History is not just a list of what happened. History is a source selection, a question of record, an explanation, a study in silence. Not all evidence of what happened survives the same way. Royal court documents may be preserved, but not the experiences of agricultural labourers. Male genealogies may be written down. Female labours may remain in oral memory. Edicts of victors may be found in archives. The sufferings of defeated communities may be found in songs, stories, or local memories. So the philosophical question of history is, what evidence do we know about the past, what voices are absent, and how to make sense of absence. 61.1 Events and sources and history. Events and history are not the same thing. Events happen in the past; history is a reconstruction of them based on evidence available in the present. These reconstructions cannot be arbitrary, as documents, dates, material remains, linguistic evidence, geography, demographic data and independent sources determine their extent. But different questions can be asked from the same set of evidence. Revenue records show the economic structure; those records may not show women 's domestic labor. Army records give the number of battles fought but not the number of displaced families. This is where the multilayeredness of history begins. 61.2 Memory: Proof of identity and reconstruction Memory is not the enemy of history, but it is also not synonymous with history. Individual memory is selective and reconstructive; collective memory is shaped by ritual, memorial, folklore, school, family, and political speech. Therefore, they say, history by itself is not conclusive evidence. The question arises as to the age of the memory. How did the transmission happen? There are different versions. What independent sources are saying Neglect of verbal memory, however, can also become a cognitive disfavor. The history of communities that have left written records is not zero just because of this. The parallel historiography treats oral history as a separate category of sources by explaining the extent of their influence and transmission. 61.3 The Silence of the Record Archives are not just stacks of papers left behind. power, administration, property and literacy influence the choice of what will be preserved in history. Who was born in? Whose land was it that was recorded? Who wrote the crime? Whose labour was considered a natural duty and remained unrecorded. This question shows that absenteeism itself can be a historical problem. However, parallel philosophies do not accept silence as evidence and fabricate the desired story. Since there are no records, the argument that this must have happened is flawed. The proper way is to identify the problem, propose a possible reason, find alternative sources, and clarify the uncertainty. 61.4 The Official History and the Counterhistory Criticism of official history may be necessary, but not every counter- history is automatically true. State texts can be biased. so can opposition pamphlets. Royal records show power-structures, folk songs express pain, archaeology offers material resistance, linguistics shows long-term changes. Stronger histories build on cross-examination of these sources. Parallel historiographies do not throw up the mainstream but place loose evidence beside it. In this sense, parallelism is a field of extended evidence rather than a competing hypothesis. 61.5 Memory and Ethics Some memories are not only a question of fact but also a question of justice. Violence, caste humiliation, displacement, war, repression, language suppression - the memory of these events can be linked to dignity and identity for the affected community. But ethical considerations should not replace fact-checking. Respect the Pain will check the date, number and claim of responsibility and cause. 61.6 Mithila and Parallel Memory Historical and royal sources, recorded classical texts, literature, oral traditions, women 's songs, river-memories, migration stories, local shrines, and modern records provide varying evidence. It is inappropriate to place them all on the same level; however, treating only Sanskrit texts or royal documents as historical sources and omitting other sources is also incomplete. The parallel method seeks to construct a comprehensive history by clarifying the categories of sources. Pūrvapakṣa (Prima Facie View): Adding a memory will not make the history subjective Uttarapakṣa (Response): Memory addition does not make history arbitrary if the evidence and uncertainties surrounding the source-form or transmission of memory are kept clear. Subjective experience may be one dimension of historical fact. not the only dimension. 61.12 Reasons in the course of history Listing event after event will not give a reason. Direct judgment for cause, long form, opportunity, thought and chance events should be examined separately. One reason is that it is rare enough. Counterintuitive question Useful: If this were not the cause, would the outcome have changed? Experiments in history may not be possible, but comparative contexts and contemporary evidence can test the possibility. Avoidance of the inevitable - hindsight. They seem inevitable after the event has occurred. contemporary choices and uncertainties are recreated. 61.13 Biographies and great men 's stories Decisions on biographical considerations explain relationships and development, but cannot reduce an entire history to the will of one person. The organization creates followers, opponents, and resource achievements. A laudatory biography may hide faults; a hostile biography is an achievement. Private letters, published works, and memoirs hold a different standard of authenticity. The person 's stated intentions do not determine the full meaning of the outcome. The social impact of the idea may develop outside the author 's intent. 61.14 The use of family records Letters, genealogies, land records, diaries, and photographs are important sources of local history. But the family may choose to for reasons of prestige. The date and author and ownership are verified. Privacy and consent of survivors and loss of sensitive information should be examined when publishing private material. The interests of history are not infinite rights. Digital copy is not a substitute for original preservation. The order and physical properties of the metadata should be documented. 61.15 PrevParty: The Story of the History Winner Only Power governs records and courses; hence history was said to be entirely the story of the victors. This caveat is useful, but it only ruins the possibility of a word search. Conflicting sources, material remains, administrative inconsistencies and folklore may challenge the official narrative. Historians can create methodological transparency by living within the institution itself. Objectivity is not absolute powerlessness; it is opening up sources, accepting criticism, and refining conclusions. 61.7 Proximity and independence of the source Sources close to the event are valuable, but proximity is not fairness. Participants can learn more as well as save their roles. Later sources may give a broader picture from a distance but are influenced by memory and current interests. The independence of the sources from each other must be checked. If ten books repeat the same unconfirmed statement, then ten is not proof. The citation sequence should be traced back to the original point. The creation of a record 61.8 Records are not automatically saved.A document is created, selected by the institution to be saved, and classified by a later editor. The history of those who could not write or whose papers were destroyed looks poor. The silence of the archive should not be filled with fantasy. The possible reasons for the silence should be documented, other sources should be found, and the level of confidence in the conclusions should be clear. Absence opens up questions, not answers. 61.9 Oral history and collective memory Oral history captures events as well as perceived meanings, fears and community identities. Memory can change order, add symbols, but not be worthless. The interviewer 's question, location, relationship, and recording conditions influence the answer. Many pieces of evidence are comparable to documents and physical evidence. The differences should not be hidden but analyzed. 61.10 Monuments and public oblivion Memorials do not merely tell the past; they decide who is to be idealized by present-day society. Public naming champions can make ordinary labor invisible by focusing on the ruler or noble. Options such as removing monuments, adding references, or creating new monuments have advantages and disadvantages. Decisions must be made by historians, affected communities, and citizen deliberation; the violent past must be documented rather than glorified. 61.11 The moral language of history Historians may honor the victims when describing atrocities, but absolute avoidance of moral words is not neutrality. Calling the murder an accident may be a pro-establishment shorthand. Ethical judgments must be sound and conceptually sound. Let us define the limits of time confusion when applying today 's terms to the past. Don 't try to justify the understanding. Chapter Conclusion History is not a copy of the past, it is a verifiable reconstruction. Memory is valuable but not immune to criticism. Records are powerful but not perfect. Silence can be meaningful, but arbitrary stories are not allowed. Parallel historiography places both the center and the periphery on the same plane of evidence. Chapter Bibliography Marc Bloch — The Historian’s Craft. E. H. Carr — What Is History? Paul Ricoeur — Memory, History, Forgetting. Maurice Halbwachs — On Collective Memory. Ranajit Guha is the author of selected Subaltern Studies articles. Jan Vansina — Oral Tradition as History.