No mention of Red Fort or Taj Mahal in M’rashtra textbooks

Text books in Maharashtra have dropped references to Taj Mahal, Qutub Minar and the Red Fort and the passage devoted to Mughal emperor Akbar reduced to a few lines.

Historians that National Herald spoke to expressed their surprise and pointed out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort in a week from now. The Red Fort for 200 years hosted Mughal emperors and it is disappointing that the Maharashtra Education Board does not believe it has a place in history.

According to reports, in the revised syllabi approved by the Board, all references to the Mughal period have been dropped from text books meant for students of class VII and IX. There is little justification for dropping references to historic monuments like Taj Mahal, one of the wonders of the world, and other monuments which have withstood the test of time.

The text books also make no mention of the first woman to rule Delhi, Razia Sultana, Muhammad bin Tughluq’s decision to shift his capital city from Delhi to Daulatabad and the remarkable reign of Sher Shah Suri.

With most of the focus on Maratha King Chhatrapati Shivaji, role of the Mughal emperor Akbar has been reduced to a few lines. In the revised textbook, it is merely recorded that Akbar was the most powerful king of the Mughal dynasty.

“When he tried to bring India under a central authority, he had to face opposition. Maharana Pratap, Chand Bibi, and Rani Durgavati fought him. Their resistance was remarkable,” the textbook adds.

Till last year, according to media reports, Akbar was introduced in the same textbooks as a “liberal and tolerant administrator who was a patron of learning and art”. The emperor was also described as someone who had abolished the ‘jaziyah’, prohibited the practice of sati, and allowed widow remarriage. He was also called the founder of a universal religion called the Din-E-Illahi.

It is important to note that Maharastra has become the second state after Rajasthan – both ruled by BJP- to revise history text book in recent times. Quoting Sadanand More, chairman of the History subject committee of the Maharashtra State Bureau of Textbook Production and Curriculum Research, media reported that the decision was taken to highlight Maharastra’s point of view.