(History) Chapter 1: What, Where, How, and When?

Knowing about the past

In every day life , we need to know many about many things that has some relevance in the past. Nowadays Internet has answers to all the questions, no matter how old it may be. But still few questions remain unanswered , especially if they have relevance from any cultural taboos. In such cases, we consult and ask our grand parents or old people who must have lived those eras.

However, there are many options available these days that would intimidate you about the past, or what must have happened yesterday, a week back, an year ago, or few years back. Media plays a very important role in these regard like newspaper, television, radio, etc.

WHAT ARE THE THINGS THAT WE MUST KNOW

People may be curious to know how people used to eat in the past, where the early people lived, what they used to wear when the civilization had just started. They want to know about the production and cultivation , about the farmers and herders, about the occupation, about the businesses, the craftsman, the merchant class. How and what children learnt, schools they attended, games they played, music they heard and so on.

Where did people live in the past?

People first started settling in and around River Narmada. The people who settled there lead their lives as skilled Gatherers who spent their lives collecting fruits, farm produce, roots, nuts, etc. They were also skilled in hunting.

Along the hilly areas of the Sulaiman and the kirthar Hills, people started producing crops and Wheat and barley were among the first crops to be grown there. There were also skilled in rearing cattle, sheep, goats, etc. Rice were first grown along the Vindhyas.

Around 4700 years ago, cities started getting flourished along the banks of River Indus and it’s tributaries. Some 2500 years later, there were some city life development along the River Ganga.

Magadha, now in Bihar is known to be the bigger Kingdom which was developed along the coast of River Ganga.

People from various walks of lives travelled from one place to another, crossed hills, mountains seas. These movements of people lead to the advancement and enrichment of culture, education and other fields.

KNOWING THE PAST

Study of History means knowing the past

There is a curiosity to know about the people who lived in our past- what they ate, the clothes they wore and the houses in which they lived.

Different groups of people lived differently- the way of their living was totally different as it can be seen through the lives of hunters, herders, farmers, rulers, merchants, priests, craft persons, artists, musicians, and scientists. Beside these we get to know in detail from the games, stories, plays and songs children played and enjoyed.

Altogether make the exact social structure of the past which changes through time to time .And  later on study as a history.

Origin of Bharat

The two words that our country is attached with is India and Bharata. Now where is this word ' India'  derived from? The word Indus called Sindhu in Sanskrit is believed to have derive the word India for our nation.

However, there is another notion in this regard. Its believed that the Iranians and the Greeks called the Indus, the Hindos or Indos, thereby calling it’s land India.

The term Bharata was used for the group of people residing on the lands of North West. About which Rigveda, the earliest Sanskrit composition also elaborates.

Ways to find out about the past

There are many ways of finding about the past. One such way is to read books written by the people long ago. Such books were called manuscripts. The word Manu was derived from the Latin word Manu meaning hands. Manuscripts were books written by hands long ago on palm leaves or the bark of the tree called birch Which grows in the Himalayas.

However a few manuscripts have been destroyed over the years while some are still preserved in the temple or the monasteries. These manuscripts were based on the subject like religion, people, dance, music, etc. These manuscripts were later translated into the languages of the common people like Sanskrit, Prakrit, Tamil.

Another way of finding about the past were reading the inscription. Inscription were letters inscribed on hard surface like stone or metal. These include stories of the king’s or the ordinary people. The kings got their orders also inscribed so that his subjects could follow him.

Another ways of knowing about the past were studying the old objects once used by earlier people. Those objects were called artefacts and the people who studied them were known as archaeologists. Their subject of study include the buildings, the sculptures, painting, digging the earth and excavating things dug into the earth like utensils, ornaments, cookware, etc.

These objects were made of metal, baked clay ,stone etc. Archaeologists also excavated for the food remains like bones, teeth of the animals, fish or the grains or the seeds of the fruit to find out about the food habits of the earlier people.

People who were skilled in finding out about past were known as historians. They used were things as their source to reveal the truth behind the evolution of the civilization.

ORIGIN OF BHARAT AND INDIA

We use two names for our country- Indian and Bharat.

INDIA

• The Iranians and Greeks came through northwest about 2500 years ago
• They were familiar with the river Indus  and its adjacent place and called it the Hindos or the Indos.
• The land to the east of Indus was called India.
• Thus India comes from Indus, called Sindhu in Sanskrit.

BHARAT

• Mentioned in the Rigveda, about 3500 years ago.
• A group of people who lived in the Northwest.
• Later used for the country.

Different pasts of different groups

Pasts has always been different for different groups of people. The way of leading life differed from person to person and places to places. Like the lives of ordinary folks like fisherman, herders, Farmers had been different from the kings and the Queens. But we know a great deal about the lives of kingly class compared to the lives of the ordinary ones. The reason been the kingly class recorded their every deeds for the people to know. While such was not the case with the ordinary ones. However the archaeologists play a keen role in excavating the truth, however, many facts still remains uncovered.

What do dates mean?

Dates and years that we write today are counted after the birth of Jesus Christ, who is believed to be the founder of the faith , Christianity. For an example, the year 2022 means it has been 2022 years to the birth of Jesus Christ. All the dates before the birth of Christ was term as BC ( Before Christ) and were counted backwards. The term BC is added after the dates. While the dates and years counted after the birth of Christ were termed as AD ( Anno Domini) and always written before the dates.

These days CE and BCE is most commonly used in place of AD and BC respectively. CE is common era while BCE is Before common era. However. Christian Era is most commonly used in most of the countries.

WHAT DO DATES MEAN?

AD : Anno Domini

• The present date generally assigned to the birth of JESUS CHRIST, the founder of CHRISTIANITY.

• The dates after the birth of Lord  CHRIST
• Basically represent as AD, stands for two Latin words – Anno and Domini
• AD means 'in the year of Lord'(i.e. Christ)
• Means years started with the birth of Lord Christ
• When we say year 2000, it states that the time span of two thousand years after the birth of Lord.

BC: BEFORE CHRIST                                    

• All the dates before the birth of Christ are counted backwards and usually have the letters BC, means Before Christ.
• If we are talking about 200 BC, then we have to add 200 years with the current year i.e.2022.
• It means we are talking about the story of (200+2022) 2222 years ago.
• Sometimes CE is used instead of AD and BCE and BP instead of BC.
• CE stands for Common Era.
• BCE stands for Before Common Era.
• BP stands for Before Present.
• Most of the countries of the world now using Christian Era and calendar used widely is The Gregorian Calendar.
• We began using this form dating from about two hundred years ago in India.