Exploration , Study and Conservation of Source of History
What is History ?
The world "History " is derived from the Greek word "Historia" which means inquiry , knowledge acquired by investigation. Description of human activities, civilization and the various events that took place in the past with fact and reliable date is called the history. Scholars who documents the history are called historians. The art of writing history is called historians. The art of writing history is called historiography. The trend of ocumenting history started from the 5th century BC. Herodotus, a Greek scholar was the one who started documenting history for the first time. So, he called the "Father of history" .
The works which are done in the past become the guidelines for the future. It is important to lead the society and the nation to the right direction by learning different historical events. For documenting history and identifying the reality, it is necessary to collect the materials, make a comparative study and evaluate them. The history based only on a source and material cannot reach nearer to the truth. It is necessary to study the various sources to know the real history.
On the basis of origin, the source of history are categorized into two as :
a. Primary source of history: The description of events of the past documented on the basis of eye witness is called primary sources. For example, Princep and Vensitart, the British nationals had participated in Anglo-Nepal war and later on they wrote the book on the basis of events they saw in the war.
b. Secondary source of history: The history documented on the basis of other source except eye witness such as chronicles , coins, legends, arts, paintings, etc are called secondary source. For example, there is no one who saw the rule of Mandav, the Lichchhavi King but we can know about him through the inscription of Changunarayan Temple. The source of history is an identity of the nation. Thus, it is necessary to conserve the sources of history.
2.Objectives of the study
The following were the objectives of our study:
- To search various sources of history and describe them in brief.
- To suggest the ways to preserve the sources of history.
3.Methods of the study
We applied both primary and secondary methods to study about the exploration , study and conservation of the sources of history.
a. Primary source : Under the primary source, we interviewed teachers, intellectuals and historians by making questionnaire. We visited museums too.
b. Secondary source : We studied history books, articles, manuscript, etc. We collected necessary information by searching in the internet as well.
4. Findings
After the study of different sources of information , we have gathered the following facts. They have been analyzed and presented in synthetic from below:
Sources of history on the basis of nature
a. Written sources : Chronology, Biography, Book, Copper plate, Coin, Medal, Documents, Voucher, Bhojpatra, Tadpatra, manuscript, Swarnaparta, travelogue of foreigner, Thyasapu (handwritten documents of the events of Malla period) , Court's records, maps, etc.
b. Oral sources : Birgatha, folk songs, stories/legend , Aakhyan, interviews, myth, saying , teaching (arti/upadesh), etc.
c. Arts and Artifacts : Statues, paintings, palaces, temples, ponds, forts, Gaunda, weapons, dress, utensils, art and architecture, ornaments, make-up items, ruins, Masanghat, fossils, cultivated land, etc.
Historiography of Nepal
Nepalese history is prepared by collecting and analyzing various records of the pasts. The first book written about Nepalese history was " An Account of the Kingdom of Nepal." It was written by an Englishman named William Kirkpatrick in 1793 AD. Besides him, Hemilton, BhagwanLal Indraji, Cicil Bendal, Silvan Levi, Roni Iro Noli, etc are some of the foreign historians who contributed to research on Nepalese history. Ambika Prasad Upadhyaya wrote the first history book in Nepali in 1929 BS. Similarly, Baburam Acharya (Itihas Shiromani), Hem Raj Pandey, Rudra Raj Pandey, Nayan Raj Panta, Satya Mohan Joshi, Yogi Nahararinath, Dilli Raman Regmi, Surya Bikram Gyawali, Dhanabajra Bajracharya, Lain Singh Wangdel ,etc have contributed a lot to find out history about the different periods of Nepalese history.
The history of Nepal is prepared on the basis of following sources:
a. Records : Various historical facts have been found from the writings written on stone, wood, metals (gold, bronze, copper, etc. ) paper and inscriptions.
b. Coins: Name of the rulers, dynasties, ruling period, socio-economic, conditions, dates, etc. can be found out from the coins. Different kinds of coins are found introduced in different periods such as the coins made up of mud, hide, copper , silver, gold, etc.
c. Art and Artifacts: The facts available and written in the temples, buildings, forts, stupas, bihars, monuments, statues, etc are the sources of history. These are sources of history which can be seen directly.
d. Religious scriptures: The religious scriptures are the major sources to prepare ancient history. They provide the knowledge about the provision of justice, beginning of traditions, systems, etc. Hindu religious scriptures , Bouddha religious scriptures are its major examples.
e. Chronicles : It is an account events presented in order of time. It is also a source of history since the name of rulers, dynasties , dates, festivals, reforms, religious and social activities, etc. are mentioned on it.
f. Government documents, publications and speeches : Muluki Ain of 1910 BS, the proclamations of 2007 BS, 2017 BS, 2036 BS, 2046 BS, 2063 BS, speeches, newspapers, declarations, documentaries, books, autobiographies, etc. are the reliable sources of Nepalese history. Similarly, letters, orders, verdicts, agreements, treaties, receipts, gazettes, debenture (Tamasuk ), etc are also the source of history.
g. Thyasaphu : It is a Newari word which means a personal diary in which daily events are mentioned. Such handwritten documents of medieval age are the source of history.
h. Folk Song, Myth, Story, Saying, etc. : There is a tradition of singing songs, telling myths, stories, Birgatha, Khando (reciting the ancestral glory in a matrimonial ceremony), depicting the pain and sorrows of Nepalese farmer, artist, slave, Nepalese traders in Tibet and Lahures, from one generation to another. This traditions help to know about the past. Similarly, the stories and Gandharva songs about the unification campaign, events of Anglo-Nepal war, World Wars, Falkland War, etc. are also the important sources of our history.
i. Travelogue of Foreigners : Foreign travelers, missionaries, historians, traders, and anthropologists have written their experiences, memories and information about Nepal. Economics of Kautilya, inscription of Samudra Gupta mentioned about Nepal located at Allahabad which has mentioned about Nepal, the writings of Chinese traveler Yuan Chang and European missionaries such as Father Decideri, Father Dorvil, Father Grover, Hemilton, Kirkpatrik are the valuable sources of Nepal's history.
The following measures are suggested for the preservation of sources of history.
- Available sources of history should be documented.
- Proper security system should be assured to prevent the important historical items from being lost and stolen.
- Researchers should be done on the available sources of history.
- Collected and available sources of history should be recorded and stored in the electronic devices like computer.
- Collected and documented sources of history should be preserved in library and museum.
- Sources of history found in the various places should be collected.
- They should be nationalized and preserved safely.
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