Reply to a recent Right to Information (RTI) query has raised serious concerns regarding the authenticity of claims made in an National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) history textbook about Mughal invaders Shah Jahan and tyrant Aurangzeb issuing grants for the repair of Hindu temples destroyed during wars. The claim, which appears in the Class XII history textbook Themes of Indian History Part II, states:
“Even when temples were destroyed during war, grants were later issued for their repair—as we know from the reigns of Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb.”
However, when an RTI application (Reg. No. NSERT/R/E/20/00324, dated September 3, 2020) sought documentary evidence for this explanation, the (NCERT) admitted that it had no records to substantiate it.
The response, signed by Prof. Gouri Srivastava, Head of the Department & Public Information Officer, and dated November 18, 2020, stated that the information was “not available on the files of the Department.” This revelation has sparked renewed debate about the standards of historical accuracy and fact-checking in NCERT textbooks, which are used by millions of students across India.
A few years ago, NCERT published in its textbook that Aurangzeb and Shah Jahan gave grants to repair Hindu Temples which were destroyed during war
But, when RTI was filed to know the source of this info.
NCERT replied that info is not available.
— Distortion is not education — pic.twitter.com/lB51zfDsv3
— Anshul Saxena (@AskAnshul) March 5, 2025
Textbook development is a critical academic process entrusted to historians and scholars, not bureaucrats, yet NCERT’s inability to verify this claim has put the spotlight on the experts involved in drafting these textbooks.
With the RTI was widely shared on social media platform, historian Shamika Ravi shared details of the committee which finalised the textbook content. Sharing the details of the members of the committee she wrote on X, “Textbook development is a serious academic matter. That is why such a task is given to academics & scholars – and not to the bureaucracy. So, while NCERT does not have the source, perhaps someone from this group of responsible academics does.
Textbook development is a serious academic matter. That is why such a task is given to academics & scholars – and not to the bureaucracy. So, while @ncert does not have the source, perhaps someone from this group of responsible academics does. https://t.co/Rz7WxgZYEU pic.twitter.com/P75BQWcvYu
— Prof. Shamika Ravi (@ShamikaRavi) March 6, 2025
As per the details shared by Prof Ravi, the Textbook Development Committee, which played a key role in shaping the content, included well-known historians and scholars such as Neeladri Bhattacharya (Jawaharlal Nehru University), Rudrangshu Mukherjee (The Telegraph, Kolkata), Jaya Menon, Farhat Hassan, Uma Chakravarti, and Meenakshi Khanna (affiliated with Aligarh Muslim University, Delhi University, and Indraprastha College), Ramachandra Guha (freelance historian), Sumit Sarkar (formerly of Delhi University), and Muzaffar Alam (University of Chicago).
She specifically mentioned that, despite their involvement, NCERT’s own records do not contain any primary or secondary historical sources that confirm this claim, leading to serious questions about who introduced this information and on what basis.
With the matter fuelling the answer to the RTI also raises several crucial concerns about academic integrity and textbook accuracy. The absence of clear answers from the academic community has fuelled calls for greater transparency in textbook development and a rigorous fact-checking mechanism to prevent unverified claims from being presented as historical facts.
The controversy also underscores the need for NCERT to be more accountable in its textbook-writing process, especially when dealing with sensitive historical narratives. Given that history textbooks shape young minds and influence public perception, it is imperative that every claim is backed by primary or reliable secondary evidence. The silence from the scholars involved suggests that either the claim was included without proper historical verification or the evidence exists but has not been cited within NCERT’s records. Either way, this episode has reignited discussions on the need for objective and evidence-based history education, ensuring that textbooks are free from misleading or unverified narratives. Until NCERT or the responsible historians clarify the source of this claim, it remains a matter of academic controversy, demanding a serious review of how history is taught in Indian schools.
NCERT’s Claim on Aurangzeb and Shah Jahan’s Temple Grants Lacks Documentary Evidence, RTI Reveals
