Few days back, I had a mooted discuss with my high school going teenage daughter about her views on importance of history and facts that she’s studying. As like other kids, she ensnared lot of names of various dynasties and their imperial king names, but she has less known about the social, economical and culture aspects of a common man at those times! I read the same and now it’s her turn to perambulate! In a contemplation again, I always feel like we need to teach our kids and reshape our history about the historical culture of a common man around the world!
Historiography has so far been one of the most neglected branches of learning owning mainly to circumstances resulting from alien rule or from dynasty politics. The only approach to our country’s history that was recognized or encouraged by the foreign rulers was the one that suited their interests, and this was doubtless vitiated by the usual racial and imperialists bias that characterizes the average outsider when he/she looks at Oriental history and civilization. In the old day, court historians wrote in deference to the whims of their loyal masters. It will be an evil day indeed, if the historians of our own times turn courtiers to the ruling party of the day. This causes various pitfalls in finding the right or the truth of the time. In this path, we have chances for regional or provincial feelings may sway the historians views, facts will be under water when historian is in favor of specific caste or a community or to a school of thought. These reasons still faces me with many raisings doubts about our history! Few examples like: What is the true facts behind the Indo Aryan-Dravidian debate? What’s the true personal character of some of the renowned rulers, facts about the people, their lifestyle, their outer personifications, true inner circles of our political leaders, facts about partition, myths circulated, hemorrhages of religion , etc..
I think, we need to re write our books entirely scientific, and should not be actuated by any extraneous motives, howsoever laudable or desirable. We will have to produce a more integral and correlated picture of the life of the common man than was attempted before. Institutions, cultural or otherwise, wall have to be studied not in isolation, hitherto done, but as inter related links in the of national culture or economy. The inter-relation of history with other social sciences have to be classified in detail so as to enable us to know the entire truth. The sciences like Sociology, Anthropology, Geography, Economics, etc, most come within the purview of historian Archaeology, Numismatics, Epigraphy and Archives will receive a much greater attention than they have hitherto received.
Hitherto, our history has meant the history of kings and royal dynasties not that of the common people and their life and culture. The historian of the future will have to concern more with social, economic and cultural aspects than with wars and invasions and royal conquests. Political events will of course form the steel-frame of history, but sociological developments necessarily attract greater attention in future. The common man, has so far been almost totally ignored Or neglected by the previous historian. The life of the common people will now have to be studied on the basis all available and hitherto undiscovered sources, documentary or otherwise Archives of all types will have to be carefully explored and sifted. We are hardly far advanced beyond the fringe of a vast field of exploration. The very immensity of historical records at our disposal makes our task indeed very difficult. A band of tireless workers needed to explore every nook and corner of this field before we can reach a stage when the re writing of history will be practicable or desirable.
How history has been, or may be misused is too well known to need a detailed recapitulation. We don’t need panegyrists or propagandists. The craving for uncritical applause will have to be restrained, and, above all, prejudices, of all kinds will have to get rid of only then will have the highest standards of history making.
sivaayyala 