History-Its Nature and Scope

The world itself and everything in it is dynamic in nature. Man in this ephemeral world not only confronts big and small things but also events and experiences in which every single thing, animate and inanimate including himself, the Earth, the planets, events the rest of the universe plays a part. History is the record of these events and experiences. It acquaints the future citizens with the past and prepares a background by which they may build up their present and prepare for their future. It is the basis of all subjects of study and deals with all aspects of life-social, political, economic, cultural and religious. Therefore, the teaching of history is concerned to be indispensable for the education of the ‘Whole man’.

How is the tern ‘history’ derived?

            The study of man’s and societies basic problems is based upon the meaning attached to information and the fact that every truth. Thus, the term history is derived form the Greek world ‘Histoia’ which means information or ‘an enquiry designed to eliect truth’. History thus means ‘man- history’. It is the story of the events and experiences of his life. In the words of a famous historian, ‘History is what men have done and said and above all what they have thought – that is history’. ‘History is, in fact, what has actually happened in the past. ‘It records man’s doings in society and explains the state of our civilization.

The term ‘history’ defined

            History has been defined by different scholars in various ways. Some of the most popular definitions are:

Tagore: ‘there is only one history – The history of man’.

Dr.S. Radhakrishnan: “History is the memory of a nation or a race”.

Pt..Nehru: “History is the story of man’s struggle through the ages against nature and the elements, against wild beasts of the jungle and some of his own kind who have tried to keep him down and to exploit him for their own benefit”.

Prof.Ghate: “It is a scientific study and record of our complete past”.

Jones: “History is a variable mine of life experiences and the youth of today studies history that he may profit by the experiences of the race”.

Henry Johnson:” History is the detailed account of the events that have taken place”.

Miller: “The course of life is like the sea, men come and go, tides rise and fall, and that is all of history”.

E.H.Carr:”History is an unending dialogue between the present and the past”.

H.G.Wells:” Human history is in essence a history of ideas”.

Locke: “As nothing teaches, so nothing delights more than history. The first of these recommendeds it to the study of grown men: the latter makes one think it the fittest for a young lad”.

Tarikh-i-Doudi:”History is not simple information regarding the affairs of kings who have passed away; but is a science which expands the intellect and furnished the wise with examples”.

Voltaire:” I wish to write a history not of kings and wars, but of society; and to ascertain how men lived in the interior of their families, and what the arts which they commonly cultivated were. My object is not the history of the human mind and not a mere detail of petty facts; nor am I concerned with the history of great lords…. But I want to know what were the steps by which men passed from barbarism to civilization”.

Maitland: “what men have done and so and above all, what they have taught-that is history”.

Herny Johnson: “History, in its broadest sense, is everything that ever happened. It is the past itself, whatever that may be. Be the past cannot be observed directly. What is known about it must be learned from such traces of former conditions and events as time and chance and the foresight of man may have preserved. Our practical concern in forming a conception of History is, therefore, with traces; the method employed in studying them and the result of the study.

            Traces of past facts of any kind may be regarded as possible material. We may speak of history of plants, of animals and even of inanimate nature. But history in the usual acceptance of the term means the ‘history of man’. The materials to be studied are the traces left by his existence in the world. The present personal memories, present habits, present ideals, present social customs and institutions, language, literature, material products of human history, physical man himself, the physical remains of man, his thoughts, feelings and actions”.

B.M. Liddell Hard: “History is the record of men’s steps and slips. It shows us that the steps have been slow and slight: the slips, quick and abounding. It provides us with the opportunity to profit by the stumbles and tumbles of our forerunners. Viewed aright History is the broadest of studies, embracing every aspect of human life. It lays the foundation of education by showing how mankind repeats its errors and what those errors are. Bismarck used to remark.” Fools say that they learn by experience. I prefer to learn by other people’s experiences”. The study of history, offers us that opportunity. It is universal experience, infinitely longer, wider and more varied than any individual’s experience”.

           

Thus, we find that different scholars have given conflicting views of history and interpreted it according to their own conflicting views of history and interpretation. However, to make the concept of history more definite, we may take into account the following characteristics of history.

Characteristics of history:

i)                   History is the study of past events and experiences in the life of a social group, based on truth. Hence, the historians should be careful not to include subjective interpretations. They should narrate factual account of events that are of national significance.

ii)                History should cover all aspects of human life, not just a part of it. In the part, the historians were concerned only with the political aspect of life. But now, since it is realized that all aspects of the life of a social group are closely interrelated, history should deal with every aspect of life.

iii)              History should deal with those happenings which are quite relevant to the understanding of the present life. Since the present life of man has evolved from the past, history should study such evolution.

iv)              In writing history, reliability and validity must be maintained. The causal relationship between the happenings should be properly narrated. While describing the casual relationships, comparison and contrast with such casual relationships among similar happenings in other social groups should also be narrated.

v)                 While narrating history, attempts must be made to predict future happings.

Although historians are hard pressed to identify the concepts of history, this area of knowledge has three advantages which make it an important subject of study, first, history is the only social science without stated boundaries. Therefore, it cuts across all of the social science disciplines. Second, history is the only social science that uses chronology to any significant extent. By chronology we do not mean dates, but rather the sequence of events. Third, much of the content of this subject is near and can be illustrated by incidents in a child’s environment.

Nature of history

      After studying the definitions and characteristics of history, we see that history is the core around which concepts of other social science can be illustrated and developed. Its methods are those of organizing materials into some meaningful interpretation that is controlled to a degree by the background experience and investigations made by the writers, as well as the discovered or “cultural truths” preserved over time. Here we have to see the reason why history has such a great significance. A careful study of the nature of history can answer this question.

i) History permits man to know himself

       History is the study of the past actions of human beings. It permits man to know himself through the study of what man has done and thus what man is.

ii) History instills patriotism

            Teaching of history instills patriotism into the child and gives him such knowledge of administration of his country and affairs in general that he becomes a good citizen and when the time comes eagerly participates in the civic life of his town and village. “What is this patriotism and how is it instilled? America has sought to make loyal and patriotic citizens out of her heterogeneous population by deliberately manufacturing history and manipulating the facts to show that she has always been in the right, and that her influence has been exerted in the interest of peace, justice and humanity. Hitler brought up a generation of German youth on racial pride and a spirit of revenge through history textbook written to dictation.” No sane person can support this practice of sedulously rearing the young on falsehood. Then there is the far more objectionable type of blind partially that is encouraged not only in schools in America but practically all over the globe – ‘my country, right or wrong’. It is true, however, that history when property dealt with, can foster the higher kind of patriotism.                   

iii) History is dynamic in nature

            We are continuously experiencing the change in the history of mankind. The world is dynamic. So also is history. It is a process of human development in connection with time. Galbraith, therefore writes, “If time were to stnd still, history would soon cease, once the existing evidence was fully sifted.”

iv) History is the truthful narration of events national significance

            In history we study everything that ever happened in the past. Therefore, every past happening, be it social, cultural, economic or political, comes within the purview of history. But everything that happened in the past should not be taught to the students. If we do so, the students will be interested in the exploits of kings, generals and patriots, preserved in the form of traditions. History thus becomes the stories of the past. Since history is considered as a science, it should be selective with regard to its contents within the field of its investigations. As a result of which students will be interested in such truthful narration of events of national significance. Such ideas can have great significance in their present life too.     

v) Events in history are not isolated

            If we conduct analysis and study of history, we will find that no event in history is an isolated one. There is continuity and coherence. Human events never take place in a vacuum. They emanate from previous events. All the events are interconnected and interdependent.

vi) History explains current events

            The history of the past becomes a mere part of tragic and romantic literature of mankind, without the study of the current history. What is done at present internationally, nationally or locally determines not only the present but also our future well-being.

vii) History predicts the future       

            While analyzing the causal sequence of events, history tries to generalize the cause and effect relationship and develop general laws with a view to predict future historical events.

viii) History deals with all aspects in the life of a nation

            Modern history is concerned with all aspects in the life of a nation, viz. economic, religious, social and cultural. Modern society is   an industrial society. As it is dominated more by economic considerations, these aspects have become more important in history than other aspects of life.

           

            The narrowness of the curriculum, the thoroughly unsatisfactory equipment of the teacher and the antiquated methods of teaching that are followed in majority of schools have made history a soul-killing torture, the nightmare that used to haunt the worst fears of our students. The vast majority of teachers who teach history in the schools do not have a sufficient grounding in the nature of the subject. They naturally fail to rouse that living interest and creative impulses among the students.

 

Historical origin of history

            History is the oldest of the social sciences. Its origin can be found in the myths, local saga, heroic ballads, folk tales, songs in praise of great heroes, on ceremonial occasions and traditions of early primitive people handed down from generation to generation. The main object of these early historians was partly to provide entertainment and partly to breathe into the hearts of young warriors on the eve of battle. In these early histories, things were presented in an exaggerated manner with fact and fiction being freely mixed.

                       

           

It is said, “The European civilization developed in the body of the Greek society like a child in the womb”. From the days when Greece flourished and made contributions to European civilization, the term history has been used. During this period, historical knowledge developed out of inquiry. Although historical tradition goes back into antiquity the Greeks were the first writers of history in the accepted   sense of the term. Credit goes to Herodotus, the famous Greek historian of the 4^th century B.C. for giving history an independent branch of study. He moved around a large part of the world known in those days and collected a vast amount of information out of enquiry and investigation from sightseeing and oral accounts. Since then, history began to be experiences. Herodotus, therefore, has been popularly known as the “father of history”.

Thucidides, a contemporary of Herodotus, given an exact picture of the political conditions existing at the time in his famous book, the History of the peloponessian war (431-404 B.C)”. History became a handmaid of theology during the middle ages and the historians were interested in discovering and explaining the Divine plan in history. A systematic study on the basics of examination of historical were interested in discovering and explaining the Diving plan in history. A  

Systematic study on the basics of examination of historical authorities was also undertaken. Thus, the historical authorities was also undertaken. Thus, the historians started a systematic study of history.

In the 19^th century, Germans took the lead in making history a scientific study of the past. During this century, two famous historians, Leopold Von Ranke and Niebuhr started applying scientific principles and methods to narrate historical. Attempts were made to rewrite the whole of history on scientific basis. The 19^th century was a period of kings and emperors. The historians had to study the personal lives of these rulers, wars, conquests, rebellions, expansions, consolidation, administration and exploitation. They had to present historical events rigid chronological order without any discrimination. Therefore, this period is know as the “Century of History”  

With the dawn of the 20^th century, history began to be considered as “the true science of society and the science of sciences”. The students of history, political science, philosophy, economics, education, sociology, psychology, culture and even literature studied history o acquire a scientific knowledge about their own disciplines. Thus, history became the root of all subject of study.

            Form what has been discussed above, it is clear that throughout the centuries, history has been written from the story-telling, reflecting the political, the religious the literary the dramatic, the heroic, the economic and the patriotic points of view. The story-telling ideal of Herodotus, the didactic ideal of Thucydides, the literary ideal of Upendra Bhanja, or Thlsidas the dramatic ideal of Kalidas or Froude, the heroic ideal of Carlyle, the philosophical ideal of Sankara, the educational ideas and ideals of Gandhi, Gopabandhu and Tagore, the spiritual ideal of Jagannath Dash or Sri Chaitanya and the political ideals of Hobes, Locke, Rousseau and Kautilya are only a few examples that testify to the various viewpoints from which history has been written. But the most recent concept of the historians is the scientific ideal. The historians include those events and experiences from history which have a scientific background. Legends and fables are avoided altogether. 

        i.            History is that branch of knowledge which has for its object the ascertaining, recording and explaining if facts and events of the past.

     ii.            History is a systematic written account of narration of facts and events of the past which may vary ‘from’ from the simplest annals to the most complex treatise.

   iii.            The world ‘history’ is also employed to designate the sum total of events and accuracies of the past, distinguishing between all the events of the past the little knowledge that we have about it, which is chiefly obtained from records.

The modern concept of history History is a two-fold study

Past history is the which is written before the nineteenth century while current history is that which is written during and after the nineteenth century. History written in the nineteenth century is based on scientific techniques and outlook. Past history delas with the history of kings and generals, ministers and warriors. It was a part of literature designed for political and religious propaganda and began as a story. It did nit tell anything about people and their lives. For example epics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, partly provided entrainment and partly introduced the people to their heroic past. Men were made supermen. Events were presented in an exaggerated manner. It was uncritical by nature. Current history lays emphasis on evolution, growth and development of civilization. It contains the story of man-his development from the barabaric phase to civilized life. Now a critical attitude has been development towards the study of history. Every aspect of life-social, economic, cultural, political, religious, military etc., are emphasized in the teachings of history.

In modern history, attempts have been made to develop the understanding of the students in respect of the world in which they live. It tries to make the story of man intelligible. It is based on facts. Thus, history has now becomes a useful and indispensable subject in the teaching-learning process. History, according to the modern concept, is a ‘scientific study and a record of our complete past. It is no more connected with a particular country or period. History came, when man was born. It looks at the political, economic, economic, social, religious, artistic and literary development of the society.

Is history a science or an art?

            While some feel that history is a science, other say it is an art. As discussed above, we assumed that history is a science. Those who are of the opinion that history is a science. Those who are of the opinion that history is a science give the following reasons.                    

(1)                    Science has been defined as a ‘systematic study of knowledge’ concerning the relationship between the cause and effect of a particular phenomenon. In order to collect the scientific data and systematized material, science employs various kinds of methods of enquiry, such as observation, classification, formulation of hypothesis and analysis of evidence. Similarly, history alms at discovering facts of the past and tries to interpret them objectively like science. Hence history is a science.

(2)                      We define science as a body of systematic knowledge. As the knowledge of the past happenings in the life or a social group satisfies human needs in different ways, it may be considered as an appropriate subject-matter for a science. The phrase “systematic knowledge” here may be taken to mean (a) the correct identification or truthful location of past happenings (the correct identification or truthful or truthful location of past happenings (the phenomena under investigation) and (b) interpretation concerning the ‘why’ of these events

(3)                    In order to becomes a science, in the true sense of the tern, it is not enough for history to analyze only the cause and effect relationship between past happenings. It has to trace such relationship to present happenings, that the past and the present are bound in the same causal sequence. History concerns itself with the past because of its its relevance to the present; the “why” of present happenings is embedded in past happenings. As such history is more interested in the presnt than in the past. Though the subject matter belong mostly to the past, the focus of history is on the present. The perfection of history as a science, lines in its capacity to (a) illuminate the present and (b) predict the future in regard to the phenomenomenon under investigation. Thus, history as a science may be defined as the scientific study of past happenings in all their aspects, in the life of a social group, in the light of present happenings.  

     

(4)                    Hurly says, “by science I understand all knowledge that rests upon evidence and reasoning. Professor Teggart defines science as ‘the systematic investigation of the process manifested in phenomena’. In view of these definitions, history may be considered as a science, even if most of out historians are not scientists.”

(5)                    History aims at telling the truth following the methods of inquire. It becomes a science when scientific methods is applied to tell the truth.

Strictly speaking history cannot be a science like physics and chemistry. It is not an observation like astronomy. It is rather a social science, which deals with experience of human beings. Science, according to the historians, provides only ‘dry bones of facts’. The poets by their imagination and emotions make the facts lively. The historians alone can make history lively by their literary qualities. As a result, history will live for us.

History cannot be thought of without certain essential literary qualities. Hence. It is an art, not a science.

Moreover, history deals with organized facts. From these organized facts, we can draw conclusions. Science deals with facts that can be observed and experimented in a laboratory. But events of history cannot be observed and experimented. From this point pf view, history is an art, not a science.

History deals with the events and experience of the past. These events are unique in themselves and get repeated. It is not possible to draw inference or laws from history. Hence, it is not al all a science.

In history, it is impossible to predict the future with certainty. It is equally impossible to formulate generalizations. Therefore, Rickman says.” History deals with sequence of events, each of them unique while science is concerned with the routine appearance of things and aims at generalizations and the establishment of regularities governed by laws.” Thus, history is an art, not a science.                

History is both a science and an art

From the foregoing discussions it appears that history is not a science. What is history then? History is both a science and an art. History is a science when it enquires into truth, and an art when it establishes and describes these truth. It becomes a piece of literature and a narrative record of the past.

The narrative record of the past is “historiography”, which means the art of writing history. All things in this universe are engaged in recording their history, The melting rock on the mountain, the animal in its bones, the layers of the rock, the falling drop in the sand and stone and man in the pages. Every act of man inscribes itself in the memories of this fellowman. The history of man is a continual self-registration on the continual narrative of man is a sort of continual self-registrations on the continual narrative record. This record is known as historiography. This historiography is an art.       

We are interested to know our past accurately and truthfully. When this purpose is served by history, we call it a science. We also want history o be presented elegantly by the historian’s supreme literary qualities of imagination, called “historiography”. We can conclude with the etymological derivation of the history from the Greek word ‘Historia’ which means “an inquiry designed to elicit truth”. Hence, history is science and historiography is an art.

Scope of history

            Scope refers o the breath, comprehensiveness, variety and the extent of a particular subject. It deals with the programmes to be included in a learning situation. The scope of history is very vast as it deals with everything that ever happened. Every event that has ever happened in the world has, be it political, economical, social, cultural, religious, artistic, scientific or technological come under the scope of history. Hence, its scope is very wide and varied. It extends from the local level to regional, national and international level. It starts with the past, is exploited by the present and finally provides hope for future. All the events and experiences of man including wars, revolutions, rise and fall of empires, stories of the empire builders and the people come under the scope of history. Subjects like “astronomic History”, “Atomic History”,” Geologic History”, “Oceanography History”, ”Paleographic History”, “Biologic History”, “Archeologic History”, Geography History”, etc., come under the range of history. We also talk about “History of political thought”, “History of civilization”, “History of Art and Literature”, History of Mathematics“, “History of Religion”, “History of Jagannath Temple”, “History of Kalinga”,  “History of Magatha”, “History of Ancient India”, “History of Medieval India”, “History of Modern India”, “History of culture and civilization”, “History of the world” etc., which also encompass the scope of history. Thus, history deals with all the events and experiences of mankind – his past, present and future. Experiences of history shall be the experiences of tomorrow and so history is connected with the future as well. Let us conclude our discussion with the words of E.Lewis Hasluck, who says,, “A knowledge of history interprets and illumines the whole of human life. It adds to our knowledge of the existing state of the world, a knowledge in which the human society and institutions have grown up, a knowledge for the future”.

An introduction to Indian historiography

Historiography defined

                       

Historiography means the study or technique of writing history. Otherwise it is the history of historical compositions in different ages. It includes the concept and method of history in its varied forms and the vision of histographer, who utilizes various sources available for the definite purpose. Historiography has developed since the time of Herodotus- the father of history-and Thucidides who has made a scientific approach to it; and is developing over the ages incorporating within itself, the deep insights of historians together with their philosophical benefits. This process has widened the scope of historical framework and has brought about the need to rewrite different historical themes in their proper perspective along with changing needs of time.

Indian historiography

            History is essentially a quest for truth and ‘truth’ being a value in itself cannot be subordinated to any other value, however impressive or sacrosanct. But the imperialist historians have distorted the history of India to serve their imperialistic needs. They have “blackened the Indian past to glorify the British present”. They used medieval Indian history as an instrument for the implementation of the formula “Counter-Poise of Indians against Indians”. Such type of imposition of imported theories, applied to Indian history sacrificed “truth” at the alter of politically historiography owes its origin to British scholars who distorted Indian history.

            With the drawn of freedom, Indian historiography entered into a phase of reconstruction of the history on the basis of truth. Indian historical scholarship has to reiterate its commitment to truth and nothing but truth. “Let a thousand flowers bloom in the field of historical research and investigation for therein lies the future of Indian historical studies”.