to the contemporary society and the political and economic condition of those days.

Who was Herodotus?

Herodotus was born in about 485 B.C. in the Greek city of Halicarnassus, a lively commercial center on the southwestern coast of Asia Minor.He come from a wealthy and cosmopolitan Greek-Carian merchant family. Herodotus 'family opposed Lygdamis ' rule and was sent into exile on the island of Samos.When he was a young man, Herodotus return briefly to Halicarnassus to take part in an abortive anti-Persian rebellion. After that, however ,the writer never returned to his home city again.

Instead of setting in one place, Herodotus spent his life traveling from one persian territory to another. He crossed the Mediterranean to Egypt and traveled through parestine to Syria and Babylon.

He headed to Macedonia and visited all the islands of the Greek Archipelago.He sailed through the Hellespont to the black sea and kept going unti he hit the Danube River.

While he traveled, Herodotus collected what is called "autopsies," or "personal inquiries": He listened to myths and legends, recorded oral histories and made notes.

When Herodotus was not tra veling, he return to Athens; there, he became something of a celebrity. He gave reading in public places and collected fees from official for his appearances.

In 445 B.C.,the peaple of Athens voted to give him a prize 10 talents-almost $200,000 in today's money to honor him for his contribution to the city's intellectual life.Herodotus spent his entire life working on just on project:an account of the origins and execution of the Greco-Persian wars (499-479)that he called "the Histories."

Historiography

Historiography mean the writing of history, the study of historical methodology, the analysis of the different schools of interpretation on a particular historical topic, or the history of historical writing.1 It is not surprising that many readers are either unfamiliar with the concept of historiography altogether, or at best view it as a dry and esoteric subject, of interest only to specialists, when even historians have often treated historiography in this way. The English historian G. R. Elton articulated the view of historiography as a narrow subfield that is somehow different from “real” historical study when he declared, “There are times when work on the history of history must appear distinctly narcissistic, especially when it deals with ages which did not regard history very highly.

prehistory

The history of the world is the memory of the past experience of Homo sapiens sapiens around the world, as that experience has been preserved, largely in written records. by prehistory, historian means the periods of time for which there are no written records. Since the 20th century, the study of prehistory is considered essential to avoid history's implicit exclusion of certain civilizations, such as those of Sub-Saharan Africa and pre-Columbian America. Our knowledge of this periods totally dependent on the findings of Archeologists.Archeologist dug deep into the earth and discovered the physical remains like pots, jewellery, tools, bones, coins etc. With the help of these things they learnt about the past.

The palaeolithic age

The time between 5,00,000 B.C. to 10,000 B.C. is called palaeolithic age also called the old stone age.The primitive man in the beginning was a little better than the wild animals.The only different between them was that while the man walked on the feet and did all other jobs with his hands, the animals walked on all four.

Food-Gatherer and hunter

The primitive man did not know how to produce his own food, so he was always on the move in search of new places where he could find more food easily. Thus, the early man was a 'noman' or a 'wanderer,in search of food and shelter.' such a man lived near 5,00,000 years ago.

Man by nature is weaker than animal like tigers, lions, elephants, great reptils like dinosaurs and great lizard, etc. He had neither sharp teeth nor claws or horns, so groups of mens, womens, and children lived together. They also wandered in groups when they moved in search of food or went for hunting. They also used sharp stones which they had shaped into Knives, axe-heads, choppers, etc. These tools and implements helped them to kill animals, to remove their skins, to fell trees, to dig the earth and to shape wood and stone. As these tools and weapons were made of stone; so the periods, when these peaple lived on earth, is known as 'the stone age'

Clothes and shelter

The primitive Man of the old stone age was guided purely by his physical needs. He gathered food when he felt hungry. Similarrly,he covered his body only to protect himself against cold and rain.For this purpose, he wore skins of the animals whom he hunted for food or the barks of the threes, etc. He took shelter in caves or hid himself among thick tree leaves to protect himself from whid beast and the rough weather.

Discovery of Fire

It was probably at the end of the Old Stone Age that the primitive man discovered that spark flickered while striking two pieces of flint could be made into fire. This 'fire' brought a great change in his life. Burning of fire could be used to keep him warm in the cold season, to get light in his cave and to scare away the wild animals at night. Later on, he roasted his food in it and made it more tasteful. No doubt, The fire to the primitive man was an object of wonder as well as of worship. It was one of the most important discoveries of the early man during thie period.

Art of the Early man

Man lived in caves in the early stages of his development. He started drawing rough figure on walls and ceilings of the caves but later on, this line-drawings developed into beutiful designs and sculptures. There are depiction of running wild bisons, bears, horses, stage and herds of other animals in beautiful design such depiction have been found in the caves at Altamira in spain and Lascaux in Fances. All these drawing and painting show that the Eary man was great artist. He even made ornaments from ivory, bones, and beutiful stones.

Religious Beliefs of the Early man

It was after hundreds of thousamds of years that the palaeolithic man developed certain religious beliefs. Some of thoso beliefs. Some of those beliefs are given as under :

1.He worshipped his ancestors after their death. He feared that otherwise they might get annoyed and hinder his life

2.He believed in migical powers.

3.He buried the dead along with his tool and eatables, thinking that he might need them in his journey to the next world.

4.The Early man was afraid of the lightning and thunder because he did not know what caused them. He thought that they were what caused them. He thought that they were perhaps the axpression of some divine anger.

neolithic age(New Stone Age )

Between 5,00,000 B.C. to 10,000 B,C., man led a nomadic life. He was then a food-gatherer and a hunter. But after the lapse of a long long period he began to provide his own food and lead a settle life. This age in his life is know as neolithic age or new stone age.

different between the palaeolithic age and the neolithic age

The palaeolithic age	The neolithic age
1. Age- It extended roughly between 500,000 to 10,000 B.C.	AGE - It extended roughly between 10,000 B.C. to 4,000 B.c.
2. Food -Man gathered his food in the shape of jungle vegetation and animal's hunt.	2. Food - Man produced his food. From a food gatherer he became a food producer.
3.Animals - He did not tame animals. He only hunted them.	3.Animals -He began the domestication of animals for cultivation, riding and carrying the loads.
4.Shelter - Man lived in caves or hid himself among the branches of trees.	4.Shelter -He gave up his cave dwellings and he made huts of straw and mud near his fields.
5. Clothing - He remained naked or covered his body with the bark of trees or skin of animals.	5. Clothing - He cultivated jute and cotton and got wool from animals and wove them to produce cloth.
6. Tools and implements - He made crude stone tools like hand-axis, copper, and flake implements	6.Tools and implements - He made better tools and implements like axes, sickle, bow, and arrow. They were beautiful, well-grooved and more useful.
7.Discoveries and invention - Man invented crude tools and implements and discovered the use of fire.	7.Discoveries and invention -Man made more beutiful and useful tools and implements. The discovery of agriculture and invention of the wheel were his great achievements.
8. Way of Life - Man led nomadic life. He was still A wanderer and a food gatherer.	8. Way of Life - He had begun to lead a settle life.He made his hut near his fields and in this way the village life developed.

The chalcolithic age

After the new stone age ended in about 4000 B.C. began the Chalcolithic Age when man began to use copper along with tiny stone implements because of the use of stone side by side with copper this age is sometimes called Stone-Copper Age.

Discovery of Methals

The march from the Old stone age to the New stone Age, as we call it, Was a process of gradual evolution, That is an improvement in the technique of living with such discoveries as that of fire and cultivation of crops. But one major discovery,that proved a vital leap in the directon of modern civilisation, was the discovery anduse of metals.The first metal discovered by our ancestors was copper, followed by Zinc and tin.Bronze, an alloy obtained by mixing copper with tin, was used for making tools, Weapons and utensils.

Particular studies and fields

Ancient history: the study from the beginning of human history until the Early Middle Ages.

Atlantic history : the study of the history of people living on or near the Atlantic Ocean.

Art history : the study of changes in and social context of art.

Comparative history : historical analysis of social and cultural entities not confined to national boundaries.

Contemporary history : the study of recent historical events.

Counterfactual history : the study of historical events as they might have happened in different causal circumstances.

Cultural history : the study of culture in the past.

Digital history : the use of computing technologies do massive searches in published sources.

Economic history : the use of economic models fitted to the past.

Intellectual history : the study of ideas in the context of the cultures that produced them and their development over time.

Maritime history : the study of maritime transport and all the connected subjects.

Material history: the study of objects and the stories they can tell.

Modern history: the study of the Modern Times, the era after the Middle Ages.

Military history : the study of warfare and wars in history and what is sometimes considered to be a sub-branch of military history, Naval history.

Oral history : the collection and study of historical information utilizing spoken interviews with people who have lived past events.

Palaeography: study of ancient texts.

People's history: historical work from the perspective of common people.

Political history: the study of politics in the past.

Psychohistory: study of the psychological motivations of historical events.

Pseudohistory :study about the past that falls outside the domain of mainstream history (sometimes it is an equivalent of pseudoscience).

Social history :the study of the process of social change throughout history.

Women's history: the history of female human beings. Gender history is related and covers the perspective of gender.

World history :the study of history from a global perspective, with special attention to non-Western societies.

Regions

History of Africa begins with the first emergence of modern human beings on the continent, continuing into its modern present as a patchwork of diverse and politically developing nation states.

History of the Americas is the collective history of North and South America, including Central America and the Caribbean.

History of North America is the study of the past passed down from generation to generation on the continent in the Earth's northern and western hemisphere.

History of Central America is the study of the past passed down from generation to generation on the continent in the Earth's western hemisphere.

History of the Caribbean begins with the oldest evidence where 7,000-year-old remains have been found.

History of South America is the study of the past passed down from generation to generation on the continent in the Earth's southern and western hemisphere.

History of Antarctica emerges from early Western theories of a vast continent, known as Terra Australis, believed to exist in the far south of the globe.

History of Eurasia is the collective history of several distinct peripheral coastal regions: the Middle East, South Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Europe, linked by the interior mass of the Eurasian steppe of Central Asia and Eastern Europe.

History of Europe describes the passage of time from humans inhabiting the European continent to the present day.

History of Asia can be seen as the collective history of several distinct peripheral coastal regions, East Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East linked by the interior mass of the Eurasian steppe.

History of East Asia is the study of the past passed down from generation to generation in East Asia.

History of the Middle East begins with the earliest civilizations in the region now known as the Middle East that were established around 3000 BC, in Mesopotamia (Iraq).

History of India is the study of the past passed down from generation to generation in the Sub-Himalayan region.

History of Southeast Asia has been characterized as interaction between regional players and foreign powers.

History of Oceania is the collective history of Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.

History of Australia starts with the documentation of the Makassar trading with Indigenous Australians on Australia's north coast.

History of New Zealand dates back at least 700 years to when it was discovered and settled by Polynesians, who developed a distinct Māori culture centred on kinship links and land.

History of the Pacific Islands covers the history of the islands in the Pacific Ocean.