The National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) has revised the Class 8 social science textbook, pointing out many instances of "religious intolerance" during the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal period.
The book, which introduces the students to the Sultanate and the Mughal periods, describes Babur as a “brutal and ruthless conqueror, slaughtering entire populations of cities”, Akbar’s reign as a “blend of brutality and tolerance”, and Aurangzeb, who destroyed temples and gurdwaras, The Indian Express reported.
The NCERT said it has included a disclaimer with the revisions in a “Note on Some Darker Periods in History” that “no one should be held responsible today for events of the past”.
What does the NCERT book say about the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughals?
NCERT released Part 1 of the Social Science book for Class 8, ‘Exploring Society: Indian and Beyond’. The book is for use in the ongoing academic session.
The above-mentioned book is the first in the new NCERT books to introduce students to the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal period.
{{/usCountry}}The above-mentioned book is the first in the new NCERT books to introduce students to the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal period.
{{/usCountry}}Although the period between the 13th and the 18th century was introduced to students in Class 7 in earlier years, the NCERT said that the period of Indian history that will cover the Delhi Sultanate, the Mughals, and the Marathas will now only be dealt with in Class 8 in the new syllabus, IE reported.
The book’s chapters, ‘Reshaping India's Political Map,’ cover Indian history from the 13th to the 17th century. They include the rise and fall of the Delhi Sultanate and resistance to it, the Vijayanagara Empire, the Mughals and resistance to them, and the rise of the Sikhs.
The chapters describe the Sultanate period as one marked by political instability and military campaigns that saw villages and cities being plundered and temples and seats of learning destroyed. The sections on the Sultanate and the Mughals contain multiple references to “attacks” on temples and the “brutality” of some of the rulers.
These instances are not mentioned in the old Class 7 NCERT book that introduced students to the same period of history.
“The events…(and many more) did happen and left their mark on Indian history; the rationale for including them has been explained in the ‘Note on Some Darker Periods in History’. The historical account given, while it does not sanitise history, is balanced and entirely evidence-based. Besides, in addition to the ‘Note on Some Darker Periods in History’, 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 said in a statement.
NCERT has been publishing new school textbooks in accordance with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education 2023. So far, new books for classes 1 to 4 and classes 6 and 7 have been released; books for classes 5 and 8 are now being made available.