NCERT sets up expert panel to examine books after map row

Kolhapur: The NCERT has set up a committee of experts from educational institutions, led by its curriculum department head Ranjana Arora, to examine the content of CBSE textbooks. This comes in the backdrop of the criticism it is facing from descendants of Rajasthan royal families over a map in the Class 8 social science book that shows their erstwhile states under the Maratha Empire. Among those who have objected to the map printed on page 71 of unit 3, ‘Rise of Marathas' in the textbook, ‘Exploring Society: India and Beyond', are Chaitanya Raj Singh, head or Maharawal of Jaisalmer, Bhupesh Singh Hada, heir of the royal family of Bundi, Vishvaraj Singh Mewar, descendant of Maharana Pratap, and former Union minister and Congress politician Jitendra Singh, a member of the erstwhile Alwar royal family. They claimed that in the 18th century, the princely states of Rajasthan-Marwar, Mewar, Bikaner, Jaipur, Bharatpur, Jaipur, and Alwar maintained their independence and autonomy and were never under the domination of the Marathas, never paid any taxes, and there was never any interference of the Marathas in the administration. Hada even said the Maratha Empire was a fictitious entity.Some of them also tagged union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on X, while some of the BJP MPs associated with the royal families met him in person and registered their objection. Maratha historians have countered their claims, stating that the 1752 Ahadnama treaty between the Marathas and Mughals led to Maratha domination over the princely states controlled by the Mughals, including in Rajasthan.The Scindia Research Centre, an initiative of the Scindias of Gwalior, has put out several posts on its official X handle. Citing a collection of treaties, engagements, and sanadas published in 1909, the centre said, "The British emerged victorious against the Scindia Marathas, following a valiant resistance from the latter. The British then proceeded to forge individual friendship treaties with several states in what is now Rajasthan, which had formerly paid tribute to the Marathas." The centre also cited V P Menon, then secretary in the ministry of states between 1947 and 1951, who stated in the book ‘Integration of Indian States': "By 1792, Madhoji Scindia had established his ascendancy over the Rajputs and the Jats, and his power and splendour in northern India were absolute."