New Delhi: The NCERT has decided to include Paika rebellion of Odisha of the early 19th century in Class VIII history textbooks.

The move has led historians to raise demand for inclusion of content of other regional rebellions in history books.

In a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha, minister of state for human resource development Satya Pal Singh said that 'Paika Bidroha' of 1817 would be included in Class VIII history textbook of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

The rebellion was led Buxi Jagabandhu, a commander of then Khurda king, against the British. It is one of the earliest resistance movements by the people of Odisha against colonial rule. Of late, this historical event has become a political hot potato for both the BJP and the BJD in Odisha. Chief minister and BJD chief Naveen Patnaik has written to the Centre to declare the rebellion as the first war of Independence.

The uprising of 1857 is popularly known as the First War of Independence though the government has not officially granted any such status to it. Upasana Mohapatra, the great granddaughter of Buxi Jagabandhu, has joined the BJP at a function in Bhubaneswar in October in the presence of petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Her father late Lulu Mohapatra was a Congress leader till his death last year. Earlier on July 20, the NDA government organised a function here to celebrate 200 years of the popular uprising.

To a question by Congress leader Mullapally Ramachandran, the junior HRD minister said other than the 'Paikas', ordinary peasants, landholders and salt-makers had all risen in unison against the British during this period making it a popular movement. "Later, in 1857, we see a movement or uprising of similar nature though on a much larger scale. Therefore, from a historical point of view it can be said that the 'Paika Bidroha' had set an example for the classes as well as the masses in India to follow later on as and when circumstances so warranted," the minister said.

"Therefore, considering that this is one of the beginnings of popular uprisings against the British in India, it has been decided to include it as a 'case-study' in the Class VIII history textbook of NCERT, which deals with the 1857 event," he added.

Case study in NCERT books refers to small boxes describing certain significant events of the past.

However, historians demanded that the NCERT should have included text on other such uprising of that time like the Poligar rebellion of Tamil Nadu of 1799 and the Santhal rebellion of 1855 in present day Jharkhand.

A few years ago, some scholars from Tamil Nadu had demanded that Poligar rebellion be declared the first war of Independence. When the matter was referred to the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), the council said the demand had no merit.

"It is a good thing that students will get to know about rebellions taking part of various parts of the country. But contemporary rebellion of all parts of the country should be included in the books," Saradindu Mukherjee, a member of the ICHR said.

A faculty of history from Jawaharlal Nehru University said NCERT books earlier used to avoid giving texts on events having regional significance, but gave importance to developments of national scale. "Now the decisions to include and exclude texts are taken under political pressure," the faculty member said. Sources in the NCERT said a panel took the decision to include Paika rebellion in the textbook without much debate. There is no specific policy on what to be included or excluded.

Despite efforts, NCERT director Hrushikesh Senapati was not available for comment on the demand for inclusion of other revolts.