• The word ‘history’ comes from the Greek word ‘historia’, meaning inquiry, knowledge acquired by investigation.

History refers to the study of the past and is divided into:

1. Pre-history: Refers to events before the invention of writing; includes the three Stone Ages.
2. Proto-history: Period between prehistory and history, where a culture has no written records but is mentioned in the records of literate contemporary civilisations.
   • Example: Harappan civilisation (script undeciphered, mentioned in Mesopotamian records).
   • Example: Vedic civilisation (1500–600 BCE), had an oral tradition but no written records.
3. History: The study of literate societies after the invention of writing.

• Indian pre-history studies were significantly contributed by Robert Bruce Foote, who discovered the first Pallavaram handaxe (palaeolithic tool in India).
• Sir Mortimer Wheeler played a key role in expanding knowledge about pre-historical cultures of India.

Indian Stone Age classification* based on geology, stone tools, and subsistence:

1. Old Stone Age/Palaeolithic Age (5,00,000–10,000 BCE)
2. Late Stone Age/Mesolithic Age (10,000–6,000 BCE)
3. New Stone Age/Neolithic Age (6,000–1,000 BCE)

*Dates vary by sites, but these provide a general timeline.