Hum History kyun padhte hai...aur History humko kya sikhaata hai ?

History is one subject in the galaxy of subjects that teaches its readers not only the subject, but also a lot of wisdom. Most people hold the view that history is just a list of events that have occurred and put only in a chronological order. True history is a chronological list of events. But, if we study it only as that we are missing on it and we are not giving the subject its correct status.

This subject has such a large perspective of things that, no other subject that is studied ever can be without its history. Science has a history, technological development has a history, religion has a history. No subject of any significance is without a history, then how can we say that history is trash. If man had not discovered that fire can be produced by rubbing two stones, how would the theory of creating of fire come into being? If the ancient man would not have produced the wheel, how could we know to the present uses of the wheel? If the Hindu religion did not have the division of castes, how would the present situation f castes come into being? So we can say that the very essence of man's progress is based on history and its study.

The evolution of man itself is based on history, his progress and most of his scientific and technological developments are all the results of man's history, of the History of evolution had not been confined into history books, and if we had not read these books, how would we know about our past, and how would we maintain the tempo of development and progress. Man learnt from his mistakes, his experiences, the shortcomings of his ancestors, and continued to progress. Is this not a contribution of history? Does this not make the study of history important for us? The one single subject that had contributed so immensely to the constant and continuous growth of civilization is the history.

Another plea for not studying this drab subject is when people say history is just what passed away people have done. In this regard we must remember that we are not only studying what they did but, in the process, we are trying to understand what mistakes have they committed, and why? It has often been said that, history repeats itself. This means that if we repeat the same mistakes we will reach the same disasters. Is this very little an advantage of study of the subject that, as people, as a community, as a country, we realize the mistakes of our ancestors, and we do not commit the same mistakes and get the same results? So, here comes the wisdom imparted by this lone subject. It is only after the study of history that we can assess the mistakes of the preceding generations.

It is from history the Britishers have learned the imperialism cannot continue for ever. It is from history that Indians have learned that we have to remain united to keep the country one single unit, to keep it safe and strong. 

It is the study of history that makes the modern world shudder to think of another nuclear holocaust.

The memory of Nagasaki and Hiroshima is still fresh in the minds of the world and so the fear of repetition of this keeps us aware and cautious. If we had not studied all these facts written in our history books, our reservoir of knowledge would have been much less, and we would not have been so well aware of the results of certain actions. Is this not enough of a gift to the world, of just one single subject?

If there would not have been this subject, how would we ever be able to assess how much man has progressed from the animal he was, to the highly sophisticated creation of God that he is today? How would we ever know about our own India's rich cultural heritage, and so also how would we have been able to assess how and why we a have become a third world country as we are today? Again, all this because of our study of history.

The differences of culture in different parts of the world are also brought to our knowledge by the history of the world. It is only through the study of history that we come to know about the social, political and educational systems of the world, and we can adapt them to our country, if we feel the need. History! Besides gaining knowledge, this subject teaches us wisdom of life and teaches causes and effects of different actions. If we continue to learn from our history we shall never make the same mistakes again - and that would be quite a step forward. Like science, history also gives us formula. Science gives formula for progress of elements and history gives us formula of success. If we learn from History, we humans will certainly continue to forge ahead, and become a more and more disciplined and cultured force.

Besides the big lessons that we learn from History, it also teaches us how to behave in our day-to-day lives. We learn how discipline helped the forces of Alexander the Great to overcome Indians, and how at the same time and venue, the undisciplined forces of India surrendered to them. We learn how with their service to India through missionaries, the British could steadily spread their wings through the length and breadth of India. We learn from history how love for mankind made saints of Vivekanand, Gautam Buddha and Mahavira. We learn from history how, man's desire to dominate others result in the ultimate break up of the British Empire in India. The greatest lesson that history has taught us Indians is the lesson we learned from our struggle for independence, i.e. we learned how much we can achieve if we stand united and have flare for nationalism.

Thus, this single subject which often faces the - ridicule of students and elders provides us with a sea of knowledge, insight and wisdom. It also teaches what the finer feelings of love and service can do for man. This one subject teaches us to become human and of course, it is the alma mater of all other subjects, as the history of any subject is taught before starting the study of the subject itself. It may be said that history is the mother of all other subjects, and should not be considered as, only a chronology of events, of the world, it is much more than just that. It is this subject that gives us the understanding of all countries that we can assess our position and then continue on our path of progress.

When we study the biographies of great men, we learn how to follow their footsteps and try to achieve at least a semblance of their greatness. These biographies teach us the qualities of great men which we can emulate and try to be achievers. This single subject makes such an enormous contribution that it will not behave any of us to talk of it in a jocular tone, on slight it. It teaches us to be good humans. It teaches us what actions are likely to have what reactions. It brings to light our rich heritage and also teaches us how the other countries are progressing. So we can say that history is a great teacher.

Source-- Ezine Articles 

A year from History---1937

Births

January to June

• 2 January - Chandrashekhara Kambara, poet, playwright, folklorist and film director.
• 22 February - Sabitri Chatterjee, actress.
• 9 June - Ramchandra Gandhi, philosopher, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi (d.2007).
• 24 June - Anita Desai, novelist.

July to December

• 24 July - Manoj Kumar, actor and director.
• 6 November - Yashwant Sinha, politician and Minister.
• 8 November - Bharath Gopi, actor, director and producer (d.2008).
• 3 December - Binod Bihari Verma, writer (d.2003).
• 28 December - Ratan Naval Tata, businessman, Chairman of the Tata Group.

Deaths

• 23 November - Jagadish Chandra Bose, physicist, biologist, botanist, archaeologist and science fiction writer (b.1858).

Sarojini Naidu

Sarojini Naidu or Sarojini Chattopadhyaya (February 13, 1879, Hyderabad – March 2, 1949, Lucknow), also known by the sobriquet Bharatiya Kokila (The Nightingale of India), was a child prodigy, freedom fighter, and poet. Naidu was the first Indian woman to become the President of the Indian National Congress and the first woman to become the Governor of Uttar Pradesh.

Habeas Corpus Act 1679

The Habeas Corpus Act 1679 is an Act of the Parliament of England (31 Cha. 2 c. 2)^[1] passed during the reign of King Charles II to define and strengthen the ancient prerogative writ of habeas corpus, whereby persons unlawfully detained cannot be ordered to be prosecuted before a court of law.

Magna Carta

Magna Carta, also called Magna Carta Libertatum (the Great Charter of Freedoms), is an English legal charter, originally issued in the year 1215. It was written in Latinand is known by its Latin name. The usual English translation of Magna Carta is Great Charter.

Magna Carta required King John of England to proclaim certain rights (pertaining to freemen), respect certain legal procedures, and accept that his will could be bound by the law. It explicitly protected certain rights of the King's subjects, whether free or fettered — and implicitly supported what became the writ of habeas corpus, allowing appeal against unlawful imprisonment.

Marxism

Marxism is the political philosophy and economic worldview based upon a materialist interpretation of history, a Marxist analysis of capitalism, a theory of social change, and anatheist view of human liberation derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels; three primary aspects of Marxism are:

1. The dialectical and materialist concept of history — Humankind's history is fundamentally that of the struggle between social classes. The productive capacity of society is the foundation of society, and as this capacity increases over time the social relations of production, class relations, evolve through this struggle of the classes and pass through definite stages (primitive communism, slavery, feudalism, capitalism). The legal, political, ideological and other aspects (ex. art) of society are derived from these production relations as is the consciousness of the individuals of which the society is composed.
2. The critique of capitalism — In capitalist society, an economic minority (the bourgeoisie) dominate and exploit the working class (proletariat) majority. Marx uncovered the interworkings of capitalist exploitation, the specific way in which unpaid labor (surplus value)is extracted from the working class labor theory of value, extending and critiquing the work of earlier political economists value. Although the production process is socialized, ownership remains in the hand of the bourgeosie. This forms the fundamental contradiction of capitalist society. Without the elimination of the fetter of the private ownership of the means of production, human society is unable to achieve further development.
3. Advocacy of proletarian revolution — In order to overcome the fetters of private property the working class must seize political power internationally through a social revolution and expropriate the capitalist classes around the world and place the productive capacities of society into collective ownership. Upon this material foundation classes would be abolished and the material basis for all forms of inequality between humankind would dissolve.

wikipedia

Treaty of Portsmouth

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the 1905 treaty. For the 1713 treaty, see Treaty of Portsmouth (1713).

Negotiating the Treaty of Portsmouth (1905) — From left to right: The Russians at far side of table are Korostovetz, Navohoff, Witte, Rosen, Plancoff and the Japanese at near side of table are Adachi,Ochiai, Komura, Takahira, Sato. The large conference table is today preserved at the Museum Meiji Mura in Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture,Japan.

The Treaty of Portsmouth formally ended the 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese War. It was signed on 5 September 1905^[1] after negotiations at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard near Portsmouth, New Hampshire in the United States.

Foreign History Watch

Battle of Trafalgar

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Battle of Trafalgar Part of the Trafalgar Campaign The Battle of Trafalgar, as seen from the mizzen starboard shrouds of the Victory by J. M. W. Turner (oil on canvas, 1806 to 1808) Date 21 October, 1805 Location Cape Trafalgar, Spain Result Decisive British victory Belligerents United Kingdom France Spain Commanders Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson † Pierre de Villeneuve # Federico Gravina Strength 27 ships of the line and 6 others. France: 18 ships of the line and 8 others. Spain: 15 ships of the line Casualties and losses 458 killed 1,208 wounded 1,666 total[1] 7,000 captured, 21 ships captured, 1 ship destroyed France: 2,218 dead, 1,155 wounded Spain: 1,025 dead, 1,383 wounded Total: 12,781

[show] v • d • e War of the Third Coalition

[show] v • d • e Trafalgar campaign

The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815). The battle was the most decisive British naval victory of the war. Twenty-seven British ships of the line led by Admiral Lord Nelson aboard HMS Victory defeated thirty-three French and Spanish ships of the line under French Admiral Pierre Villeneuve off the south-west coast of Spain, just west of Cape Trafalgar. The Franco-Spanish fleet lost twenty-two ships, without a single British vessel being lost.

The British victory spectacularly confirmed the naval supremacy that Britain had established during the past century and was achieved in part through Nelson's departure from the prevailing naval tactical orthodoxy, which involved engaging an enemy fleet in a single line of battle parallel to the enemy to facilitate signalling in battle and disengagement, and to maximize fields of fire and target areas. Nelson instead divided his smaller force into two columns directed perpendicularly against the larger enemy fleet, with decisive results.

Nelson was mortally wounded during the battle, becoming Britain's greatest war hero. The commander of the joint French and Spanish forces, AdmiralPierre de Villeneuve, was captured along with his ship Bucentaure. Spanish Admiral Federico Gravina escaped with the remnant of the fleet, and succumbed months later to wounds he sustained during the battle.