Question

Essay writing on 'Problems of Periodization in History'

Answer 1

Periodization in history has positive aspects to it as it sheds light on significant events of a particular time in history making it comparable to past and future events of the same nature. It also helps to understand the events in the sequence of their occurrence and their impact. But its drawback is that it is limited to the viewpoint of the historian who wrote it.

Different historians have approached Indian history in different ways as they saw it. James Mill, the Scottish philosopher and economist felt the need to divide Indian history on the basis of religion, into three periods – Hindu, Muslim and British. His viewpoints were very limited and biased. There were also other faiths that were followed. And the notion that the British would take India into progress and enlightenment from the previous dark ages of ignorance, darkness, religious intolerance and such, was prejudiced and incorrect.

Other historians have classified the Indian history as ancient, medieval and modern. This viewpoint also had lot of wrong projections. The ancient and medieval period were looked upon as dark ages without any scientific development or knowledge. This is not true in reality.

It is true that historical events need to be seen in the context of dates as they help in correlating events. But events take a very long time to materialize so they cannot be bound by dates alone for reference. Events need to be studied in the context of other related events to get the right picture and to draw correct conclusion.

Answer 2

$\huge{\orange{\boxed{\boxed{\boxed{\pink{\underline{\underline{\green{\mathscr{Hloo\: BRAINLY\: Users}}}}}}}}}}$Periodization is the process or study of categorizing the past into discrete, quantified named blocks of time.[1] This is usually done in order to facilitate the study and analysis of history, understanding current and historical processes, and causality that might have linked those events.

This results in descriptive abstractions that provide convenient terms for periods of time with relatively stable characteristics. However, determining the precise beginning and ending to any ‘period’ is often arbitrary, since it has changed over time over the course of history.

To the extent that history is continuous and not generalized, all systems of periodization are more or less arbitrary. Yet without named periods, however clumsy or imprecise, past time would be nothing more than scattered events without a framework to help us understand them. Nations, cultures, families, and even individuals, each with their different remembered histories, are constantly engaged in imposing overlapping schemes of temporal periodization. Periodizing labels are continually challenged and redefined, but once established, a period "brand" is so convenient that many are hard to change or shake off.