History is the study of changing patterns in society. No two periods are alike in history. It is the study of change.
The way our ancestors lived was very different from how we live now. So, to characterise these changes, historians have divided history into three periods - ancient, medieval and modern. These broad divisions mark how the society, economy, culture and politics of one period differed from that of the preceeding or the succeeding periods.
Periodizationb in history has changed over time. We divide history on the basis of something which has had a profound impact on the way we live. Some people say that the change from ancient to medieval period occured with the arrival of Turks in India and the change from medieval to modern occured with the arrival of British on the shores of India. Societies and economies take a long time to change and often cannot be periodized.
The 18th century is generally taken as the starting point of the modern period. Some features of this era are industrialization [ introduction of new machines ] , colonization [ to exploit an area after capturing it by force ], and urbanization [ growth of cities ]. These changing trends were first visible in Europe. In course of time, they played a vital role in India also.
