What is history...? - Francis Lobo

What is history...?

Each human being is related to the history. History   makes the past present. Anything and everything has a history.  It is not one sided or what happened.  It is memory and what is remembered and why it is remembered. It is measured in three parameters.

I Individual and social...

We as a human being cannot live   without company. We need someone to share or for various other reasons. We are interdependent and not individuals.

II Time and space…

From our birth, we have a certain period for different activities. Man carries the identity   of his culture and his state. History is the reasoned application of the human mind. History is about the individuals in space.

III Change and continuity…

We are changed continually as well socially. Some things change but some things continue. The nature changes but idea remains the same.  History is based on memory and records.

History is about   the change in a group of people. It is based on   three things…

• Observation…
• Analysing…
• Generalising…

History is always the past. It is repeats itself but not exactly same way. There are changes with time and value. Time does not return. It is the record of social experiences. The perception and the interpretations or viewpoints are essential. There is no conclusion without confirmation.

E.g., seven written details are available of Alexander defeating Paras. History provides numerous, choices to human being. Primary facts are taken up to about of twenty-twenty-five years from the event.  Secondary facts basically are at the time of the reconstruction of history.

Till the nineteenth century history was known as ‘The Mother of All the Knowledge’. But now science has taken that place. Unfortunately, history cannot be proved as science can be. But science too has its own history. So there is nothing without history, neither you nor I.

FRANCIS LOBO SJ.

Placing Indus Valley Civilization in Ancient History - Menoy D'Souza, SJ

The Indus Valley civilization was a Bronze Age civilization [3300-1300BCE, mature period 2600-1900BCE], located mostly in the western part of the Indian subcontinent. It flourished around the Indus river basin. Primarily centered along the Indus river and the Punjab region, the civilization sprawled into the Ghaggar-Hakra river valley and the Ganges-Yamuna doab, encompassing most of what is now Pakistan, as well as extending up to the western most state of modern-day India, south eastern Afghanistan, the eastern part of Baluchistan and Iran.

Harappa was the first of its cities to be excavated in the 1920’s. Presently in Pakistan, it was at that time in the Punjab province of British India. The mature phase of this civilization was known as the Harappan civilization. With it came the discovery of another site which is Mohenjo-Daro, a UNESCO World heritage site.

This civilization was remarkable for its stability [nearly a thousand years]. The people in this civilization were among the first to develop a system of uniform weights and measures. Their smallest division was marked on an ivory scale found in Lothal. It was the smallest ever recorded in the Bronze Age [1.704mm].

All their cities were well planned. The streets were at right angles with an elaborate system of covered drains. They were built with baked bricks of the same size. The discovery of kilns to make bricks support the fact that burnt bricks were used extensively. Besides houses, there were big buildings like the Great bath at Mohenjo-Daro and the vast granaries. Another invention is an instrument, which was used to measure the horizon and the tidal lock. They also evolved new techniques in metallurgy producing copper, bronze, lead and tin. The people of the Indus valley civilization, from the early Harappan periods, had knowledge of prodentistry. The oldest evidence of drilling teeth of humans in a living person was found in Mehrgarh. A touchstone probably used to test the purity of gold was found in Banawali.

The seals or pictures point to the use of domesticated animals, which include camels, goats, water buffaloes and fowls. The Harappans cultivated wheat, barley, peas and sesamum. They were the first to grow cotton and prepare clothes from it. Trade was a major activity. The lapis lazuli used to paint pots was another invention of theirs.

The economy of the Indus valley civilization appears to have depended on trade. Advances in transport technology facilitated it. They used bullock carts still seen throughout South Asia, as well as boats. The boats were small and flat-bottomed. A docking facility at the coastal city of Lothal, with a discovery of a massive, dredged canal, indicate that they used extensive canal network to irrigate the cultivable land..

Regular trade seemed to have linked the Harappan and Mesopotamian civilizations. This trade became feasible with the innovative development of plank-built watercraft. The Indus valley civilization area shows ceramic similarities with southern Turkmenistan and northern Iran.

A sophisticated and technologically advanced culture was evident in the Indus valley. The homes had water drawn from wells. They were not only the first urban centers. But also the world’s first known urban sanitation systems. The wastewater was channelized through the drains.

The art and culture of Mohenjo-Daro’:  Various sculptures, seals, pottery, gold jewelry and anatomically detailed figurines in terracotta, bronze and steatite have been found. They also found a number of gold, terracotta and stone figurines of girls in dancing poses. The terracotta figurines include cows, bears, monkeys and dogs.

The Harappans worshipped Gods and Goddesses in male and female forms, evolved some rituals and ceremonies too. No monumental sculpture survives, but a large number of figurines have been discovered, including a steatite bust of a man thought to be a priest and a striking bronze dancing girl. Countless terracotta statues of the Mother Goddess have been discovered suggesting that she was worshipped in nearly every home.

By about 1700BC, the Harappan culture was on the decline. This decline has several reasons. The repeated flooding of towns located on the riverbanks and the ecological changes that harmed agriculture. When the initial migrations of the Aryan people into India began about 1500BC the developed Harappan, culture had already been virtually wiped out.

The Impact of British Empire on India - Lindsay Lobo, SJ

The Negative Impact:

The British ruled over India for about 200 years. They came to India to trade. However, gradually they colonized and took over power from the princely rulers. Whenever a country imposes its rule on another country, it always has an impact on the country’s culture, economy and life Style. 1. The British dented our country’s progress in many ways. Most parts of India had separate crops grown on the ridge and furrow. This helped to maintain the fertility of the soil. However, the British transformed the agricultural system of India to suit their own needs. They made the Indian farmers plant the same crop in the ridge and furrow. As a result of this, the soil began to lose its fertility. Bengal was transformed from a rich fertile land to a poor infertile land. Similarly, in the Deccan region they introduced sugarcane plantations along with cotton. Both the crops absorb nutrients from the soil. Soon there developed a huge gap between the deletion of nutrients and the replenishing of the land with the same. Moreover, there were no artificial fertilizers then. As a result, the country with the largest area of cultivable land became the country with famine and drought. 2. The British used to take raw materials from India, manufacture goods in England and sell them back to India. They also sowed an idea in the Indian mind that the nation is incapable of change. This destroyed the spirit of many Indians who lost the sense of nationalism. The British used the policy of divide and rule and pitted the Hindus against the Muslims. 3. India had a balance between industries and agriculture but the British transformed India to a fully agricultural nation and all industries were wiped out. As agriculture suffered with no income, the Indian economy suffered a hard set back. The cost of administration was borne by the Indians and the high salary of the staff would go to England since the British were the rulers. With regard to export and import, the British made a lot of money as they imposed duties on goods. The British were able to make profit on every enterprise. As Dadabhai Nawroji said, ‘the British drained India of its wealth.’ The British transformed one of the richest economies of the world in to one of the poorest.

The positive Impact:

The British also did much good to improve India.

1. They introduced education to all and the study of English, as they wanted people to work in their offices. 2. The transportation and communication system in India are their gift to us. 3. India benefited quite much from the Railway system as it connected many parts of the country, though for their own purpose.  4. Our judiciary and legislative assemblies are also a blessing of the British Imperialists. 5. Many of the customs in the military have their roots in the British rule. 6. India owes a lot to the British for an administrative mechanism today in our country. Some of the Indian rituals and socially harmful customs like that of the SATI were banned, the Thugi was controlled by employing severe punishment for the thugs. 6. They established laws on minimum wage and child labour.

Conclusion: Depends on what one looks for and his/her mind frame.