The newly released Class 8 history textbooks of NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training), Mughal rulers Babur, Akbar, and Aurangzeb are described as “brutal mass murderers” and “destroyers of temples.”
The textbooks are part of the revised curriculum under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and National Curriculum Framework for School Education 2023.
Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1) has chapters covering Indian history from the 13th to the 17th centuries titled Reshaping India’s Political Map. It details the rise and fall of the Delhi Sultanate and resistance to it, the Vijayanagara Empire, the Mughals and the resistance to them, and the rise of Sikhism, the Indian Express reported
The Delhi Sultanate is described as a period marked by frequent destruction of Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist temples driven by both plunder and religious zeal.
The chapters describes Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire in India, as a “brutal and ruthless conqueror” who “slaughtered entire populations” and “erected towers of skulls.”
His grandson, Emperor Akbar’s rule is described as a “blend of brutality and tolerance,” referencing the massacre of 30,000 civilians in Chittorgarh. After the victory, Akbar sent a message which reportedly read: “We have succeeded in occupying a number of forts and towns belonging to the infidels and have established Islam there. With the help of our bloodthirsty sword, we have erased the signs of infidelity from their minds and have destroyed temples in those places and also all over Hindustan.”
The book also stated that Akbar kept “non-Muslims in a minority in the higher echelons of the administration.”
Aurangzeb is called the “destroyer of temples and gurudwars and schools” across Mathura, Banaras, Somnath, and Sikh and Jain sites.
The book mentions jiziya tax on non-Muslims as a tool of humiliation and social pressure to convert to Islam, more starkly than in earlier editions.
The books also talk about Maratha Empire ruler Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj as a secular visionary ruler with a master strategist who respected other religions and rebuilt temples.
There is also a special section called Note on Some Darker Periods in History, which emphasises that no one should be blamed today for the actions of individuals in the past.
‘Balanced and evidence-based,’ explains NCERT
Explaining the new revision, an NCERT official said that the history books are “balanced and entirely evidence-based,” while adding they do not “sanitise Indian history.”
“A cautionary note has been inserted to make it clear that no one should be held responsible today for events of the past,” the official has said.
Earlier revisions under NEP
This year, the NCERT made the decision to drop all references to the Mughals and Delhi Sultanate from Class 7 textbooks, while chapters on Indian dynasties, ‘sacred geography,’ references to Maha Kumbh, and government initiatives like Make in India and Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao were added.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022–23 revision, NCERT cautiously trimmed sections on the Mughals and Delhi Sultanate, including a detailed account of dynasties like Tughlaqs, Khaljis, Mamluks, and Lodis and a two-page table on Mughal emperors’ achievements as part of its syllabus rationalisation.
NCERT is the highest authority responsible for creating the textbooks used by over 4 crore students each year. NCERT advises the Union government on matters related to education.
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