SRINAGAR: In a major reconfiguration of how Indian history will be taught to schoolchildren, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has excluded prominent historical figures such as Tipu Sultan, Haider Ali, Raziya Sultan, and Nur Jahan from its newly released Class 8 Social Science textbook. The omissions are part of the sweeping curricular revisions undertaken in alignment with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023.
Responding to questions raised in the Rajya Sabha on August 6 by MP Ritabrata Banerjee, Minister of State for Education Jayant Chaudhary confirmed that the NCERT’s updated Class 8 textbook, titled Social Science: Part I, no longer includes Tipu Sultan, the 18th-century ruler of Mysore who resisted British colonial expansion, or his father Haider Ali, nor does it mention the Anglo-Mysore Wars—key conflicts in India’s colonial-era struggle. Similarly, references to influential women rulers like Delhi Sultanate’s Raziya Sultan and Nur Jahan empress Nur Jahan have been dropped.
The new textbook, according to the Education Ministry, has been developed by Curricular Area Groups formed by the NCERT, and is structured around four thematic units: “India and the World: Land and the People”, “Tapestry of the Past”, “Governance and Democracy”, and “Economic Life Around Us”. These themes, officials say, aim to reflect a competency-based, integrated, and contextual approach to history and the social sciences.
The government clarified that while Tipu Sultan and others are no longer mentioned, other figures such as Rani Durgavati, Ahilyabai Holkar, Rani Abbakka I, and have been included under the “Tapestry of the Past” theme. The Ministry maintained that historical personalities are being introduced following curricular goals and that the textbook seeks to promote experiential learning, field work, and evidence-based understanding.
Officials also defended the exclusions by citing the NEP’s approach for the Middle Stage (Grades 6 to 8), which is to provide only a “broad survey of Indian civilisation from prehistoric times to Independence,” rather than detailed chronological accounts of events or rulers.
The Ministry reminded the House that education is a subject in the Concurrent List of the Constitution, and most schools fall under the jurisdiction of State Governments. As such, States have the flexibility to either adopt the NCERT textbooks, adapt them, or develop their own curricula based on the national framework. This means State boards are still free to include detailed accounts of Tipu Sultan, Raziya Sultan, or regional histories that may not be reflected in the NCERT’s centralised material.
