The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has introduced a revised Class 8 Social Science textbook in line with the National Education Policy. Released on February 23, 2026, the new edition re-examines significant chapters of India’s history, providing expanded analysis and fresh perspectives on landmark events such as the Partition and key milestones of the freedom movement.
Congress accepted 1947 Partition as ‘the only way forward’
The revised textbook states that the Congress leaders were left with little option but to accept the partition. While freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi and other Congress leaders initially opposed the idea of Partition in 1947 and many Indian Muslims also resisted it circumstances eventually left leaders with little option.
Earlier Class 8 history textbooks stated that a three-member British Cabinet Mission sent to Delhi “could not get the Congress and the Muslim League to agree to specific details of the proposal” and that “Partition now became more or less inevitable.” However, the previous edition stopped short of presenting Partition as the only practical option before Congress leaders — a nuance that has now been underscored in the revised version.
The chapter, India’s Long Road to Independence in Exploring Society: India and Beyond Part 2, chronicles key events from the 1857 revolt to 1947, covering the freedom struggle, the Partition of Bengal, and culminating in the Partition of India.
The new edition also expands on the reasons behind Britain’s departure from India. It observes that historians once primarily attributed the exit to Gandhi’s leadership and the Congress party’s non-violent movement, but the revised text emphasises that a range of factors played a role.
“This view has given way to a recognition that multiple other factors were also at work – the popular uprisings, the numerous attempts by revolutionaries, the mutinies in the Royal Indian Air Force and the Royal Indian Navy. Also, Britain’s diminished status after World War II, and the worldwide trend towards decolonization – the age of empires was over, at least in that form,” the textbook states.
The revised edition revisits Jallianwala Bagh massacre
The revised edition uses stronger language in its account of the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre, pointing out that the British government has yet to apologise for the killings. It characterises the episode as “deeply shameful in British history” — a phrase absent from the earlier version.
On the events of Direct Action Day (August 16, 1946), the text offers a more detailed account: “A wave of brutal communal violence submerged Calcutta – often encouraged by provocative speeches and pamphlets – leading to thousands of deaths as Muslim mobs attacked Hindus, who then retaliated. Thousands more were displaced. The violence created a deep sense of fear, making peaceful coexistence seemingly impossible and Partition unavoidable.”
This replaces the earlier brief line that merely stated riots broke out and thousands died.
NCERT has reinstated Paika Sangram of 1817 after protest
Responding to earlier criticism, National Council of Educational Research and Training has restored the Paika Sangram of 1817 as a separate section. The uprising had been omitted from the first part released in July 2025, drawing objections from various quarters, including former Naveen Patnaik, who described the exclusion as a “huge dishonour” to the Paikas.
The book also elaborates on the harsh realities faced by freedom fighters at the Cellular Jail in the Andaman Islands, popularly known as “Kala Pani.”
“The Cellular Jail in the Andaman Islands was a huge colonial prison used by the British to exile and isolate revolutionaries, far from the mainland. Known as ‘Kala Pani’ (‘Black Water’), it was designed specifically for solitary confinement and used to break the spirit of freedom fighters. Prisoners faced horrific conditions, including extreme physical labour, such as extracting oil by hand, and brutal punishment for the slightest disobedience,” said the book.
“A few revolutionaries who were imprisoned there, such as Barindra Ghose or V.D. Savarkar, left vivid descriptions of forced labour and ill-treatment of the prisoners. Many of them died and some lost their sanity. Those who tried to escape were hanged. The jail became a symbol of ultimate sacrifice in India’s struggle for freedom,” it added.
