Digital Rare Book:
Historical method in relation to Indian history
By K. A. Nilakanta Sastri and H.S. Ramanna
Published by S. Viswanathan, Madras - 1956

Read book online:

http://bit.ly/2Vujpuw

Download pdf book:

http://bit.ly/2OSTaLZ

GENERAL PRINCIPLES

Before we consider the different typet of historical evidence 'bearing on the specific problems of Indian History, some space must be devoted to the study of a few general considerations. Modern historicai method in the sense in which we are concerned with it is altogether a creation of the last century and a half. In making this statement we do not mean to deny the existence of historians at an earlier time. It would be untrue to do it. In fact, western historical writing may be traced back to the Greek. As Thomson says ' The Greeks wrote history of all characters and of all dimensions. The history of men or things, of great nations and small cities, universal annals and local chronicles, political, literary and military memoirs. There is nothing which they forgot or ignored. Yet to the end of Greek literature the prevailing purpose of Greek historians remained constant—to give information. The Greeks first learned the art of writing real history, and perceived its purposes, its duties, its laws. The Greeks were the originators of history as they were of science and phllosophy. European historiography need go no further back. But the Greeks showed little interest in their past history, though they were deeply engaged in contemporary affairs. They had very little interest in their origins, history was conceived as of memorable events.