Maharashtra’s new Class 6 social science textbook drops caste system, meat diet; paints rosy Vedic past

References to caste system, social inequality and meat consumption in ancient India have largely been scrubbed out of Maharashtra’s new National Education Policy (NEP)-compliant Class 6 social science textbook, as it seeks to paint a glorified portrait of the Vedic period.

The new ‘History and Civics’ textbook, which was made available in bookstores a week after the state board schools reopened on June 15, has omitted multiple passages from the old book that talked about the evolution of varnas from an occupation-based structure to a birth-assigned division, its link to the caste system and discrimination, its impact on the people’s ability to acquire religious knowledge and its role in giving birth to new religions, such as Buddhism and Jainism.

On the other hand, the book introduces several new passages that use broad strokes to create a largely rosy picture of life during the Vedic period. Unlike earlier texts, it deems ‘unity’ ‘cooperation’, ‘truthfulness’, ‘self-control’ and ‘generosity’ among other qualities as the defining traits of the people in the era.

The new class 6 social science book, released by the state textbook publisher ‘Balbharati’ is part of a major curriculum overhaul in the state in line with NEP. Starting the last academic year, the government has begun replacing the older textbooks – which were around for a decade – in a phased manner. While the new class 1 books were brought in 2025-26, this year the textbooks for the second, third, fourth and sixth grades have undergone the change.

The changes in the state books come at a time when the national textbook publisher, the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT), is also facing scrutiny for contentious revisions in its books . Among other things, the council has been criticised for removing passages about caste and religious discrimination, describing Mughal rulers as “brutal”, covering up the Harappan ‘Dancing Girl’ figurine and promoting vegetarianism.

Shubhangana Atre, chairperson of Balbharati’s history committee – which oversaw the writing of the textbook – has defended the changes as an attempt to make the text more sparse, age-appropriate, aligned to the learning outcomes and relevant to the contemporary world. She refuted that there was any deliberate attempt to obfuscate historical facts, but acknowledges that the book avoids content that might ‘confuse’ students, such as Aryan migration and differences in faiths. “The book adopts an ethical, inclusive and sarv dharma sambhav approach,” she asserted.

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The historian highlighted the following aspects of the new book:

• Detailed syllabus and curriculum goals provided in the early pages
• More activities, pictures, supplementary text and blurbs to make it convenient for students to read and to boost creativity
• Focus on Maharashtra-specific references even for pan-India developments
• Emphasis on the historical journey and processes, and not just factual details
• Exposure to applied history, without labelling it (Eg: Cultural heritage of Vedic period including literature, music and mathematics)

Changes in Class 6 social science textbook

The new Class 6 social science book broadly follows the earlier curriculum, focusing on ancient India and Maharashtra for the history section and local self-government bodies in the civic half of the book. While a substantial portion of the older text has been retained, some of the parts have been rewritten.

Here’s an example of an excluded text from the old book. While describing the Vedic-era society in the fourth chapter, titled ‘The Vedic Civilization’, the old book noted, “During this period, there were four varnas – Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra. A varna was determined by the occupation of the people. In the later period, the varnas came to be determined on the basis of birth. This gave rise to castes. The caste system led to inequality in the society.”

This passage was already a watered-down version of a more elaborate critique of the varna system included in the previous history textbook, which was taught for around two decades, between 1994 and 2015. That book, which defined the caste hierarchy as a trait of the ‘Aryan’ society rather than the ‘Vedic’ society, had discussed its origins rooted in the Aryan sense of superiority as well as its adverse impact on the society.

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The latest book, however, confines itself to making a single-sentence passing reference to varnas, without explicitly linking it to the caste system. “Every individual held a specific responsibility and status within society. Vedic society was structured into four Varnas: Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra,” reads the text.

Atre said the content on the varna and caste system has been gradually toned down, in keeping with what she describes as the waning influence of caste in the Indian society. “In the earlier books, there was way too much emphasis on the varna system. It was taught as an indivisible part of the society. But is it relevant now? That’s why it has been toned down. There are inter-caste marriages happening, at least in the urban areas,” she said.

She also suggested that the discussion on caste is out of the scope of the book as it deals with the period between 10,000 BCE and 800 CE, while the social hierarchies didn’t consolidate until 9th and 10th centuries CE.

“The caste system is not relevant in the context of the book. The social divisions often emerge due to economic factors and when these factors change, the social structure changes too. Hence, it’s not appropriate for this stage. Besides, we haven’t refused the existence of the varna system,” she said.

In the next chapter, which describes the major religions in the country, the new book axed two paragraphs that set the context for the emergence of newer religious traditions. Here’s a part of the text that has been dropped: “Towards the end of the Vedic period, the minute details of yajna rites acquired undue importance. Only the priestly class had knowledge of those details. Others no longer had the freedom to gain that knowledge. The Varna System restrictions became very hard in the course of time. A person’s social position was decided by the varna into which he was born rather than by his achievements. That is why, from the Upanishad period, we see that attempts were made to give a wider scope to religious thought and not restrict it only to yajna rites.”

Atre said that these details would have made the text more dense for 10-11 year olds. “It’s not achieving anything… They learn more as they progress from secondary school to undergraduate and postgraduation levels,” she said.

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Focus on Vedic era

In contrast, the new book describes the Vedic era in glowing terms, not found in the older texts. Following are a few samples:

• “It was considered essential for everyone in the society to adhere to the following principles: righteousness (Dharma), truth and justice. People interacted with one another with a spirit of cooperation and affection.”
• “The objective of education was not just to acquire knowledge but also to inculcate values like humanity, discipline, righteousness and self-control.”
• “The life of Vedic people was simple and disciplined. They were taught the importance of values such as truthfulness, self-control and generosity. In social life values like unity, cooperation and mutual respect were of prime importance.”
• “In the Vedic way of life, great importance was given to health. Ancient Indian medical science promotes a balanced diet, yoga and both physical and mental well-being. This helps to boost immunity. Therefore, people lived healthy and long lives.”

And in place of the old textbook’s critique of the narrowness of ancient religious practices, the revised book features a new section, where the ‘Vedic religion’ has been written about in largely approving terms. “Importance was given to truthfulness, respecting family elders, honouring relations and staying away from any behaviour that might harm others,” reads the text, before allowing a mild criticism: “In course of time, sacrificial rituals became more complex.”

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Atre said that rather than glorifying the Vedic period, these qualities are mentioned as the unique characteristics of a pastoral society – the one whose livelihood depends on animal rearing rather than farming. “The pastoral society is totally different – its social and economic institutes are different. We have simply elaborated the values they espouse. When you’re surviving on limited resources, the corporate feeling is more prominent,” she said.

The book does retain a few references to the inequality of varna system, when talking about the teachings of Vardhaman Mahavir and Gautama Buddha, founders of Jainism and Buddhism, respectively. Some examples:

• "Vardhaman Mahavir taught the people that the greatness of man does not depend on his varna, but on his excellent conduct. In the Vedic tradition, the doors of knowledge had slowly been closed to women. But Vardhaman Mahavir gave the right of sanyas (the right to renounce the world) to women, too."
• "Gautama Buddha announced the freedom of intelligence. He refused the discrimination based on things like varna. No one is greater or smaller by birth. Greatness depends on one’s behaviour or conduct."

Class 6 Book: Different stance on women, diet

While the new book, much like its predecessors, describes the Vedic society as ‘patriarchal’ it’s notably more charitable to the ancient Indians about their treatment of women. “Women were honoured in the Early Vedic society. They had the right to pursue education. Just like men, women had the freedom to study the Vedas. Lopamudra, Ghosha, Gargi, Maitreyi and Apala are some examples of famous female scholars from that period. Women actively participated in religious rituals and sacrificial ceremonies” says the textbook.

It, however, concedes that during the post-Vedic period the society became increasingly patriarchal, putting restrictions on women’s education and freedom, and reducing them to a secondary position.

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The book also contradicts the older texts when it comes to describing the dietary habits of the Vedic civilisation. It claims that the Vedic people’s diet consisted of plant-based food, including barley, wheat, rice, millet, seasonal fruits, vegetables as well as milk, curd and honey. It goes on to claim that the food was expected to be “pure (the Marathi text uses the word sattvic) and balanced” and the dietary routine to be “healthy and disciplined”. It, however, does include meat in the Harappan civilisation diet.

The old book, in contrast, on two occasions, mentioned meat to be a part of the Vedic era food.

While accepting that the Vedic-era diet did include meat, Atre didn’t offer any specific reason for its omission. “This passage is more focussed on dietary discipline. We are not trying to hide anything. [The exclusion of meat] is not intentional. If it were, we wouldn't have mentioned the meat consumption among Harappans,” she said, before stressing that there’s no attempt to link plant-based diets to the idea of ‘purity’.

A reference to caste and gender-based deprivation in the society has been removed even from the civics section of the book. While describing the need for reservations in the local self-government bodies, a blurb in the old book read, “Reservation is necessary as it allows the deprived sections of the society and women to take part in the working of villages and cities and to participate in the decision making process. In a democracy, it is important that all the people get an opportunity to participate in all the processes.”

While the new book does briefly mention the reservation provision for women and backward castes, it doesn’t offer any rationale or explanation.

This, despite the book adding two new chapters about the Indian Constitution in the civics section. While the first chapter details the process of framing the constitution and the functioning of the constituent assembly, the second one describes its preamble and salient features.

Atre underscored that the process of book writing was widely deliberative and inclusive. “The textbooks undergo multiple readings. Teachers from schools across Maharashtra participate in this long-drawn process. There’s no vested interest or outside involvement, though many people approach us. The entire exercise is done with the correct intent, as it’s about the next generation. We generally have involvement from people from all communities,” she said.