HISTORIOGRAPHY

MEANING OF HISTORIOGRAPHY

Historiography is an independent branch of history in its own right. Historiography may be

understood to mean two things:

1. It is the very act of writing history itself.

2. It is the study of (a) existing historical writing, and the (b) methodologies of writing
history. In simpler terms, in a nutshell, historiography is the study of the writing of
history.

Essentially, the purpose of historiography is two-fold:

1. First, to study the various methodologies used by writers in writing history.

2. Second, to pass judgment on the efficacy, and soundness, of each of these
methodologies.

In many ways thus, historiography is a science. It studies the various techniques of writing
history, and passes judgment on them; all in an attempt to better the methodologies by which
history is written.

A TINY HISTORY OF HISTORIOGRAPHY

The Greeks were the pioneers of historiography. The Greek Civilization was the first to
transform the writing of history into a conscious, as opposed to a haphazard and random, art.
Scholars are widely of the opinion that Greeks, Romans, Christians, and Jews all possess a
strong historical sense – which is reflected in their rich historiography.

Many scholars, however, have criticised what they view as a lack of historical sense amongst
Indians. This argument is premised on the observation that India lacks a strong historiography
paralleling that of the West or the Middle East. Our legends, myths, and religious literature
are not viewed as historiography proper per se. Although there may be some kernel of truth
in this proposition, it is quite debatable whether it holds true. See infra.
I. ANCIENT GREEK HISTORIOGRAPHY

The first Greek “historiographers”, if they may be so called, were, more correctly,
logographers – storytellers through the medium of poetry. They were the first to record and
narrate history, not so much as what we today know as historiography, but through poetry.
Homer and Hesiod belonged to this class of logographers.

Herodotus was the first Greek to give birth to historiography per se. Hence, he is aptly called
the father of history. Herodotus marked the transition from logography to historiography, and
thus gave birth to the scientific writing of history. He junked the poetry form of writing
history, and adopted a prose style of writing history.

HERODOTUS – A SHORT SKETCH

Herodotus gave birth to history as we know it today. He junked the poetry style of the
logographers, and began writing history scientifically, thus giving birth to what we today
know as historiography. However, remnants of the epic style of writing is visible in his work.

As a historian, Herodotus was a master storyteller. A degree of consistency and continuity,

a sort of unity throughout his writing, is visible throughout. Herodotus based his writing on
first-hand accounts, which he obtained by travelling from place to place, from one place to
interest to another. He wrote accounts on each place he visited, based on interviews of the
local people, coupled with empirical observations. He was blessed with an intelligent
curiosity, which drove him to intelligently pursue his object.

However, Herodotus possessed a number of weaknesses. His tendency to take the accounts of
local people at face value is a fatal weakness. He was ignorant of local languages in many
areas he visited, which is a fatal barrier to effective communication. Finally, his graze for
style in his writing was often at the cost of accuracy.
II. ANCIENT INDIAN HISTORIOGRAPHY

Indians never possessed a consistent practice of recording contemporary events, for such a
record to become history at all. In this sense per se, many scholars thus view Indians as
lacking historical sense.

If chronology is the eye of history, Indians will forever be blind. If history is a scientific
record of human events, Indians were ignorant of it. If history is a logical enquiry into the
past, with the purpose of explaining the causes and consequences of past events, India had
not historical sense. By this traditional, western, understanding of history, the Indians
completely lacked any historical sense.

However, it is debatable whether Indians really lacked historical sense. This is largely a
definitional problem. If history is defined in a different way, it is no longer correct to say that
Indians completely lacked historical sense.

Some famous works of ancient Indian historiography are:

 Kalhana, ‘Rajatarangini’: Kalhana’s Rajatarangini, literally meaning ‘The River of

the Kings’, is a legendary chronicle of the north-western Indian subcontinent,
particularly the kings of Kashmir. It is written in metric form, i.e. it is a poem, not a
prose. It is composed of 8 volumes, believed to be composed around 1148 CE. In
writing it, Kalhana was first a poet, and only second a historian. It bases it accounts
largely on examinations of (a) inscriptions, (b) numismatics, and (c) other chronicles
themselves. It is unique because it has taken care to mention both the pros and cons of
the Kashmiri kings it chronicles.
 Kautilya, ‘Arthashastra’: Written by Chanakya, or Kautilya, Arthashastra is
probably the most brilliant book of statecraft ever in Indian historiography. It lays
down the prescription of the ideal State, and is considered to be an authoritative
historical source of the Mauryan history.
 ‘Ramayana’: The Ramayana needs not introduction. It is one of the two great ancient
Indian epics. It was written during the early Vedic Age, and is a reflection of the
zeitgeist of the time. From the Ramayana, we come to know of a monarchical form of
government, and the varna system. Polygamy exists, but only amongst the royals;
monogamy is the general rule otherwise. People were expected to lead a simple, pure,
and spiritual life.
 ‘Mahabharata’: Mahabharata is the other of the two great ancient Indian epics. It
was written during the later Vedic Age. It too reflects the zeitgeist of the time, that of
the later Vedic Age. The practice of polygamy and monogamy remained the same vis-
à-vis the early Vedic Age. However, the position of women in the society degraded.
 Buddhist Literature: Buddhist literature is another major chunk of ancient Indian
historiography. Of Buddhist literature, the Tripitakas, the most prominent Buddhist
scriptures, are the most special. Much historical evidence is gathered from their
description of the Buddhist Conferences. They throw much light on the socio-
economic, political, and religious conditions prevailing during the 6th century BCE,
during the reign of Chandragupta Maurya, Ashoka, and Kanishka. It is written in the
Pali language.
 Jain Literature.
 ‘Puranas’: Eighteen in number, they are believed to have been composed in the 8 th
century BCE. They are a collection of poems. The descriptions contained therein are
often exaggerated, they must hence not be taken at face value. The Puranas are a
valuable source of information from the days of Buddha till the end of the Gupta
dynasty. They also narrate the tales of powerful dynasties in south India, viz. the
Kanvas, Sungas, and Andhras. Most importantly, they give a genealogical list of
rulers not found in many other sources.
II. MUGHAL HISTORIOGRAPHY

Mughal historiography stands out as special. Some famous contributors to Mughal

historiography are:

 Abul Fazal: Fazal’s elder brother, Faizi, introduced him to Akbar. Akbar eventually
commissioned him to write an authentic history of the Mughal empire, and he
followed his command faithfully. In this pursuit, he wrote the Akbarnama (“Book of
Akbar”), consisting of 3 volumes:
o Volume 1: A history of the Mughals from the house of Timur to the death of
Humayun.
o Volume 2: Deals with the reign of Akbar.
o Volume 3: The Ain-i-Akbari, which is a faithful account of Mughal
administration during Akbar’s time.
 Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri: An autobiography of Jahangir, begun by him, and completed by
Muhammad Hadi under his supervision when he fell seriously ill. It is an important
source of information about the reign of Jahangir. However, it contains no account of
his marriage with Nur Jahan, which is conspicuous by its absence.
III. MODERN INDIAN HISTORIOGRAPHY

Modern Indian historiography can be said to coincide with the period of British rule in India
– beginning after the Battle of Plassey in 1757, ending with India’s independence in 1947.
Quite naturally, due to the rise of the British rule in India, the principles of European
historiography have deeply influenced modern Indian historiography.

The core principles of European historiography – i.e. rationality, critical thinking, and the
emergence of modern social and legal institutions – made themselves felt in the
historiography of this time. Historiographers of the time widely used, and applied, these
ideals while writing history.

The practice of historiography spread from a historical elite to a larger cohort of individuals.
The emphasis shifted from mere famous texts to letters, policies, opinions, diplomatic
dispatches, etc. as additional sources of history too – there was thus a broadening of historical
sources, which contributed to an increase in pluralism.

In the context of the Indian struggle for independence, there developed a number of schools
of modern Indian historiography. Some of them are:

1. Extremist School: Composed of individuals such as Bal Gandahar Tilak, Bankim

Chandra Chatterji, A.C. Das, and K.P. Jayaswal, they asserted the superiority of
Hindu culture over western culture.
2. Rationalistic School: Composed of individuals such as R.C. Dutt, Rajendralal Mitra,
and Raychaudhuri, they were not intoxicated by nationalistic sentiments. However,
they acknowledged the errors committed by the Europeans at the same time.
3. The school of Major D. Basu, A.C. Majumdar, and Surendra Nath Banerjee exposed
the economic exploitation of India by the British.
4. Marxist School: Composed of individuals such as Hiren Mukherjee, R. Palme Dutt,
and Kosambi, it was, true to its name, greatly influenced by Marxist beliefs.
5. Lastly, there was a school of individuals such as Jadunath Sarkar, S.N. Sen, Shafat
Ahmed Khan, and others, who remained ideologically neutral, and depicted history in
a matter-of-fact way.

Amongst them, S.N. Sen, for instance, is known for his authentic, analytical, non-
judgmental depiction of modern Indian history.
Some examples of modern English Indian historiography are (a) History of British India by
J.S. Mill, (b) A Minute on Indian Education by Macaulay, and (c) The History of India by
Elphinstone.