“The inclusion of the Ahoms, who ruled Assam for over six centuries and defended it against multiple Mughal invasions, is welcome and long overdue. However, their representation contains errors and oversimplifications that risk distorting students’ understanding of history,” said Gogoi in his letter to Pradhan.
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Gogoi said that while the history textbooks of NCERT for Class VIII state that the Ahoms migrated from present-day Myanmar, historical scholarship locates their origin in Mung Mao, a Tai polity in the Dehong region of present-day Yunnan, China. The inaccuracy is in the chapter “Tribes, Nomads and Settled Communities,” which deals with the Ahom Dynasty of Assam, Gogoi pointed out.
“The Paik system is inaccurately described as ‘forced labour,’ disregarding its nature as a rotational administrative and military service structure, which provided land and advancement opportunities,” Gogoi said in his letter.“The account of the 1663 treaty of Ghilajarighat is distorted, as it is presented as a defeat for the Ahoms rather than the strategic truce it was—one that enabled the eventual expulsion of the Mughals from Assam. There is also an oversimplification of socio-political integration. The claim in the textbook that the Ahoms ‘suppressed’ the Bhuyan landlord class reduces a complex process of integration to a one-dimensional narrative,” he added.
Gogoi further said that there are omissions, pointing out that there is no reference to significant elements such as the Khel administrative system, architectural landmarks like the Rang Ghar and the Talatal Ghar, and the Ahoms’ role in shaping the Assamese identity.
Gogoi, who is also the president of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC), said that such inaccuracies not only undermine the historical legacy of the Ahoms but also risk perpetuating misconceptions about the cultural heritage of Assam and the northeast.
“It’s vital that the national curricula reflect historical truths with balance and respect, especially when introducing regional histories to students across India,” Gogoi said while urging the ministry to take immediate steps to correct the inaccuracies.
The Ahoms established a kingdom in Assam that lasted for nearly 600 years.
Source: Economic Times
