When Curriculum Becomes Propaganda: NCERT’s Dangerous History Revisionism
Recent changes in NCERT History Book – Lies, Half-Truths, and Communal Bias
The recently released NCERT Class 8 history textbook, which claims to present the history of the Mughals and Sultans, has sparked concern. A closer reading reveals numerous inaccuracies, incomplete narratives, and content that appears to promote communal bias, raising serious questions about its academic integrity and objectivity.
objections to the recent NCERT revisions are twofold: first, the inclusion of demonstrably false claims, which can be disproven with documented facts; and second, the subtle yet dangerous shaping of young minds through a distorted portrayal of history.The truth may be uncomfortable, but it cannot be ignored.
it becomes all the more necessary to produce a detailed presentation dissecting every falsehood in the NCERT Class 8 history book. This will not only leave the “History Deniers’ Gang” howling but will also equip sensible citizens with the facts needed to understand our history accurately.
Beyond factual inaccuracies, it is equally critical to address the creeping religious prejudice being embedded into textbooks for young learners. This issue is not limited to incorrect dates or misattributed events,it extends to the deliberate shaping of a child’s worldview through a communal lens. Such manipulation of education poses a long-term risk to the very fabric of social harmony.
Debunking the First Lie in NCERT’s Class 8 History Book – The Jizya Tax
The first major falsehood it presents is the claim that the Jizya tax was imposed on non-Muslims to pressure them into converting to Islam in order to avoid paying it. Strangely, NCERT fails to cite any credible historical source for this statement. In fact, no such interpretation exists in any recognized Islamic source.
It was a tax paid by non-Muslims living under Islamic rule, and those who paid it were exempt from military service. In return, they became the responsibility of the Islamic state, which took on the duty of protecting them.
The term Zimma itself means “responsibility,” and by extension, Zimmi referred to non-Muslim subjects who were under the state’s protection. Nowhere in any historical or legal text is Jizya described as a tool for forced religious conversion.
So, on what basis does NCERT claim that the Jizya tax encouraged non-Muslims to convert to Islam? That remains a mystery one they have yet to answer.
The Second and Third Lies in NCERT’s Class 8 History Book – Misrepresenting Akbar and Hindu Officials
In the same way, no one knows on what basis NCERT makes its second false claim that Mughal Emperor Akbar removed the Jizya tax only in the later part of his reign. Historical facts tell a different story.
When Emperor Humayun died in 1556 AD, his son Akbar was still very young. During his early years on the throne, he was under the regency of Bairam Khan and formally assumed full power in 1560 AD. One of his earliest major decisions came just a few years later in 1563–64 AD—when he abolished the Jizya tax. According to Akbar, the tax created religious discontent, and removing it was an important step toward fostering harmony in his empire.So NCERT’s second “fact” is wrong Akbar did not wait until late in his reign to remove Jizya; he did it quite early.
The third falsehood is the claim that Hindus were few among Akbar’s prominent officials. Historical data shows that during Akbar’s era, 16% of his officials were non-Muslims, a figure that actually rose to 33% under Aurangzeb. More importantly, several of Akbar’s most trusted and high-ranking officials were Hindus.
For example:
- Raja Todar Mal – Akbar’s celebrated finance minister and a devotee of Lord Krishna, also one of his Navratnas (nine jewels).
- Poet Raja Prithviraj – Court poet and Navratna, who composed the celebrated poem Krishna Rukmineri Beli.
Mian Tansen – Legendary musician of Akbar’s court, whose real name was Ram Tanu Pandey.
- Raja Birbal – Akbar’s close friend, advisor, and Navratna member, remembered for his wit and wisdom.Furthermore, Akbar’s wife (and Jahangir’s mother) was herself a Rajput princess. Her father served as a high-ranking noble in Akbar’s court, and her nephew, Raja Man Singh, held the prestigious rank of 5,000 mansab, one of the highest in the Mughal system. Man Singh fought alongside Akbar in the famous Battle of Haldighati against Maharana Pratap.
Clearly, the claim that Hindus were marginal in Akbar’s court is misleading. The truth is that many Hindu mansabdars held significant power and influence during his reign something NCERT conveniently leaves out,and this is just the beginning. Similar inaccuracies exist in NCERT’s Class 11 and 12 history books as well.
NCERT History Books – Selective Narratives, Hidden Facts, and Communal Bias
So far, several factual distortions in NCERT’s Class 8 history book were discussed . But there’s more. Beyond individual errors, the book promotes a broader narrative: it paints the Mughals almost exclusively as brutal rulers because they fought wars, killed people, and sometimes harmed civilians.
But here’s the question didn’t almost every major king in Indian history do the same?
Take Rajendra Chola, the great 11th-century ruler of the Chola dynasty. His famous inscription, the Karandai Prashasti (where Prashasti means a eulogy in praise of a ruler), records in verses 52–57 how he attacked the Chalukya capital of Manyakheta, burned the city, and proudly noted the deaths of many women.
Another inscription from 1042 AD boasts that when he attacked Chalukya king Someshvara, he burned the city and destroyed many ancient Jain temples in Puligere, originally built by Parmadideva Ganga. When he defeated Mahinda V of Sri Lanka, he even kidnapped the king’s wife and daughter. yet, when NCERT covers the Cholas, there is no mention of cruelty or brutality. Rajendra Chola is celebrated, not condemned.
On the other hand, based on a single event the Siege of Chittor NCERT labels Akbar as cruel. If Rajendra Chola’s multiple civilian massacres do not make him “brutal,” why does one incident make Akbar so? Is the difference simply that Akbar was a Muslim ruler?
The Case of the Marathas in Bengal
Similarly, in its chapter on the Marathas, NCERT avoids mentioning their 1741–1751 raids in Bengal, known for widespread destruction. In Bengal’s folk memory, this brutality is preserved in the lullaby:
Chhele ghumalo, paada judalo, borgi elo deshe.
Bulbuli te dhaan khaiche, khajna debo kishe.(When the child sleeps and the village is silent, the Bargi comes to our land. The bulbul birds have eaten the rice how will we pay tax?)
Here, Bargi refers to the Marathas, a term linked to the cavalry units introduced by Ahmadnagar’s general Malik Ambar.
When a newspaper asked NCERT’s Social Science Curricular Group head, Michael de Nino, why the Maratha atrocities in Bengal were removed, he claimed, “We do not want to put unnecessary burden on the children.”
But the real “burden” wasn’t on children it was on the government’s vote bank. By avoiding the Marathas’ brutality, NCERT preserves their heroic image while singling out the Mughals as cruel.
Temple Destruction – Selective History
NCERT’s Class 8 book discusses temple destruction only in the context of the Delhi Sultans and the Mughals, as if no Indian ruler before them ever demolished temples. But history tells a different story:
- Kalhana’s Rajatarangini records that King Harsha of 11th-century Kashmir left only two temples standing in the valley, destroying the rest.
- King Kshemagupta burned the Jaindra Vihara, a major Buddhist monastery, and used the statue of Buddha in his new temple.
- Shankaravarman looted 64 temples in Kashmir.
- In the 12th–13th centuries, followers of Veer Shaivism converted numerous Jain temples into Shive temples, such as the Megudi temple in Hallur.
- Pushyamitra Shunga is also credited with destroying several Buddhist monasteries.
NCERT omits all of this, reinforcing the idea that only Muslim rulers destroyed temples an incomplete truth that fuels religious division.
What NCERT Doesn’t Say About Muslim Rulers
When covering Alauddin Khalji, NCERT notes his attacks on Hindu centres but omits the fact that he repelled Mongol invasions five times between 1298 and 1306, safeguarding India from foreign conquest.
Babur is called a brutal conqueror, but his contributions such as building the first road between Kabul and Agra, securing trade routes, and commissioning the Shahi Bridge in Jaunpur are ignored.
Many cultural elements of India today Hindi as a court language, attire like salwar-kameez and kurta-pajama flourished in the Mughal era. Even the leader of the 1857 revolt, Bahadur Shah Zafar, was the last Mughal emperor. yet NCERT overlooks these aspects, focusing only on their negative traits.
The Real Agenda
It’s hard to ignore the pattern. The book highlights the flaws of Muslim rulers while downplaying or omitting similar actions by Hindu rulers. This selective approach echoes the communal narratives first promoted by the British, who used biased history to divide Indian society.
From the 1970s onward, Indian history began to be re-evaluated through archaeology and factual research. But NCERT seems to be reintroducing the same colonial poison now with a different political motive. With 24 NCERT members reportedly linked to the RSS, it’s unsurprising that the portrayal of history aligns with the organization’s ideology: Muslim rulers are “bad,” Hindu rulers are “good.”
The result? A Class 8 history book that is less an educational resource and more a weapon for spreading half-truths and communal bias. Its impact on young minds is dangerous, teaching them a skewed version of the past far from history, but very close to hatred.
Jizya: A Tax for Protection, Not a Tool for Conversion
Many critics argue that non-Muslims in Muslim-ruled lands converted to Islam simply to avoid paying Jizya (a tax). But this overlooks important facts even within their own question lies the answer.
Before the commonly cited three wartime options accept Islam, pay Jizya, or engage in battle there existed a fourth, often overlooked path: peaceful reconciliation and treaty. The Qur’an Surah Al-Anfal (8:61):
وَإِن جَنَحُوا لِلسَّلْمِ فَاجْنَحْ لَهَا وَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّهُ هُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ
Transliteration:
“And if they incline to peace, then incline to it [also] and rely upon Allah. Indeed, it is He who is the Hearing, the Knowing.”
a principle the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ demonstrated in practice through the Charter of Medina with the Jews and the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah with the Meccans. War, therefore, was never the first choice, but only a last resort when peace was rejected.”
When war did occur and non-Muslims came under Muslim rule, the second option was Jizya. This was not a punishment or forced conversion, but a small annual tax in exchange for protection, religious freedom, and exemption from military service while Muslims instead paid Zakat, which was obligatory and often heavier.
Importantly, Jizya was only taken from able-bodied adult free men not from women, children, slaves, the elderly, the sick, monks, hermits, or the poor. If a non-Muslim was poor, Jizya was waived and state welfare was provided instead. Historical records show cases where Muslim authorities even returned Jizya when they could no longer guarantee protection.
This arrangement led many minorities, including Jews, to prefer living under Muslim rule, as even Jewish sources acknowledge the protection Islam provided. The very existence of Jizya proves there was no compulsion in religion it allowed people to remain in their faith while being safeguarded by the state.
In short: Jizya was a fair civic tax, not a tool of oppression. Its purpose was justice, protection, and peaceful coexistence something often lost in modern polemics.
Conclusion
The rewriting of history in NCERT textbooks is not a matter of academic oversight but of deliberate distortion. By presenting half-truths, omitting crucial contexts, and selectively highlighting the faults of certain rulers while glorifying others, these books are shaping a generation with a biased and divisive worldview. History, however, cannot be reduced to communal propaganda it is a complex tapestry of victories and failures, of cruelty and compassion, across all rulers regardless of faith.
The case of Jizya demonstrates this clearly: what NCERT labels as a tool of coercion was, in reality, a civic tax rooted in responsibility and protection, far removed from the narrative of forced conversion. Similarly, rulers like Akbar created models of inclusivity, while even Hindu dynasties committed acts of destruction and cruelty facts that NCERT chooses to ignore.
A nation that teaches its children selective history is sowing seeds of discord in the name of education. If young minds are to truly learn from the past, they must be given the whole truth not a weaponized version of it. History should unite us in understanding, not divide us with prejudice.
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