Paper Details

The National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020) emphasizes integrating the Indian education system with local contexts, Indian languages, culture, traditions, and indigenous knowledge systems. Against this backdrop, incorporating Indian Knowledge Traditions (IKT) into history education can provide students with a comprehensive understanding of India’s intellectual, scientific, social, and cultural development. Indian knowledge traditions are not confined merely to ancient religious or philosophical literature; rather, they encompass a vast body of knowledge developed across diverse fields such as mathematics, astronomy, medicine, agriculture, water management, architecture, language, literature, arts, environmental practices, and folk knowledge (Ministry of Education, 2020; UGC, 2023a). The present study adopts a literature-based and analytical approach, examining NEP 2020, UGC guidelines related to Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS), and selected academic literature on history education and Indian knowledge traditions. The study indicates that the meaningful integration of Indian knowledge traditions into history education can strengthen the academic use of local history, oral traditions, cultural heritage, and traditional knowledge. It can also contribute to developing students’ historical awareness, research orientation, source criticism, critical thinking, and cultural sensitivity. Particularly in rural colleges, the study of traditional water-management systems, agricultural practices, folk arts, folk literature, and historical sites offers considerable scope for developing experiential and locally grounded history education. However, the study emphasizes that the teaching of Indian knowledge traditions should avoid uncritical glorification, exaggeration, and historically unsubstantiated claims. A balanced approach based on the critical examination of primary sources, archaeological evidence, oral traditions, and contemporary scholarship is therefore essential. The study argues that integrating IKS with history education within the framework of NEP 2020 through a balanced, evidence-based, and multidisciplinary approach can make history education more meaningful, research-oriented, critical, and student-centred, particularly in the context of rural higher education.

National Education Policy 2020, Indian Knowledge Systems, Indian Knowledge Traditions, History Education, Rural Colleges, Local History, Cultural Heritage, Oral Traditions, Experiential Learning, Critical Thinking.