History: Definition, Timelines, Dates and Perspectives

History is not just about timeline, but also about changes that occur over time. It is about finding out how things were in the past and how things have changed. Asking historical questions makes us wonder and curious about the past events and we ask questions that actually are historical.

How Important are Dates?

Importance of Timeline: Historical timeline continues to be important to be informed regarding wars and movements.

• Livelihood & Development: But now the focus is also on the way of livelihood, cities development, how kingdoms were formed and new ideas spread, and how cultures and society changed.
• Lipton Tea Episode: The 1922 advertisement for Lipton tea suggests that royalty all over the world is associated with this tea. 

Which Dates?

Focus on Event: The dates, per se, don’t become important, they become vital because of the focus on a particular set of events.

• Shifting Dynamics: The significance of dates also changes if the focus of study shifts to different events or issues.

How Do We Periodise?

Characteristics of Time: Periodising history helps capture the unique characteristics of specific time, and also allows us to identify and highlight the central features of each period.

• Example: James Mill in his three-volume work, A History of British India (1817), divided Indian history into three periods – Hindu, Muslim and British.
• British Classification: Further moving away from British classification, historians have also divided Indian history into ‘ancient’, ‘medieval’ and ‘modern’. 
• Western Ideas: This periodisation was borrowed from the West where the modern period was associated with the growth of all the modern influences and developments and Medieval to describe a society where these features of modern society did not exist.

How Do We Know About History?

Administrative Records: The British believed in the act of writing all instructions, plans, policy decisions, agreements, investigations, which produced an administrative culture of memos, notings and reports.

• Document Preservation: They also preserved important documents and letters through record rooms attached to all administrative institutions.
• Institutional Setup: Specialized institutions like archives and museums were also established to preserve important records.
• Reflect Skillful Work: These documents were recorded and written by skilled calligraphists.
• Advancement in Technology: With the spread of printing, multiple copies of these records were printed as proceedings of each government department.

Surveys and Census: 

• Revenue Surveys: To carry out effective administration, the British carried out detailed surveys in the early nineteenth century. 
• Vivid Knowledge: In the villages, revenue surveys were conducted to know about the topography, the soil quality, the flora, the fauna, the local histories, and the cropping pattern.
• Census: Also by the end of the nineteenth century, Census operations were held every ten years to record the number of people in all the provinces of India, noting information on castes, religions and occupation.
• Other Surveys: Other than these botanical surveys, zoological surveys, archaeological surveys, anthropological surveys, forest surveys were also carried out.

Limitations with Official Records: 

Biasedness in Official Records: The official records of the British tells a story from one perspective, i.e. talks about what they were interested in, and what they wished to preserve for posterity. 

• Full of Ignorance: These records totally ignore what general people felt and the reason behind their actions.
• People’s Voice: People’s perspective can be understood through diaries of people, accounts of pilgrims and travelers, autobiographies of important personalities, popular booklets, printing and newspapers.

Conclusion

Reference Points: Dates play a vital role as key reference points that aid in structuring and comprehending the vast scope of human history. 

• Provides Timeline: They offer a chronological framework enabling historians and scholars to analyze events, patterns, and progressions throughout time. 

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