नवीनतम
Raziyya Sultan, Nur Jehan dropped from new Class 8 history textbook
NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: Controversy does not seem to end regarding the new NCERT Class 8 history textbook as influential women icons Raziyya Sultan, who once ruled the Delhi Sultanate, and Nur Jehan from the Mughal era, have reportedly been omitted.
Earlier, students learned about the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal era in Class 7, but the new Class 7 textbooks now conclude before the 12th century, as reported by The Hindu. The content has now been included in Part One of the new Class 8 textbook, where the omission of these key female figures has raised concerns.
In previous textbook, Raziyya Sultan, who ruled from 1236 to 1240, was portrayed as a capable ruler, more "able" and "qualified" than her brothers. It was also stated that Raziyya mentioned on her inscriptions and coins that she was the daughter of Sultan Iltutmish, in contrast to queen Rudramadevi of the Kakatiya dynasty who changed her name on inscriptions and pretended to be a man, added the report.
However, the new Class 8 textbook that features Delhi Sultanate and the Mughals in Chapter 2 - Reshaping India's Political Map does not mention any women ruler or queen of the time. Similarly, the old textbook recognised Emperor Jahangir's wife Nur Jehan for her "influence in Jahangir’s court," noting that she issued seals in her name, granting her equal status with the emperor. This mention has also been removed from the new edition.
Meanwhile, some new figures have been added in the latest textbook, such as Rani Durgavati, the queen of the Garha Kingdom, and Tarabai, the Maratha warrior queen. The textbook mentions that Rani Durgavati "led her troops and fought bravely" against Akbar's attempts to attack her kingdom in 1564.
“A section on Begum Hazrat Mahal of Awadh had been included. She has been called a "heroine", and one who joined the rebels during the 1857 uprising,” The Hindu quoted Michel Danino, NCERT's Curricular Area Group head for Social Science textbooks, as saying.
He also explained that the decision to exclude certain figures was driven by space constraints and the mandate to reduce syllabus content. "We would have liked to include more such influential women icons, however at one point the question was that of simply space,” he said.
Additionally, the 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”.
