5 days ago
NCERT social science textbook: New Class 8 book chapter on colonial era skips Tipu Sultan, Anglo-Mysore wars
The new NCERT Class 8 Social Science textbook skips the mention of Tipu Sultan, Haidar Ali or the Anglo-Mysore wars of 1700s in its chapter on India's colonial era, which has been described as time when 'one of the richest lands of the world had become one of the poorest'.
Part 1 of the textbook — 'Exploring Society: Indian and Beyond' — was released this week for use in the ongoing academic session. A second part is expected this year.
The chapter on the colonial era covers the period from the late 1400s and the arrival of Vasco da Gama up to the late 1800s, including the 'Great Indian Rebellion of 1857'. It traces the shift of the British from being traders to rulers, refers to the Battle of Plassey — a decisive victory for the East India Company against Nawab of Bengal in 1757 — and the 'drain of India's wealth' during this period.
A section on the early resistance movements that challenged British colonialism in the run-up to the 1857 rebellion refers to the 'Sannyasi-Fakir rebellion' of the 1700s, the Kol Uprising, and the Santhal rebellion and 'peasant uprisings' of the 1800s.
In a separate chapter on the Marathas, it refers to the Anglo-Maratha wars between 1775 and 1818 and states that 'the British took India from the Marathas more than from the Mughals or any other power'.
In the old Class 8 Social Science textbook, a section on the expansion of the East India Company's rule from 1757 to 1857 also pointed to the resistance to them from the rulers of Mysore — referring to Mysore under Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan, 'the Tiger of Mysore', and the four Anglo-Mysore Wars in the 1700s. It also described the wars the Marathas fought against the East India Company.
When asked if Tipu Sultan and the Anglo-Mysore wars may find a mention in part 2 of the new Social Science book, Michel Danino, who chaired NCERT's group that developed the book based on the National Education Policy 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework, said chapters for part 2 'are not ready yet'.
'But a temporary answer is: probably not,' he said. 'It's unfortunately not possible to cover all events of the colonial period; if we try to, we fall back into the old mode of cramming textbooks with dates, wars etc. In the Middle Stage (Classes 6-8), we only do a quick overview of Indian history; in the Secondary Stage (Classes 9 to 12), there will be opportunities to go over some periods — especially the crucial one of colonial domination — in greater depth,' he added.
'Drain of wealth'
Referring to the 'age of colonialism' and the expansion of the European powers from the 15th century onwards in different parts of the world, the book notes that while the colonisers claimed they had a 'civilizing mission', the reality was different and included 'destruction of traditional ways of life, and the imposition of foreign cultural values.'
According to the new book, until the 16th century, when European powers began sailing to the Indian subcontinent, India contributed 'at least one-fourth of the world GDP during this whole period, making it one of the two largest economies globally alongside China (whose contribution was of the same order).'
A later section in the chapter points out that 'India's share of the world GDP kept declining throughout the colonial rule, reaching hardly 5 per cent at the time of Independence. In less than two centuries, one of the richest lands of the world had become one of the poorest.'
Similarly, a section on the 'drain of India's wealth' says the colonisers extracted 'many billions of pounds from India', and 'a more recent estimate (by Utsa Patnaik) for the period 1765 to 1938 comes to 45 trillion US dollars (in today's value)'. 'Had this wealth remained invested in India, it would have been a very different country when it attained independence,' it says.
The new book also says the construction of India's railways 'was not a gift from the colonial rulers to India.' 'Most of it was paid for by Indian tax revenue, which means that Indian funded infrastructure primarily served British strategic and commercial interests. The same can be said of the telegraph network,' it says.
The colonial powers 'stole thousands of statues, paintings, jewels, manuscripts and other cultural artefacts from India and sent them to European museums or private collections,' the book says, adding that such 'massive theft' took place over much of the colonized world.
The old Class 8 book did not have the sections on the railways, the 'theft' of artefacts, and world GDP.
Said Danino: 'We included the real facts on the financing of the Indian railway and telegraph (and several wars, including putting down the 1857 Rebellion) because otherwise we give a wrong impression that these were great gifts by the colonial powers. They were no gifts and contributed to make poor Indians (especially the peasant class) even poorer through revenue extraction.' He maintained that his remarks reflect his personal opinion.
