Grade 6 History English Medium Unit 1.1 Looking back at the past and learning what has happened belong to studying history

 

Hello class! Today, we are going to talk about history, which is like a big, interesting story about things that happened a long time ago.

1.1 What is History?

Imagine, people have been living on Earth for a very, very long time. They lived in different parts of the world, made their places comfortable to live, and had friendships and connections with each other. All these stories about what happened in the past make up history. So, history is like reading and learning about the details of people who lived a long time ago.

1.2 How to Study History...

Now, none of us were around a thousand years ago, right? So, we don't personally know what happened back then. But there are cool ways to find out!

For example:

• I haven't seen my grandfather's mother, but my dad told me stories about her.
• I haven't seen how my school was built, but there's an article in our school magazine that explains it.
• I don't know about the elders who served our village, but our principal talked about them in the school assembly.

These events are part of our personal history. When we want to know about history more broadly, we ask questions like:

• What did the thrones of our kings look like?
• What kind of money did people use in our country a long time ago?

To find answers, we have special things called "sources."

Sources for Learning History:

1. Literary sources: These are old written records, like ancient books and folktales.

   • Example: Books like Deepawamsa and Mahawamsa tell us stories from a long time ago.

2. Archaeological sources: These are things that are left from the past, like old items, buildings, and their remains.

   • Example: At Galvihara in Polonnaruwa, we have archaeological sources like buildings and sculptures made by King Parakramabahu I in the 12th century.

Examples of Sources for Studying Sri Lankan History:

1. Deepawamsa (Literary Source):

   • Time of Composition: 4th Century AD
   • Author: Not known

2. Mahawamsa (Literary Source):

   • Time of Composition: 5th Century AD
   • Author: Mahanama Thero of Diksanda Senewiya Pirivena, affiliated to Mahaviharaya

3. Galvihara in Polonnaruwa (Archaeological Source):

• Time of Construction: 12th Century AD
• Author: King Parakramabahu I

Looking back at the past and learning what has happened belong to studying history.

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’.

Many things about history can be learnt from the elders.

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

Source Type Time of composition /

construction Author

Deepawamsa Literary Source 4th Century AD Not known

Mahawamsa Literary Source 5th Century AD

Mahanama Thero of

Diksanda Senewiya Pirivena, which was affiliated to

Mahawiharaya

Galvihara in

Polonnaruwa

Archaeological

Source 12th Century AD King

Parakramabahu I

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