What is the role of history as a theme and as a trope in this novel

Salim is aware that everything he knows about the past comes from European sources (the colonizing countries). He says, "All I know of our history and the history of the Indian Ocean I have got from books written by Europeans." Enter Raymond, a European historian working on the first written history of the country. After reading Raymond's articles, Salim says "I was always hoping that Raymond was going to go behind the newspaper stories and editorials and try to get at the real events. Raymond wasn't interested in that side. He didn't give the impression that he had talked to any of the people involved, though many would have been alive when he wrote."

Raymond's methods raise questions about the validity of historical documents. In fact, Raymond himself questions the reliability of his own work by saying, "Do you think we will ever get to know the truth about what has happened in Africa in the last hundred or even fifty years? All the wars, all the rebellions, all the leaders, all the defeats?" The answer is "no." Not because the information isn't available, but because Raymond is interested only in the material that reports the official story. Raymond is the President's man, which means the President decides what is and what isn't history.