Understanding Society: India and Beyond — Part 2, released on Tuesday, places the assertion in a chapter titled “Resistance and Resilience”, covering developments between 1000 and 1700 CE. The National Council of Educational Research and Training’s account focuses particularly on Guru Arjan Dev, Guru Tegh Bahadur and Guru Gobind Singh while tracing the Sikh community’s response to Mughal authority.
The textbook says the “valour and sacrifice” of the Gurus for their faith became defining features of Sikhism and that their martyrdoms strengthened a conviction that persecution should be met with “firm resistance and resilience”. It says Mughal intervention in Sikh affairs increased from the beginning of the 17th century as the Gurus’ socio-cultural influence grew.
The chapter states that Mughal emperor Jahangir ordered the execution of Guru Arjan Dev after allegations that the fifth Sikh Guru had supported the emperor’s rebellious son, Khusrau Mirza. NCERT describes the execution as a significant turning point that contributed to changes in the organisational and political direction of the Sikh community.
It also records the detention of Guru Hargobind at Gwalior Fort under Jahangir and says Sikhs gathered outside the fort in large numbers to pay their respects. The book connects subsequent developments to the emergence of a more organised response to political pressure.
On Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Sikh Guru, the textbook says Emperor Aurangzeb ordered his execution in 1675 and describes his martyrdom as a turning point in the history of the subcontinent. The chapter argues that persecution and political pressure encouraged collective organisation and, when considered necessary, armed resistance.
That account leads into Guru Hargobind’s establishment of the Akal Takht as a seat of temporal authority and the concept of miri-piri, combining spiritual and worldly authority. The textbook then traces the creation of the Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699 and the development of armed Sikh groups that later formed confederacies.
The treatment of Sikh history forms part of a broader restructuring of the Class 9 history syllabus under the National Curriculum Framework. The new volume gives substantial attention to resistance against the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal expansion, including the actions of Rajputs, Ahoms, Marathas, Sikhs and Jats.
The chapter begins its historical narrative by saying the subcontinent experienced successive phases of invasions from the seventh century, driven by territorial expansion and religious motives. It also says the economic attraction of fertile river plains contributed to invasions. Its treatment of medieval history emphasises struggles for sovereignty, alliances, confederacies and the defence or restoration of political and cultural institutions.
NCERT’s presentation also acknowledges differing relationships between regional powers and the Mughals. While Mewar is presented through its resistance to Mughal authority, the textbook notes that the Kachhwahas of Amber entered cooperative arrangements with the Mughal state. It discusses Maharana Pratap, the Ahom resistance culminating in the Battle of Saraighat in 1671, and Maratha campaigns associated with Shivaji.
The book also covers Jat resistance in the Ganga-Yamuna Doab, linking it to taxation, exploitation and Aurangzeb’s religious policies. It refers to Gokul Jat’s rebellion in 1669 and a later uprising led by zamindars of Sinsani and Sogar.
Part 2 follows the first volume of Understanding Society: India and Beyond, released in June. Together, the volumes replace the earlier subject-wise Class 9 Social Science books as NCERT implements textbooks aligned with the National Curriculum Framework for School Education 2023.
The revised approach marks a change from the previous Class 9 history course, which included the French Revolution, socialism in Europe, the Russian Revolution, Nazism and Hitler’s rise. Those themes are no longer the starting point of the new Class 9 volume.
