Saturday, September 1, 2018

Meaning of History

History began when the human beings appeared on
the earth. In fact, the meaning of history is the collection of past events. The word history has been derived from Greek word ' historia ', that implies what has actually happened or been learned by enquiry. Its etymological meaning is 'search for ‘Truth.”

Herodotus is the first man who wrote a book entitled "Persian War" in 503 B.C., he is known as the Father of History. After him Theusididus contributed by writing a book in 411 BC. Many other scholars have described it in a different than the folklore (legends).

Renaissance of Europe during the 16th and 17th century brought a vast difference in the system of writing history. As a result German scholar Ranke wrote a book in 1824 A.D. based on the scientific analysis and truthful facts. So he is known as the Father of Scientific History.

Besides him Nibhor’s contribution also cannot be ignored. In this way the scientific history was born and introduced all over the world in different way.

Definition of History


The scholars have given many definitions about the ward 'history' so far. A famous historian Dr Sarvapally Radhakrishnan says, "History is whole power of nation". He again adds, "History is memory of nation, memory is the principal factor in the sense of the personal identity and individual process, so history is memory of races."

According to Rapson, "History is a connected account of the course of events or progress of idea".

According to Prof. Ghate, "It is a scientific study and a record of our complete past".

Metland gives his definition as. "What men have done
and said, and above all what they thought is the history."

According to Freud, “Historical records are a law of right and wrong.”
Jones thinks that history is a veritable mine of life experiences and the youth of today studies history.

Henry Johnson gives the view that history is a detailed account of the events that have taken place.

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

Cromwell and Frayed say – “History is the whole truthful events of human being from past to present.”

Dr. Radhakrishnan says, “History is the memory of a nation or a race.”

The best definition which is scientific to a great extent was given by Rapson. According to him, “History is a connected account of the course of events of progress of ideas.”

In this way, we come to the conclusion that the history is the account of past events, which records our whole past. It is a scientific- record of Truthful events started with the origin of human being, It is the whole framework of human civilization and a systematic record of the experience of mankind.

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