Introduction 

At the end of this lesson, you will learn what history is, the importance of learning history and how to understand history which covers a long period of time. 

1.1 What is History? 

People have been living on this earth for quite a long time. During that time, 

(a) They have lived in different parts of the world. 

(b) They have made their environment conducive for their living. 

(c) They have maintained relationships with each other. The story that describes these past events is history. In short, history means studying and describing the details of the people who lived in the past. 

1.2 How to Study History... 

We did not exist thousand years ago. Therefore, we do not have any knowledge of what happened in the past. Pay your attention to what is given below. 

(a) I haven’t seen my grandfather’s mother. 

(b) I haven’t seen how my school was built. 

(c) I do not know about the elders who served our village. 

All of those events belong to the history of your life. Then, how do you know about them? 

(a) My father has told me about the mother of my grandfather. 

(b) An article in our school magazine has described how my school was constructed. 

(c) Our principal sir told us about the elders who served our village, in the school assembly. 

When you learn history, you may have questions such as these; 

(a) What was the shape of the throne on which our kings had sat? 

(b) What type of currency was used in our country in ancient times? 

• Such a throne has been placed in the Colombo National Museum.  

• We have seen many old coins kept in the museum. 

You can realize what a throne is by seeing it with your own eyes. We are able to get some knowledge about coins by seeing them. 

We learn history referring to books written in ancient times; if not, with the help of the remaining articles used by the people who lived in the past. In addition to these two ways, we can learn about history through stories about the past narrated by our elders. There is a common term used to introduce everything which helps us to study history; that is ‘a source’. 

There are two types of sources which are useful to study history. 

(a) Literary sources – (ancient written records such as old books and folktales) 

(b) Archaeological sources – (what is remaining now, which belonged to the past, such as old articles, building constructions and their ruins) 

Examples: 

Human skeletons, various things left after being used by man for his food. 

Some sources which are helpful to study the history of Sri Lanka 

1.3 Benefits of Learning History 

You might think whether there is any use of learning about the things which occurred in the past. Though they belong to the past, we can use the message given by them to make our present better. 

Let’s try to explain this fact with a simple example. One of the serious problems that we face today is the unfavourable environmental condition caused as a result of utilizing insecticides and chemical manure. 

By gaining a good understanding of the successes and failures of our ancestors, we can have a guidance to solve the problems that we face today. Furthermore, the light of that knowledge guides us to have an understanding of how our future should be and how our country can be developed in the future. 

Fig. 1.3 The way how the Sinhala letter ‘l’ evolved into its present form. 

1.4 How Does History Measure Time? 

History means a long period of time. It is important to measure it (time) accurately, when we study history. There are a few methods to measure the time of history in which many events had happened. The two methods used most frequently are; 

(a). Before Christ (B.C.) 

(b). Anno Domini (A.D.) 

The time period before the birth of Jesus Christ is called ‘before Christ (B.C.)’, 

The time period after the birth of Jesus Christ is known as ‘Anno Domini (A.D.). 

Let’s get this clarified through an example; Arahat Mahinda Thero arrived in our country 250 years before the birth of Jesus Christ. Hence, it is considered that this event took place in 250 B.C. 

King Mahasen who constructed Minneriya tank, started reigning Sri Lanka, 274 years after the birth of Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is considered that his rule started in 274 A.D. 

In addition to what has been mentioned above, Buddhist years and Saka years are sometimes used to show the time. These methods had been used in ancient India and Sri Lanka. You may have seen that these two types of methods are mentioned in almanacs in our houses. These two methods are used to calculate historical time on some occasions even today. 

Buddhist years start since the day on which the demise (Maha Parinibbana) of the Lord Buddha took place. Although scholars hold different views of the year in which the demise of the Lord Buddha took place, the general belief is that it happened five hundred and forty four years before the birth of Jesus Christ, that was in 544 B.C. 

The system of Saka years is a calendar of Hindus. It started in 78 A.D. The king Gauthamiputhra Sathakarni who ruled the Western India started Saka year system in memory of the victory gained over the areas of the Saka people. 

There is a chronological method used by Muslims to calculate time in celebrating their religious festivals. It is called Hijri years. It started in 622 A.D. It was the year in which Prophet Mohammad, the leader of the Islam religion, arrived in the city of Madeena from Mecca. 

In addition to these methods, there are a number of methods used in laboratories to calculate the ancient history of some hundred thousand years. Time can be calculated by digging the earth systematically too. This process is known as archaeological excavation. When the earth is excavated, soil layers under the earth could be seen. Various things, which belonged to the past and did not decay 

easily, have deposited on these soil layers. More ancient things have deposited on the lowest layer of the soil while things belonging to the recent past are deposited on the higher layers of the soil. 

Times in which a few historically important events took place according to the method of A.D. :- 

Sri Lanka became an independent country - 1948 A.D. 

Most of the things that existed in the past are now buried. Their ruins are still remaining in the soil layers of the earth. We can learn about history by digging the earth carefully. 

The beginning of King Mahasen’s rule – 274 A.D. 

The beginning of King Vasabha's rule – 67 A.D. 

Birth of Jesus Christ – 1 A.D. 

Demise ( Maha Parinibbana) of the Lord Buddha – 544 B.C. 

Time in which a few historically important events took place according to the method of Buddhist Era :- 

The beginning of King Mahasen’s rule – 818 Buddhist Era 

The beginning of King Vasabha’s rule – 611 Buddhist Era 

Birth (nativity) of Jesus Christ – 544 Buddhist Era 

Demise (Maha Parinibbana) of Lord Buddha – 1 Buddhist Era