The NCERT’s newly released Class 8 Social Science textbook has sparked attention with its unflinching portrayal of historical figures, including Babur, Akbar, and Aurangzeb, describing episodes of brutality, temple destruction, and religious persecution during the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal periods.
The book, ‘Exploring Society: India and Beyond’ released this week, is the first in the new NCERT curriculum to introduce students to the Delhi Sultanate, Mughals, Marathas and the colonial era. While earlier versions covered some of these topics in Class 7, the NCERT says the timeline has now been shifted entirely to Class 8, in line with the NCF SE 2023 recommendations.