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Wrong to hold anyone responsible today for past cruelty: NCERT
The NCERT underlined that understanding the historical origin of cruel violence, abusive misrule, or misplaced ambitions of power is the best way to heal the past
The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has said that a note on “history’s darker period” explaining the rationale for detailing “religious intolerance” under the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal eras has been added to the Class 8 social science textbook for the learners’ benefit.
In a statement on Wednesday, NCERT said that chapters under “Tapestry of the Past” in Part 1 of the textbook include passages on warfare and instances of cruelty or brutality. It added that those happenings cannot be erased or denied, but it would be wrong to hold anyone today responsible for them.
The NCERT underlined that understanding the historical origin of cruel violence, abusive misrule, or misplaced ambitions of power is the best way to heal the past and build a future where, hopefully, they will have no place. It maintained that facts have been presented in a comprehensible manner to promote holistic learning in this textbook. The NCERT advised readers not to hold present-day individuals or communities accountable for historical events.
The book, which has a chapter on the Maratha Empire, says its decade-long Bengal campaign “inflicted much cruelty and devastation on the common people”, without getting into details. It blames indiscipline under regional chiefs for it, in contrast with the values of its founder, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
NCERT’s social science curricular area group head, Michel Danino, said the details about the Maratha campaign in Bengal were omitted to avoid overburdening students with excessive dates, which often leads to rote learning for the examinations. “We wanted to focus on understanding historical developments rather than memorising timelines.”
Danino said that the Maratha Empire under Shivaji upheld strong ethical values, such as respect for women. “Post-Shivaji disunity led to some generals acting independently, resulting in campaigns like Bengal’s, which caused suffering but were an aberration compared to the empire’s broader contributions.”
Former University of Mumbai history department head Aravind Ganachari said Nagpur royal family member Raghoji Bhonsle led the Maratha invasions of Bengal (1741-1751). “They went to Bengal via Odisha in the later Peshwa period. ...behaved like intruders at that time in the 18th century and harmed common people. However, to view it in the present context would be absurd,” he said.
The 192-page social science textbook titled “Exploring Society: India and Beyond” cites the Marathas’ significant role as one of India’s most powerful kingdoms, which effectively challenged and disrupted Mughal dominance.
It details Maratha maritime supremacy, the navy, guerrilla warfare, and their contribution to India’s cultural development. “The Marathas brought large parts of India under their control and generally ruled them well. But with regional chiefs acquiring more power and autonomy, this also resulted in occasional indiscipline and abuse, in stark contrast with Shivaji’s values.”
Danino said the chapter titled “The Rise of the Marathas” was justified due to the empire’s significant role as one of India’s most powerful kingdoms, which effectively challenged Mughal dominance. “The Marathas did [erode and alter the Mughal progression] to a large extent, which is why we felt that they should deserve more attention. One of the last maps in that chapter shows that they had constrained the Mughals to a much more limited space than they had earlier, like under Akbar and Aurangzeb, for example. So after Aurangzeb, definitely the Mughal Empire shrinks, and the Maratha Empire expands.”
Danino said UNESCO added 12 Maratha forts to its World Heritage List, recognising their military significance and heritage, coincidentally just after the textbook went to press. “So it was almost like an endorsement of our effort to give the Marathas a little more light.”
The book cites Shivaji’s raid on Mughal nobleman Shaishta Khan’s camp at night, forcing him to leave what is now Maharashtra, and likens it to “the modern-day surgical strike”. It credits Marathas for contributing substantially to India’s cultural developments, including the promotion of the Marathi language. “The [Rajya-Vyavahara-Kosha] treatise provided Sanskrit equivalents of the prevalent Persian words used in diplomatic exchanges, resulting in the decline of foreign loanwords in Maratha diplomacy.”
The book has a section on “mighty Maratha women”, featuring the contributions of “fearless Maratha warrior queen” Tarabai and Ahilyabai Holkar, “a scion of the Holkar dynasty, one of the chief families instrumental in the Maratha expansion in north India.” It cites the rebuilding of Varanasi’s Kashi Vishwanath Temple after Aurangzeb destroyed it. The book also refers to Mahmud of Ghazni’s destruction of the Somnath Temple in Gujarat.
The chapter blames internal disunity and the superior British organisation and technology for the end of the Maratha power in the latter half of the 18th century. It calls the Marathas the chief rivals of the British. “The three Anglo-Maratha wars were fought between 1775 and 1818. ...In effect, the British took India from the Marathas more than from the Mughals or any other power.”
The NCERT has been developing new textbooks aligned with the National Education Policy and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education 2023. The new textbooks for Classes 1 to 4, 6, and 7 have been released. Those for Classes 5 and 8 are now being introduced.
Three textbooks covering history, social and political life, and geography were previously prescribed for Class 8 social science. The new book’s Part 1 now integrates all three themes.
