Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak said on Tuesday that some chapters on Mughal history have been removed from Class 12th curriculum to introduce India’s new generation to its “real culture & tradition”.
Speaking to reporters in Prayagraj, Patak, who serves as the state education minister, said, “Our tradition is a treasure for us. We want to introduce our rich tradition to our new generation.”
“Previously, people were kept unaware of their tradition. Now we are introducing our real culture to people,” the BJP leader said.
Chapters on ‘Mughal courts’ have recently been removed from the curricula of the Uttar Pradesh State Board of High School and Intermediate Education and the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
Chapters and topics related to ‘Kings and Chronicles; the Mughal Courts (C. 16th and 17th centuries)’ from the history book ‘Themes of Indian History-Part II’ for Class 12 students of the UP board and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). This is a part of the new rationalized syllabus to be taught in Class 12 from the academic session 2023-24.
Additionally, lessons regarding the ‘Central Islamic lands’, ‘Confrontation of cultures,’ and ‘The Industrial Revolution’ have also been removed from the Class 11 textbook ‘Themes In World History.’
Under the topics that have been removed from the history books of Class 12, students were taught about the “Akbarnama” (the official chronicle of the reign of Akbar) and “Badshah Nama” (chronicle of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan), Mughal rulers and their empire, composition of manuscripts, colour illustrations, ideal states, capitals and courts, titles, gifts and presents, royal family, royal bureaucracy, Mughal elite, information, and empire borders. These topics also included questioning formal religion, according to a senior history teacher of a UP Board-recognized school in Prayagraj.
Furthermore, chapters like ‘US hegemony in world politics’ and ‘The Cold War Era’ have also been entirely dropped from the Class 12 civics textbook.