India’s National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has removed content on the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal Empire from the new Class VII Social Science textbook, replacing them with chapters on ancient Indian empires including Magadha, Maurya and Shunga.
The revision is part of India’s New Education Policy, under which NCERT has rolled out a new curriculum this year. Previously, the Class VII textbook included two dedicated chapters covering the Mughal period and the Sultanate era. The new edition omits these sections entirely, replacing them with content on pre-Islamic Indian rulers.
Notable historical figures such as Muhammad bin Tughlaq, Bakhtiyar Khilji, the Mamluks and Ibrahim Lodi—previously featured in the dropped chapters—are no longer included. Instead, the new content focuses on rulers from ancient Indian civilisations, highlighting the Magadha, Maurya and Shunga dynasties.
The updated book also includes topics such as the 2025 Kumbh Mela held in Prayagraj, as well as government initiatives like ‘Make in India’, ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’, and the Atal Tunnel project. Prominent figures like Rabindranath Tagore and former Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam have also been incorporated into the curriculum.
The change is part of a broader textbook overhaul across grades I to VIII, with an emphasis on Indian civilisation and culture. NCERT textbooks are used widely across schools affiliated with the central education board in India. In recent years, similar curriculum revisions have led to the exclusion of topics such as the Mughal Empire in various grades, Darwin’s theory of evolution, and the history of the women’s rights movement.