What is History? What is the importance of the study of
history?
History is the study of the human past.
According to R. G. Collingwood, an English historian of the
20th century, “History is a research or an inquiry about the past”. It
is an inquiry by men who have an experience of historical thinking. One must
also be trained in the methods of history to carry on the inquiry in the right
way.
According to G. B. Vico, ‘Human nature can only be
understood through history, for history comprises the various ways in which men
have expressed themselves at different times and it is in such expressive forms
that the human character directly reveals itself’. His description of History emphasizes
the expression of human character through the ages.
According to Leopold Van Ranke, ‘History is the story of
the events in the past as they actually happened’. His definition is brief,
down to earth and easy to understand. He insists on telling how the actual past
was in reality.
Nature of Historical Knowledge
The historians of the 19th century carried out
research in history on a large scale. They collected documents, inscriptions,
coins and medals, relics of past architectures, ancient tools and other remains
of the past. They analyzed the evidence and attempted to reconstruct the past
as it really was.
Historical knowledge is an indirect knowledge. It is derived
by inference from the ‘facts’ as revealed through the records of the past ages.
These records are in different forms such as documents and artifacts.
An intellectual man trained in historical methods examines
the source material and re-enacts the events of the past in his own mind and reconstructs
the story of the past events. He cannot see the past events with his eyes, but
relives those events and recaptures the thoughts, feelings and experiences of
that time, of the persons involved in that event. The knowledge thus acquired
is as sound as scientific knowledge as it is based on the thoughts of men at
that time.
There are many theories about historical knowledge. Hegle
and other ‘Idealists’ would say ‘History is the History of Thoughts’. Bloch and
Braudel, the French historians of the Post World War I would maintain that it
is a knowledge of men in time, in relation to the economic, social,
psychological and cultural conditions over a long duration.
Is History an Art or a Science?
History is a story or a narrative. It must be a true and
trustworthy story. It must be based on evidence as historical narration is not
possible, without it, it would be fiction or a fairy tale. If it is only a record
or a catalogue of facts and figures it would be tiresome. It would be a readable
account only if it is told in an interesting manner. The Romantic School of the
19th century wrote interesting histories of the past ages with
enthusiasm, but credibility of their narratives was doubted. But they showed
the way to make history interesting.
History is not a dull record of the dead past but is an
account of the past to satisfy the curiosity and interest of the present. The writing
of history is an art as the facts should be presented in such a way as the readers
would not be bored.
History is a science as it starts with a problem and
investigates the facts of the past. The methods techniques used are scientific.
History has developed its own techniques to establish truth of the evidence,
and believes in rational process. The only difference between a positive or
physical science and History is that it does not put forward universal laws and
does not attempt to predict. History is an autonomous science and a
philosophical position.
Thus history is a science as well as an art.
Aims and objectives
History is a social science as it deals with the activities
and experiences of men in civilized societies. The aims and objectives of history
are therefore to give a faithful account of what happened in the past. The object
in giving such an account is to critically examine the evidence and present the
facts without bias. Historians aim at placing the facts in their social,
political and economic settings without bias, and leave the reader to draw his
own conclusions. Historians of the modern times stick to objective narration
instead of wasting their energy in passing judgements.
Methods
All social sciences have their own methods of collecting and
ascertaining facts. History also has its own methods of collecting and ascertaining
facts. As history is mainly concerned with the activities of men in the past,
they have to adopt methods different from economics and psychology. The historians
have to function within the parameters of time and place.
The main features of the methods are:
Data: The data is in the form of records such as diaries,
chronicles, annals, inscriptions, government documents, autobiographies,
biographies, letters and personal records – travels, business transactions,
etc. Besides these written records, there are relics of the past in the form of
articles, monuments, tools, pottery, structures on the surface and below the
surface or under rivers or seas (archeological relics).
Chronology: History is concerned with the events in time,
so the records have to be dated. It is difficult to fix the dates of ancient
and medieval events.
Language: The old records have to be rendered in the modern
language and translations of foreign documents have to be obtained. In case of
uncommon scripts, like the Harappan Script, we have to wait until the contents
of such records are decoded.
Surveys: Just as chronology is important, the research
student has to visit the sites and get a firsthand knowledge of the situation. Gazetteers
of the place are to be reviewed and maps of the past have to be obtained.
Classification: After collecting the data in the form of texts
and manuscripts, and the pictures of artefacts, the material has to be
classified and critically examined and analyzed. Statistical representations
and use of graphs wherever possible would facilitate to reconstruct the story of
the past events.
Utility of History
History is useful to us in various ways:
Commercial value of the study of History: The Historical
methods of maintaining commercial transactions are of immense value. The chronological
and place-wise or regional records of large industries are of immense value to
indicate the progress or reverses or other statistical information in graphs. No
businessman can afford to ignore his past experience or the past events in his
special field.
Successful men never forget past History: It is history
that helps them progress. Earlier mistakes are not repeated if he has some
knowledge of history.
Political leaders should know not only the political history
of his country but also the study of local problems of his people which are rooted
in the past. Every man needs a fair knowledge of the past upon which knowledge
he can rely if he has to deal successfully with the present problems and plan
for the future.
Men in high office, statesmen, executives and social
leaders cannot disregard history. Intellectuals have to equip themselves with historical
knowledge.
For an ordinary man, history is useful in many ways. Historical
knowledge, the tradition to which he is an heir, the institutions which he
serves and the laws he obeys, in short the society and the world we live in
must be properly understood.
Historical knowledge in general enables us to gain a
critical attitude towards our own civilization. History illuminates human
nature. The history of ‘man’s actions in time’ reveals the range of man’s
capacities and his latent powers and thus guides us to know what man is. History
widens our horizon and provides liberal education.
Biographies, historical dramas and novels and such other
literary works make use of history. The journalists and politicians would cut a
sorry figure without a sound knowledge of historical facts. “The writing, for
instance, of good poetry and the judging of it as good depends upon familiarity
with poetry, that is knowledge of the history of poetry”.
In conclusion:
There are different angles through which history is
perceived by intellectuals
-
History is scientific as it begins with a
problem and conducts an inquiry to solve the problem.
-
History is humanistic as it asks questions about
things done and experience by men in the past
-
History is rational as it gives answers to the questions
based on evidence. The conclusions arrived by historians on the basis of such
evidence have to be logical and without bias
-
History reveals what man has done and so what
man can do. The purposive search for truth of man’s activities, his thoughts
and passions give a better idea of the present problems.
While reconstructing the story of man’s creativities in the
past it has to be done methodically.
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