Contending Histories Politics and Textbook Writing in Contemporary India

Abstract

History textbooks play a crucial role in defining nation and national imagination. Contemporary India experienced a conflict of ideologies in defining nation. These ideologies are constantly contemplating the public discourse to construct Indian state according to their ideologies. The ideological discourse of these ideologies is constructed on the basis of history. Events from the past are used to legitimize the imagined nation of these political parties. History textbooks build the national identity among citizens. The political parties in contemporary India influence the process of textbook writing. These parties try to introduce their version of history in the textbooks so that they can inculcate the imagination of national identity according to their ideology. This work is an attempt to understand the history textbook controversy by looking at the ideas presented in textbooks under different political regimes. The work will explore the significance of history textbooks in Indian context and their relevance in political domain.