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The word history is derived from the Greek noun ‘historia’ meaning ‘inquiry or research’. History can be regarded as a systematic account of a set of natural phenomena or some important human development taking place over the course of time. The term history has now come to be applied to accounts of events that are narrated in a chronological order and deal with the past events of mankind which may include either some important political event, natural calamities, some invention or a period of war. Word history is basically concerned with the evolution of mankind and advancements and mistakes made by human since their existence. History traces the whole story of mankind as well as of their progress in civilization. It includes all the information about mankind from the dim past up to the present day giving an indication of man’s failures and his successes, describing his laws and his wars and reveals his religions and his arts. History maintains an event-wise account of the significant developments that took place from time to time in the past with reference to the places and the people who played a noteworthy part.
It would not be wrong to say that history is a record of past things which record some major or minor events in the life of mankind and other biological and geographical events also. The purpose of history is to prevent others from making the same mistakes that were made in past and also to make us aware of some facts of past that would be helpful for us even today. We know that touching the burning flame would burn our hand. How do we know that? This is what history is all about. From past experience by self or parents, you know that burning flame can burn you, and you maintain distance to protect yourself. This is the main purpose of history. If we don’t have prior knowledge or past experience, we are destined to make mistakes.
History gives us an important knowledge of our past, besides this history also teaches us about our civilization and political events in the life of our ancestors and what mistakes they made or what useful thing they did that we can make use of. History also tells us about wars of the past and gives us a warning and advice not to repeat such things in the future. Things that happened in early times usually shape the world currently we live in and help us not only define current conditions accurately but also help us to shape the future from past experiences written down in the history. The importance of history lays in its capacity to help one or a group to draw conclusions from the past events in their society. It would not be wrong to say that history to the human race is the same what memory is to each man. It sheds the light of the past upon the present, thus helping one to understand oneself, by making one acquainted with other peoples. Also, the studies of the rise and fall of empires and civilizations and what they did wrong or right, the lessons of the past help one to avoid the pitfalls at the present.
History is not only in the form of big heavy books but also depicted in the form of some drawings or artwork of ancient origin. It preserves the traditional and cultural values of a nation and serves as a beacon light, thus guiding society in confronting various crises. History is indeed a bridge connecting the past with the present and pointing the road to the future.
India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great-grandmother of tradition. Indian tradition seems to have a rich past that acknowledges various traditions and cultural values. The most valuable and most astrictive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only. The history of India begins with evidence of human activity of Homo sapiens as long as somewhere 75,000 years ago. The Indus Valley Civilization, which spread and flourished mostly in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent from 3300 to 1300 BC, was the first major civilization in South Asia. With sophistication and technological advancement, Harappan civilization flourished from 2600 to 1900 BCE.
The Bronze Age civilization collapsed before the end of the second millennium BCE and was followed by the Iron Age Vedic Civilization, and this extended over much of the Indo-Gangetic plain and witnessed the rise of major polities known as the Mahajanapadas. During the 4th and 3rd centuries BC most of the Indian sub-continent was conquered by the Mauryan Empire. This was the classical period of India. Under the rule of the Chalukyas, Cholas, Pallavas, and Pandyas, India experienced its own golden age a period that saw the rise of many Hindu intellectuals; this was the period when the aspects of Indian civilization, administration, culture, and religion spread to the most parts of Asia.
During the beginning of the mid-18th century, large areas of India were annexed by the British East India Company that saw the rise of British rule in India and India became a slave country. Fed up with the British rule, the mutiny against British started somewhere in 1857, after which the British provinces of India were directly administered by the British Crown and witnessed a period of both rapid developments of infrastructure and economic decline. During the first half of the 20th century, a nationwide struggle for independence was launched by the Indian National Congress which was later on also joined by the Muslim League. The subcontinent gained independence from the British in 1947, after the British provinces were partitioned into the dominions of India and Pakistan and the princely states all acceded to one of the new states.
Different phases of Indian can be classified into three main parts:
Ancient Period
Medieval India
History is very important for every society, community or nation. Ancient cultures devoted much time and effort to teaching their children family history which was quite helpful for the life ahead. It was thought that the past helps a child to understand who he is. Modern society, however, is turning its back on the past and is not much interested to know what their ancestors invented and how. We are living in a time of rapid change, a time of progress and probably prefer to define ourselves in terms of where we are moving towards, not where we come from. The man has become much smarter now than he was 100 years ago, everything from the past has become outdated and irrelevant to the new generation. History teaches us a lot about our civilization and culture and has a lot to offer. History is full of benefits:
The only way to understand who we are and how we got to be this way is by studying the past. Similarly, the only way we can understand others is by studying about their past. If we don't understand what made them who they are--in terms of how they think and act--we will make all sorts of mistakes in our interactions with them. Study of history is a basis for good citizenship. This could the most satisfying justification for the place of history in school curricula. Sometimes advocates of citizenship history hope merely to promote national identity and loyalty through a history spiced by vivid stories and lessons in individual success and morality. But the importance of history for citizenship goes beyond this narrow goal and can even challenge it at some points.
Conclusion
History is something of great importance as it helps us to understand the past and gives a clear pathway for the future. History teaches values. If it is true history, it teaches true values of our civilization, society and ancestors and can play a great role in shaping our values and beliefs-a much greater role than we may even imagine. If we listen to what history has to say, we can have a clear understanding of the past that will tell us clearly about the problems that our ancestors or predecessors faced and how they overcame those problems. If we refuse to listen to history, we will find ourselves fabricating a past that reinforces our understanding of current problems, without knowledge of what is wrong and what is right we may tend to feel lost and end up in creating problems for ourselves that could have been avoided.
Some people do tend to underestimate the power of history. If someone needs to be convinced that war is evil, there can be two ways of doing so, one is to simply tell him that war is not good and the other is to relate destruction from some past incidence of war giving all the reasons and result. I don’t think there is any need to tell which of the two ways is effective; history can leave a lasting impression that will evoke revulsion at the mere mention of the word and is very crucial in understanding things of past and not to repeat such mistakes in the future.
