New Maharashtra history textbook says vedic period diet was plant-based, removes caste reference

Decades of scholarly texts have recorded meat-eating during the vedic period. Bibliography of Dietetics in Ancient and Medieval India by Sanskrit scholar Professor Shrikant Bahulkar, states that various meat preparations are present throughout vedic literature. “It was customary to cook a big ox or goat for a guest. Flesh of horses, barren cows, sheep and buffaloes was also cooked. The Samhitās of Yajurveda have many words for fishermen. Probably fish was also introduced as food during that period,” Bahulkar wrote.

Professor Shraddha Kumbhojkar, head of the History Department at Savitribai Phule Pune University, told The Indian Express, “Vedic literature mentions that different kinds of meat were consumed, in ceremonies as well as casually.”

Professor of History at Ashoka University Upinder Singh said the paragraphs in the new book, “come across as an attempt to idealise the Vedic age by editing out the evidence of meat-eating and presenting this age as marked by piety, peace and harmony. There is actually plenty of evidence from ancient texts and archaeology of meat-eating in ancient India.”

The textbooks are prepared by Balbarti (Maharashtra State Bureau of Textbook Production and Curriculum Research).

Archeologist Shubhangana Atre, chairperson of Balbharti’s History Committee for class 6 to 8, also agreed that there was well-recorded meat consumption in the vedic period. Defending the change she said, “After the beginning of our agriculture, plant-based food was introduced and that became the main part of their diet. Whereas meat was also a part of the diet. The authors didn’t mention it because it was not mainly about diet, it was about culture and the progression of culture…In Harappan civilization chapter it (meat) is mentioned.”

— Varna and caste

On caste, the previous version of the textbook said that the four varnas — Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra — were initially based on occupation but later came to be determined on the basis of birth. “This gave rise to castes. The caste system led to inequality in society,” the book stated.

In contrast, the new textbook said, “People interacted with one another with a spirit of cooperation and affection. Every individual held a specific responsibility and status within society. Vedic society was structured into four Varnas: Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra.”

Prof Kumbhojkar said that in the previous version, “there was acceptance that there was inequality, there is a reasoned process of transition from Varna to Jati and a clear negative value attached to the caste system. However, the new book uses words such as cooperation and affection while describing the hierarchical Varna structure. This is a description that is inconsistent with evidence. eg. Rigveda 2.12.4, 4.28.4, and 7.19.2 mention that Indra subjugated the Dasa Varna and Dasyu people.”

She said the claim that people interacted with a spirit of cooperation and affection during the Vedic period is also inconsistent with records of Gavishti battles for cows that were snatched away by the enemy and the Ten Kings’ War in the Rigveda.

Further, she said the new book has “removed the sting of caste by omitting it altogether and made the Varna hierarchy look like a lateral division, which it is not.”

Singh also pointed out that even slavery existed during the vedic period and many references to dasas and dasis (male and female slaves) were present.

On this, Balbharti’s Dr Atre said the change was made due to the textbook being targeted towards school children. “As they grow up they will understand the intricate structure of the society. But at this age when we tell them that it (caste) was based on birth, we are indirectly influencing their opinion. So we don’t want to do that now,” she said.

Textbooks and scholarship

On the purpose and scope of school textbooks, Prof Kumbhojkar said, “History textbooks serve the purpose of creating an authoritative narrative about the past. If a textbook tries to gloss over some historical facts and make vague claims of ‘positivity in society’, the pupils will have an incorrect understanding of the past. This is not what the NEP has envisaged. A balanced narration of the different aspects of the past is what one would like to see in the textbook,” she remarked.

Similarly Prof Singh said, “The dharma of a historian is to dispassionately analyse the evidence from the past rather than pick out certain episodes for glorification (or denigration, for that matter).”

More new textbooks in line

This year, new NCERT-based textbooks for Classes 2,3,4 and 6 were introduced by the state board. Textbooks for class 1 were introduced last year while in the next three years, new textbooks for the other grades are scheduled to be introduced.

Anuradha Oak, Director of Balbharti, said the issues would be discussed with the textbook setting committee and any necessary changes will be incorporated in the next editions.