NCERT Flags 'Brutality of Sultanate', 'Intolerance Of Mughals' In New Class 8 Textbook, Adds Disclaimer

Class 8th NCERT Book: The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has released a new Class 8 Social Science textbook that takes a more straightforward tone while depicting medieval Indian history. According to The Indian Express, the book describes Babur as a "brutal and ruthless conqueror who massacred city populations," while describing Akbar as a ruler whose rule was a "mixture of brutality and tolerance." The section on Aurangzeb emphasizes his role in temple and gurdwara demolitions, presenting these as manifestations of religious intolerance during the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal eras.

The book also contains an independent chapter titled "Note on Some Darker Periods in History," wherein the reason for including such events is given. A warning note in one chapter says that "no one should be held responsible today for events of the past."

Entitled Exploring Society: India and Beyond – Part 1, the book came out this week for the new academic year and is the first of the new series to deal with the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughals, which were earlier covered in Class 7. According to the new curriculum, students of Class 8 will now learn about the Sultanate, the Mughal Empire, the Marathas, and other developments.

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The chapter 'Reshaping India's Political Map' chronicles the emergence and fall of the Sultanate, movement of resistance, the Vijayanagara Empire, and the Sikh rebellion against Mughal rule. The period is characterized as an age of political turmoil, warfare, and desecration of temples and seats of learning.

“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 explained that the material is fact-based and does not sanitize history and is in conformity with the National Education Policy 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework 2023. New Class 1–4 and Class 6–7 textbooks have already been released as part of this curriculum reform.