NCERT Textbook Details Mughal-Era Conflict With Sikh Gurus, Citing ‘Brutality’

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) Class 9 Social Science textbook, Vol 2 Understanding Society: India and Beyond, which was released on Tuesday, states that the ruthlessness of the Mughal state towards the Sikh Gurus had “few comparisons in history” and was underpinned by “rigid religious and discriminatory practices”.

The previous book did not take the above mentioned example and followed different patterns of historical chapters till the 2025-26 academic year which was first published in 2007.

The history chapter, “Resistance and Resilience (1000–1700 CE)” states that the “valour and sacrifice” of the Sikh Gurus “for the cause of the faith” became “hallmark” of Sikhism. Its martyrdom gave the community the certainty that “one must meet persecution with firm resistance and resilience”.

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A textbook states that the brutality of Mughals against the Gurus, especially Guru Arjan Dev, Guru Tegh Bahadur and Guru Gobind Singh, has no parallel in history. The valour and sacrifice of Gurus for the cause of the faith is more of a defining feature of Sikhism and the act [execution of Sikh Gurus by Mughals] was also motivated by rigid religious and discriminatory practices of the Mughals beyond any political motives, it adds.

As the “socio-cultural influence” of the Sikh Gurus increased, the Mughal state started to intervene intrusively in the affairs of the Gurus from the early part of the 17th century, says the textbook.

As the Guru's influence grew, the Mughal state more and more became involved in the affairs of the Gurus from the early 17th century, when the Guru Arjan Dev (fifth Guru) was murdered by Jahangir for allegedly supporting Khusrau Mirza, his rebellious son.

It refers to the martyrdom as a “sikh turning point”.

Guru Hargobind's imprisonment by Jahangir in the Gwalior Fort and the Akal Takht as a centre of temporal power and miri-piri as a spiritual and political power are also detailed in the book.

It reads here on Guru Tegh Bahadur, "In 1675, Aurangzeb had Guru Tegh Bahadur killed and the event was a decisive one in the history of India. It attributes the martyrdoms to the organized resistance, and explained that organized resistance and armed struggle could counter “persecution and political pressure” as and when needed.

It states that Guru Gobind Singh in 1699 founded and evolved a Sikh order called the Khalsa which had its own unique martial code, and that “In this process, the spiritual identity become inseparably linked with the process of political identity.”

This framing is also more precise than the older NCERT books of history. In a late history book, “History of India” published in 1978, An older Class 11 history book by late historian Satish Chandra described the wars between the Sikh Gurus and Mughals of Jahangir and Shah Jahan as “political and personal rather than religious”. The old text-book was in use till 2006.

When Guru Tegh Bahadur was executed in 1675, Chandra's book contained several accounts, which stated that the reasons for his execution were not clear. It pointed to Persian annals which claim the Guru had taken to the company of the Pathan chief Hafiz Adam and provoked disturbances in Punjab, and to Sikh tradition, which claims that the killing was due to the intrigues of members of his family. It further narrated that Aurangzeb was upset by the Guru's conversion of some Muslims to Sikhism and his protest against religious persecution in Kashmir, and then went on to say: “It is difficult to sift the truth of these allegations.”

Guru Arjan's execution was also discussed in a Class 7th NCERT textbook, first published 2007, in terms of the political threat that he felt the increasing Sikh population posed to the Mughal state. All the students are using the new Class 7 textbook which was released in May 2025 from this year (2025-26) onwards.

According to its chapter on Devotional Paths to the Divine, the town of Ramdaspur (Amritsar) had grown up around the Harmandar Sahib and was almost self-governing; modern historians spoke of the “a state within the state” Sikh community. It then says: “The Mughal emperor Jahangir looked upon them as a potential threat and he ordered the execution of Guru Arjan in 1606.”

Then, the Sikh movement politicised and Guru Gobind Singh established the Khalsa in 1699, making the Khalsa Panth a political entity.

Former fellow at University of Essex, historian Ruchika Sharma who also has an interest in medieval Indian history, said the new textbook was bringing back a “massively debunked” depiction of the Sikh-Mughal conflict as a religious conflict. It was “a totally political conflict,” she said. She stated that the relationship was cordial initially and subsequently developed when Guru Arjan Dev stood up for Khusrau, even applying the tilak on Khusrau, thus making it an act of political opposition of Jahangir.

This too was done for “the Gurus had supported Khusrau against Jahangir, the Akal Takht was established, the Gurus fought in wars and collected taxes from the areas under Mughal control and they built forts with no imperial permission — all these were challenges to the Mughals.”

The Sikh account is contained within a larger section on Sikh resistance in the period from 1000 to 1700 CE. It also describes the revolts of the Jats, a farming community from the Ganga-Yamuna Doab, against the Mughals, which were caused by high taxes. It states that Mughals fought the revolt for a few months and the Jats continued to rise against them and joined in the revolt again in 1686 when Aurangzeb was engaged in lengthy military campaigns in Deccan.

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The chapter emphasizes on resistance in various regions like Naiki Devi of Chaulukya and Rani Abbakka Chowta of Ullal, lesser known women rulers. It states that Naiki Devi defeated Muhammad Ghuri at Kasahrada near Mount Abu in 1178. During her rule (1525–1570), it attributes to Abbakka a victory over the Portuguese naval power. It also talks of resistance to the Turkic invaders and the Delhi Sultanate by Hindu Shahis, Chandellas, Solankis, Chauhans and the Kakatiya ruler Rudrama Devi. The chapter also deals with the Ahom resistance and the victory at Saraighat over the Mughals by Maharana Pratap.

In June 2026, Part 1 of the textbook, with chapters on social science as a subject, and two on history, political science, economics, and geography, was released. Part 2 consists of six chapters: one on History, one on Political Science, two on Geography and two on Economics.

HT has not received a response from NCERT on its queries. “The content has been thoughtfully designed to make students ask questions about society, governance, environment, culture, economy and human relations, which helps them think critically and empathetic with the world they live in,” wrote NCERT director Dinesh Prasad Saklani in the foreword.

NCERT is implementing new textbooks as per National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023 and National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. It has published new Textbooks for Classes 1 to 9 so far.

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