The National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) on Wednesday detailed its rationale behind modifying some content in its Class 8 social science textbook and said that the facts stated were "based on well-known primary and secondary academic sources".
Part 1 of the Class 8 textbook in question, titled 'Exploring Society: Indian and Beyond', introduces students to the Delhi Sultanate, Mughals, Marathas and more. The book emphasises "many instances of religious intolerance" during the Mughal era.
"This textbook attempts to provide an idea about the geography, history (medieval & modern), economic life and governance of the country, from a multi-disciplinary perspective in an integrated way," the NCERT statement read.
Introducing the book, the NCERT said it aims to avoid burdening the child with too much information and to develop a critical understanding.
"Class 8 being the last year of the middle stage, the students are expected to acquire broad multidisciplinary perspective in understanding of our past between 13th to Mid-19th century and how the various events of that period have helped to shape and influenced the evolution of India of today," the NCERT said in a press release.
The book references "brutal and ruthless conqueror" Babur's wiping off "entire populations of cities", and Aurangzeb destroying temples and gurdwaras.
{{/usCountry}}The book references "brutal and ruthless conqueror" Babur's wiping off "entire populations of cities", and Aurangzeb destroying temples and gurdwaras.
{{/usCountry}}These references are made in the 'Note on Some Darker Periods in History' section at the beginning of the book. The section comes as a disclaimer for students before they begin learning about war and bloodshed. The NCERT says this section was added to "avoid generation of any prejudice and misunderstanding".
"A cautionary note has been inserted in one of the chapters to make it clear that no one should be held responsible today for events of the past. The emphasis is on an honest approach to history with a view to drawing from it important lessons for a better future,” NCERT earlier said in a statement.
It argues that the historical account mentioned in the book is evidence-based and balanced.
“Indian history cannot be cannot sanitised and presented as a smooth, happy development throughout. There were bright periods but also dark periods where people suffered, so we have given note on the darker chapters of history, and also given a disclaimer that no one today should be regarded as responsible for whatever happened in the past,” The Hindu quoted Michel Danino, head of NCERT’s Curricular Area Group for Social Science, as saying.
Although earlier editions addressed some of these topics in Class 7, the NCERT states that the timeline has now been moved entirely to Class 8, in accordance with the recommendations of the 2023 National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCFSE).