Full chapter text
History is not just a record of the victors. But simply telling the story of
the hysteria does not make the story true. The purpose of the parallel
historiography is not to create a new myth by reversing the main story;
it is to widen the scope, identify silences, and apply the same critical
criteria to all claims.
70.1 The Inequality of the Record
The state, courts, institutions, and the educated class leave more than
written records. Poor, women, workers, and rural communities may
have less exposure to regional languages and oral traditions. Because of
this inequality, the available resources themselves reflect social power.
70.2 Silence is also a question of
Why is there less of a group on record? The document has been
destroyed. There was no means of writing it. The organization did not
consider his experience to be important. Parallel histories treat silence
as a question rather than a fact. The reason for the silence must be
sought, not to fill the empty space with imagination.
70.3 Source-Extent
Personal letters, local documents, oral histories, songs, registers,
archaeological objects, maps, newspapers, court records, economic data,
women 's domestic writings, and regional language literature can all be
useful, along with official records. However, the nature, date, purpose,
transmission, and extent of each source should be specified.
70.4 Common Criteria on Centers and Margins
Official sources may be influenced by power, or folklore may also be
adapted. Royal documents are not automatically true or oral stories are
automatically true. The moral of parallel history is not to have soft
evidence for your favorite stories.
70.5 The history of the multifunctional
To understand history only in terms of kings, class only, religion only,
caste only, language only or economy only may be incomplete. The
causes of the many levels interact. The parallel historiography accepts a
multifactorial interpretation of the evidence instead of a monolithic
determinism.
70.6 Mithila and regional history
Regional histories do not aim to create mythical glory separate from
national histories. Mithila 's local sources, language, registers, literature,
folklore, and cross-border Nepal-India references can enrich the broader
history. However, each claim will ask for sources and comparative
evidence from the date. Regional self-esteem may be a motivator for
historiography, not a substitute for evidence.
70.7 The language of uncertainty
The sincerity of the historian lies in making the level of inference clear.
Explicit if there is strong evidence, probabilistic if partial, controversial
if source-contradictory, anonymous if there is no evidence. Call
conclusions that are outside the range of available evidence unlikely to
be true.
70.8 Preface: Parallel History Will Destroy Objectivity
Uttarapakṣa (Response): Parallelism Expands the Field of Evidence
If adding new sources changes the old conclusion, it is not a defeat of
objectivity but an improvement. Objectivity is not the absence of a point
of view but rather the availability of diverse sources, clear methods, and
critical examination and revision.
70.14 The Meaning of the Selection and History of Periods
The findings influence when history is shared and for how long. Periods
of dynastic change, economic change, or linguistic movement can vary.
Convenient centimeters can cut out the actual process.
The reason for the scheduling must be clear. Both continuity and break-
up are to be seen across the border. Local time cannot correspond to the
national time division.
Multiple valid chronologies of the same event are possible but not
arbitrary. The source and the purpose of the analysis will provide the
basis.
70.15 The Intellectual Geography of Mithila
Intellectual history is not just a list of places of birth. The centres of
learning, guru-shishya relationships, manuscript transmission,
patronage, debate and migration shape the geography of knowledge.
Some have called it a philosophical treatise on birth, work, tradition, or
influence. The criterion should be clear, as in the text. Limitations are not
arbitrary to promote pride.
Mithila is made up of external dialogues. The movement of ideas explains
their historical form without losing regional specificity.
70.16 Opportunities and Crises of Digital History
Digital copying simplifies searching by adding remote sources and
enables new comparisons. However, incorrect text-reading and
incomplete metadata and duplication of copies can give false certainty.
Digital images do not capture the paper, ink, pattern, or margins of the
original object perfectly. For important findings, basic or high-quality
evidence should be examined.
The choice of the database itself is epistemological. What collections are
digitized, what is searchable, and who owns them is the new question of
historiography.
70.17 Preface: Regional histories form narrow identities
Regional pride can lead to selective storytelling, the stigmatization of
outsiders, and mythological antiquity. The danger of this is real.
But the history of national centres alone is also narrow, as regional
contributions and losses are invisible. The solution is not to abandon
regional studies; it is to link them with common resources and cross-
regional relationships.
The glory of parallel histories lies in the achievement of truth and not in
imagined superiority. Boundaries, debt, conflict and acceptance of
plurality are mature identities.
70.9 Unequal Protection of the Source
Kings and courts and feudal lords left more written records. workers and
women and oral communities fewer. The amount of documentation that
survives is not a fair measure of historical significance.
The historian will write down the structure of the conservancy. Claims
about low-resource groups should be more careful but not to preclude
silent causal studies. Songs and local records should be added to the
physical culture.
70.10 Proof-of-Liability of a Counterhistory
Criticism of official history is necessary, but alternative narratives are
not true simply because they are contradictory. Hashia 's claim will also
bear the test of consistency and counter-argument to the source.
Same criterion does not mean same source quantity. Given the disparity
in availability, the type of evidence may vary; honesty may not. The
uncertainty must be written clearly.
The 70.11 scale will be changed.
Events in the nation 's history can be pivotal in the history of a small
village or family. Changing the scale makes the cause and agent appear
different.
Microhistory does not deny the widespread structure; it shows how the
structure functioned in specific lives. Comparison is desirable when
drawing universal inferences from local examples.
70.12 Timeline and memory time
The record sorts the time in order of importance in memory, giving date
sequences. Communities bring certain events up to date again and forget
about them. The two timelines answer a different set of questions.
History verifies chronology to understand why memory events survive.
Memory intensity may be evidence of social meaning rather than
accuracy of date or description.
70.13 Configuration of the parallel narrative
Parallel History is not a decorative box with a main story. Center
decisions and local results should be added to the same causal chain.
Different voices may change the structure of the analysis rather than just
the citation.
The final narrative should be multifaceted, source-level, clear, and
introspective. Facts that are irrelevant should not be hidden. The justice
of history is not arbitrary glory, but acceptance of the complexity of
evidence.
Chapter Conclusion
The formula for parallel histories is read center, read margin, read
silence. But apply the same logic to all. Parallelism is not an excuse to
make assumptions; it is a responsibility to find evidence.
Chapter Bibliography
E. H. Carr — What Is History?
Marc Bloch — The Historian’s Craft.
E. P. Thompson — The Making of the English Working Class.
Ranajit Guha — Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency in Colonial India.
Carlo Ginzburg — The Cheese and the Worms.
Romila Thapar — The Past Before Us.