NCERT textbook links Hindu religious lore with medieval warfare
References to goddess-given swords raise concerns over biased history
New Delhi: The Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government’s controversial changes to school curricula have come under renewed scrutiny after a new National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) Class 9 Social Science textbook linked Hindu religious traditions with the warfare of historical rulers, portraying several kings as having received swords from goddesses.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the newly released textbook, Understanding Society: India and Beyond – Part 2, says that worship of goddesses including Kali, Durga and Bhavani was a longstanding tradition in India and that rulers invoked different forms of Shakti as protectors during conflicts. The book was released on September 29, six months after the start of the new academic session.
In its chapter titled “Resistance and Resilience”, the textbook states that Annamaraja, ruler of Bastar, was believed to have received his sword from Manikyadevi (Danteshvari), while Kumara Kampana of the Vijayanagara Empire was believed to have used a goddess-given sword against Sultanate forces at Madurai. It similarly says that Maratha ruler Shivaji was traditionally believed to have obtained a sword from Goddess Tulja Bhavani.
The chapter also describes the Indian subcontinent as having witnessed successive invasions from the seventh century onward.
While the textbook uses terms such as “believed” and “traditionally believed” in describing the goddess-given swords, the inclusion of such religious narratives in a school history curriculum has raised questions over the distinction between mythology, cultural tradition and historically verifiable evidence.
Critics of recent curriculum changes have accused the BJP government and NCERT of reshaping educational material along a majoritarian ideological line.
The latest textbook has consequently renewed concerns that selective presentation of India’s past could deepen communal interpretations of history among young students, particularly when episodes involving Muslim-ruled states are predominantly placed within a narrative of invasion, religious conflict and resistance.
The development is part of a wider controversy surrounding recent revisions of NCERT textbooks, with critics and academics questioning whether curriculum changes are giving greater prominence to religious and majoritarian narratives while reducing the space for India’s pluralistic and diverse historical experience.
The debate has also raised broader concerns over the independence of educational institutions and the use of school curricula in shaping historical perceptions.
The latest changes have therefore placed India’s school curriculum at the centre of an ongoing debate over the presentation of history under the BJP government, with concerns that the increasing blending of religious lore, warfare and national history could contribute to the broader Hindutva-driven recasting of India’s past and marginalise the country’s composite and pluralistic historical heritage.
