STD-8HOW ,WHEN AND WHERE

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTION:

1.What is the problem with the periodisation of Indian history that James Mill offers?In his massive three volume work,A History of British India James Mill divides Indian history into three periods-Hindu , Muslim and British .According to his prejudiced version of Indian history, the british rule represents all the forces of progress of civilization. while the period before british rule represents darkness ,ignorance, despotism, religious intelorence, caste taboos, superstition practices etc. However ,the periodosation of Indian history on the basis of religion is problematic for several reasons.A variety of faiths apart from Hinduism and Islam exited in the periods categorized as Hindu and Muslim by Mill.Also it is not right to classify an age according to the religion of the rulers of that time.To do so would suggest that the lives and the practices of the others do not really matter.Another point to keepin mind is all rulers in ancient India did not share the same faith.

Q3.Why did the British preserve official documents?For the British ,the act of writing was important. Every official document had to be clearly written up and preserved. Once this was done, things could be properly studied and debated. The preserved document could be used as a point of reference whenever required.

Q4.How will the information historians get from old newspapers be different from that in police report?For writing about any period in History a Historian needs to gather information from various sources so that he/ she can get a clearer picture of the life and times of the period concerned.The archived official documents provide the picture from the point of view of the people in power.A police report is one such official documents. Archived police reports help the historians attain a better understanding about the police, its functions and its relation with the people who were police there by providing the historians with invaluable data regarding an important administrative unit.However this advantage is also a disadvantage. The very nature of police records restricts the amount or the kind of information one can possibly get from them. They are official documents relating to a particular official function hence they are limited in this sense.Another problem with official recordings is that often they only present what persons in authority want to be presented.Therefore ,for getting a wider and balanced view of a period in history, a historian also goes through the unofficial records relating to yhat period, like the diaries of people ,accounts of pilgrims and travelers autographies of impotant personalities,popular booklets , newspaper etc.Unlike the restricted nature of official documents like police records,recordings such as newspapers etc. Unlike the restricted nature of official documents like police records,recordings such as newspapers have the advantage of providing varied information to the histiorian.However ,it would not be right to say that such information represents the complete truth.Even a newspaper report maybe influenced by the biases and interests of the person writing the report.

STATE WHETHER THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES ARE TRUE/FALSE

1. James Mill divided Indian History into three periods- True2. Officials documents help us understand what the people of the country think- False3. The British thought surveys were important for effective administration-True