In this article a history is presented of Changel, a village in North Bihar, India, from its origins in the eighteenth century to the present. In the absence of the conventional materials used by historians ‐ that is, plentiful written records ‐ the author uses non‐conventional sources, like undocumented oral reconstruction of popular memory. Apparent conformity to the stereotype of the ‘unchanging Indian village’ is shown to be illusory; the relevant changes are examined in detail; and the local historiography is set in the context of the general historical trends taking place outside of the locality but influencing the local scene.