India, July 16 -- The newly released Class 8 Social Science textbook by NCERT offers a starker portrayal of the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire, labeling Babur as a "brutal and ruthless conqueror" and highlighting religious intolerance during the reigns of Akbar and Aurangzeb.

Titled Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1), the textbook is the first in the revised NCERT series for the current academic session. It includes a new section, A Note on Some Darker Periods in History, where the actions of rulers like Babur, Akbar, and Aurangzeb are described in harsher terms than in previous editions.

Babur is depicted as a conqueror who "slaughtered entire populations," Akbar's rule is called a "blend of brutality and tolerance," and A...