New NCERT Book Which Introduces Students to Delhi Sultanate, Mughals For First Time Highlights 'Brutality': Report
Group portrait of Mughal rulers, from Babur to Aurangzeb, with the Mughal ancestor Timur seated in the middle. On the left: Shah Jahan, Akbar and Babur, with Abu Sa'id of Samarkand and Timur's son, Miran Shah. On the right: Aurangzeb, Jahangir and Humayun, and two of Timur's other offspring Umar Shaykh and Muhammad Sultan. Created c. 1707–12. Photo: CC BY-SA 3.0 igo
New Delhi: The new Class 8 textbook of the National Council of Educational Research and Training describes the reigns of various Mughal emperors as brutal and intolerant with questionable notes at the end, the Indian Express has reported.
The social science book 'Exploring Society: Indian and Beyond' which was released this week for the 2025-2026 academic session is now the first in the curriculum to introduce students to the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughals, according to the NCERT.
In it, the report says, students are introduced to Indian history of the period between the 13th and 17th century, covering the Delhi Sultanate, the Vijayanagara Empire, the Mughals and the rise of the Sikhs.
While the NCERT had earlier made news because of the deletion of the Mughal era from history books, this one marks a new tactic on the part of the controversial textbook council.
The Indian Express report notes that the old Class 7 NCERT book which had introduced students earlier to this period of history did not have any mention of "attacks on temples" and the "brutality" of some Mughal and Sultanate rulers. As The Wire reported earlier this year, the new social science textbook for Class 7 replaces three separate books for History, Geography, and Social and Political Life. The Part 1 of the book does not have any reference to the rise of the Delhi sultanate and the Mughal empire.
The new Class 8 book, for the first time, introduces Mughals and the Delhi Sultanate. It describes Babur as a 'brutal and ruthless conqueror, slaughtering entire populations of cities', Akbar's reign as a 'blend of brutality and tolerance', and Aurangzeb as one who destroyed temples and gurdwaras. The book highlights 'many instances of religious intolerance' during the period.
The NCERT told the paper that comparison with the old syllabus is "fruitless" as the new textbooks are "expected to reflect the NEP 2020 and the NCF-SE 2023."
Strangely, according to the report, the NCERT says the rationale for including accounts on Mughal brutality has been explained in a 'Note on Some Darker Periods in History'.
'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,' the note says.
One of the chapters in the book, on the Mughal rulers, has a note which says 'some of the invaders and rulers mentioned above committed terrible deeds and atrocities,' but 'it is important to keep in mind that we, today, bear no responsibility for actions of individuals hundreds of years ago'.
The Express report details how in individual chapters, Muslim rulers appear to have been singled out for their "brutality."
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