Question

How do the historians divide the past into periods? Do they face any problem in doing so?

Answer 1

Hint: Historians divide the past into periods to study for an easy understanding of the relevance and changes of each period. The study of time is made somewhat easier by dividing the past into large segments and periods that possess shared characteristics.

Complete answer: In the middle of the 19th century British divided Indian history into three periods Hindu, Muslim and British. The division was based on a religious manner rather than on the importance of historical changes and development that each period possessed. Such divisions also ignore the rich diversity of the subcontinent. Few historians follow the same periodisation of India today while others look to economic and social factors to categorise the major elements of different development of the past. Further, the history is divided into the medieval and modern period with hunting and gathering society, towns and villages, empires and kingdoms and peasant society and imperial state formations. Modernity referred to the material progress and intellectual advancement in the society which mediaeval society lacked. Other important developments in India were the emergence of Hinduism and Islam and the arrival of European trading companies.
Thus the problems historians faced is that history is kept changing.

Note: The emergence of European trading companies and other developments impacted Indian history. India has been under the rule of many rulers and dynasties with each period has its own economic, social and cultural heritage and developments.