Fri. Mar 29th, 2024
Education

The Fresh sets of National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) history books this year represents nationalist icons, which the BJP claims to be sidelined from the past years textbooks.

Spiritual leaders Sri Aurobindo and Swami Vivekananda, freedom fighters Lala Lajpat Rai and Vallabhbhai Patel, Peshwa and Maratha general Bajirao Ballal, Jat king Suraj Mal, Rajput icon Maharana Pratap and Chhatrapati Shivaji, founder of the Maratha empire, have been introduced this year in the newly printed NCERT history books, which were formulated two months ago.

It has been observed that the Class 8 History textbooks, Part I and Part II, has represented Sir Aurobindo’s thoughts on the goals of national education, “In a speech delivered on January 15, 1908, in Bombay, Aurobindo Ghose stated that the goal of national education was to awaken the spirit of nationality among the students. This required a contemplation of the heroic deeds of our ancestors… Aurobindo Ghose emphasized that although the students should remain connected to their own roots, they should also take the fullest advantage of modern scientific discoveries and Western experiments in popular governments,” the textbook states.

You can download NCERT Books PDF at  https://upscbuddy.com/ncert-books/

With earlier History textbooks which included a brief mention of Ramakrishnan Mission and Swami Vivekananda, the new textbooks consist of paragraphs representing them. The new paragraph explains the New York Herald’s report on Vivekananda’s speech at the World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago.

The NCERT also added few other names including Chandra Shekhar Azad, Sukhdev, and Rajguru to the section in Chapter 11 of Our Past-III, Part II that talks about freedom fighter Bhagat Singh. In the Previous years, the history textbooks read, “Revolutionary nationalists such as Bhagat Singh and his comrades wanted to fight colonial rule and the rich exploiting classes through a revolution of workers and peasants.” The revised section replaces the words “and his comrades” with the names of Chandra Shekhar Azad and Sukhdev.

The Chapter 10 of the Class 7 History textbook, Our Past-II, introduces the name ‘Suraj Mal’ (under the section titled ‘The Jats’) as the king under whom “the power of Jats reached its zenith”. “Suraj Mal built a number of forts and palaces and the famous Lohagarh Fort in Bharatpur is regarded as one of the strongest forts built in this region,” it states.

In Chapters 3 and 10 of Our Past- II, Chapter 10 now consists of 100 words of excellence deserved by Maratha ruler, his guerrilla warfare tactics and how he embarked on a career of conquest at a young age, and, subsequently, laid the foundation of a strong empire.

The Maharana Pratap has also been introduced in the last chapter of the Class 7 History book, in the section titled ‘The Watan Jagirs of the Rajputs’. This section focusses on Rajput kings, who served under Mughals and in return “were permitted to enjoy considerable autonomy in their watan jagirs”, he has been introduced as an exception who was not ruled under Mughal empire. “A series of envoys were sent to the Rana to persuade him to accept Mughal suzerainty, but he stood his ground,” it states.

The Previous section in the Class 7 textbooks had no mentions of Shivaji and Maharana Pratap. The Union Home Minister also mentioned that the Rajput Warriors have not been placed duly inside the history books published so far.

The NCERT has also introduced more information on  Lala Lajpat Rai and Vallabhbhai Patel in Chapter 3 of the Class X book, India and the Contemporary World-II.

The NCERT introduced a full page on the Paika rebellion of Odisha or the Khurda uprising of 1817 in the Class 8 History textbook Our Past-III, Part II.

The few other changes introduced are as follows:

  • NCERT has added portraits of Rani of Kittur, freedom fighter Veer Surendra Sai, Rani Laxmi Bai, Bahadur Shah Zafar, Peshwa Nana Sahib, and Veer Kunwar Singh, a hero of the 1857 rebellion, across different chapters of the Class 8 History book Our Past-III, Part II.
  • Chapter 4 of Class 7 History, Our Past-II, has introduced matter on Akbar commissioning translation of many Sanskrit works such as Mahabharata, Ramayana, Lilavati, and Yoga Vashisht into Persian.
  • Chapter 8 (Devotional Paths to the Divine) of Our Past-II introduced new paragraph on the Vaishnava poet-saints of Maharashtra such as Dnyaneshwar, Namdev, and Tukaram, along with new information on the Rishi order of Sufism that flourished in Kashmir in the 15th and 16th centuries.
  • Chapter 8 (Devotional Paths to the Divine) of the Class 8 History book has introduced more material on Sankaradeva, a Bhakti saint from Assam, whose teachings were based on Bhagavad Gita and Bhagavata Purana.
  • Chapter 6 of the Class 7 History textbook talks about the keen interest taken by Vijayanagara rulers in building tanks and canals.

The NCERT has confirmed that this decision has been taken after the feedback that was received by the council last year,  “As you are aware, personalities such as Aurobindo Ghose and Swami Vivekananda were missing from the History textbooks. We have tried to correct that. We can assure you that all changes made are based on public feedback and suggestions.”

The NCERT has officially made 1,334 changes, which include additions, corrections and data update, in its 182 textbooks.

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