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NCERT panel to examine content amid row over Maratha map
NCERT formed a committee to review feedback on textbook content after concerns over historical inaccuracies were raised, particularly regarding the Maratha Empire.
The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) on Thursday constituted a committee of experts to examine the feedback about the educational content in a few textbooks. Ranjana Arora, head of the Curriculum Studies and Development (DCSD) of NCERT will be the convenor of the committee of high-level domain experts from reputed institutions and faculty members from the relevant subject area, officials said.
“At present, NCERT has received feedback about the educational content in a few textbooks. Hence a Committee is being constituted having senior experts, as per its established practice. This committee will examine the feedback in light of the available evidence and submit its report at the earliest possible,” NCERT said in a statement on Thursday.
NCERT’s statement came three days after Chaitanya Raj Singh, the head of Jaisalmer’s former royal family, raised concerns over alleged historical inaccuracies in one of NCERT’s newly released textbooks. On Tuesday, Singh in a post on X, objected to a map in the Class 8 Social Science textbook depicting Jaisalmer as part of the Maratha Empire. He described the portrayal as “historically misleading, factless, and seriously objectionable,” claiming it misrepresents the role and territory of Rajput and Maratha rulers as there are “no authentic historical sources” that mention “any Maratha dominance, invasion, taxation, or authority” over Jaisalmer.
The map in question shows the Maratha Empire in 1759 extending beyond the western coast to include large parts of the northern plains, as well as present-day Gujarat, Rajasthan, Lahore, and Peshawar. It also marks tributary states under Maratha influence. While the Class 7 History textbook included the Marathas as part of a broader chapter on 18th-century political formations, the revised Class 8 book dedicates an entire chapter to the Marathas. The earlier textbook featured maps showing Marathas were broadly placed in present-day Maharashtra with arrows indicating their expansion, while the Rajputs were shown around present-day Rajasthan.
The chapter in the old textbook stated: “By the 1730s, the Maratha king was recognised as the overlord of the entire Deccan peninsula.”
On Wednesday, Mahima Kumari, BJP MP from Rajasthan’s Rajasmand met Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan to discuss the “incorrect depiction of history by NCERT.” “The Honorable Minister ji assured that this matter will be considered seriously and necessary action will be taken,” she said in a post on X.
Tane Singh Sodha, lecturer of history at a government school in Jaisalmer said that Mughals never ruled over Rajasthan but collected taxes (like chauth and sardeshmukhi) from various royal families of Rajasthan by exerting military pressure.
“Their authority was more about extraction than governance. Marathas looted or extracted payments through force but never established proper administrative control,” he said.
Responding to the objections raised over the map, Michel Danino, chairperson of NCERT’s Curricular Area Group (CAG) for social science, in a note issued on Wednesday, stated that “further research is on to confirm that our map’s boundaries are incorrect.”
“If they are,” he added, “a revised map will be prepared based on the best information available, and submitted for future editions of the textbook.” Danino also emphasized that the NCERT team is “fully open to error correction.”
He clarified that the chapter in question was developed in consultation with two experts on the Maratha period, and “nowhere in the chapter (including the map) is Jaisalmer mentioned.” The map, he said, was based on earlier published maps, and “to the best of our knowledge, no objection was raised against such maps, which have long been in the public domain.”
Danino further explained that the map includes not only areas directly under Maratha control, but also “states paying tributes/taxes, or at times under some agreement with the Marathas.”
Addressing the process behind textbook preparation, he pointed to the “tight timeline” under which the new textbooks had to be developed, stating that it “hardly allows for original research in every relevant primary source,” and that contributors had to rely on secondary sources that are widely accepted as authentic and scholarly.
He also acknowledged an oversight, noting that while the new Class 7 textbook includes a disclaimer stating that borders on historical maps are approximate, “the team should have used the same caveat for all historical maps in this book as well.”
As a follow-up to the National Education Policy 2020, NCERT has been releasing new textbooks for Classes 1 to 8 since 2023–24 under the National Curriculum Framework for Foundational Stage (NCF-FS) and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE).
Earlier objections were raised over the portrayal of other regional histories in social science textbooks. Actor R Madhavan criticized the revised NCERT syllabus for focusing heavily on Mughal and British rule while neglecting southern dynasties like the Cholas and Pandyas. Former Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik also expressed disappointment over the removal of the 1817 Paika Rebellion from the Class 8 Social Science Part 1 textbook, calling it a “watershed moment” in Odisha’s history to which NCERT responded that it will be covered in the second part of the book.
“The committee will examine all the concerns including representations of regional histories including the Ahoms in Assam, coverage of South Indian dynasties, and certain chapters in vocational and physical education books,” a NCERT source said.
NCERT’s Thursday statement said it follows an established process of forming expert committees to review substantial feedback on textbook content or pedagogy. “The committee carefully deliberates on the matter, makes evidence-based decisions regarding the content or pedagogy, and recommends appropriate actions accordingly at the earliest,” it said.
Former NCERT director JS Rajput said, “We used to get feedback on our books throughout the year. With the help of NCERT committees comprising various experts, we used to examine the claims made by stakeholders including students, teachers and academicians.”
