6.Chapter 8.Studying the Past.History.

Chapter 8

 Studying the Past

History is the study of change over time and progress from the past to the present world.  It can be defined as a systematic description of the past events.  It is based on facts and not on imagination.  helps us to learn about the great people, culture, art and architecture of the earlier times, history motivates us to make the present world a better place to live in.  ) Historians divide history into two parts: A. Prehistory refers to that period when the art of writing was unknown.  Our information about prehistory depends upon the remains of tools, bones, pottery and weapons that have been excavated.  We learn about the age of artifacts through carbon dating B. History refers to the period after the invention of writing.  The written records, dates, names of places and people may be on bhojpatras, palm leaves or pillars are source of information.  History is generally categorized into three periods, namely, Ancient, Medieval and Archaeologists working at an excavation site Modern.  Do you know?  AD does not mean 'After Death'.  It is an abbreviation for 'Anno Domini ", which is a Latin phrase meaning' in the year of our lord ', referring to the year of Christ's birth in most usages, BCE stands for' Before the Common Era ', and CE stands for  'Common Era'. BCE is used in place of BC, and CE is used in place of AD. The word 'common in both instances refers to the Gregorian calendar. For example, 2015 can be written as CE 2015. (69)

let us see how a historian studies the source material (available evidences) and then dran conclusions.  The source material can be divided into two categories Archaeological Source Material and Literary Sources.  Archaeological Source Materials V. Some materials of the past are buried deep under the earth.  They are either discovered by chance, or archaeologists dig certain places and find ancient inscriptions, coins, pots or buildings the study of these remains tell the archaeologis about the religious, social and cultural condition of that time.  For example, buildings excavated from Mohenjo - daro provide useful information about the Indus Valley Civilization.  The archaeologla source materials are mainly - inscriptions, coins, monuments, sculptures, paintings, articles of daily Mohen - jo - daro use and skeletons.  Inscriptions are the writings which are engraved on rocks, pillars, clay tablets, the walls of the temples and caves.  They tell us about the kings, their empires, achievements as well as the society and the language of that period.  The inscriptions of Ashoka's period tell us about his achievements in field of administration and the steps that he took like building hospitals, wells, etc.  , for the welfare of the public.  The inscriptions were put up in places where the common people could read them easily The study of inscriptions is called Epigraphy.  Joost 351 & lt EL SITJORDI + SECRUch.  Id EXOV + SU 18 ELUR SI Etuisire PRAD ELA + SLEC08578 WIELSEI GATEX 36CLP ITX sola KICILALLEINS EL SALDUSTRIAL ix} AGOLY - SAF G XIR & DACKLE 16 Tir?  Ashoka's inscription, Girnar (Gujarat) Ashoka's inscription 3 line change in earlier times, coins were made of different materials like lead, copper, bronze, iron, silver, gold and even leather.  They give us useful information about the art, religion, rulers, the use of different metals and the level of development of technology.

coins is called Numismatics.  The given picture of one such coin is of King Samudragupta.  The study of 2 Do You Know?  Coins of Indian rulers have been found in many countries.  This indicates that India had trade relations with foreign countries.  Coin of Samudragupta 19: 3 Monuments are the remains of temples, stupas, palaces and forts.  These ancient buildings help the historians to collect information about the social and economic life, the religious beliefs, dress, art forms and architecture of that time.  ) Skeletons are also a very useful source of information.  The students of Skeletal studies try to know every minute detail about the skeletons and list their findings.  For example, the skeleton Sanchi stupa of a woman generally has wider hip or pelvic area for child bearing.  Jewelery found on the skeletons also helps in determining whether the skeleton belongs to a woman or a 3 may.  Literary sources, all written records of the past are known as literary sources or articles.  They are very important for the historians.  Before the invention of paper, people wrote on dried palm leaves, bhojpatras, copper plates, etc.  Some of the literary sources are as follows: (Religious Literature consists of the Vedas of the Hindus in Sanskrit, Pitakas of Buddhists in Pali and Angas of Jains in Prakrit. They tell us about the religious beliefs, society, customs and traditions of that time  , The Puranas and the Epics, like Ramayana and Mahabharata, also provide useful information of that period. Non - Religious Literature consists of prose, plays, poetry, grammar as well as the writings of Kautilya (Arthshastra), Kalidas (Abhigyan Shakuntalam),  etc) The Secular Literature throws light on the life of the people of that period.  The account of events, by foreign pilgrims and travelers like Fa - hien (Chinese) and ambassadors like Megasthenes (Greek) who visited India in earlier times, are also important sources of information about ancient Indian history and culture.  ) 71

Historical Literature consists of autobiographies of the ancient rulers and biographical sketch like Harashacharito.  (The various sources of history provide knowledge about marvels of the past and inspire march forward to achieve greater heights. US temples of Java and combodia do you know? The temples found in Java and Cambodia tell us about spread of Indian culture to distant countries in  ancient times.  someone else. 72