India had its own prime meridian passing through Ujjain: New NCERT textbook

New Delhi: India had a prime meridian of its own much ahead of the Greenwich meridian and it was called "madhya rekha", which passed through the city of Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, according to a new Class-6 NCERT textbook for social science.

No mention of caste-based discrimination, tweaks in references to B R Ambedkar's experience about the discrimination, referring to the Harappan civilisation as "Sindhu-Sarasvati" are also among the changes in the textbook developed according to a new curriculum.

"The Greenwich Meridian is not the first prime meridian. There were others in the past. In fact, many centuries before Europe, India had a prime meridian of its own! It was called madhya rekhā (or 'middle line') and passed through the city of Ujjayinī (today Ujjain), which was a reputed centre for astronomy over many centuries. "Varāhamihira, a famous astronomer, lived and worked there some 1,500 years ago. Indian astronomers were aware of the concepts of latitude and longitude, including the need for a zero or prime meridian. The Ujjayinī meridian became a reference for calculations in all Indian astronomical texts," the textbook reads.

In a departure from the past, the textbook makes multiple references to the "Sarasvati" river in the chapter pertaining to the beginning of the Indian civilisation.

In the new textbook, the river finds a prominent place in a chapter on the "Beginnings of Indian Civilisation", where the Harappan civilisation is referred to as the "Indus-Sarasvati" or "Sindhu-Sarasvati" civilisation. It says the "Sarasvati" basin included major cities of the civilisation -- Rakhigarhi and Ganweriwala -- along with smaller cities and towns.

The river, according to the new textbook, "today goes by the name of 'Ghaggar' in India and 'Hakra' in Pakistan (hence the name 'Ghaggar-Hakra River')" and is now seasonal.

The textbook, titled "Exploring Society India and Beyond", has details on the Vedas without mentioning the caste system and that women and Shudras were not allowed to study these scriptures.

According to the new book, "Many professions are mentioned in the vedic texts, such as agriculturist, weaver, potter, builder, carpenter, healer, dancer, barber, priest, etc." The previous textbook said, "Some priests divided people into four groups called varnas.... Shudras could not perform any rituals. Often women were grouped with Shudras. Both women and Shudras were not allowed to study the Vedas." "The priests also said that these groups were decided based on birth. For example, if one's father and mother were Brahmins, one would automatically become a Brahmin and so on...," the old book said.

The references were also tweaked in the COVID-19 rationalisation, which was earlier termed temporary by the NCERT to reduce burden.

The new social science textbook for Class 6 is a heavily-truncated amalgamation of what were earlier three separate books for history, geography and civics published by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

"We have tried to keep the text to a minimum by focusing on the 'big ideas'. This has enabled us to combine in a single theme inputs from several disciplines -- whether history, geography, political science or economics," NCERT Director Dinesh Saklani writes in the introductory chapter of the new textbook.

What has been culled drastically is the detailed exploration of the kingdoms of ancient India, such as those contained in four chapters of the old book that have been deleted from the new. This includes accounts of the kingdoms of Ashoka and Chandragupta Maurya, including the role of Chanakya and his Arthashastra as well as the dynasties of the Guptas, Pallavas and Chalukyas, and the work of Kalidasa.

In fact, the only mention of King Ashoka in the entire book is a single word in the fourth chapter's timeline.

A chapter in the old book on "Villages, Towns and Trade" about the tools, coins, irrigation, crafts and trade of the period has been truncated. References to the famed iron pillar at the Qutub Minar site at Delhi's Mehrauli, which probably dates back to the Gupta dynasty era, have been dropped, along with mentions of the Sanchi Stupa, the monolithic temples of Mahabalipuram and the paintings in the Ajanta caves.