The History Debate and School Textbooks in India: a Personal Memoir

Abstract

THE SEQUENCE I wrote two textbooks on Indian history for Middle School, one on Ancient Indian history for Class VI (age group 11-13) and one on Medieval Indian history for Class VII (age group 13-14). The books were used for about forty years with a couple of revisions. They were replaced by other textbooks in the last few years. The story of how these books came to be written and why they were replaced touches on much that is happening to history textbooks in many parts of the world. I would like to relate the story in the context of India and in the form of a personal memoir. My first acquaintance with history textbooks for schools came about when I was asked by UNESCO in 1961 if I would review a sample of textbooks used in the teaching of history in various schools in the Union Territory of Delhi. I had never thought of such an idea before and it interested me so I agreed. The sample consisted of about twenty books if I remember correctly and I submitted the report fairly soon. I was appalled by the quality of the information that was being conveyed in these books, with an adherence to outdated ideas and generally colonial views of the Indian past, a totally banal narrative and predictable illustrations of a poor quality. I was thanked for the review and for the moment heard no further. The review it seems coincided with a committee on history textbooks appointed by the government under the Chairmanship of Dr Tarachand. The Editorial Board consisted of the most eminent historians of that time: Professors Nilakantha Sastri, Mohammad Habib and P. C. Gupta. The Ministry had established a National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) as part of being generally alert to the problems of school education in India. One of its functions was to commission the