Page 1 - NOTES

SAI INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

STD VI- HISTORY

CH-1 Timeline and the Sources of History

NOTES

Sub-Topic-3- What Are the Sources of History?

IMPORTANT TERMS:

 Historian: A person who studies and writes about the past.
 Genetics: The branch of biology that studies how, in plants,
animals or humans, certain features and characteristics get
passed down from one generation to the next.
 Afterlife: A life that begins after death.

There are various sources to study history. The historians gather
information from many sources.

Sources of the history can be classified in four groups these are

 Oral Sources These sources do not have any written evidence.
These might be stories, folklore, rhymes that are transferred from
one generation to another.

 Literary Sources These sources are written evidence of history.
They are helpful for understanding the chronological order of
events in history.
 Some of the examples of literary sources are, Vedas, Ramayana,
research papers of scientists, plays and poems, etc.

 Foreign accounts are also included in literary sources. These
sources are provided by the foreign travellers or traders who
visited the different countries.
 Artistic Sources The painting and sculptures from the various
periods are a great source of history.
 Archaeological Sources These sources are based on the
findings of pottery, tools, fossils of animals and plants, buildings,

etc.

Recent History

 When studying more recent history (from the last two or three
centuries), historians use newspapers as sources.

 For the past few decades, electronic media like television and
the internet have also become valuable tools for understanding

history.