Concepts of history and heritage

Concepts of history and heritage

The word 'History' (in Bengali Itihas) comes from the Bengali word 'Itiho' which means heritage. Heritage refers to past habits, education, language, art, literature and culture which are preserved for the future. History conveys this heritage from one generation to another. In the words of E.H. Carr it can be said that history is a constant conversation between the past and the present. All the issues of the present time are based on past transformation and the past heritage. And History means the factual description of past transformation and heritage. Of course at present, the history of the present time is written which is called contemporary History. So, now the scope of history is stretched from the ancient past to the present time. If the Bengali word Itihas is divided, then it takes a construction like Itiho + aas which means such was it or such happened. Historian Johnson also called the past event as history. According to him what happens is referred to as history; what does not happen is not history at all. So, it is being seen that the constant flow of events in the society and the state is called history. The English word History has come from the Greek word Historia whose Bengali synonym is Itihaas. The word Historia was first used by Greek historian Herodotus (fifth century B.C.). He is famous as the father of History. It was he who first of all used this word after the name of his research work whose dictionary meaning is investigation into the truth or research. He believed that history is to investigate or write what in true sense existed or took place. He investigated into different issues of the war that had taken place between Greece and Persia through his research. In this research he gave description of the obtained information, important events and the stories of victory of the Greek so that next generations do not forget these events and these events inspire them and imbue them with patriotism. It was Herodotus who first combined the two concepts. History and Investigation. As a result, History turned into science, became completely information-based and became a subject of research. Actually, never-ending flow of events in human society is called History. Again, Rapson said that History is the sequential and scientific description of events. The father of modern History, the German historian Leopold Von Ranke thinks that History means the research and the true description of what took place. He opines that History is stark true. So, it can be said that History means the sequential and true description of different activities related to the transformation of human society. Therefore, authentic history is written based on the truth.