Page 1
94
our pasts – ii
8
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY
POLITICAL FORMATIONS
I
f you look at Maps 1 and 2 closely, you will see
something significant happening in the subcontinent
during the first half of the eighteenth century. Notice
how the boundaries of the Mughal Empire were
reshaped by the emergence of a number of independent
Map 1
State formations in the
eighteenth century.
Unit 8.indd 94 8/25/2022 12:22:13 PM
Reprint 2024-25
Page 2
94
our pasts – ii
8
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY
POLITICAL FORMATIONS
I
f you look at Maps 1 and 2 closely, you will see
something significant happening in the subcontinent
during the first half of the eighteenth century. Notice
how the boundaries of the Mughal Empire were
reshaped by the emergence of a number of independent
Map 1
State formations in the
eighteenth century.
Unit 8.indd 94 8/25/2022 12:22:13 PM
Reprint 2024-25
95
eighteenth -century political formations kingdoms. By 1765,
notice how another
power, the British, had
successfully grabbed
major chunks of territory
in eastern India. What
these maps tell us is
that political conditions
in eighteenth-century
India changed quite
dramatically and within
a relatively short span
of time.
In this chapter, we
will read about the
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.
The Crisis of the Empire and
the Later Mughals
In Chapter 4, you saw how the 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.
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
?
See Chapter 4,
Table 1. Which
group of people
challenged Mughal
authority for the
longest time in
Aurangzeb’s reign?
Map 2
British territories in
the mid-eighteenth
century.
Unit 8.indd 95 17-05-2022 12:40:39
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Page 3
94
our pasts – ii
8
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY
POLITICAL FORMATIONS
I
f you look at Maps 1 and 2 closely, you will see
something significant happening in the subcontinent
during the first half of the eighteenth century. Notice
how the boundaries of the Mughal Empire were
reshaped by the emergence of a number of independent
Map 1
State formations in the
eighteenth century.
Unit 8.indd 94 8/25/2022 12:22:13 PM
Reprint 2024-25
95
eighteenth -century political formations kingdoms. By 1765,
notice how another
power, the British, had
successfully grabbed
major chunks of territory
in eastern India. What
these maps tell us is
that political conditions
in eighteenth-century
India changed quite
dramatically and within
a relatively short span
of time.
In this chapter, we
will read about the
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.
The Crisis of the Empire and
the Later Mughals
In Chapter 4, you saw how the 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.
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
?
See Chapter 4,
Table 1. Which
group of people
challenged Mughal
authority for the
longest time in
Aurangzeb’s reign?
Map 2
British territories in
the mid-eighteenth
century.
Unit 8.indd 95 17-05-2022 12:40:39
Reprint 2024-25
96
our pasts – ii
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.
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. 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.
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. 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?
Unit 8.indd 96 17-05-2022 12:40:40
Reprint 2024-25
Page 4
94
our pasts – ii
8
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY
POLITICAL FORMATIONS
I
f you look at Maps 1 and 2 closely, you will see
something significant happening in the subcontinent
during the first half of the eighteenth century. Notice
how the boundaries of the Mughal Empire were
reshaped by the emergence of a number of independent
Map 1
State formations in the
eighteenth century.
Unit 8.indd 94 8/25/2022 12:22:13 PM
Reprint 2024-25
95
eighteenth -century political formations kingdoms. By 1765,
notice how another
power, the British, had
successfully grabbed
major chunks of territory
in eastern India. What
these maps tell us is
that political conditions
in eighteenth-century
India changed quite
dramatically and within
a relatively short span
of time.
In this chapter, we
will read about the
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.
The Crisis of the Empire and
the Later Mughals
In Chapter 4, you saw how the 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.
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
?
See Chapter 4,
Table 1. Which
group of people
challenged Mughal
authority for the
longest time in
Aurangzeb’s reign?
Map 2
British territories in
the mid-eighteenth
century.
Unit 8.indd 95 17-05-2022 12:40:39
Reprint 2024-25
96
our pasts – ii
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.
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. 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.
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. 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?
Unit 8.indd 96 17-05-2022 12:40:40
Reprint 2024-25
97
eighteenth -century political formations 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.
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. 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 …
Fig. 1
A 1779 portrait of Nadir
Shah.
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
Unit 8.indd 97 17-05-2022 12:40:40
Reprint 2024-25
Page 5
94
our pasts – ii
8
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY
POLITICAL FORMATIONS
I
f you look at Maps 1 and 2 closely, you will see
something significant happening in the subcontinent
during the first half of the eighteenth century. Notice
how the boundaries of the Mughal Empire were
reshaped by the emergence of a number of independent
Map 1
State formations in the
eighteenth century.
Unit 8.indd 94 8/25/2022 12:22:13 PM
Reprint 2024-25
95
eighteenth -century political formations kingdoms. By 1765,
notice how another
power, the British, had
successfully grabbed
major chunks of territory
in eastern India. What
these maps tell us is
that political conditions
in eighteenth-century
India changed quite
dramatically and within
a relatively short span
of time.
In this chapter, we
will read about the
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.
The Crisis of the Empire and
the Later Mughals
In Chapter 4, you saw how the 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.
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
?
See Chapter 4,
Table 1. Which
group of people
challenged Mughal
authority for the
longest time in
Aurangzeb’s reign?
Map 2
British territories in
the mid-eighteenth
century.
Unit 8.indd 95 17-05-2022 12:40:39
Reprint 2024-25
96
our pasts – ii
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.
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. 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.
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. 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?
Unit 8.indd 96 17-05-2022 12:40:40
Reprint 2024-25
97
eighteenth -century political formations 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.
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. 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 …
Fig. 1
A 1779 portrait of Nadir
Shah.
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
Unit 8.indd 97 17-05-2022 12:40:40
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98
our pasts – ii
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 (1754 –1759) were assassinated,
and two others, Ahmad Shah (1748 –1754) and
Shah Alam II (1759 –1816) were blinded by
their nobles.
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, such as Awadh, Bengal
and Hyderabad.
The Rajputs
Many Rajput kings, particularly those belonging to
Amber and Jodhpur, had served under the Mughals
with distinction. In exchange, they were permitted to
enjoy considerable autonomy in their watan jagirs. In
the eighteenth century, these rulers now attempted to
extend their control over adjacent regions. Ajit Singh,
the ruler of Jodhpur, was also involved in the factional
politics at the Mughal court.
These influential Rajput families claimed the
subadari of the rich provinces of Gujarat and Malwa.
Raja Ajit Singh of Jodhpur held the governorship of
Gujarat and Sawai Raja Jai Singh of Amber was the
governor of Malwa. These offices were renewed by
Emperor Jahandar Shah in 1713. They also tried to
extend their territories by seizing portions of imperial
territories neighbouring their watans. Nagaur was
conquered and annexed to the house of Jodhpur,
while Amber seized large portions of Bundi. Sawai
Raja Jai Singh founded his new capital at Jaipur
and was given the subadari of Agra in 1722. Maratha
campaigns into Rajasthan from the 1740s put severe
pressure on these principalities and checked their
further expansion.
Fig. 2
Farrukh Siyar receiving
a noble in court.
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.
Unit 8.indd 98 17-05-2022 12:40:41
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