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.
It 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
categorised 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'
f '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 forf 'Before
'Bef the Common Era', and CE stands for
f '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.

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 Let us see how a historian studies the Source Material (available evidences) and then draws
conclusions. The source material can be divided into two categories ̶ Archaeological Source Materials
and Literary Sources.
Archaeological Source Materials
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 archaeologists
about the religious, social and cultural conditions
of that time. For example, buildings excavated from
Mohen-jo-daro provide useful information about
the Indus Valley Civilisation. The archaeological
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.

Ashoka’s inscription, Girnar (Gujarat) Ashoka’s inscription

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.

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The given picture of one such coin is of King Samudragupta. The study of
coins is called Numismatics.

Do You Know?

Coins of Indian rulers have been found

f in many countries. This
indicates that India had trade relations with foreign countries.
Coin of Samudragupta

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 broader hip or pelvic
area for child bearing. Jewellery found on the skeletons also helps in determining whether the
skeleton belongs to a woman or a man.
Literary Sources
All written records of the past are known as literary sources or manuscripts. 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 travellers 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.

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 Historical Literature consists of autobiographies of the ancient rulers and biographical sketches
like Harashacharita.
The various sources of history provide knowledge about marvels of the past and inspire us to
march forward to achieve greater heights.

Temple of Java and combodia

Do You Know?

The temples found

f in Java and Cambodia tell us about spread of Indian culture to distant
countries in ancient times.

Keywords

• archaeology: the study of prehistory and history through excavation of sites.

• artifact: an object made by a human being.
• autobiography: an account of a person’s life written by that person.
• biography: an account of someone’s life written by someone else.

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 Something To Know

A. Tick ( ) the correct option.

1. Kautilya wrote the book ̶-

(a) Meghdoot (b) Arthshastra

(c) Ramayana (d) Harashacharita

2. The period when art of writing was unknown is called ̶-

(a) Prehistory (b) Ancient history

(c) Medieval history (d) Modern history

3. The study of coins is known as ̶-

(a) Architecture (b) Numismatics

(c) Calligraphy (d) Epigraphy

4. Who is the author of Abhigyan Shakuntalam?

(a) Kautilya (b) Tulsidas

(c) Mahatma Buddha (d) Kalidas

5. The Chinese traveller who visited India was ̶-

(a) Alexander (b) Columbus

(c) Megasthenes (d) Fa-hien

B. Fill in the blanks.

1. _______________ are the remains of palaces and forts.

2. Jain literature was written in_______________

_______________ language.

3. The study of inscriptions is called _______________.

4. Historians divide history into two parts, namely, ______________ and _____________.

5. _______________ literature consists of prose, plays, poetry, etc.

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C. Answer the following questions in brief.
1. How does the study of the monuments help the historians?
2. The study of history help us to make the present world a better place to live in. How?
3. How do skeletal studies help us to identify gender differences?
4. What are the literary sources of Indian history?
5. Explain historical literature with an example.
D. Answer the following questions.
1. Distinguish between archaeological and literary sources.
2. How do the archaeological source materials help us to learn about our past?
3. What is more important in history ̶ events, persons, places or dates? Give reasons to justify your answer.
4. How do secular literary sources throw light on the life of the people in any period of history?
5. How does the study of coins help the historians?

Value Based Question

Once, a foreign traveller came to meet Kautilya. It was dusk and darkness had just started to set in. When
he entered his room, he saw that Kautilya was busy writing under the light of an oil lamp. With a smiling
gesture Kautilya politely asked him to sit for a while. He then quickly finished the work.
After completing the work, he extinguished the oil lamp and lit another lamp. The traveller was curious to
know why Kautilya did so. He asked Kautilya “Is this a custom in your country, when a guest arrives at your
house?” Kautilya replied, “No my dear, actually when you entered, I was working on an official task. The
oil filled in that lamp was bought from the money of National treasury. Now, when I am talking to you, this
is a personal and friendly conversation. So, I cannot use that lamp now.”
1. Why did Kautilya decide to light another lamp?
2. What message does the story convey to the present day public servants or elected representatives of
the people?

Map Skill
On the outline political map of India, locate and label the following places.
(a) One of the cities of Harappan civilisation.
(b) One place of Ashokan inscription found.
(c) Place where Red Fort is situated.
(d) One of the archaeological sites.

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 Something To Do

1. Take
T any five different coins of free India. Study them carefully. List the information that you can get
from them like the metal used, dates, languages, pictures, denomination or any other information.

2. Solve the crossword.

M U R P ACROSS (→)
• Handwritten record
M L • Information about past
• Religious books of Jains
• Language of Vedas
M S K
DOWN ( ↓ )
A S C • Ancient building
• Study of coins
• Home of ancient man
H Y
• Language of Buddhist
C E
literature

3. Do you ever wonder how the age of ancient tools, bones and other materials is determined? Read the
following information and discuss with your teacher in the class.

Carbon dating is a method of estimating the age of materials. This method, developed by Willard F. Libby
can date samples that are as old as 50,000 years. It has proven to be useful in archaeology, geology,
geophysics and other branches of Science.
Carbon dating is based on the fact that plants and animals contain carbon in a ratio that matches the
percentages found in the atmosphere for as long as they are alive. This is true because most life on Earth
is carbon-based; plants absorb it through photosynthesis and animals absorb it by eating plants or animals
that eat plants. Once an organism dies, the carbon intake stops and the percentage of carbon-14 decreases.
To calculate the date of an object, researchers compare the percentage of carbon-14 it contains to the
normal percentage found in the atmosphere. The lower the ratio, the older the object.

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