India, May 9 -- Delhi University's (DU) standing committee for academic affairs on Thursday recommended replacing Islamic poet-philosopher Muhammad Iqbal with Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and medieval traveller Ibn Battuta with Mughal prince Dara Shukoh in the History department's eighth semester syllabus.

According to a committee member, the changes were proposed in a general elective paper, "Life Narrative and History", which includes key political figures. Originally, the course featured Harsha, Battuta, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Iqbal.

This was the third and final meeting of the committee reviewing seventh and eighth semester syllabi ahead of the first graduating batch under the four-year undergraduate programme. Committee ...