India, Sept. 29 -- Worship of goddesses was a long-standing tradition in India and many kings and princes since the seventh century continued to invoke goddesses such as Kali, Durga, Bhavani and other forms of Shakti as protectors in times of conflict, the new Class 9 social science textbook prepared by NCERT says.

The book titled "Understanding Society India and Beyond-Part 2" was released on Tuesday, six months after the new academic session began. The first part of the textbook was released in June.

The chapter titled "Resistance and Resilience", which has documented successive invasions of the Indian subcontinent since the 7th century, has also described religious traditions in warfare.

"Worship of goddesses was a long-standing tra...