Descendants of royal families move HC, question removal of Maratha empire map from textbooks

The public interest litigation (PIL), filed on Monday, called NCERT’s action “unilateral, arbitrary and non-transparent”, and said that it had been taken without examining historical records, archival material, or scholarly evidence

MUMBAI: The removal of a map of the erstwhile Maratha empire from social science textbooks has left descendants of royal Maratha families in a huff. So peeved are they at the omission that they have moved the Bombay high court, challenging the decision of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to remove the map from Class 8 social science textbooks.

Descendants of royal families move HC, question removal of Maratha empire map from textbooks

The public interest litigation (PIL), filed on Monday, called NCERT’s action “unilateral, arbitrary and non-transparent”, and said that it had been taken without examining historical records, archival material, or scholarly evidence.

Being “profoundly aggrieved” and “personally affected” by the decision, the descendants, including Raje Mudhojiraje Ajitsinghrao Bhonsle of Nagpur, Shivaji Dattatray Raje Jadhav of the Jijau family, and Raghojiraje Shahajiraje Angre of Raigad, along with other citizens, said that the changes perpetuate historical inaccuracy, which infringes on the rights to authentic education and cultural dignity of Maharashtra and Maratha’s populace.

The petition, filed through advocate Ashishraje Gaikwad, states that the original curriculum included a map, depicting the extent of the Maratha empire as of 1759 CE. The textbook titled ‘Exploring Society: India and Beyond - Part I’, published in July 2025, showed the Maratha empire stretching from Thanjavur in the south to Peshawar in the north, and from Cuttack (Odisha) in the east to large portions of Rajputana including Jaisalmer, Mewar (Udaipur), and Bundi in the west.

While the depiction of Rajasthan’s cities as part of the Maratha empire met with objections and protests by the Rajasthan’s royal families, NCERT between October 2025 to April 2026 removed the map from the Hindi, English and Urdu editions of the textbooks. However, no public notice or a reasoned order was issued to explain the situation.

In response to the protests, the petition highlighted, a high-powered committee was set up in August, 2025. Following this, in September 2025, Gajanan Bhaskar Mehendale, a panel member and a scholar specializing in Maratha history, passed away, which left the panel incomplete. However, the petition said that the committee still proceeded with the decision to remove the map without having a history scholar in the panel to verify the documents.

The petitioners said that the removal was done without examining historical records or completing a mandated expert committee review. “The decision of the NCERT was in complete haste and in response to the protests in Rajasthan and without following appropriate procedure and examining true historical facts. Such removal has deprived the students of accurate historical education and infringed upon cultural identity rights”, they said.

“The elimination of Indian history and maps of Maratha empire from school textbooks was arbitrary and totally in violation of fundamental rights and principle of natural justice at the instances of NCERT without following a proper lawful procedure and has shown a total non-application of mind while eliminating the same from the text book”, the petition said, adding that the “unilateral arbitrary” removal of the map and the alteration of the “prestigious Indian history and Maratha empire” deserves to be quashed and the map should be reinstated as it was till July 2025.

NCERT textbooks are essential in India for establishing a standardized curriculum and serve as the foundational resource for study. These books are not mandatory for all school boards in India, but they are compulsory for CBSE-affiliated schools from Classes 9 to 12 as of 2024, and strongly advised for Classes 1–8. Many state boards have also started adopting them.

Indrajeet Sawant, an author and historian HT spoke to, said that the map being discussed showed the Maratha empire at its peak. According to him, between 1707 and 1788, when the Maratha empire was at its peak, the Rajputana region was under Maratha control for many years. He added that this is clearly mentioned in both Maratha and Rajputana historical records. He also said that during that time, the Maratha empire had expanded as far as Peshawar. However, he criticised the way the map had been presented, saying that the experts involved in preparing the NCERT book did not explain all the historical facts properly. He also claimed that this was an attempt by those in power to create a division between Marathas and Rajputs.

NCERT officials did not respond to calls and messages.

(With inputs from Niraj Pandit)