Meaning and Definitions of History PDF

**Meaning and definitions of history**  History is one of the oldest subjects and natural impulse within humans which made them take an interest in the past and to understand man\'s interplay with the environment and with his fellow beings. Through the subject, living past of man is depicted. As...

**Meaning and definitions of history**  History is one of the oldest subjects and natural impulse within humans which made them take an interest in the past and to understand man\'s interplay with the environment and with his fellow beings. Through the subject, living past of man is depicted. As a word, 'History' entered the English language from the French formulation of 'histoire', the Latin notion of 'historia', the Greek construction of 'Utopia' 'istoria', the German word 'Geschichte. Each of which represented the basic sense of a knowledge of the past. It was the **Greeks** who laid the foundation of historical writing dating from the 6th century BCE in Greece but actually human history starts from the origin of man.  History has been defined out in various forms by different historians. Though the words used often are different, the implications are not so different fundamentally. By their very nature certain definitions are simple while others are complex. The **Greeks** were the first to define history. **Dionysius of Halicarnassus,** one of the Greek logographers who defined the subject as **'Philosophy teaching by examples'.** It meant that past experience gives us an insight about past action which is not to be repeated. Through human experiences the realities of life are reflected. This shows the past actions of man and causes and results. **Aristotle, the Greek philosopher said that ** **'History is the record of the unchanging past'.** It shows that history is an integrated objective record the past which cannot be changed. It is a true record of all kinds of activities of man\'s past like wars, conquests, political changes cultural and scientific growth etc. **Francis Bacon,** an English lawyer, statesman, essayist, historian, intellectual reformer, philosopher defines '**History is a discipline which makes man wise'.** History makes man wise and also enables him to strengthen his virtues. It gives us a rich heritage of the past which tells us of the factors which promotes human welfare and happiness and those which becomes a stumbling block in progress. **G.J. Renier,** the French historian also had a similar definition. **In his book History -- Its Purpose and Method, Reiner defines history as the study of the human past, and describes it as a story and events. He also emphasizes the social importance of history, calling it \"societal memory\" and the account of events that have shaped humanity\'s fate. Reiner\'s work provides a step-by-step analysis of the field of historical studies, including a detailed analysis of the story and events, and the \"telling of the story\"** **E.H. Carr,** the British historian defines **'History is an unending dialogue between the present and the past. The chief function of the historian is to master and understand the past as a key to the understanding of the present'.**  For proper understanding of the present, one must have a thorough knowledge of the past. The past represents historical facts and thus history is the product of the interaction between the historian and his facts. Earlier history recorded facts and those became the raw materials of the historians who arrange these in order.  **Professor A. L. Rowse, British historian** points out that Geography influences history. He says "**History is essentially the record of the life of men in societies in their geographical and physical environment. They are social and cultural environments arise from the interaction of the one with the other, the society and its geographical conditions"**. For example ancient civilizations flourished only on the banks of rivers.  Some scholars define history on the basis that the past and the present are the parts of the same time span. Prof. Carl G. Gustavson, American Historian defines history - **"History is a mountain top of human knowledge from whence the doings of our own generation may be scanned and fitted into proper dimensions. History enables a person to see himself as part of that living process of human growth which has emerged out of the past and will inexorably project itself out beyond our own life time. We are the product of the past but not the complete product."**.  Another definition is by Paul H. Clyde (History Professor at Duke University) and Burton F. Beers (History Professor at North Carolina State University) who defined '**History is the record of things which man has thought said and done'.** This definition covers the entire aspects of the growth of man\'s mind, man\'s intelligence and how he used them to discover better ways of living and to build up orderly societies which we called Civilization or culture. Man\'s various activities of the past became the themes of history.  His different walks of life - social political economic became the subject matter of history.  On the other hand negative areas of history due to the actions of man like horrors of War, inhuman massacres etc brought out some harsh definitions for history. Voltaire, the French philosopher says '**History is nothing but a picture of crimes and misfortunes'**.  **Edward Gibbon** English historian also says that "**History is indeed little more than the register of crimes, follies and misfortunes".** Almost similar is the definition of **Napoleon Bonaparte** French revolutionary general and emperor of France - "History is a set of lies that people have agreed upon". This statement is said to have given rise to the concept of an agreed-upon lie, which is a statement that is presented as fact but has no real support. Napoleon is also said to have used words as a weapon in his last campaign, dictating his memoirs to create a legendary story of his life.   There are also definitions which expose the best aspects of history.  **G.M. Trevelyan** British Historian says that "**History is a house in which all subjects dwell". Through this he widens the scope of history.** **Benedetto Croce**, Italian idealist philosopher, historian, and politician defines the subject as "**The story of Liberty**". He says that all history is contemporary history because he felt that past events become history only when they are contemplated by the historian and so history material is only in the historian's thought. All history has to be contemporary. **Thomas Carlyle**, Scottish essayist and historian put forward the view that "**History is the study of the biography of great men**". He pointed out that it was the wise men who created history and others will be led by history. Great men like Alexander, Napoleon etc always shine in the pages of history while others are thrown away as waste into dust bin. So universal history meant the history of great men.  There are historians that challenged this theory by saying that history is not a hand work of hero figures but it shows the whole human past as it happened. **Lord Acton** one of the great historians of the Victorian period defines history as "**The unfolding story of human freedom**". It was based on the idea that Locke says Liberty is the natural right of man and thereby it is nobody\'s gift, all revolutions were fought for Liberty. **Will Durant, American historian and Philosopher**: "History is a narrative of what civilized men have thought or done in past time."  According to him history is the record of the activities of mankind and it has two sides --- one is the crimes and absurdities and the other is the contributions to civilization, the lasting developments which enabled each generation to proceed with a larger heritage than the one before. **Prof. Geoffrey. R. Elton**, German-born British political and constitutional historian: "History is concerned with all those human sayings, thoughts, deeds and sufferings which occurred in the past and have left present deposit; and it deals with them from the point of view of happening change and particular." **John Jacob Anderson**, American Educator: \"History is a narration of the events which have happened among mankind, including an account of the rise and fall of nations, as well as of other great changes which have affected the political and social condition of the human race.\" **Rev. Arthur Henry Johnson, English Historian and Cleric:** "History, in its broadest sense, is everything that ever happened."  Some historians point out that history is the study of progress. **Ernest Berheim** (German Historian) "**History is a science since it answers questions and is pursued by interpretation of evidences. It is an art because it cannot be devoid of ethical and religious values of life**". He elevates history to the rank of a science man is definitely guided by the idea of progress from savagery to modern civilization. He also does not forget that history is an art since history is the study of the evolution of man as social beings.  According to **J.B. Bury**, British historian, "**History is a science no less and no more**". This means history is equal to science for there is the importance of facts which makes history as objective as science. This says that all what is said is to be proved by evidence. **Marc Bloch**, founder of the Annales school of historiography defines "**History is the science of men in time".** **He believed that history is the study of human traces, such as documents, art, tools, bones, ruins, landscape changes, languages, and customs. Bloch also believed that historians need to engage with a variety of other disciplines, depending on the diversity of their evidence. ** **Carl Jacob Burckhardt**, Swiss historian of art and culture defines history as "**Record of what one age finds worthy of note in another."** **H. G. Wells, English writer defines "Human history is in essence a history of ideas."** **R. G. Collingwood,** **English philosopher, historian and archaeologist " All history is the history of ideas ".  All history, is the re-enactment of past thought in the historian\'s own mind.** According to **Sigmund Freud,** Austrian neurologist, "Historical records are a law of right and wrong." Rev. **Arthur** **Henry Johnson,** English historian gives the view that history is a detailed account of the events that have taken place. According to **Dr. S. Radhakrishnan**, Former President of India, scholar, politician, philosopher, and statesman opines that "History is the memory of a nation or a race." **Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru**, first prime minister of India 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. **Edward James Rapson,** British numismatist, philologist and professor of Sanskrit at the University of Cambridge says , "History is a connected account of the course of events of progress of ideas." **According to NCERT: "History is the scientific study of past happenings in all their aspects, in the life of a social group, in the light of present happenings."**  All these definitions remind us that history is the necessary recollection of the past activities of men and societies, which makes it possible for the individual and the society to orient them amidst the bewildering currents human diversity. A major function of history is to make men aware of the character of their own time by seeing it in comparison and contrast with another.  It is the duty of the historian to write history with meaning and significance and must be true as possible.  History includes all those things that are necessary for the life of men like habits, belief, ideas, social, political, customs etc.  It should be humanistic because it is what man has done in the past. It should be scientific and rationalistic because it must be written based on facts. History is time and place oriented human behaviour and societies events are conditioned by time and place. Change is an important feature of history. History is the study of man and man is dynamic and so there is change in every walk of his life. Historians also show the enthusiasm to probe into and also explain why these changes happen (whether it is evolutionary or revolutionary) in the various aspects of life. History is self-revelatory for it lays bare events of importance both national and international character. So, it is not so easy to define history as it includes a multitude of aspects. A comprehensive definition of history is **"History is the humanistic interpretative study of past human society, the purpose of which is to gain insight into the present with the fervent hope of perhaps influencing a more favourable future".**