angularjs getting previous route path

<h1>{{header}}</h1>
<!-- This Back button has multiple option -->
<!-- In home page it will show menu -->
<!-- In other views it will show back link -->
<a ng-href="{{back.url}}">{{back.text}}</a>
<div ng-view></div>

In my module config

  $routeProvider.
  when('/', {
    controller:HomeCtrl,
    templateUrl:'home.html'
  }).
  when('/menu', {
    controller:MenuCtrl,
    templateUrl:'menu.html'
  }).
  when('/items', {
    controller:ItemsCtrl,
    templateUrl:'items.html'
  }).
  otherwise({
    redirectto:'/'
  });

Controllers

function HomeCtrl($scope, $rootScope){
  $rootScope.header = "Home";
  $rootScope.back = {url:'#/menu', text:'Menu'};
}

function MenuCtrl($scope, $rootScope){
  $rootScope.header = "Menu";
  $rootScope.back = {url:'#/', text:'Back'};
}

function ItemsCtrl($scope, $rootScope){
  $rootScope.header = "Items";
  $rootScope.back = {url:'#/', text:'Back'};
}

As you can see in my controllers I have hard coded the back button url and text (Actually I don't need the text as using an image). In this way I found back button navigate incorrectly in some cases. I cannot use history.back() coz my back button changes to a menu link in home view.

So my question is how do I get the previous route path in controllers or is better way to achieve this ?

I have created a Plunker demonstration of my problem. Please check that.

This alternative also provides a back function.

The template:

<a ng-click='back()'>Back</a>

The module:

myModule.run(function ($rootScope, $location) {

    var history = [];

    $rootScope.$on('$routeChangeSuccess', function() {
        history.push($location.$$path);
    });

    $rootScope.back = function () {
        var prevUrl = history.length > 1 ? history.splice(-2)[0] : "/";
        $location.path(prevUrl);
    };

});

Use the $locationChangeStart or $locationChangeSuccess events, 3rd parameter:

$scope.$on('$locationChangeStart',function(evt, absNewUrl, absOldUrl) {
   console.log('start', evt, absNewUrl, absOldUrl);
});
$scope.$on('$locationChangeSuccess',function(evt, absNewUrl, absOldUrl) {
   console.log('success', evt, absNewUrl, absOldUrl);
});

This is how I currently store a reference to the previous path in the $rootScope:

run(['$rootScope', function($rootScope) {
        $rootScope.$on('$locationChangeStart', function() {
            $rootScope.previousPage = location.pathname;
        });
}]);

@andresh For me locationChangeSuccess worked instead of routeChangeSuccess. 

//Go back to the previous stage with this back() call
var history = [];
$rootScope.$on('$locationChangeSuccess', function() {
    history.push($location.$$path);
});

$rootScope.back = function () {
          var prevUrl = history.length > 1 ? history.splice(-2)[0] : "/";
          $location.path(prevUrl);
          history = []; //Delete history array after going back
      };

Just to document:

The callback argument previousRoute is having a property called $route which is much similar to the $route service. Unfortunately currentRoute argument, is not having much information about the current route.

To overcome this i have tried some thing like this.

$routeProvider.
   when('/', {
    controller:...,
    templateUrl:'...',
    routeName:"Home"
  }).
  when('/menu', {
    controller:...,
    templateUrl:'...',
    routeName:"Site Menu"
  })

Please note that in the above routes config a custom property called routeName is added.

app.run(function($rootScope, $route){
    //Bind the `$routeChangeSuccess` event on the rootScope, so that we dont need to 
    //bind in induvidual controllers.
    $rootScope.$on('$routeChangeSuccess', function(currentRoute, previousRoute) {
        //This will give the custom property that we have defined while configuring the routes.
        console.log($route.current.routeName)
    })
})

modification for the code above:

$scope.$on('$locationChangeStart',function(evt, absNewUrl, absOldUrl) {
   console.log('prev path: ' + absOldUrl.$$route.originalPath);
});