LL.B HONS.

I SEMESTER
PAPER III (HISTORY) UNIT I
UNIT I
HISTORY – MEANING AND DEFINITIONS
SOURCES OF HISTORY : LITERARY AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL
METHODOLOGY :DATING METHODS , NUMISMATICS ,MAIN INSCRIPTION , EPIGRAPHY ,
PALAEOGRAPHY , SCRIPTS
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HISTORY AND LAW , HISTORY AND SOCIOLOGY,HISTORY AND POLITICS ,
HISTORY AND ECONOMICS
SCIENTIST,MATHEMATICIANS,ASTRONOMERS AND PHYSICIANS IN ANCIENT INDIA (i)
ARYABHATTA BRAHMGUPTA BHASKAR-I AND VARAHMIHIR (ii) CHARAK AND SHUSHRUT
LECTURE I HISTORY – MEANING AND DEFINITIONS

PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTIONS

1. What is meaning and definition of history?(2017)

2. According to E.h. carr what is definition of history?(2018)
3. History is an unending dialogue between past and present. Explain.

NOTES

 History is the study of past in a chronological order.

 History is the link between past and present.
 History is derived from the Greek word “historia”.
 Historia means inquiry, research , exploration and information.
 Herodotus is the father of history.
 He wrote the book historica.
 History is the study of life in a society in all the aspects.
 Facts and evidence are the raw material of history.
 History helps student in understanding the present social, political, economic conditions.
 History helps in understanding the background of a religion, customs etc.
 It is a record of past.
 The main aim of history is development of mankind.

AIMS OF HISTORY

 Development and progress of mankind.

 To teach tolerance.
 To develop right attitude.
 To promote socialization.
 To study contributions of various cultures.

IMPORTANCE OF HISTORY

 To understand the present.

 To gain knowledge.
  Feeling of nationalism.
 Moral importance.
 Inspiration for future.

DEFINITIONS

 N.C.E.R.T. :-history is the scientific study of past happenings in all their aspects in the life of a
social group in the light of present happenings.
 RAPSON :- history is a connected account of course of events or progress of ideas.
 HENRY JOHNSON :- history in its broadest sense is everything that has ever happened.
 Burckhardt :- history is the record of what age finds worthy of note in another.
 J.L. NEHRU :- history is the story of man’s struggle through the ages against wild beasts and
the jungle and some of his own kind who have tried to keep them down and exploit him for
their own benefit.
 E.H CARR :- history is an unending dialogue between past and present.

MODERN CONCEPT

 History is in depth study of different layers of society.

 It is not only king,queen,wars etc.
 Analysis and interpretation are the main pillars of history .
 Even the study of common man and his household, other techniques are also part of history.
 It is achievement of man in every field economic , social , political , scientific etc..
 It develops the future hopes.

 According to modern concept, history does not contain only the history of kings and queens,
battles and generals, but the history of the common man-his house and clothing, his fields
and their cultivation, his continued efforts to protect his home and hearth, and to obtain a
just government, his aspirations, achievements, disappointments, defeats and failures.
 It is not only the individual but the communities and the societies are the subject of study of
history.
 Study of history deepens our understanding of the potentialities and limitations of the
present.
 It has thus become a future-oriented study related to contemporary problems. For all these
reasons, history has assumed the role of a human science.
LECTURE 2 :- SOURCES OF HISTORY :- LITERARY SOURCES

Previous years Question

Q.1. Critically examine the authenticity of literary sources in re writing of actual History?
Q.2. Evaluate the utility of literary source to re write the ancient Indian history.

Sources of history
• A source text is a text from which information or ideas are derived. In translation, a source text is
the original text that is to be translated into another language.
• These sources are divided into two main groups.

A. Literary sources B. Archaeological sources

A. Literary Sources of History
• Source literature (understood as printed texts) is a kind of information source. It might, for
example, be cited and used as sources in academic writings, and then called the literature on the
subject.
• The Literary Source can also be divided into three groups, namely,

1. Religious Literature, 2. Secular Literature, 3. Foreign Accounts.

(1) Religious Literature:
• The Religious Literature of India is too vast.
1.The Religious Literature can also be divided into three parts:
i. Hindu Religious Texts,
ii. Buddhist Religious Texts,
iii. Jain Religious Texts.

I. Hindu Religious Texts:

• It includes the Vedas, the Upanishads, the great epics like the Ramayana and Mahabharata, and
the Puranas of the Hindus.
• These are like mines of information about religious beliefs, social systems, people’s manners and
customs, political institutions, and conditions of culture. i. Vedas: Through the Vedas, the ancient
Aryans have light on the religious, social, economic and political life. Number of Vedas is four- Rig-
Veda, Yajurveda,Samveda and Atharveda.

ii. Upanishads: The Sanskrit term Upanishad (from upa "by" and ni-ṣad "sit down") translates to
"sitting down near", referring to the student sitting down near the teacher while receiving spiritual
knowledge. Total 108.

iii. Puranas: Purana is a Sanskrit word that means "ancient" or "old." It is a genre of ancient Indian
literature. Total number of puranas is 18.

II. Jainas and the Buddhists Religious Texts:

• The religious writings of the Jainas and the Buddhists are also enormous.
• They include the Jatakas and the Angas etc. While dealing with religious subjects, they also write
about historical persons and political events. vividly known from these sources. Buddhists
texts:Tripitakas, Vinayapitaks, Suttpitaks and Abhidhammapitaks.
(2)Secular Literature
• There are many kinds of secular or non-religious literature. The law-books of ancient India known
as Dharmasutras and Smritis belong to this group.
• Secular or non-religious literature contain code of duties for kings, administrators, and people.
• They also contain rules regarding property, and prescribe punishments for murder, theft and other
crimes.
• Kautilya’s Arthasastra is a famous work. It not only speaks of the State and polity, but also of
socioeconomic system.
• Authors like Patanjali and Panini, though they wrote Sanskrit grammar, also described some
political events.
• The dramas of Kalidasa, Vishakhadatta, and Bhasa give us useful information about the people
and society.
• There were some historical writings too. Bana wrote Harshacharita or the Life of Harsha.
• Bilhana wrote about Vikramaditya. Kalhana’s Rajatarangini was a historical text of great value. It
is an account of the history of Kashmir. It presents the career of the Kings in chronological order.
• Chand Bardai wrote Prithviraj Charita. There are many other biographical works and chronicles
which contain historical information.

(3) Foreign Accounts

• In ancient times, many travelers from Greece, West Asia, China, and Arabia. They left many
accounts of the incidents they had observed.
• They had no obligations to any of the kings in any region, so their accounts are impartial providing
unchanged information on the subjects they discussed.
• It includes texts by foreigners who visited India at some time or the other and record their
experiences.

Greek sources give us much valuable information about ancient India. Greek and Roman accounts of
the first and second centuries all mention many Indian ports and list items of trade between India
and the Roman Empire.
Example-
Herodotus in his book Historica (written in many volumes) describes about the Indo-Persian
relations.
Herodotus was dependent upon the Persian sources for his information about India.
Megasthenes came in the court of Chandragupta Maurya. He had written about the Indian society
and culture in his book called as ‘Indica’.
Chinese accounts are a valuable source of information about the Gupta period and the years directly
following the end of the Gupta rule.
Fa-Hien (Faxian) − visited India in 5th century A.D.
Hiuen-Tsang −Hiuen-Tsang was also a Buddhist monk.
He visited India during the reign of Harshavardhana. His journey was started in 629 AD and reached
in 630 AD.
Hiuen-Tsang visited Buddhist pilgrimages and stayed at Nalanda University where he studied
Buddhism.
He collected original manuscripts and mementos, read them, and made copies. During his 15 years of
journey throughout India, he also attended Harsha’s assembly. He returned to China in 645 AD.
The accounts of Arabs are valuable sources for the study of ancient Indian history. Many of them
who visited India were merchants.
AI-Biruni gave important information about India. He was Arab scholar and contemporary of
Mahmud of Ghazni.
Sulaiman:He was a merchant who visited India in the 9th century AD during the time of Bhoja. He
had written about Pal and Pratihar kings of his time.
Al-Masudi: He visited in India for two years from 941 to 943 AD. He had written about Rashtrakutas.
Limits of Literary Sources
• Certain risks seem to be unavoidable when you rely upon literary sources to construct the past,
especially when you do not have an alternative source to corroborate the information.
• The ancient texts are not purely factual.
• They contain facts mixed with imagination, speculation, and assumptive reasoning and reflect the
romantic idealism, religious authority, and creative imagination of their authors.
• Rather than the reality of the times in which they were composed. Hence, without corroborative
evidence, you do not know how far you can rely upon them and draw valid conclusions. In this regard
the following points are worth mentioning.
1. The ancient literary texts do not always reflect the social, economic, or political reality.
2. They might have been altered several times by numerous people from different times.
3. Their age is unknown. Hence, you cannot always place them in a timeframe.
4. Being creative works, they contain idealism mixed with reality.
5. We do not know their value to the common people who had no access to them.
6. We do not know how many people put them to real use in their lives.
7. Their appeal was limited to a few groups as ancient India was home to diverse cultures.
8. Changes in the language and idiom might have affected our understanding of them.
9. We have a lot of unknowns and forgotten histories. We do not know what was lost that would
never be known.
10. Many sacred texts are not entirely free from religious and cultural bias.
LECTURE 3 SOURCES OF HISTORY :- ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOURCES
Previous year questions
Q.1. Rock inscription of Junagarh of Rudradaman and Lumbini of Ashok. (Short question,2014)
Q.2.What is script of Lumbini inscription of Emperor Ashok? What was the main objective of this
inscription.(2018)
Q.3.Promulgations of Rummindei pillar inscription Discuss the importance of archaeological
sources to rewrite the history (2019)

Notes

Archaeological Sources:
• Archeological Sources are basically the material evidence.
• Ancient ruins, remains and monuments recovered as a result of excavation and exploration are
archaeological sources of history.
• The archaeological remains are subjected to scientific examination of radio-carbon method for its
dates.
• Archaeological sources give us some knowledge of the life of the ancient people. India is rich with
ancient ruins, remains, and monuments.
• The archaeological source improved our understanding of our past and gave us access to crucial
resources that we would not have had otherwise.
• The Archaeological Sources divided into three groups, namely- i. Archaeological Remains and
Monuments, ii. Inscriptions and iii. Coins / Numismatics
I. Archaeological remains and Monuments :
• Monuments play a vital role in understanding our history. Monuments tell us about the ancient art
and culture of the periods. They help us to understand about their rulers and the architecture of
various civilizations.
• The first person to realize the significance of these sources was Lord Curzon. He founded the
Ancient Archeology Department. In this department that many excavations were carried out and
valuable information is discovered.
• The monuments don’t tell us stories directly but it has a hidden message.
• Temples (shrines), Mounds, Stupas, and Monasteries (Viharas) clearly describe the artistic
achievements and religious devotion of people and rulers alike.
• The beauty of the Gupta Period was seen by the excavation of the Temples of “Deograh”.
• Excavation of Harappa and Mohen-Jo-Daro give us a lot of information about Indus Valley
Civilization.
• It showed us that there were civilizations earlier than Aryans.
• The scriptures found from the excavations of Taxila give us an idea of the Gandhara School of Art.
ii Coins / Numismatic
• The study of coins is known as numismatics.
• Coins form another source of historical information.
• Ancient coins were mostly made of gold, silver, copper or lead.
• Coin moulds of Kushan period made of burnt clay have been also discovered.
• Some of the coins contain religious and legendary symbols which throw light on the culture of that
time. Coins also contain the figures of kings and gods• Some contain names and dates of the rulers. •
Coins also throw significant light on economic life of ancient people.
iii. Inscriptions:
• Inscriptions supply valuable historical facts.
• The study of inscriptions is called epigraphy.
• The study of the writings on ancient inscriptions and records is called paleography
• Inscriptions are seen on rocks, pillars, stones, slabs, walls of buildings, and body of temples.
• They are also found on seals and copper plates.
• We have various types of inscriptions. Some convey monarchical orders regarding administrative,
religious and major decisions to the public in general.
• India’s earliest inscriptions are seen on the seals of Harappa, belonging to the Indus Valley
Civilization.
• The most famous inscriptions of India are the huge inscriptions of Asoka.
• As that emperor himself proclaimed, he got his edicts engraved on stone so that they might last
long.
• The Hatigumpha Inscription of Kharavela, the Allahabad Pillar Inscription of Samudragupta, and
many other rock and pillar inscriptions contain most valuable historical accounts.
• Political, administrative and religious matters are gathered from such sources.
• Earliest inscriptions, namely, the seals of Harappa, dated about 2500 BC, have not been
deciphered so far by any epigraphist.
• The later inscriptions were engraved in the Prakrit Language in the third century B.C.
• Ashokan inscriptions were written in the Brahmi script from left to right.
• Some were also engraved in the Kharosthi script from right to left.
• Sanskrit was used as an epigraphic medium in the second century A.D. Inscriptions were also
engraved in regional languages in the ninth and tenth centuries .
LECTURE 4 :- Methodology: Dating methods

Previous year Question

1. C14 Dating method (2019)

2. Radio Carbon Dating Method (2014)
3. Thermoluminescence dating methods. (2015)
4. How helps the Carbon dating (C14) method to rewrite the History? (2018)

Dating Method
• Dating techniques are procedures used by scientists to determine the age of rocks, fossils, or
artifacts.
• There are two main categories of dating methods in Archaeology:

Relative dating or indirect and Absolute dating.

Relative Dating
• Relative dating includes methods that rely on the analysis of comparative data or the context (eg,
geological, regional, cultural) in which the object one wishes to date is found.
• This approach helps to order events chronologically but it does not provide the absolute age of an
object expressed in years.
• Relative dating includes different techniques, but the most commonly used are soil stratigraphy
analysis and typology.

❖ Stratigraphy
• Inspired by Geology, stratigraphy uses the principle of the superposition of strata which suggests
that, in a succession of undisturbed SOILS, the upper horizons are newer than the lower ones.
• Generally, each stratum is isolated in a separate chronological unit that incorporates artifacts.
• However, this method is sometimes limited because the reoccupation of an area may require
excavation to establish the foundation of a building, for instance, that goes through older layers.
• Stratigraphic dating remains very reliable when it comes to dating objects or events in undisturbed
stratigraphic levels.
• For example, the oldest human remains known to date in Canada, found at Gore Creek, have been
dated using soil stratification.
• The bones were buried under (and are therefore older) a layer of ash that resulted from a volcanic
eruption dating back to 7000 years BP (Before Present; "present" indicates c. 1950).
• Subsequently, radiocarbon dating, an absolute dating technique, was used to date the bones
directly and provided a date of 8250 BP, showing how useful the combined used of relative and
absolute dating can be.
• Moreover, stratigraphic dating is sometimes based on the objects that are found within the soil
strata.
• Indeed, some items whose exact or approximate age is known are called "diagnostic artifacts."
• Examples of such objects include very specific stone tools, different pottery styles, objects that
belong to a specific period (eg, the historic period or the French regime), coins with a production
date, or other items bearing a trademark and whose history can be traced in historical records.
• Their presence on archaeological sites is used to date the soil layers and the objects and events they
are associated with and thus contributes to refine the chronology of sites.
Typology

• Typology is a method that compares reference objects in order to classify them according to their
similarity or dissimilarity and link them to a specific context or period. • This technique is frequently
used when it is impossible to make use of absolute dating methods; it generally allows archaeologists
to identify the period to which a cultural site or object belongs, without specifying the date of
occupation.
• This method is primarily applied to projectile points and ceramic vessels.
• These present many characteristics that are used for comparing them, such as morphology and raw
materials in the case of stone tools, and decorative techniques and motifs in the case of ceramics.
• Absolute dating includes all methods that provide figures about the real estimated age of
archaeological objects or occupations.
• These methods usually analyze physicochemical transformation phenomena whose rate are known
or can be estimated relatively well.
• This is the only type of techniques that can help clarifying the actual age of an object. Absolute
dating methods mainly include radiocarbon dating, dendrochronology and thermo luminescence.

Absolute Dating

i.Radiocarbon Dating

• Radiocarbon dating is the most widely used dating technique in archaeology.

• It relies on a natural phenomenon that is the foundation of life on earth.
• Indeed, carbon 14 (14C) is formed from the reaction caused by cosmic rays that convert nitrogen
into carbon 14 and then carbon dioxide by combining with carbon 12 (12C) and carbon 13 (13C),
which are stable carbon isotopes.
• Following the death of an organism, any exchange ceases and the carbon 14, which is radioactive
and therefore unstable, slowly begins to disintegrate at a known rate (half-life of 5730 years, ie, after
this period only half of the total carbon 14 present at the time of death remains).
• The amount of carbon 14 remaining in the material to date is compared to a reference standard
(ratio 14C/total carbon, 12C and 13C) to calculate the time elapsed since its occurrence.
• A sample requires 10 to 20 grams of matter and usually consists of charred organic material,
mainly charcoal, but bones (see zooarchaeology) and shells can also be dated using this technique.
• An initial reading dates the specimen which is then calibrated by considering this date and its
correspondence with the measurable level of carbon 14 stored over time in the growth rings of
certain tree species, including redwood and pine Bristol.
• The results of radiocarbon dating are expressed in years and include a time range (eg, 630± 60 BP).
• Subsequently, the calibration of that date provides a time interval where the event or object being
dated can be situated (eg, 12751425 AD). Radiocarbon dating, however, can only be used for dating
objects that are less than 50 000 years.

ii.Dendrochronology
• Dendrochronology is a method that studies the rings of tree trunks to define characteristic
sequences by analyzing the morphology of growth rings for a given species.
• This method is based on the principle that the variation in tree growth from one year to another is
influenced by the degree of precipitation, sunshine, temperature, soil type and all ambient conditions
and that, consequently, reference patterns can be distinguished.
• Several sets of rings from different trees are matched to build an average sequence.
• Subsequently, overlapping series of average sequences from trees that died at different times and
come from various sources (ie, the wood of historic buildings, archaeological and fossil woods) are
used to build a chronological sequence covering several hundred years which becomes a reference.
• Finally, absolute dating is obtained by synchronizing the average sequences with series of live (and
thus datable) trees and thus anchors the tree-ring chronology in time.
• Dendrochronology mainly uses softwood species that are sensitive to changes in growth conditions,
while hardwoods show rather little variation in ring width.
• This method provides very accurate dating, sometimes to the nearest year.
• It is especially used to develop calibration curves used to correct data obtained from radiocarbon
dating, a technique that remains imprecise due to fluctuations in the concentration of carbon 14 in
the atmosphere over the centuries.

iii. Thermo luminescence

• Thermoluminescence uses the phenomenon of ionizing radiations that naturally occur in the
atmosphere.
• This technique relies on a unique physicochemical property of certain minerals (especially quartz
and feldspar) that have an imperfect structure and therefore retain radioactive elements in the
natural environment.
• When these minerals are heated while a pot is being baked during the occupation of an
archaeological site, for instance, the traps formed by their crystal structure are emptied and the clock
is reset to zero.
• Subsequently, the total flow rate of irradiation (paleo dose) since the reset is calculated by heating
the specimen once more, and this result is then compared to the annual input recorded by a
dosimeter installed on the archaeological site where the object being dated was found.
The calculation (age of the specimen = paleo dose/annual dose) provides information about when
the pottery pot was baked and, thereby, about the chronology of the archaeological occupation in
which it was found.
Thermoluminescence is a technique that requires complex manipulation.
To obtain a date for a single pottery sample, it is necessary to perform a laboratory fractionation of
the clay mineral used in the manufacture of the pottery and prepare nearly 75 sub-samples; some of
these are heated to release the level of thermo luminescence, while others receive a radiation dose to
measure their sensitivity to radiation.
Thermoluminescence can replace radiocarbon dating to date events that occurred more than 50 000
years ago; it is used mainly for dating stone fireplaces, ceramics and fire remains.
Lecture 5
Methodology: Numismatics, main Inscriptions, Epigraphy, Paleography and scripts

Previous year Question

Q.1. Paleography (Short Q.) (2013)

Q.2.Promulgation of Rummandei pillar inscription. (short question) (2015)
Q.3.How the numismatics and paleography are useful for re write the History? Discuss. (2018)

Numismatics
• Coins are considered as the second most important source for reconstructing the history of India
after inscriptions.
• Study of coins called Numismatics
• Coins are mostly found in the hoards while digging field or constructing a building, making a road,
etc.
• Coins found in systematic excavations are less in number, but are very valuable because their
chronology and cultural context can be fixed precisely.
• Earliest coins are known as the punch-marked coins. They are made of either silver or copper. In
addition to this, some gold punchmarked coins were also found, but they are very rare and their
authenticity is doubtful.
• The punch-marked coins that bear (only) symbols on them are the earliest coins of India. Each
symbol is punched separately, which sometimes overlap the other.
• Punch-marked coins have been found throughout the country, starting from Taxila to Magadha to
Mysore or even further south. They do not bear any inscription or legend on them.
• The Indo-Greek coins were also made up of silver and copper and rarely in gold.
• The Indo-Greek coins depict beautiful artistic features on them. The portrait or bust of the king on
the observe side appear to be real portraits and on the reverse, some deity is depicted.
• The Kushanas issued their coins mostly in gold and copper, rarely in silver.
• The Guptas issued their coins mostly in gold and silver but the gold coins are numerous.
• The Kushanas issued mostly gold coins and numerous copper coins, which are found in most parts
of north India up to Bihar.
• The Satvahana Kings introduced Led coins in India.

Inscriptions
• One of the most important and reliable sources of history writing are Inscriptions.
• An inscription, being a contemporary document, is free from later interpolations.
• It comes in the form it was composed in and engraved for the first time. It is almost impossible to
add something to it at a later stage.
• The earliest system of writings is found in the Harappan seals. (2500BC) However, there has been
no success in deciphering it. They are pictographic script- ideas/objects expressed in form of picture.
• Thus, the writing system of the Ashokan inscriptions (in Brahmi script) are considered to be the
earliest (3rd AD).

Epigraphy
• Epigraphy is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing.
• it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according
to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the writing and the writers.
• Epigraphy refers to the study of inscriptions on rocks, pillars, temple walls, copper plates.
• It is one of the most interesting studies that deals with the art of writing.
• It is also the science of identifying graphemes.
• A person who used the methods of epigraphy is referred as an Epigrapher.
• Epigraphy is an essential tool to recover most of the first-hand records of antiquity.
• It is an essential adjunct of the study of ancient peoples.
• It secures and delivers the primary data on which historical and philological disciplines alike depend
for their understanding of the recorded past.
• Specifically excluded from epigraphy are the historical significance of an epigraph as a document
and the artistic value of a literary composition.
• A person using the methods of epigraphy is called an epigrapher or epigraphist.
• Epigraphists are responsible for reconstructing, translating, and dating the trilingual inscription and
finding any relevant circumstances.
It is the work of historians, however, to determine and interpret the events recorded by the
inscription as document.
• Often, epigraphy and history are competences practiced by the same person.

Paleography
• Paleography is the term used to describe the science that studies writing as a creative, human
activity, and its relation to cultural history.
• Paleography originated as a support discipline to Diplomatic, the science that studies the
documents of kings, popes, and other important people in the Middle Ages.
• The application of Paleography’s as a discipline of study to documents dated after the invention of
the printing press was, at one point, thought to be minimal.
• The notion that the press is merely an instrument for the mechanical reproduction of writing, that
writing is a heritage of man's entry into historical time, and that people have continued to write
manually after its invention highlight its continued relevance.

• Paleography can also be seen as a science that studies writing as a technology for communication.

Scripts
• A language usually refers to the spoken language, a method of communication.

• A script refers to a collection of characters used to write one or more languages.

• A language is a method of communication. Scripts are writing systems that allow the transcription
of a language, via alphabet sets. Following are the main scripts used in ancient India

• There are many languages in the Ancient Indian scripts, such as Sanskrit, Pali, and Hindi. Not many
people know these languages anymore.

• But, it’s very important to understand it because it can teach important stories that were written in
these languages that no one tells anymore.
• These stories are related to the gods and goddess, culture, and stories about India.

List of Ancient Indian Scripts:

i. Indus Script Sarada Script
ii. Nagari Script Brahmi Script
iii. Kharosthi Script Gupta Script and Devanagari Script
LECTURE-6-Relationship between History and Law Relationship between
history and sociology & Political Science & Economics

Previous years Questions

Q.1. History gives the directions with living example and by learning such examples law makes
path itself. With this view discuss the relationship between history and law. (2013)
Q.2.Do you agree with that history gives the direction to law? Discuss its relation with law.
(2014)
Q.3. Discuss the relationship between history and law. (2015)
Q.4. Examine the history is the documents of past period. How it does help to select the wright
path in making the law for present and future. (2018)

1. Relationship between History and Law

• History is a subject that gives the facts and perspectives of past events.
• In its given premises, it includes a wide range of topics such as geographical conditions and human
settlements; society and cultures; type of governance and administrative systems; trade and
economic policy; interstate relationships; wars and battles, etc.
• History helps us to know the past cases and about the decisions taken in each case law so
that it helps us in solving similar cases.
• The law is something we have to do or prison; the history is something that tells what
happens in the past.
• History is the root of all present-day human institutions.
• History evolves from the events of society and it often considered as the mother of all social
science.
• Whatever is the present for today is history for tomorrow.
• Now talking about the law, the basic means of the law is to regulate the society so it is very
important to understand the society and frame the law in accordance with the society, for this, we
have to know the history.
• Even in law precedents is considered as an important source for the future cases which is
really a history itself.
• So we can't say that history and law are separate branches actually there is no watertight
separation between them.
• The historian and lawyers have to do the same thing to investigate the uncertain matters
and to deal with the matters of men.
• The conclusion drafted by a historian is uncertain depend upon his findings and past events
and same for lawyers his finding depends upon the testimony of the witness which is also uncertain.
• The study of history is something where you have to deal with the drawing conclusion on the
basis of events and evidence and the same thing happens with the lawyers, they have to reach the
conclusion on the basis of fact and evidence.
• If a judge has to give the judgment of a question, then he will prefer previous precedents
means he is relying on the history alone.

2: Relationship between History and Sociology

History and sociology are intimately related and a number of sociologists like Auguste Comte are also
important figure in the development of historical studies. Although, history too benefits from the
synthesis produced by the sociologists.
Sociologists exercised profound influence on the study of history by developing the certain narrow
areas of human activity.
They adopted the sampling techniques and develop their tools with a view to minimize the subjective
element.

Karl Marx was also a great historian and sociologist.

Both History and Sociology are concerned with the study of man in society and differed only with
regard to their approach.

In the recent years it was realized that a fruitful interaction between the two disciplines was possible
and Emile Durkheim, Max Weber acknowledge the initial dependence of sociology upon history.
In brief, sociology is helping history to study ‘social dynamics’ which is a study not of society at rest
but constantly in social change and development social processes and social causation are giving a
new perspective to history. India too our historians are now giving increasing attention to social
history.

3: Relationship between History and Politics

• Prof. Seeley summed up the relationship between history and political science beautifully that,

“History without political science has no fruit and political science without history has no root.”
• A historian is not merely concerned with the tracing of the history of the political process by a
narration of the episodes.
• But he has to learn the nature of fundamental political principles and basic forms of political
institution.
• In the view of this closeness between two subjects, the development of political institutions, rules,
regulations, right and duties, law and mode of justice, executive, legislative and administrative
functions, economic and financial implications, nature of bureaucracy, fundamental principles of
state policy are all defined under the constitution history.
• Diplomatic history is a specialized branch of political history which deals with the principles of
international relations.
• Ambassadors are the links between nations and they were custodians and practitioners of
diplomacy.
• The issue like—balance of power, cold war, international peace, disarmament have assumed great
importance in recent times.
• The military history is an important chapter in political history where in wars, battles, campaigns
and conquests figures very prominently.
• It deals with the causes of a war, strategy and war tactics, war weapons etc.
• History is very helpful to politics because the political aspects is a part of the whole range of activity
recorded by historian and knowledge of history would enable the politicians to know the politics
better and play their role effectively.
• Prof. Acton has correctly pointed out, “the science of politics is the one science that is deposited by
the stream of history like grains of gold in the sand of a river.”

4 Relationship between History and Economics

• History is also closely related to Economics.
• As the activities of a man in society are very closely related with the economic matters, the
historian of any period must possess at least a rudimentary knowledge of the economics.
• In fact, the economic history of any period is an important branch of history and its understanding
is absolutely essential for the proper understanding of history of any period.
• There has been a new orientation in our historical outlook from the days of the materialistic
interpretation of history by Marx and such class struggle, man’s skill in earning, arts and crafts,
trade, business and commerce, land revenue, taxes and a host of all other economic activities of the
past figure very prominently in history.
• No doubt, it is true that during the last few years economics has become very complex and difficult
subject, mostly dependent on mathematics, and a modern historian cannot acquire basic working
knowledge of economic theory without devoting a lot of time and leaving little time for the study and
writing of history.
• Therefore, a new set of economic history by the use of economic historians have emerged who try
to study the economic history by the use of the economic tools.
• At present, history is so closely interlinked with the study of economic problems that it would not be
possible to reconstruct history without knowledge of the relevant economic problems.
Lecture:7. Scientist, Mathematician, Astronomic and Physician in Ancient
India:Aryabhatta, Brahmagupta,Bhaskar-I.Varahamihir, Charak and Sushrut

Previous years Questions based on this topic

Q. Elaborate the contribution of Sushrut in the area of surgery (2019)

ARYABHATTA

 The Indian astronomer-mathematician aryabhatta (476-550 bc)who lived in patliputra in his

magnum opus aryabhattiyam, propounded a mathematical heliocentric model in which the
earth was taken to be spinning on its axis and the periods of the planets were given with
respect to a stationary sun.

 He was also the first to discover that the light from the moon and the planets were reflected
from the sun and the planets follow an elliptical orbit around the sun and thus propounded
an eccentric elliptical model of the planets and calculated many astronomical constants like
solar and lunar eclipses, instantaneous motion of the moon (differential equation).

 He influenced copernicus ideas.

 He made contributions to trigonometry and algebra.

 Understood the concept of zero and place value system.

BRAHAMGUPTA
 Brahmgupta (598-668 ad) was the head of the astronomical observatory at ujjain and during
his tenure there he wrote a text on astronomy ‘brahmasphutasidhhanta’ in 628 ad.

 He was the first mathematician to provide the formula for the area of cyclic quardrilateral.

He calculated the product of two negative numbers was positive and positive and negative was
negative

BHASKARA
 1114 ad to 1185 ad

 The head of astronomical observatory at ujjain, continued the mathematical tradition of

brahmgupta.

 He wrote sidhhant shiromani which consists of two parts goladhyaya(sphere) and

grahaganita (maths of planets)
  He also expanded on aryabhtta’s heliocentric model in his treatise shidhhant shiromani
where he mentioned the law of gravity and discovered that the planets don’t orbit the sun in
an uniform velocity.

 Accurately calculated many astronomical constants based on this model(solar,lunar

eclsipses, instattaneous motion of planets)

 Systematic use of decimal no.

VARAHAMIHIR
 Varahmihir (505-587 ad) lived in ujjain.

He improved the accuracy of the sine tables of aryabhatta i.

 He defined the algebraic properties of zero as well as negative numbers.

 He discovered the version of triangle which is now known as pascal’s triangle.

 He calculated binomial co-efficient.

 He wrote the book panch siddhantika

HE WORKED ON MAGIC SQUARES

CHARAKA
 He was a physician.

 The science of medicine in ancient india is known as ayurveda “the science of life”.

 Dhanvantri is the father of ayurveda.

 Ancient scholars of india like aitreya and agnivesha have dealt with principles of ayurveda as
long back as 800 bce.

 Their works and other developments had been consolidated by charaka into a compedium of
ayurvedic principles and practicesknown as charak samhita which remained a standard
textbook for almost 2000 years.

 It deals with physiology, etiology, embryology, and concept of digetion, metabolism and
immunity.

 Preliminary concepts of genetics are also mentioned.

SHUSHRUTA
 Advances in the field of medical surgery were also made in ancient india, including plastic
surgery, extraction of cataracts and even dental surgery.

 The roots of ancient indian surgery go back to atleast 800 bc.

 The medical theoretician and practitioner shushruta lived around 6 th century bc in kasi.

 He wrote the medical compedium shushruta samhita describing atleast 7 branches of surgery
and opthamology.

 It also focuses on the study of the human anatomy by using the dead body.

 He describes around 120 surgical instruments, 300 surgical procedures and 8 human
surgeries.

 He is known as father of surgery.

 He used to reconstruct noses that were removed as punishments (plastic surgery). He was
the first surgeon of india
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