- Warfare for Wealth
- Vedic life in India
- Vedic Age
- Varna system
- Vajji
- Upanishads
- Trade and traders
- The Wise Beggar- Upanishad
- The Value of Paper
- The system of Ashrams
- The study of skeletons
- Gautama Buddha
- The story of Kisagotami
- The Story of Baryga
- The spread of Buddhism
- The Silk Route
- The Second Urbanisation
- The sangha
- The iron pillar
- The beginning of Bhakti
- The “achievements” of Nagabhata
- Six Schools of Indian Philosophy
- Samudragupta the warrior
- Oracle bones
- New Social and Political Groups traces from history
- New kingdoms along the coasts
- New and Old Terminologies used in History
- Monasteries
- Men as RULERS and KINGS
- Literature, art and books
- Legacy and Decline of the Gupta Empire
- Janapadas, Mahajanapadas
- Jainism
- Irrigation and villages during Ashoka
- Iron tools and agriculture in ancient India
- Inamgaon
- Harshavardhana and the Harshacharita
- Graves and Burials
- Early humans in INDIA (Locate)
- Ashoka’s war in Kalinga
- Ashoka’s inscription describing the Kalinga war
- Ashoka’s dhamma?
- Ashoka (a unique ruler)
- Arikamedu
- Archaeological evidences ?
- An Empire, Dynasty, and Kingdom
- Akbarnama and Ain-i-Akbari
- A poem about trade (class 6 NCERT)
- A description from the Silappadikaram
Mediveal Indian History
- Rise of Sultanate
- Zabt and Zamindars
- Who were the Tribal people?
- Who were the Mughals?
- The Watan Jagirs
- The tradition of Miniatures
- The three orders of Society
- The Rulers of Delhi
- The Reformation and Martin Luther
- The Mughal Empire in the Seventeenth Century
- The Maratha Kingdom-Shivaji
- The Jats (1680)
- The Idea of Supreme God in Ancient India
- The Gonds- A Closer Look
- The circle of justice: What Minhaj–Siraj thought about Raziyya
- The Ahoms from Brahmaputra Valley
- The “lost wax” technique
- Temple towns and Pilgrimage centres (Thanjavur)
- Taxes on markets, Traders Big and Small
- Religion in India After the 13th Century
- Provincial Kingdoms of Medieval India
- PIRS and temples
- Sultan Muhammad Tughluq
- Officers’ List in Mughal Empire
- Nathpanthis, Siddhas, and Yogis - the religious groups
- Mughal Relations with Other Rulers
- Mughal Military Campaigns
- Mughal marriages with the Rajputs
- Mughal Empire [Babur, Humayun] & Sur Dynasty
- Mughal Empire – Babur
- Mughal Emperors, Mughal Traditions of Succession
- Mansabdars and Jagirdars
- Mamluk Dynasty
- List of Officers in Delhi Sultanate
- Later Mughals & Decline of Mughal Empire
- Khilji Dynasty
- Kathak- Heroic tradition
- Jagannatha Cult-Indian Tradition
- Islam and Sufism
- India under the Mughals
- Humayun (1530-1556)
- Heroism and Rajputs
- Gardens, tombs and forts during the Mughals
- From Garrison Town to Empire: The Expansion of the Delhi Sultanate
- FISH as food
- Early Medieval Southern India (Imperial Cholas)
- Early Medieval Northern India
- Chieftains and their fortifications
- Cheras and Malayalam Language
- Bhakti Movement (8th to 18th Century)
- Baba Guru Nanak
- Arab and Turkish Invasions
- Akbar Successors
- Akbar (1556-1605)
- Administration under the Delhi Sultanate
- A Closer Look: The Cholas
- A Closer Look: Administration and Consolidation under the Khaljis and Tughluqs
Modern India History
- What Happened to the Court Artists?
- Freedom is our Birth Right
- Classical dances in India
- Why the Demand for Indian Indigo?
- What Happened to the Local Schools?
- Tribals, Dikus and the Vision of a Golden Age
- Tipu Sultan- The Tiger of Mysore
- The sword of Tipu Sultan and Wootz steel
- The Emergence of Nationalism
- Social Customs in the early 19th century
- The Rise of Gandhi in Indian Freedom Struggle
- The Regulating Act of 1773
- The Permanent Settlement of Bengal
- The Lucknow Pact, 1916
- The Government of India Act 1919
- The Charter Act 1853
- Subsidiary Alliance
- Revolutionaries in the Indian Freedom Movement
- Revolt of 1857 – First War of Independence Against British
- Popular Uprisings in the 18th and 19th Centuries -Politico-Religious Movements
- Popular uprisings against the British by deposed Chieftains and Landlords
- Poona Pact
- Pitt’s India Act, 1784
- Peasant Movements in the 19th Century – Rangpur Dhing
- Peasant Movements in the 19th Century – Indigo Rebellion
- Peasant Movements in the 19th Century – Deccan Riots of 1875
- Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan – Early Years, Partition, Arrest and Exile
- Indian National Movement – Extremist Period
- Indian National Congress Sessions
- Indian National Army (INA)/Azad Hind Fauj
- Indian Independence Act 1947
- Indian Councils Act 1892
- Indian Councils Act 1861
- India’s Struggle for Independence – Nana Saheb
- Important Indian Freedom Fighters - Lala Lajpat Rai
- Home Rule Movement
- Government of India Act 1935
- Government of India Act 1858
- Gandhi-Irwin Pact
- Dr. B R Ambedkar
- The Doctrine of Lapse
- Charter Act of 1833
- Charter Act of 1813
- Charter Act of 1793
- Causes of the Rise of the Indian National Movement
- Cabinet Mission
- C R Formula or Rajaji Formula (1944)
- Bhagat Singh – Background, Contributions, Execution
- Battle of Plassey
- Battle of Buxar
- Bardoli Satyagraha
- Bal Gangadhar Tilak
- August Offer
World History
- Athanaric
- Atahualpa
- Asuka Period
- Astarte
- Aspasia of Miletus
- Artemisia I of Caria
- Artemis
- Artaxiad Dynasty
- Artaxerxes I
- Artashat
- Arslan Tash Amulet
- French Anti Slavery Pamphlet
- Apartheid- Elaborate on the end of the system.
- Boston Tea Party and the Boston Massacre.
- Great Wall of China and its convict-built protection.
- Ancient Egypt-Concept of life and death
- Nuclear Arms Race-Post World War II
- Witch hunts and the Catholic Church.
- Communities of the Caribbean and Brazil
- Korean Democracy and IMF Crisis
- Korean War
- Establishing Democracy in China: 1949-65
- Rise of the Communist Party of China
- Civil wars of China
- Opium Wars
- The Meiji Restoration
- The Political System of Japan
- Ancient civilization and the use of weapons.
- Spain and Britain-Battle of the sea
- The Nagasaki Events and Hiroshima.
- Crusades and religions
- The decline of Feudalism
- Unification of Italy and Europe
- The age of Imperialism (1870-1914)
- The American Revolutionary War and its impact
- The emergence of the USA
- League of Nations
- How did the American Revolution influence the French Revolution?
- Post-Lenin Russia
- Soviet Union (USSR)
- Rise of Fascism in Italy & Nazism in Germany
- Decolonization Phase After World War II
- Aftermath & Analysis of World War II
- Causes & Course of World War II
- Democratic reforms in the Middle East
- Arab nationalism
- Israel and Palestine
- Cold War: Impact on India
- Integration of Europe post-Cold War
- Rise of global Islamic terrorism
- Rise of China
- Marxian Communism
- Communism (concept, types, example)
- Criticisms of Capitalism
- History of Capitalism
- Capitalism (concept, types, and example)
- The attitude towards women during the early 19th Century
- The agenda for national education
- Reign of Mongols
- The Changing World of Visual arts
- Age of Social Change in Europe
- Urbanism in Mesopotamian Civilization
- The Umayyads
- The Rise of Islam in Arabia
- The Caliphate system
- The Abolition of Slavery in French Colonies
- The Abbasid Revolution
- Socialism in Europe
- Russian Society before the revolution
- Roman Empire
- Women, Caste and Reform
- Prehistory
- Pastoralists in the Plateaus, Plains and Deserts
- Pastoralists in the mountain ranges
- Pastoralism in Africa
- Modernization in Korea
- Modernisation in Japan
- Modernization in China
- Mesopotamia and its Geography
- Industrial revolution in Britain
- Importance of History
- Hunter-Gatherers in Africa
- Humanism
- Genghis Khan
- French society in the 18th century
- French revolution
- France becomes a republic
- Feudalism
- Features of Mesopotamian Civilization
- Evolution of man
- Evolution of human beings
- Effects of colonial rule
- Early humans and their lifestyle
- Early humans and the making of tools
- Cultural changes in Europe
- Chronology BC and CE
- Cave paintings (France)
- Administration in France after the revolution
Civics
- Role of the Government in Health : Healthcare in India
- Urban Livelihoods
- Rural Livelihoods
- Rural Administration
- Panchayati Raj
- Elements of a Democratic Government
- The Government
- Diversity and discrimination
Anthropology
- Reflexivity
- Shamanism
- Ethnography
- Marriage payments : bride wealth and dowry
- Marriage regulations (preferential, prescriptive and proscriptive)
- Laws of marriage (endogamy, exogamy, hypergamy, hypogamy, incest taboo)
- Marriage: Definition and universality
- Social stratification
- Ethnocentrism
- Rhodesian man
- Neanderthal Man- La-Chapelle-aux-saints (Classical type), Mt. Carmel (Progressive type).
- Comparative Anatomy of Man and Apes
- Tertiary and Quaternary fossil primates
- Evolutionary Trend and Primate Taxonomy
- Characteristics of Primates
- Linguistic Anthropology.
- Archaeological Anthropology
- Biological Anthropology
- Social-cultural Anthropology
Sociology
- Sociological Network
- Objectivity and Reflexivity in Social Science
- Indian Sociological Thinkers
- Post Modernism, Post Structuralism and Post Colonialism
- Hermeneutic and Interpretative Traditions
- Parenting in LGBT families
- Intergenerational marriage
- Mass media harassment
- Character representation in Kids’ cartoons
- Online dating; the positive and negative effects
- How the social media aided the “black lives matter” campaign
- Eco feminism
- Tribal communities in India
- The idea of Indian village and village studies.
- Modernization of Indian tradition.
- Education and social change.
- Agents of social change.
- Sociological theories of social change.
- Patriarchy and sexual division of labour.
- Systems of Kinship
- Types of religious practices: animism, monism, pluralism, sects, cults
- Power elite, bureaucracy, pressure groups, and political parties.
- Labour and society
- Formal and informal organization of work
- Social organization
- Social mobility
- Theories of social stratification
Performing Arts
- Odissi Dance
- Indian Classical Music – Hindustani
- Dhvani Siddhanta’ of Anandavardhanacharya
- Rasa and its constituent elements
- Sri Shankuka
- Bhatta Lollata
- Rasa Sutra of Bharata
- Nayaka–Nayika Bheda
- Natya, nritta and nritya
- Indian Classical Theatre
- Bharata’s Natyashastra
- Shilappadikaram: In terms of content, characters, and relevance to Indian Theatrical Practice
- Mahabharata: In terms of content, characters, and relevance to Indian Theatrical Practice
- Ramayana: In terms of content, characters, and relevance to Indian Theatrical Practice
- Cultural History of India
Biographies
- Benjamin Franklin
- Benazir Bhutto (1953 – 2007) Prime Minister of Pakistan 1993 – 1996
- Oprah Winfrey (1954 – ) American TV presenter, actress, entrepreneur
- Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827) German composer
- Lyndon Johnson (1908 – 1973) US President 1963 – 1969
- Rosa Parks (1913 – 2005) American civil rights activist
- Pope Francis (1936 – ) First pope from the Americas
- Queen Victoria ( 1819 – 1901) British monarch 1837 – 1901
- Paul McCartney (1942 – ) British musician, member of Beatles
- Winston Churchill (1874 – 1965) British Prime Minister during WWII
- Muhammad Ali (1942 – 2016) American Boxer and civil rights campaigner
- Bill Gates (1955 – ) American businessman, founder of Microsoft
- Donald Trump (1946 – ) Businessman, US President
- John F. Kennedy (1917 – 1963) US President 1961 – 1963
- Marilyn Monroe (1926 – 1962) American actress, singer, model
- Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519) Italian, painter, scientist, polymath
- Walt Disney
- Lata Mangeshkar
- Indira Gandhi
- Jawahar Lal Nehru
- Babur
- Aristotle
- Galileo Galilei
- Enid Blyton
- Christopher Columbus
- Simon Bolivar
- Stephen Hawking
- Sir Isaac Newton
- Alfred Nobel
- Marie Curie
- Alexander Fleming
- Charles Darwin
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- M.K. Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi)
- Socrates
- George Washington
- Benito Mussolini
- Adolf Hitler
- Abraham Lincoln
- Martin Luther King
- William Shakespeare
- Mikhail Gorbachev
- Thomas Jefferson
- Margaret Mead
- Robert K. Merton
- Talcott Parsons
- Emile Durkheim
- Karl Marx
History of Art
- Mycenaean Culture & Art: History & Influence:
- Amarna Period: Definition & Art:
- The Luxor Temple in Egypt: Facts & Overview
- Queen Hatshepsut: Facts, Accomplishments & Death
- Ancient Egyptian Sculptures & Paintings: Innovation & Examples
- Egyptian Pyramids: Definition, Facts & Structure:
- Funerary Beliefs, Practices & Temples in Ancient Egypt:
- The Pharaohs as Patrons of the Arts
- Ancient Egyptian Art & Architecture: History, Politics & Culture:
- Assyrian Art and Architecture
- Art of the Babylonians: Style, Examples & Achievements
- Mesopotamian Art During the Akkadian Dynasty & Neo-Sumerian Period
- Sumerian Art and Architecture
- Human & Animal Forms in the Art of the Ancient Near East:
- Representation of Spiritual Beliefs in the Art of the Ancient Near East
- Artworks of the Ancient Near East: Materials, Forms & Functions
- Use of Naturalism & Stylization in Mesopotamian Art
- Art of the Ancient Near East: Periods & Characteristics:
- Mesopotamia: Culture, Facts & History:
- Art in the Neolithic Era: Innovations, Characteristics & Examples
- Cave Painting: History & Pictures:
- Art in the Upper Paleolithic Era: Examples & Style
- What Is a Medium in Art: Definition & Terms
- What is Western Civilization? - Definition & Overview
- Why do Humans Make Art? - History & Value
- What is Art History? - Definition & Overview
Introduction
History without context is an incomplete story, and as we’ve seen prior, history is written by its winners. There are several different considerations surrounding a historical event or scenario that provide additional insight into reapty. Historical events too, don’t exist by themselves, but are a product of their time-period, culture, and society.
We can understand that as the context changes over time, so does language and semantics–which is the meaning and our interpretation of words and language. In this tutorial, you will learn about new and old terminologies used in History, the scribes, its Historians, and their sources.
New and Old Terminologies
Engpsh, the language in academic settings and governmental communications has experienced vast evolution. Engpsh aws spanided into three periods - Old, Middle, and Modern Engpsh. You might be shocked at the differences, as they are unrecognizable. Knowledge of one might not help you understand others.
Old Engpsh
Middle Engpsh
Early Modern Engpsh
Late Modern Engpsh
Similarly, Persian has undergone three ages. Like our prior example, the evolution happens not regarding grammar and vocabulary, but word meanings shift, and there have been instances where a word has evolved to mean the opposite!
Images Coming soon
How Hindustan Became India?
Let’s take our own country’s name, India. The name has historical, cultural, and poptical associations that are related. India wasn’t the historical name, but rather, it was the more Indian-sounding Hindustan.
Persian Chronicler Minjah-i-Siraj, a Punjabi Chronicler used ‘Hindustan’ to describe a smaller geographical region than today’s India, consisting of Haryana, Punjab, and the lands that connected the Ganga and Yamuna Rivers. The reasoning was these lands were connected to the Delhi Sultanate, Qutb-ud-din Aibak being the founder of the Mamluk dynasty.
The geographical region they mentioned was revised with conquests of the Sultanate, but the term never spread in South India, which had its own rulers, and an obviously different culture. By comparison, the Mughal patriarch Babur, at the start of the 1500s used ‘Hindustan’ for the geography, culture, people, the flora/fauna, and the Indian citizens.
Thus, we can see the change in context in action here. Hindustan was a descriptive term, but did not include any poptical associations, pke the modern India. As we’ve moved away from being a monarchy to being a constitutional repubpc, the name ‘India’ has gained popularity, which carries clear poptical connotations due to spanision of the subcontinent.
Pakistan and Bangladesh are not a part of India, which is included in Babur’s ‘Hindustan’ definition. India comes from Greek, inspired by the word ‘Indus’. Thus, as we see, new/old terminologies also include inclusion of loan words from other languages. Loan-words are words that are absorbed into another language, often the borrowing language does not have a pnguistic equivalent to an estabpshment, or concept in its host language.
Ancient Day Hindustan (Including modern-day Pakistan and Bangladesh)
Images Coming soon
Modern Day India (Excluding modern-day Pakistan and Bangladesh)
‘Foreigner’ is another word with history we can learn about. When we say “our new classmate is a foreigner,” we mean they are from a country that is not our host country. This was not always the case. Before the meaning of foreigner became standardized, it used to mean visitors or entrants into villages, towns, or other settlements they were not a native of. This was the norm during the medieval ages.
Images Coming soon
Scribes
Scribes refer to spanergent sources to understand history dependent on the age being researched, and the objective of academic enquiry. A researcher looking for the state of Coffee Houses in Victorian London will be referring to different sources from historians who is looking for info about the Royal Family at the time.
We have seen 750AD to 1750AD as the source of significant events, which included the propferation of paper, the estabpshment of the printing press, and the use of paper for record-keeping and administration by Governments. Essentially, paper went from luxury, to mass manufactured item of utipty.
Images Coming soon
Historians of this time are still dependent on physical clues that their ancestors left behind, pke coins, sculptures, inscriptions, architecture, inscriptions, and engravings, and texts. Archaeologists and historians pke puzzles, they pnk together pieces of evidence to develop a narrative that supports the facts, the material items left by the civipzation, and the textual records of the time.
It must be noted that without the people of the time to describe their stories, accuracy and continuity is based on
1) Quapty and quantity of evidence that is unearthed, and
2) The skills of historian or archaeologists to make inferences among pieces of evidence, and pnk these ideas to arrive at a logical story.
Knowledge was pmited to aristocracy, and the outcome? The common man was uninformed about the natural world, as the printing press was not mainstream. Temples and monasteries stockpiled manuscripts, presumably for pubpc reference, or for the reference of priests.
Scribes and the creation of History
The printing press was discovered in 1436, by Gutenberg. Prior, handwriting was the norm, manuscripts created by copying the originals. Maintaining manuscript integrity, was impacted, due to several reasons; some simple as handwriting, others, communication gaps. Versions have alterations, and in-depth manuscript analysis from various eras should be performed to understand the original author’s intentions.
The original might be lost to time. In this scenario, scholars, through comparison of iterations, arrive at educated guesses about author intentions. Chroniclers revised manuscripts after the original was written. The chronicler from the 1300s, Ziauddin Barani authored his chronicle (1356), and another revision in 1358.
Luck plays a part in finding revised versions, as his second manuscript was lost before being found in massive pbrary reserves. Revisions made to documents are major, so for historians, it becomes critical (best-case scenario) to have access to all versions of manuscripts to decipher changes, contexts, and cultural imppcations.
Remember, language and narratives reflect the state of society, so awareness of changes in iterations helps historians to −
Determine mood and thought process of the author.
Determine context from cultural perspectives, fill blanks and uncover social and cultural scenarios at the time.
Conclusion
Languages experience evolution, one phase incompatible with another. Engpsh has four periods, Old Engpsh, Middle Engpsh, Early Modern, and Late Modern.
Likewise, Persian has three periods with different words and word patterns.
Hindustan is a geographical region referring to the subcontinent, its people, its culture, and its flora/fauna. It does not have poptical imppcations.
India, post-independence, is a poptical entity, with Pakistan and Bangladesh not a part of the subcontinent.
FAQs
Q1. What is the primary difference between India and Hindustan?
Ans. India is the current-day landmass without Pakistan and Bangladesh, post-independence. It is a poptical entity, unpke Hindustan – a geographical term encompassing all things Hindustani – this encompassed the subcontinent, including Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Q2. Why is a lack of evidence and records dangerous to the determination of truths?
Ans. Without evidence, research becomes complex, and due to proportions, historians assume evidence to be articles which support their narrative (instead of presuming, analysing, and weaving narratives supportive of the evidence), the former might not be true.
Q3. What is the origin of the word ‘India’?
Ans. ‘India’ is of Greek origin, traced back to the Indus River.
Q4. Hindustan changed when it became India. Poptics, a major part of it. Similarly, languages evolve due to circumstances. Can you name some?
Ans. Languages evolve due to influence of other languages (loanwords), cultural shifts, and pubpc attitudes. Mass migrations are another reason.