Chapter: One Introduction to History The Liberation War of Bangladesh took place in 1971. Our country became free from the enemies on 16 December after a nine-month stanch war against the Pakistani army. The Liberation war is the story of our glory and pride. The Bangalees have such many events of glory. History represents events. It provides sequential and true account of what has been clearly described in it. In order to conduct a comprehensive investigation on history, it is necessary to become informed of the elements and classification of history. In this chapter, we will know how we should study history. Before that, we need to know what history is? We also need to know how many types of history are there or how to write history. What is the usefulness of studying history? In this present chapter there will be a discussion about these topics. Picture: ancient historical inscriptions discovered in Wari-Bateshwar At the end of this chapter we will be able to: Explain concepts, nature and scope of history and heritage Describe elements and classification of history; Discuss the usefulness of studying history; Have interest in history and heritage. 2 History of Bangladesh & World Civilization Concepts of history and heritage The word 'History' (in Bengali Itihas) comes from the Bengali word 'Itiho' which means heritage. Heritage refers to past habits, education, language, art, literature and culture which are preserved for the future. History conveys this heritage from one generation to another. In the words of E.H. Carr it can be said that history is a constant conversation between the past and the present. All the issues of the present time are based on past transformation and the past heritage. And History means the factual description of past transformation and heritage. Of course at present, the history of the present time is written which is called contemporary History. So, now the scope of history is stretched from the ancient past to the present time. If the Bengali word Itihas is divided, then it takes a construction like Itiho + aas which means such was it or such happened. Historian Johnson also called the past event as history. According to him what happens is referred to as history; what does not happen is not history at all. So, it is being seen that the constant flow of events in the society and the state is called history. The English word History has come from the Greek word Historia whose Bengali synonym is Itihaas. The word Historia was first used by Greek historian Herodotus (fifth century B.C.). He is famous as the father of History. It was he who first of all used this word after the name of his research work whose dictionary meaning is investigation into the truth or research. He believed that history is to investigate or write what in true sense existed or took place. He investigated into different issues of the war that had taken place between Greece and Persia through his research. In this research he gave description of the obtained information, Picture : Herodotus important events and the stories of victory of the Greek so that next generations do not forget these events and these events inspire them and imbue them with patriotism. It was Herodotus who first combined the two concepts. History and Investigation. As a result, History turned into science, became completely information-based and became a subject of research. Actually, never-ending flow of events in human society is called History. Again, Rapson said that History is the sequential and scientific description of events. The father of modern History, the German historian Leopold Von Ranke thinks that History means the research and the true description of what took place. He opines that History is stark true. So, it can be said that History means the sequential and true description of different activities related to the transformation of human society. Therefore, authentic history is written based on the truth. Sources of History The sources of history refer to the information and evidence based on which it is possible to establish the historical truth. The importance of historical sources knows no bounds in writing the actual history. The sources of history can be divided into two groups, such as (a) written sources; and (b) unwritten sources. Picture : Hiuen- Tsang Introduction to History 3 1. Written Sources: The written sources of writing history include literature, overseas account, documents etc. There is some information available also in different literary works of the then time. For example: The Vedas, Kautilya's Arthasastro, Kalahan's Rajatarangini, Minhaj-us-Siraj's Tabkat-E-Nasiri, Abul Fazal's Ain-E- Akbari etc. Descriptions of the overseas travelers are always considered the most important sources. For example: The descriptions of the Chinese travelers Fa-hien, Hiuen- Tsang, and Itsing respectively who came to Bengal from fifth to seventh century. In the subsequent times, there was description about this area/ zone in the writings of others including Ibn Batuta. Quite much information was obtained from these descriptions about the then society, economy, politics, religion, and rituals and customs. Literary sources also include fairy tales, hearsays, stories etc. The description of Tibetan writer Lama Taranath about the ascending of Gopal, the founder of Pal Dynasty, to the throne Sources of History is a kind of fantasy. Yet, there remain many true events behind many historical events which the historians discover through meticulous analysis and investigation. Moreover, it is also possible to collect reliable information from government documents, letters etc. 2. Unwritten or archeological Sources: Unwritten or archeological evidences refer to those things or sources from which we can get a variety of historical information about a particular time, place or person. Archeological testimonies are included in unwritten elements. For example: coins, stone inscriptions, column inscriptions, copper inscriptions, edifices etc. We can have some knowledge about political, social Picture: Discovered the elements of Wari-Bateshwar and economic condition of the people of that time by dint of scientific experiments and analysis of these archeological evidences. It is possible to form an idea about civilization, religion, life- style, urbanization, things used every day, condition of trade and business, agricultural equipments of the ancient people. For example, we can describe the archeological testimonies of the Indus civilization, and some places of Bangladesh such as Mohasthangar, Paharpur, Maynamati etc. New archeological discoveries can change the history of a nation. For instance: the recent archeological discovery of Wari-Bateshwar in Narsingdi. It has been proved in the archeological testimony of that place that even before two thousand five hundred years back there was the existence of urban civilization in Bangladesh. As a result of this discovery, a new horizon of the civilization of ancient Bengal is going to be exposed and people's conceptions about the ancient civilization of Bengal are getting changed day by day. The time is not too far when the ancient history of Bengal will have to be written afresh. Individual Work : Make a list on different sources of history 4 History of Bangladesh & World Civilization Classification of History With the advancement of human society and civilization, people have been writing history of new more subjects. As a result, the scope of History is expanding. History is incessantly communicating the past events to the present generation. In that case it is difficult to classify History in different branches. In addition, people, their society, their civilization and their life-style - all these things lie close to each other in the subject-matter of History. Yet, for the advantage of study, discussion and research work History can be divided into two groups - Geographical and Thematic. One: Geographical Aspect or Geographical History: That is to say in which context the subject which has been included in history has been written - local, national or international. History can again be divided into three groups for the advantage of understanding from the perspective of geographical situation, such as Local/ Zonal History; National History; and International History. Two: Thematic History: Thematic History refers to the history which is written based on a particular subject. The thematic scope of History is wide-ranging. Yet, it can be generally divided into five parts, such as Political History; Social History; Economic History; Cultural History; and Diplomatic and Current/ Contemporary History. Theme of History History is the evidence and written document of chronological changes of people, their society and their civilization. Of modern historians Vico thinks about the theme of History in the way that human society and the origin and the growth of humanitarian institutions are the theme of history. Therefore, it is seen that all the important achievements that have been able to contribute to the development and progress of human society and civilization are all subjects included in History. Such as: art, literature and culture, philosophy, sculpture, politics, warfare, religion, laws etc. which as a whole have influenced directly or indirectly society and civilization are all focus of History. Nature of History History is different from other subjects. Its formation and presentation methodology are also different from other branches of knowledge. Our conception will be clear if we discuss features and nature of History. First: History tends to the past. This subject deals with the flow of events of the past. It is the trait of History which is to reconstruct the past through authentic information. Second: The theme of History is man, his society and his civilization. The focus of History is the sequential description of chronological progress of human society and civilization. This information must be based on authentic sources. Introduction to History 5 Third: There is no place of emotion and exaggeration in History.