NCERT RECASTS CLASS 9 HISTORY, BRINGING INDIA’S MEDIEVAL RESISTANCE TO THE FORE

September 30, 2026

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has introduced a revised Class 9 Social Science textbook that places greater emphasis on resistance movements in medieval India, while European revolutionary history previously taught at this level has been shifted out of the Class 9 curriculum.

The new textbook, Understanding Society: India and Beyond – Part 2, features a chapter titled Resistance and Resilience (1000–1700 CE). It examines how regional kingdoms, communities and individual rulers responded to military invasions, territorial expansion and changing political power across the Indian subcontinent.

The chapter highlights several historical figures, including Queen Naiki Devi of the Chaulukya kingdom, who is credited in the textbook with resisting Muhammad Ghuri’s campaign in 1178, and Rani Abbakka Chowta of Ullal, who led resistance against Portuguese naval forces. It also discusses Queen Rudrama Devi of the Kakatiya dynasty and the resistance mounted by the Hindu Shahis, Chandellas, Solankis and Chauhans.

The revised material also explores the rebellions of the Jats against Mughal authority, Sikh resistance and the Ahom kingdom’s military campaigns against Mughal expansion. It presents political alliances, military strategies, regional autonomy and religious traditions as elements shaping resistance during the period.

The curriculum changes also move major themes of European history, including the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution and the rise of Nazism, away from the earlier Class 9 syllabus, with world-history topics scheduled for study at a later stage. The restructuring has renewed attention to how historical periods, events and perspectives are selected and organised in school education.

The revised textbook marks a shift in the balance of historical content presented to Class 9 students, placing regional resistance and the political experiences of the Indian subcontinent at the centre of its medieval-history coverage