NEW DELHI, August 14: The University of Delhi has left out a long-running postgraduate paper on the Delhi Sultanate, along with several other courses covering ancient, medieval and modern Indian history, from its revised Semester III History syllabus notified under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The revised syllabus, notified on August 7, does not include the paper “The Delhi Sultanate: Structures of Authority in Medieval North India (13th-14th centuries)”, which dealt with the emergence of the Sultanate, systems of political authority and the political, religious and cultural developments of the period.
The paper had been part of Delhi University’s postgraduate History curriculum for several decades.
The omission comes amid a broader restructuring of the university’s academic programmes under NEP 2020 and has drawn attention to the changes being made to the teaching of Indian history.
Among other papers absent from the notified Semester III syllabus are “History of North India, c. 1400-1550”, “Gender and Women in Early India: 1500 BCE to 1000 CE”, “Political Processes and Structure of Polities in Ancient India” and “Religion and Society in Ancient Indian Literature”.
DU says courses are under review
The university, however, has said the omitted courses have not been permanently dropped.
DU Dean of Academic Affairs K Ratnabali said the papers had not been “held back” and were being examined by an expert committee constituted by Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh following authorisation from the Academic Council.
The committee comprises three external experts, the Head of the History Department and two Academic Council members.
According to Ratnabali, the review became necessary after changes were made to some syllabi following their clearance by the Standing Committee, including additions and deletions of papers, changes to units and modifications in reading lists.
“This created a trust deficit and meant that the syllabi had to be revisited,” Ratnabali told The Indian Express.
She said papers found satisfactory by the committee had been cleared, while additional courses could be notified once the review process was completed.
Several established history courses missing
The omitted “History of North India, c. 1400-1550” paper focused on the period between the decline of the Delhi Sultanate and the emergence of the Mughal Empire.
Its themes included Afghan political cultures, political power and patronage, literary cultures, Sufism and Bhakti, as well as debates surrounding state formation and Islamisation.
The ancient India courses also covered a wide range of themes. The “Gender and Women in Early India” paper examined women across Brahmanical, Buddhist, Jain and Tantric traditions, including marriage, family, property and stridhana, as well as women as rulers, patrons and workers.
The paper on “Political Processes and Structure of Polities in Ancient India” dealt with the evolution of political institutions, including taxation, warfare, bureaucracy, land grants, queens, temples, merchant guilds and local administration.
Department flags syllabus notification delay
The History Department had separately raised concerns over the delay in notifying the Semester III syllabus.
In a resolution dated August 4 addressed to the Vice-Chancellor, the department noted that the new academic session had begun on July 28, while the syllabus had still not been officially notified.
“Without access to the official syllabus, students cannot exercise informed choices for optional papers,” the department said.
The issue also involves the number of electives available to postgraduate students. According to official records, the History Department had proposed 38 Discipline Specific Elective (DSE) papers, but only 16 featured in the syllabus notified on August 7. Several others are listed in university records as “under discussion” or “undiscussed”.
The latest changes come after DU’s wider restructuring of its History curriculum under NEP 2020, including significant revisions to its undergraduate programme.
While the university maintains that some omitted postgraduate papers remain under review, the absence of the Delhi Sultanate course and other established papers from the notified syllabus has intensified scrutiny of how DU is reshaping the teaching of Indian history under the new curriculum framework.
