EMERGENCE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES: A BRIEF HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The beginning of tradition of social sciences has been major developments of the 19th century. Social sciences such as economics, political science, and history though have a long story of their own, could get the recognition as "social sciences" only in the 19th century. Thinkers and writers such as Herodotus [known as the "Father of History"]; Aristotle [often known as the "Father of Political Science"]; Manu, the great law giver; Kautilya, an authority on "Arthashastra", and many others had written good treatises on different areas of social sciences more than 2000 years ago. The political and social atmosphere of ancient Greece, Rome and India also favoured this kind of intellectual exercises. Due to historical reasons these countries could not maintain the same tempo during the middle age. [500 A.D. to 1550 A.D.] But during 17th and 18th centuries the processes of Renaissance, and Enlightenment gave a big impetus to the continuation of the tradition of reasoning. This change in the intellectual atmosphere favoured the development of sciences which came to be called "social sciences".