NEW DELHI — Delhi University (DU) has excluded its long-running postgraduate course on the Delhi Sultanate along with several other historical subjects from its newly notified Semester III MA History syllabus.
The paper, titled “The Delhi Sultanate: Structures of Authority in Medieval North India (13th-14th Centuries),” had been a core medieval India course for several decades. It explained the formation of the medieval state, political authority, and the period's cultural and religious traditions.
Out of 38 proposed Discipline Specific Elective (DSE) papers, only 16 were included in the syllabus officially notified on August 7.
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Key Courses Omitted in the Revision
The omissions span multiple historical eras. While History of North India offered specialized thematic studies on the era between the Sultanate and the rise of the Mughals. The dropped ancient history electives covered political institutions, taxation, trade, and women's roles across Vedic, Buddhist, Jain, and Tantric traditions.
Reason for the Review
Official records show that these courses were cleared at various stages of DU's syllabus approval process including the Standing Committee before being omitted.
Addressing the decision, DU Dean of Academic Affairs K. Ratnabali denied that the courses were deliberately suppressed. She explained that after standing committee clearances, the History Department made unauthorized alterations—adding or deleting units and altering readings—which created a "trust deficit".
Consequently, Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh tasked an Expert Committee comprising three external experts, the History Department Head, and two Academic Council members to re-examine the syllabi to ensure alignment with National Education Policy (NEP) guidelines.
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Ideological Contestation Around History
The postgraduate revisions follow earlier structural changes to DU’s undergraduate curriculum, where references to "Brahmanisation" and a paper titled "Inequality and Difference" were dropped.
The curriculum changes come amid wider national debate over textbook revisions by the NCERT, with critics questioning the reduction of Delhi Sultanate and Mughal history. UNIVERSITY officials maintain that additional papers may still be notified once the review panel completes its evaluation.
