Question

historians have divided history onto the basis of time. Describe it

Answer 1

Historians have divided Indian history into ‘ancient’, ‘medieval’ and ‘modern’. This division has its problems. It is a periodisation that is borrowed from the West where the modern period was associated with the growth of all the forces of modernity – science, reason, democracy, liberty and equality. Medieval was a term used to describe a society where these features of modern society did not exist.

It is unacceptable because this characterisation of the modern period did not have equality, freedom or liberty. Nor was the period one of economic growth and progress.

Answer 2

Historians have divided Indian history into ‘ancient’, ‘medieval’ and ‘modern’. This division has its problems. It is a periodisation that is borrowed from the West where the modern period was associated with the growth of all the forces of modernity – science, reason, democracy, liberty and equality. Medieval was a term used to describe a society where these features of modern society did not exist.