From the next academic year, textbooks in government-run schools in Uttar Pradesh will have chapters on religious preachers Gorakhnath and Gambhirnath of the Nath sect, freedom fighters Bandhu Singh and Rani Avanti Bai and 12th century warrior brothers Alha and Udal, Hindustan Times reported on Saturday.

Chief Minister Adityanath is the chief priest of the Gorakhnath mutt, which is the Nath sect’s headquarters, and has served five times as Gorakhpur’s representative in Parliament. He directed the Basic Shiksha Department to introduce the chapters on historical figures who had allegedly been neglected under the previous regimes in the state.

“Nath sect has done tremendous work in eastern Uttar Pradesh,” Sureshwar Kumar Singh, a senior official in the department, told National Herald. “The children should know their contribution towards society and how this sect has worked for the welfare of the people.”

While Class 6 students will study a short biography of Gorakhnath, chapters on Gambhirnath, Bandhu Singh, Avanti Bai, and Alha and Udal have been added to textbooks for students from Classes 1 to 8. The books will have QR codes, which can be scanned to view the chapters on mobile phones.

Bandhu Singh was a guerrilla fighter and a staunch devotee of the Tarkulha deity. He fought against the British and was hanged at Gorakhpur’s Alinagar crossing on August 12, 1857. Avanti Bai, the queen of the kingdom of Ramgarh, resisted the British after her husband Vikramaditya’s death.

“The aim behind including the new chapters is to let the younger generation know about these great personalities who had earlier failed to find a place in books,” Basic Shiksha Adhikari Bhupendra Narayan Singh told Hindustan Times. “It will help the students become good citizens by learning about their teachings and inspiring life stories.”