NCERT’s New Class 8 Textbook Revisits Mughal Era with Sharper Lens

The NCERT’s newly released Class 8 Social Science textbook, Exploring Society: India and Beyond, views the medieval period through a sharper, more critical lens — focusing on religious intolerance, political violence, and cultural contributions during the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire.

Unlike earlier editions, the textbook offers a strikingly different portrayal of Mughal emperors. Akbar is described as a ruler whose reign was a “blend of brutality and tolerance.” At the same time, Aurangzeb is portrayed as a military leader who banned “un-Islamic” practices, reimposed the jiziya tax, and demolished temples and gurdwaras. The tax is described as a “source of public humiliation” that may have encouraged forced conversions.

Advertisement

The book traces the rise of the Mughal Empire, beginning with Babur–described as “a Turkic Mongol ruler and military strategist”–who defeated Ibrahim Lodi at Panipat in 1526 using gunpowder and field artillery, effectively ending the Delhi Sultanate.

A dedicated section titled Note on Some Darker Periods in History explains the rationale behind this framing. A cautionary note reminds students not to hold present-day communities responsible for historical events. The textbook also includes a preface explaining why such difficult episodes have been retained. These changes align with the National Education Policy 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023.

Previously taught in Class 7, this historical content has now been shifted to Class 8, where history, political science, and geography have been merged into a single integrated textbook.

While the revisions have drawn both support and criticism, the NCERT stands with the fact that the aim is to provide students with an honest, evidence-based understanding of India’s complex past — and to present history most transparently and truthfully possible.