Not really, Grasshopper. A character can indeed be a tabula rasa, and develop incerementally solely from his or her actions in the story.
I had a similar dilemma in my story. The human girl that is taken into the world has no idea about it, whatsoever. The elders want to meet her and she has all these questions. This girl also becomes her 'bestfriend' in the story. I had a conversation and then as things happen in the story that are unknown to her the readers get to experience too. That's just me though.
I think that history is sometimes an interesting way to get a feel for the world that the writer has created, as well as getting to know the character. I just know that you shouldn't present information flatly or give the reader an information overload, and instead weave it in.