Rakhigarhi findings in NCERT books added; Narmada Dam references dropped

Subject: History

Section: Ancient India

Context:

The National Council for Education Research and Training, the Centre’s advisor on changes to school education recently introduced certain revisions to the history syllabus of Class 12 students.

More on news:

NCERT has stated that study of ancient DNA from archaeological sources in Rakhigarhi, Haryana suggests that the genetic roots of the Harappans go back to 10,000 BCE.

Key Changes:

Additions about findings from the DNA analysis of skeletal remains found at the archaeological site of Rakhigarhi in Haryana.
Dropping of references to how the Narmada Dam project adversely affected tribals and drew them to displacement leading to greater destitution.
NCERT has said that in the chapter-Eighteenth Century Political Formations, the word ‘Shivaji’ has been changed to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj as “Chhatrapati and Maharaj are important honorifics of Shivaji.
The title ‘When People Rebel’, the word ‘Rebel’ changed to ‘Revolt’.
The word Revolt is more appropriate as it reflects the overall uprising of India against colonial oppression.
The word Rebellion to be changed to Uprising.
The word Uprising is more comprehensive opposed to the word ‘Rebellion’.

Linkage of Rakhigarhi and Harappans:

The DNA of the Harappans has continued till today and a majority of the south Asian population appears to be their descendants.
Due to trade and cultural contacts of the Harappans with distant regions there is a mixture of genes in small quantities.
The continuity without any break in genetic history as well as cultural history rules out large-scale immigration of the so-called Aryans.
At no stage, the genetic history of the Indians was either discontinued or broken.
As the Harappans started moving towards Iran and Central Asia, their genes also gradually spread in those regions.
The analysis of the data revealed that the Harappans are the indigenous people of this region.
NCERT has stated that the reconstructed facial features of the Harappans, male and female, show remarkable similarity with the modern population of Haryana and that the study has indicated unbroken continuity for 5000 years in this region.

About Rakhigarhi:

Rakhigarhi in Hisar is also said to be the largest archaeological site from the pre-Harappan period.
It was part of the mature phase of the Indus Valley Civilisation, dating to 2600-1900 BCE.
It could change the commonly held view about the Indus Valley civilization, as Rakhigarhi is situated on the bank of the now dry Saraswati river.
There is also the Haryana Rural Antique Museum 60 km away, which is maintained by CCS HAU in its Gandhi Bhawan, exhibits evolution of agriculture and vanishing antiques.

Parts deleted:

Projects such as the Sardar Sarovar dam on the river Narmada in western India and the Polavaram dam on the river Godavari in Andhra Pradesh displace hundreds of thousands of adivasis, driving them to greater destitution,’ will be changed to, ‘Projects such as the Sardar Sarovar dam on the river Narmada in Western India and the Polavaram dam on the river Godavari in Andhra Pradesh displaced hundreds of thousands of adivasis from their original habitats,’ with deletion of the part — ‘driving them to greater destitution.