Q1: What was the impact of Nadir Shah’s invasion upon Delhi?
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Which foreign invaders arrived in the middle of the economic and political crisis in 1739?
Ans: 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.
Q2: Highlight the steps taken by Murshid Quli Khan to decrease Mughal influence in Bengal.
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How did Murshid Quli Khan decrease the Mughal influence in Bengal?
Ans: 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. 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.
Q3: Who were the very powerful governors of Awadh, Bengal and Hyderabad among the early and later Mughal rulers?
Ans: All three states were founded by members of the high Mughal nobility who had been governors of large provinces – Sa‘adat Khan (Awadh), Murshid Quli Khan (Bengal) and Asaf Jah (Hyderabad). All three had occupied high mansabdari positions and enjoyed the trust and confidence of the emperors. Both Asaf Jah and Murshid Quli Khan held a zat rank of 7,000 each, while Sa’adat Khan’s zat was 6,000.
Q4: Who were the Jats? How did they consolidate their power during the late 17th and 18th centuries?
Ans: The Jats were prosperous agriculturists. They 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. Towns like Panipat and Ballabhgarh became important trading centres in the areas dominated by them. Under Suraj Mal the kingdom of Bharatpur emerged as a strong state.
Q5: Why did the Mughals lose their power by the eighteenth century?
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How did the later Mughal emperors lose their control over their nobles?
Ans: Under later Mughal emperors, 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.
Q6: What were the different overlapping group of states that emerged in the 18th Century after the decline of the Mughal Empire?
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Divide the states of the eighteenth century into three overlapping groups.
Ans: Broadly speaking the states of the eighteenth century can be divided into three overlapping groups:
(i) 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 formalties with the Mughal emperor.
(ii) States that had enjoyed considerable independence under the Mughals as watan jagirs. These included several Rajput principalities.
(iii) 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.
Q7: Discuss the factors that led to the decline of Mughal Empire.
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The Mughal Empire had to face a variety of crises towards the closing years of the 17th century. What were the causes behind it?
Ans: Mughal Empire faced crisis caused by a number of factors towards the end of the seventeenth century.
- Aurangzeb depleted military and financial resources of his empire by fighting a long war in the Deccan.
- It became increasingly difficult for later Mughal Emperors to keep a check on powerful mansabdars.
- The Governors established independent kingdoms in different areas.
- Mounting taxes led to Peasants and zamindari rebellions.
- Nadir Shah sacked and plundered the city of Delhi in 1739 and took away immense amounts of wealth.
- This invasion was followed by series of plundering raids by the Afghan ruler, Ahmad Shah Abdali, who invaded north India five times between 1748 and 1761.The empire was further weakened by the competition amongst different groups of nobles.
Q8: Why did the Marathas want to expand beyond the Deccan?
Ans: Marathas wanted to expand beyond the Deccan for power and authority. It gradually chipped away at the authority of the Mughal Empire. By the 1720s, they seized Malwa and Gujarat from the Mughals and 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.
Q9: Who established a stable Maratha kingdom and how?
Ans: The Maratha kingdom was another powerful regional kingdom to arise out of a sustained opposition to Mughal rule. Shivaji (1627-1680) carved out a stable kingdom with the support of powerful warrior families (deshmukhs). Groups of highly mobile, peasantpastoralists (kunbis) provided the backbone of the Maratha army. Shivaji used these forces to challenge the Mughals in the peninsula.
Q10: How did Burhan-ul-Mulk reduce Mughal influence in the Awadh region?
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Enumerate the steps taken by Saadat Khan to reduce Mughal influence in Awadh.
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How did Saadat Khan try to decrease the Mughal influence in the Awadh region?
Ans: 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.
Q11: How did Murshid Quli Khan become powerful in Bengal?
Ans: 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. 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. Revenue was collected in cash with great strictness from all zamindars.
Q12: How were the Sikhs organised in the eighteenth century?
Ans: 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)”. A system called rakhi was introduced, offering protection to cultivators on the payment of a tax of 20 per cent of the produce.
Q13: How did moneylenders and bankers achieve influential position in the state of Awadh?
Ans: 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.
Q14: Write a short note on expansion of Maratha Empire between 1720 and 1761.
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Give an account of the Maratha expansion occurred between 1720 and 1761.
Ans: 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. By the 1730s, the Maratha king was recognised as the overlord of the entire Deccan peninsula. 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. These were not formally included in the Maratha empire, but were made to pay tribute as a way of accepting Maratha sovereignty.
Q15: Describe the three common features of the states like Awadh, Bengal and Hyderabad.
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State the three common features between the states Awadh, Bengal and Hyderabad.
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What are the common features of the three regional states of Bengal, Awadh and Hyderabad?
Ans: Three common features amongst these states were:
(i) 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.
(ii) 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.
(iii) 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.
