history chapter 1 how when and where class 8 NCERT question 4
Answers
To write about a period in history, historians need to gather data and information from various sources, both official and unofficial, to bring about a clearer and wider picture of the life of the people in that period. The information that the historians get from old newspapers and police reports can be entirely different. The archived official documents provide the picture from the point of view of the people in power. A police report is one such official document. The police report comes from an administrative viewpoint and the types of details that we can obtain from them are often restricted. However, this is also a disadvantage as the police records restrict the amount or the kind of information one can possibly get from them. A police report is strictly confined to the procedures and is concerned with record-keeping, rather than building a narrative.
So to get a wider view of a period in history, historians go through the unofficial records relating to that period, like old newspapers, diaries of people, accounts of pilgrims, autobiographies of important personalities, booklets, etc. Unlike the restricted nature of official sources like police records, unofficial records like old newspapers provide varied information to the historians that might bring out the finer details about an event or a happening. On the other hand, police reports often neglect the information that does not directly serve the function of law enforcement. However, it would not be right to say that such information represents the complete truth. Even a newspaper report may be influenced by the reporter's personal thoughts and interests.
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How will the information historians get from old newspapers be different from that found in police reports? Answer: ... The information that the historians get from old newspapers and police reports can be entirely different. The archived official documents provide the picture from the point of view of the people in power.