UPSC Darpan

SocietyGS130 September 2026

NCERT’s new Class 9 book replaces European revolutions with medieval Indian ‘resistance’

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The news

New Delhi. The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) on Tuesday, September 29, released Understanding Society: India and Beyond – Part Two, the new Class 9 social science textbook. It drops the old chapters on the French and Russian revolutions and presents 1000–1700 CE as a period of “Resistance and Resilience” against invasions it says were driven by “territorial expansion and religious motives”. It covers Mewar, the Ahom victory at Saraighat, Vijayanagara, Maratha Swarajya, the Jat uprising of 1669 and the execution of Guru Arjan Dev and Guru Tegh Bahadur, saying Mughal brutality against the Gurus has “few comparisons in history”. Kachwaha–Mughal cooperation gets a brief mention. The Indian Express notes that composite culture, central to Indian historiography for over 50 years, recedes. NCERT chief Dinesh Saklani’s foreword promises “critical inquiry”. The link is GS2 education policy.

The chain in one line: NEP 2020 calls for a new curriculum → NCF-SE 2023 sets the framework → NCERT rewrites books class by class → Class 9 Part 2 swaps European revolutions for medieval Indian resistance → debate on which past students inherit, and who decides

Static syllabus linkage

  1. NCERT is an advisory society, not a statutory regulator. NCERT was set up by the Government of India in 1961 as a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. It advises the Centre and States on school education and publishes model textbooks used widely in CBSE schools. States have their own SCERTs and may adopt, adapt or write their own books.
  2. Education is a shared subject with a constitutional goal. The 42nd Amendment, 1976, moved education to the Concurrent List (Entry 25, List III): the Centre frames policy such as NEP 2020 and the curriculum framework NCF-SE 2023, while States run most schools. Article 51A(h) makes it a fundamental duty of every citizen to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform.

Why UPSC loves this

  1. Curriculum content is now a governance question, not just a pedagogy one. GS2 covers “Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources”. Textbook revision tests federalism and autonomy together.

Prelims nuggets

  • NCERT was established in 1961 as a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860; it is not a statutory body.
  • Education was moved from the State List to the Concurrent List by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1976.
  • The Battle of Saraighat (1671) was won by the Ahom commander Lachit Borphukan against a Mughal fleet on the Brahmaputra.

Analysis

  1. Both sides of the debate are making a real argument about balance. Supporters say the old syllabus gave Europe more pages than India’s regions, leaving the Ahoms barely known. Critics reply that the French and Russian revolutions taught the liberty and equality our Constitution draws on, and that reading seven centuries mainly as “resistance” leaves little room for exchange and synthesis. The disagreement is what limited pages should train a citizen to see.
  2. Lens — Independence and accountability: who decides what is taught matters as much as what is taught. NCERT has no statutory insulation, so its choices read as the government’s. On September 27 the Higher Education Department, citing the PMO, asked central universities for “comments” and enrolment details on courses using Ambedkar, Phule and Sharmila Rege, after an anonymous post called them “poison”. A thoughtful officer would conclude that legitimacy comes from process: named expert committees, published reasons for each change and open review.
  3. The test of the book is method, not only topics. Article 51A(h) asks for a spirit of inquiry. The book separates belief from evidence when it says Shivaji is “traditionally believed” to have received a sword from goddess Tulja Bhavani. The real test is whether students compare sources and learn to weigh evidence, or only receive a verdict.

Possible Mains question

“A history textbook teaches citizenship as much as the past.” In the light of NCERT’s revised Class 9 textbook, critically examine how school curricula should be decided. (15 marks, 250 words)

Model approach

  1. Directive — Critically examine. Weigh both sides, then judge the process.
  2. Introduction — textbooks shape how young citizens see the nation. The September 29 release: revolutions out, medieval resistance in.
  3. Body — the case for revision rests on a real Eurocentric gap. Regional histories like the Ahoms were thin.
  4. Body — the case against rests on lost ideas and a single frame. Liberty and equality recede; draw NEP 2020 → NCF-SE → NCERT → SCERTs showing where review sits.
  5. Body — legitimacy depends on open process and States’ role. Value addition: Article 51A(h) and the 42nd Amendment.
  6. Conclusion — a book that teaches students to weigh evidence serves every view. Open review, multiple sources, State freedom.

Administrator's brainstorm

As Director of a State SCERT, you must decide whether your State adopts the new NCERT Class 9 book. What do you do?

Education is concurrent, so the State may adopt, adapt or write its own book. I would place it before an expert committee of historians and teachers and record reasons for every choice. Where content is contested, I would add supplementary readings with sources and multiple views rather than accept or reject wholesale. Publishing the report protects the decision and the teachers.