Justify the attempt to divide indian history into various periods?
Answers
Because of its vastness.
Even if we ignore the prehistoric archeological evidences, yet the first civilisation shifts us back to 3300 BCE, that is Indus Valley civilisation.
So when the modern approach of writing history of India came forward, the first and foremost requirement was it's classification.
Being the colonial representative, James Mill divided Indian history into three parts, i.e.- “Hindu”, “Muslim” and “British” history of India. But that was not accepted, as it was confusing and biased.
So, like world history, Indian history also followed the easiest of the classification system, i.e.-
Ancient India(3300 BCE- 200BCE),
Medival India(200BCE -1526CE),
and Modern(1526CE-Post Independence and up to to present).
Those periods are further classified into sub periods as per their significance like ruler, economy,urbanisation, language etc.
There is another part of history,that is learned in a whole different section called “Art and Culture”. This contains art forms, architectures, sculptures, paintings, monuments, walls, languages, dance and song forms, ethnicity, literature, food etc, from ancient to modern period altogether.
The political science also contains history of administration, different types of government or ruling procedures, economy etc.
The sociology also deals with historical civilisations, their social structures and functions etc.
They all can be called as “Loosely classified part of History”.
They are not bound through period but concept.
So if we analyse why Indian history is divided into different periods, the answer will be simple.
“To make it simple for both writers and readers.”
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Indian history is divided in different periods becuase of different culture ,technology and reforms.
It become easy to understand when history is divided in different part like ancient, medieval and modern history. Every part of history has its own significance thats why history is divided in different parts .
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The classification of Indian history was first done by James Mill in broadly a Hindu, Muhammaden, and British periods. However, it was a very problematic model as it established misconceptions about Indian history.
This model was nothing but a colonial agenda of labelling Indian civilization as backward and static. Mill also popularized the belief that Hindus were conquered by the Muslims and that the British were there to “deliver” them and civilize them. This format was blindly followed by historians for a long time in the ancient,medieval modern form.
However, modern historians have come up with a new classification.
Ancient
Early Medieval
Later Medieval
Modern
This classification is done on the basis of technological advancement, degree of urbanisation, political structures, evolution of belief systems etc.