The word ‘History’ has been derived from a Greek word which means ‘an ensuing into the account of past conditions and events’. The knowledge so obtained was called ‘History’. History can also be defined as ‘the study of man and his social development through ages’.
The following are some of the important definitions of History:
1. “History is nothing but a record of evolution of mankind since its origin somewhere in the hoary past”.
2. “History is the study of society as a whole in all its aspects, changes and growth”.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
3. “History is nothing but a continuous record of events comprising the great drama of what has been acted on the surface of this earth ever since its creation”.
4. “History indeed is the witness of times, the light of truth”.
5. “History is the present thought about the past, history is thought and nothing else”.
6. “History is a fable agreed upon”.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
7. “History is the story of man’s struggle through the ages against nature and its elements, against wild beasts and the jungle, and last and the most difficult of all, against some of his own kind who have tried to keep him down and to exploit him for their own benefits”.
8. “History is the intellectual form in which a civilization renders account to itself of its past”.
Thus, man’s growth from barbarism to civilized state is the theme of history. It tries to explain as to how man has fought against the hostile natural forces and how he emerged victorious and made his life worth-living on the surface of this earth. History, in short, is nothing but the story of man and his miraculous development through the long chain of centuries, after his origin somewhere in the very distant past.