Audrey TruschkeAlright folks -- Do you have questions about how historians think and make claims about the past? Ask away. #MastodonThread #Thread #history
spvenkatesh@audreytruschke How do historians collect/validate data? And how do they fill gaps or make (backward!) projections?
@audreytruschke Specifically in the context: it is said history is written by winners!
@spvenkatesh Official court chronicles are usually written by the winners, which is one reason why it is important to read them alongside other sources.
Take Akbar's reign as an example. Abul Fazl matters, yes, but so does Badauni who wrote an unofficial and critical history. There are also other official histories, before Abul Fazl, who give different views. Then there are letters, material evidence, Rajput sources, etc. Historians look at all of this, as relevant to the questions they ask.