Historiographical Imagination about Savagery and Barbaric Stages of Primitive Human Species
- 1 Retired Professor and Emeritus Fellow (UGC-2015-17), Department of Western History, University of Lucknow, Lucknow, India
Abstract
Indeed, Imagination could not work as a valid method for understanding prehistory and pre-historical processes as subjective or objective source. Yet historiographical imagination is only available inductive method for writing prehistory and pre-historical processes. Out of the few significant inherent natural features of the mind of Homo sapiens, a product of evolution memory, imagination, creativity, and power of comprehending complex natural processes are against preceding minds of primitive human species. The naturally evolved primitive human mind also learnt art of making fire, bow and arrows, pottery, stone implements, adobe-brick houses and later plantation by irrigation. The two historical facts transmuted the existing basic instincts making them primitive humans, other than preceding species of humans. 1) The phenomenon of inter-tribal battles, becoming order of the day during savagery because of sneaking clandestinely or openly, from other human tribes women, children, and domestic animals provided four kinds of human in a victorious tribe, “victor male”, “victor female”, “subjugated male” and “subjugated female”, which transfigured the existing sexual behavior in a tribe; and 2) the other phenomenon of “surplus labor” available only to males because of “surplus pregnancy” of females finally became the instigator of distinction between female and male, which in due course during the various stages of savagery and barbarism became susceptible for the origin of patriarchy. The present paper deals with the historiographical imagination as an inductive method for understanding responses of primitive human mind during various stages of savagery and barbarism.
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