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OVERVIEW ?, 1., 2., 3., 4., 5., 6., , THE CRISIS OF THE EMPIRE AND THE LATER MUGHALS, EMERGENCE OF NEW STATES, THE OLD MUGHAL PROVINCES, THE WATAN JAGIRS OF THE RAJPUTS, SEIZING INDEPENDENCE, THE FRENCH REVOLUTION (1789-1794)

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State, formations, in the, eighteenth, century

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British, territories in, the mideighteenth, century

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➢ By 1765, another power, the British, had successfully grabbed, , major chunks of territory in eastern India., ➢ These maps tell us that political conditions in eighteenth, century India changed quite dramatically and within a, relatively short span of time., ➢ There was emergence of new political groups in the, , subcontinent during the first half of the eighteenth century –, roughly from 1707, when Aurangzeb died, till the third battle, of Panipat in 1761.

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THE CRISIS OF THE EMPIRE AND, THE LATER MUGHALS, eqX+ky lkezkT; vkSj ijorhZ eqX+kyksa ds fy, ladV dh, fLFkfr, ➢ Mughal Empire reached the height of its success and started facing a, , variety of crises towards the closing years of the seventeenth century., ➢ These were caused by a number of factors., ➢ Emperor Aurangzeb had depleted the military and financial resources of, , his empire by fighting a long war in the Deccan

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➢ Under his successors, the efficiency of the imperial, , administration broke down., ➢ It became increasingly difficult for the later Mughal emperors, to keep a check on their powerful mansabdars., ➢ Nobles appointed as governors (subadars) often controlled, , the offices of revenue and military administration (diwani and, faujdari) as well., ➢ This gave them extraordinary political, economic and military, powers over vast regions of the Mughal Empire., ➢ As the governors consolidated their control over the provinces,, , the periodic remission of revenue to the capital declined.

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➢ Peasant and zamindari rebellions in many parts of northern, , and western India added to these problems., ➢ These revolts were sometimes caused by the pressures of, mounting taxes., ➢ At other times they were attempts by powerful chieftains to, , consolidate their own positions. Mughal authority had been, challenged by rebellious groups in the past as well., ➢ But these groups were now able to seize the economic, , resources of the region to consolidate their positions.

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Rich harvests and empty coffers, ➢ The following is a contemporary writer’s account of the, , financial bankruptcy of the empire:, ➢ The great lords are helpless and impoverished., ➢ Their peasants raise two crops a year, but their lords see, , nothing of either, and their agents on the spot are virtual, prisoners in the peasants’ hands, like a peasant kept in his, creditor’s house until he can pay his debt.

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Rich harvests and empty coffers, ➢ So complete is the collapse of all order and administration, , that though the peasant reaps a harvest of gold, his lord, does not see so much as a wisp of straw., ➢ How then can the lord keep the armed force he should?, ➢ How can he pay the soldiers who should go before him, , when he goes out, or the horsemen who should ride behind, him?

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➢ The Mughal emperors after Aurangzeb were unable to arrest, , the gradual shifting of political and economic authority into, the hands of provincial governors, local chieftains and other, groups, ➢ In the midst of this economic and political crisis, the ruler of, , Iran, Nadir Shah, sacked and plundered the city of Delhi in, 1739 and took away immense amounts of wealth., ➢ This invasion was followed by a series of plundering raids by, the Afghan ruler Ahmad Shah Abdali, who invaded north India, five times between 1748 and 1761.

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NADIR SHAH ATTACKS DELHI, ➢ The devastation of Delhi after Nadir Shah’s invasion was described by, , contemporary observers. One described the wealth looted from the, Mughal treasury as follows:, ➢ Sixty lakhs of rupees and some thousand gold coins, nearly one crore, worth of gold-ware, nearly fifty crores worth of jewels, most of them, unrivalled in the world, and the above included the Peacock throne., ➢ Another account described the invasion’s impact upon Delhi: (those) …, , who had been masters were now in dire straits; and those who had, been revered couldn’t even (get water to) quench their thirst.

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NADIR SHAH ATTACKS DELHI, ➢ The recluses were pulled out of their corners., , ➢ The wealthy were turned into beggars., ➢ Those who once set the style in clothes now went naked; and, , those who owned property were now homeless …, ➢ The New City (Shahjahanabad) was turned into rubble., ➢ (Nadir Shah) then attacked the Old quarters of the city and, , destroyed a whole world that existed there …

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➢ Already under severe pressure from all sides, the empire was, , further weakened by competition amongst different groups of, nobles., ➢ They were divided into two major groups or factions, the Iranis, and Turanis (nobles of Turkish descent). For a long time, the, later Mughal emperors were puppets in the hands of either, one or the other of these two powerful groups., ➢ The worst possible humiliation came when two Mughal, emperors, Farrukh Siyar (1713-1719) and Alamgir II (17541759) were assassinated, and, two others Ahmad Shah (1748-1754) and Shah Alam II, (1759-1816) were blinded by their nobles.

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Farrukh Siyar receiving a noble in court., , A 1779 portrait of Nadir Shah.

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EMERGENCE OF NEW STATES, u, jkT;ksa dk mn;, ➢, , ➢, , With the decline in the authority of the Mughal emperors,, the governors of large provinces, subadars, and the great, zamindars consolidated their authority in different parts of, the subcontinent., Through the eighteenth century, the Mughal Empire, gradually fragmented into a number of independent,, regional states

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EMERGENCE OF NEW STATES, ➢ The states of the eighteenth century can be divided into three, , overlapping groups:, (1) States that were old Mughal provinces like Awadh, Bengal and, Hyderabad. Although extremely powerful and quite independent, the, rulers of these states did not break their formal ties with the Mughal, emperor., (2) States that had enjoyed considerable independence under the, Mughals as watan jagirs. These included several Rajput principalities., (3) The last group included states under the control of Marathas, Sikhs and, others like the Jats. These were of differing sizes and had seized their, independence from the Mughals after a long-drawn armed struggle

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➢, , ➢, , ➢, , ➢, , As the Mughal governor of the Deccan provinces, during, 1720-22 Asaf Jah had already gained control over its political, and financial administration., , Taking subsequent advantage of the turmoil in the Deccan, and the competition amongst the court nobility, he gathered, power in his hands and became the actual ruler of that region., Asaf Jah brought skilled soldiers and administrators from, northern India who welcomed the new opportunities in the, south., He appointed mansabdars and granted jagirs.

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➢ Although he was still a servant of the Mughal emperor, he ruled, , quite independently without seeking any direction from Delhi or, facing any interference., ➢ The Mughal emperor merely confirmed the decisions already, taken by the Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah., ➢ The state of Hyderabad was constantly engaged in a struggle, , against the Marathas to the west and with independent Telugu, warrior chiefs (nayakas) of the plateau., ➢ The ambitions of the Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah to control the rich, textile-producing areas of the Coromandel coast in the east were, checked by the British who were becoming increasingly powerful, in that region

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THE NIZAM’S ARMY, ➢ A description of the Nizam of Hyderabad’s personal troopers, , in 1790: …, ➢ The Nizam has a swaree (sawari) of 400 elephants,, several thousand of horsemen near his person who receive, upwards 100 R(upees)s nominal pay (and) are, extremely well mounted and, richly caparisoned

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➢ Burhan-ul-Mulk tried to decrease Mughal influence in the Awadh, , region by reducing the number of office holders (jagirdars), appointed by the Mughals., ➢ He also reduced the size of jagirs, and appointed his own loyal, , servants to vacant positions., ➢ The accounts of jagirdars were checked to prevent cheating and, the revenues of all districts were reassessed by officials, appointed by the Nawab’s court., ➢ He seized a number of Rajput zamindaris and the agriculturally, , fertile lands of the Afghans of Rohilkhand.

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➢ The state depended on local bankers and mahajans for loans. It sold, , the right to collect tax to the highest bidders., ➢ These “revenue farmers” (ijaradars) agreed to pay the state a fixed, sum of money. Local bankers guaranteed the payment of this, contracted amount to the state., ➢ In turn, the revenue-farmers were given considerable freedom in the, , assessment and collection of taxes., ➢ These developments allowed new social groups, like moneylenders, and bankers, to influence the management of the state’s revenue, system, something which had not occurred in the past.

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BENGAL, ➢ Bengal gradually broke away from Mughal control under Murshid Quli, , Khan who was appointed as the naib, deputy to the governor of the, province., ➢ Although never a formal subadar, Murshid Quli Khan very quickly seized, all the power that went with that office, ➢ Like the rulers of Hyderabad and Awadh he also commanded the, revenue administration of the state., ➢ In an effort to reduce Mughal influence in Bengal he transferred all, , Mughal jagirdars to Orissa and ordered a major reassessment of the, revenues of Bengal.

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➢ Revenue was collected in cash with great strictness from all zamindars., ➢ As a result, many zamindars had to borrow money from bankers and, , moneylenders., ➢ Those unable to pay were forced to sell their lands to larger zamindars., ➢ The formation of a regional state in eighteenth century Bengal therefore, , led to considerable change amongst the zamindars., ➢ The close connection between the state and bankers – noticeable in, Hyderabad and Awadh as well – was evident in Bengal under the rule of, Alivardi Khan (1740-1756)., ➢ During his reign the banking house of Jagat Seth became extremely, prosperous

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WE CAN DETECT THREE COMMON FEATURES AMONGST, THESE STATES, 1., , 2., ●, ●, ●, , First, though many of the larger states were established by erstwhile, Mughal nobles they were highly suspicious of some of the, administrative systems that they had inherited, in particular the, jagirdari system., Second, their method of tax collection differed., Rather than relying upon the officers of the state, all three regimes, contracted with revenue-farmers for the collection of revenue., The practice of ijaradari, thoroughly disapproved of by the Mughals,, spread all over India in the eighteenth century., Their impact on the countryside differed considerably.

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WE CAN DETECT THREE COMMON FEATURES AMONGST, THESE STATES, 3., ●, , ●, , The third common feature in all these regional states was their, emerging relationship with rich bankers and merchants., These people lent money to revenue farmers, received land as, security and collected taxes from these lands through their own, agents., Throughout India the richest merchants and bankers were gaining a, stake in the new political order.

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➢ Many Rajput rulers had accepted the suzerainty of the Mughals, , but Mewar was the only Rajput state which defied Mughal, authority., ➢ Rana Pratap ascended the throne at Mewar in 1572, with Udaipur, and large part of Mewar under his control. A series of envoys, were sent to the Rana to persuade him to accept Mughal, suzerainty, but he stood his ground., ➢ Many Rajput chieftains built a number of forts on hill tops which, , became centres of power. With extensive fortifications, these, majestic structures housed urban centres, palaces, temples,, trading centres, water harvesting structures and other buildings.

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RAJA JAI SINGH OF JAIPUR, ➢ A description of Raja Jai Singh in a Persian account of 1732:, ➢ Raja Jai Singh was at the height of his power., ➢ He was the governor of Agra for 12 years and of Malwa for 5, , or 6 years., ➢ He possessed a large army, artillery and great wealth., ➢ His sway extended from Delhi to the banks of the Narmada

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SEIZING INDEPENDENCE, vkTkinh gkfly djuk, THE SIKHS, ➢ The organisation of the Sikhs into a political community, , during the seventeenth century helped in regional statebuilding in the Punjab., ➢ Several battles were fought by Guru Gobind Singh against, , the Rajput and Mughal rulers, both before and after the, institution of the Khalsa in 1699.

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➢ After his death in 1708, the Khalsa rose in revolt against the Mughal, , authority under Banda Bahadur’s leadership, declared their sovereign, rule by striking coins in the name of Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh,, and established their own administration between the Sutlej and the, Jamuna. Banda Bahadur was captured in 1715 and executed in 1716., ➢ Under a number of able leaders in the eighteenth century, the Sikhs, , organized themselves into a number of bands called jathas, and later on, misls., ➢ Their combined forces were known as the grand army (dal khalsa). The, entire body used to meet at Amritsar at the time of Baisakhi and Diwali, to take collective decisions known as “resolutions of the Guru, (gurmatas)”.

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➢ A system called rakhi was introduced, offering protection to, , cultivators on the payment of a tax of 20 per cent of the produce., ➢ Guru Gobind Singh had inspired the Khalsa with the belief that their, , destiny was to rule (raj karega khalsa)., ➢ Their well-knit organization enabled them to put up a successful, resistance to the Mughal governors first and then to Ahmad Shah, Abdali who had seized the rich province of the Punjab and the, Sarkar of Sirhind from the Mughals., ➢ The Khalsa declared their sovereign rule by striking their own coin, again in 1765., ➢ Significantly, this coin bore the same inscription as the one on the, orders issued by the Khalsa in the time of Banda Bahadur.

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➢, , The Sikh territories in the late, eighteenth century extended, from the Indus to the Jamuna, but they were divided under, different rulers., , ➢, , One of them, Maharaja Ranjit, Singh, reunited these groups, and established his capital at, Lahore in 1799

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➢, , ➢, , ➢, , ➢, , Towards the end of the 17th century a powerful state, started emerging in the Deccan under the leadership of, Shivaji which finally led to the establishment of the Maratha, state., Shivaji was born to Shahji and Jija Bai at Shivneri in 1630., Under the guidance of his mother and his guardian Dada, Konddev, Shivaji embarked on a career of conquest at a, young age., The occupation of Javli made him the undisputed leader of, the Mavala highlands which paved the way for further, expansion.

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➢, , His exploits against the forces of Bijapur and the, Mughals made him a legendary figure., , ➢, , He often resorted to guerrilla warfare against his, opponents., , ➢, , By introducing an efficient administrative system, supported by a revenue collection method based on, chauth and sardeshmukhi he laid the foundations of, a strong Maratha state

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THE MARATHAS, ➢ The Maratha kingdom was another powerful regional kingdom to, , arise out of a sustained opposition to Mughal rule. Shivaji (16271680) carved out a stable kingdom with the support of powerful, warrior families (deshmukhs)., ➢ Groups of highly mobile, peasant pastoralists (kunbis) provided the, backbone of the Maratha army., ➢ Shivaji used these forces to challenge the Mughals in the peninsula., ➢ After Shivaji’s death, effective power in the Maratha state was, , wielded by a family of Chitpavan Brahmanas who served Shivaji’s, successors as Peshwa (or principal minister). Poona became the, capital of the Maratha kingdom.

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➢ Under the Peshwas, the Marathas developed a very, , successful military organisation., ➢ Their success lay in bypassing the fortified areas of the, Mughals, by raiding cities and by engaging Mughal armies in, areas where their supply lines and reinforcements could be, easily disturbed., ➢ Between 1720 and 1761, the Maratha empire expanded., ➢ It gradually chipped away at the authority of the Mughal, , Empire., ➢ Malwa and Gujarat were seized from the Mughals by the, , 1720s.

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➢ By the 1730s, the Maratha king was recognised as the overlord of, , the entire Deccan peninsula., ➢ He possessed the right to levy chauth and sardeshmukhi in the, entire region., ➢ After raiding Delhi in 1737 the frontiers of Maratha domination, , expanded rapidly:, into Rajasthan and the Punjab in the north;, into Bengal and Orissa in the east; and, into Karnataka and the Tamil and Telugu countries in the south .

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➢ Those were not formally included in the Maratha empire, but, , were made to pay tribute as a way of accepting Maratha, sovereignty., ➢ Expansion brought enormous resources, but it came at a price., , These military campaigns also made other rulers hostile towards, the Marathas., ➢ As a result, they were not inclined to support the Marathas during, the third battle of Panipat in 1761.

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➢ Alongside endless military campaigns, the Marathas developed, , an effective administrative system as well., ➢ Once conquest had been completed and Maratha rule was, secure, revenue demands were gradually introduced taking local, conditions into account., ➢ Agriculture was encouraged and trade revived., ➢ This allowed Maratha chiefs (sardars) like, , Sindhia of Gwalior,, Gaekwad of Baroda and, Bhonsle of Nagpur the resources to raise powerful armies.

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➢, , ➢, , ➢, , Maratha campaigns into Malwa in the 1720s did not, challenge the growth and prosperity of the cities in the, region., Ujjain expanded under Sindhia’s patronage and, Indore under Holkar’s., By all accounts these cities were large and prosperous, and functioned as important commercial and cultural, centres. New trade routes emerged within the areas, controlled by the Marathas.

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➢ The silk produced in the Chanderi region now found a new outlet, , in Poona, the Maratha capital. Burhanpur which had earlier, participated in the trade between Agra and Surat now expanded, its hinterland to include Poona and Nagpur in the south and, Lucknow and Allahabad in the east., ➢ CHAUTH, ➢ 25 per cent of the land revenue claimed by zamindars. In the, , Deccan this was collected by the Marathas., ➢ SARDESHMUKHI, ➢ 9-10 per cent of the land revenue paid to the head revenue, collector in the Deccan.

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THE JATS, ➢ Jats consolidated their power during the late seventeenth and, , eighteenth-centuries., ➢ Under their leader, Churaman, they acquired control over territories, , situated to the west of the city of Delhi, and by the 1680s they had, begun dominating the region between the two imperial cities of, Delhi and Agra., ➢ For a while they became the virtual custodians of the city of Agra, ➢ The Jats were prosperous agriculturists, and towns like Panipat and, Ballabhgarh became important trading centres in the areas, dominated by them.

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➢ Under Suraj Mal the kingdom of Bharatpur emerged as a strong, , state., ➢ When Nadir Shah sacked Delhi in 1739, many of the city’s notables, took refuge there. His son Jawahir Shah had 30,000 troops of his, own and hired another 20,000 Maratha and 15,000 Sikh troops to, fight the Mughals, ➢ While the Bharatpur fort was built in a fairly traditional style, at Dig, , the Jats built an elaborate garden palace combining styles seen at, Amber and Agra. Its buildings were modelled on architectural forms, first associated with royalty under Shah Jahan

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➢ Eighteenth-century, , palace complex at Dig., ➢ Note the “Bangla dome”, , on the assembly hall on, the roof of the building.

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THE FRENCH REVOLUTION (1789-1794), ➢ In the various state systems of eighteenth-century India, the, , common people did not enjoy the right to participate in the, affairs of their governments., ➢ In the Western world, this was the situation until the late, , eighteenth century., ➢ The American (1776-1781) and French Revolutions, challenged the social and political privileges enjoyed by the, aristocrats.

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THE FRENCH REVOLUTION (1789-1794), ➢ During the French Revolution, the middle classes, peasants and, , artisans fought against the special rights enjoyed by the clergy and, the nobility, ➢ They believed that no group in society should have privileges based, , on birth. Rather, people’s social position must depend on merit. The, philosophers of the French Revolution suggested that there be equal, laws and opportunities for all., ➢ They also held that the authority of the government should come, from the people who must possess the right to participate in its, affairs.

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THE FRENCH REVOLUTION (1789-1794), ➢ Movements such as the French and American, , Revolutions gradually transformed subjects into, citizens., ➢ The ideas of citizenship, nation-state and democratic, , rights took root in India from the late nineteenth, century.

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TAKEAWAYS, TRUE OR FALSE :, A., B., , C., D., , Nadir Shah invaded Bengal., Sawai Raja Jai Singh was the ruler of, Indore., Guru Gobind Singh was the tenth Guru of, the Sikhs., Poona became the capital of the, Marathas in the eighteenth century.

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THANKS !