Foundation of Autonomous States

Hyderabad and the Carnatic

Hyderabad was founded by Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah (Chin Kilich Khan) in 1724. He had served as the Wazir of the Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah. Disgusted by the indolence and disorder of the central court, he withdrew to the Deccan, established independent authority there and laid the basis of the Nizam's state.

The Carnatic was originally one of the Mughal Subahs (provinces) in the Deccan and nominally came under the authority of the Nizam of Hyderabad. In practice the deputy-governor of the Carnatic, called the Nawab of the Carnatic, made his office hereditary and acted with considerable independence from the viceroy of the Deccan. An important example is Nawab Saadatullah Khan, who nominated his nephew Dost Ali as successor without the approval of the Nizam, showing the degree of local autonomy achieved by Carnatic governors.

Independence of Oudh

Saadat Khan (also referred to as Saadat Khan Burhan-ul-Mulk in some sources) founded the line of Nawab-Wazirs in Oudh. He belonged to a Persian family from Khorasan. Originally appointed Faujdar of Biana, he fell foul of powerful nobles at the Mughal court and was sent to govern Oudh in 1722. By the time of his death in 1739 he had made Oudh virtually independent and hereditary.

• He was succeeded by his nephew Safdar Jang, who was appointed Wazir of the empire in 1748 and also granted the province of Allahabad.
• Safdar Jang provided a relatively long period of internal peace in Oudh and Allahabad until his death in 1754.
• Safdar Jang described the local chiefs' potential for rapid disturbance in a well-known comment: "The Avadh chiefs were capable of creating a disturbance in the twinkling of an eye and were more dangerous than the Marathas of the Deccan."

Bengal

After the death of Emperor Aurangzeb, provincial functionaries in the eastern provinces established effective independence from Delhi. Two prominent figures in Bengal's move to autonomy were Murshid Quli Khan and Alivardi Khan.

• Murshid Quli Khan had been Dewan of Bengal from around 1700 and was formally made Governor in 1717; in practice he had been the effective ruler of Bengal for many years. He worked to restore internal order and reduce disturbances by local zamindars.
• Murshid Quli Khan suppressed several uprisings by local strongmen (e.g., Sitaram Ray, Udai Narayan, Ghulam Muhammad, Shujat Khan, Najat Khan) and redistributed some zamindaris to his favourites, such as Ramjivan. He died in 1727.
• Shuja-ud-din, Murshid Quli Khan's son-in-law, succeeded in 1727 and ruled until 1739. In 1733 the emperor Muhammad Shah added Bihar to the Bengal Subah, making Shuja-ud-din the Subahdar of a larger unit that included Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.
• After Shuja-ud-din's death his son Sarfaraz briefly succeeded, but in 1740 Alivardi Khan deposed Sarfaraz and became Nawab of Bengal. Alivardi Khan faced repeated Maratha incursions (c. 1742-1751) and agreed to pay an annual chauth of 12 lakhs on condition that the Marathas did not cross the Suvarnarekha river.
• Alivardi Khan resisted fortification of European factories at Calcutta and Chandernagore, but the Nawabs were generally unable to check the growing military assertiveness of the English East India Company after c. 1707.
• On the death of Alivardi Khan in 1756, his grandson Siraj-ud-daula succeeded. The period that followed saw increasing friction with the Company culminating in the events of mid-18th century Bengal.

Mysore

The kingdom of Mysore maintained a degree of independence following the decline of the Vijayanagar empire. In the early 18th century power in Mysore passed into the hands of ministers such as Nanjaraj and Devaraja, who held real authority for the young Wodeyar kings.

• Haidar Ali began his career as a petty officer in the Mysore army but rose through the ranks by exploiting opportunities and modernising the forces under his command.
• Haidar Ali recognised the advantages of European-style military organisation and trained and equipped his infantry and artillery accordingly. He established a modern arsenal at Dindigul in 1755.
• By 1761 Haidar Ali had displaced the existing ministerial authority and established his dominance over Mysore. He fought repeated wars with the Marathas, the Nizam and the British; he defeated the British in several encounters and captured territory adjacent to Madras.
• Haidar Ali died during the course of the Second Anglo-Mysore War (1782), and was succeeded by his son Tipu Sultan, who continued the struggle against the British until his death in 1799.
• Tipu Sultan was an able administrator and military innovator. He armed his infantry with muskets and bayonets in the European fashion and attempted to build a navy after 1796, establishing two dockyards with ship models supplied by himself.
• Tipu introduced administrative reforms such as a new calendar, new coinage, and revised weights and measures. He attempted to curb jagir grants and reduce the hereditary possessions of the Poligars; his land revenue sometimes rose to about one-third of gross produce.
• Tipu took inspiration from contemporary events in Europe; he showed interest in the French Revolution and planted a symbolic Tree of Liberty in Seringapatam and associated with Jacobin ideas in a political sense.

Punjab and the Sikhs

Sikhism originated in the late 15th and early 16th centuries during the consolidation of Mughal power in India. Initially a devotional movement promoting spiritual reform and social harmony between Hindus and Muslims, Sikhism underwent significant transformation after successive persecutions of Sikh leaders.

• Under Guru Arjan Dev the Sikh community began to acquire the idea of self-government and organised resistance against oppressive officials. The martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev intensified Sikh militarisation and community consolidation.
• Sikhs responded to persecution under successive Gurus and leaders. Under the leadership of figures such as Banda Bahadur the community undertook armed resistance; later, fragmentation led many Sikhs to form autonomous bands and guerrilla groups.
• By the mid-18th century the Sikh military organisation consolidated into the Dal Khalsa, placed under leaders such as Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, and subsequently split into a number of independent chieftaincies called misls.

Dal Khalsa and the Misls

After a period of guerrilla fragmentation, in 1748 Nawab Kapur Singh organised these bands into the Dal Khalsa. The Dal Khalsa was divided into several contingents or confederacies that later came to be known as the misls (an Arabic term meaning 'equal' or 'alike'), each led by an independent chief.

• Singhpuria Misl - Nawab Kapur Singh
• Ahluwalia Misl - Jassa Singh Ahluwalia
• Ramgarhia Misl - Jassa Singh Ramgarhia
• Phulkian Misl - Phul Singh
• Kanhiya Misl - Jai Singh
• Bhagi Misl - Hari Singh
• Sukarchakya Misl - Charat Singh
• Nishanwalia Misl - Sardar Sangat Singh
• Karor Singhia Misl - Bhagel Singh
• Dallewalia Misl - Gulab Singh
• Nakai Misl - Hira Singh
• Shahidi Misl - Baba Dip Singh
• Each misl had an independent chief (misldar) who governed his territory, shared booty when acting jointly, and kept military retainers who held land on condition of military service.
• Retainers enjoyed personal freedom to change service between chiefs; they generally did not receive pay but held land in return for military obligations.

Local Administration and Social Organisation

Panchayat System

• The village was the primary administrative unit and was governed by a panchayat which handled local disputes, administration and collective defence in emergencies.
• Key village functionaries typically included a headman, an accountant and a watchman.

Revenue and Sources of Income

The principal sources of income for chiefs and misls were:

• Land revenue
• Booty obtained in raids and wars
• Taxes on trade
• Heavy fines levied for offences and breaches of order

Land Revenue: Assessment and Collection

• Villages were classified for revenue purposes into those within the direct territory of a chief and those covered by the Rakhi system (a protection-tax arrangement).
• Land revenue rates were commonly set at one-fifth (1/5) of produce for artificially irrigated lands and one-fourth (1/4) for rain-fed lands.
• Revenue was generally collected twice a year in mixed forms of kind and cash instalments.
• Villages under the Rakhi system often paid between one-fifth and one-half (1/5-1/2) of the rental share; this levy functioned similarly to the chauth collected by Maratha forces.

Charity and Special Levies

• A special cess called "Aya Gaya" was levied to meet expenses for entertaining visiting guests and officials; it functioned as a local hospitality levy.

Justice and Judicial Procedure

• There was no highly centralised or elaborate judicial machinery. Local panchayats commonly decided civil suits, though appeals could be made to the chief of a misl.
• Criminal cases were handled by the chief and his officials; punishments were often severe, and could range up to mutilation. Capital punishment was rare.
• Monetary fines such as "Jurmana" and ritual compensations such as "Shukrana" were also levied as punishments or settlements.

Land Tenure Systems

Four principal forms of land tenure were common across these autonomous polities:

• Pattidari: Land was held in collective shares by pattidars (shareholders). Many holders below the rank of a sardar held land as pattidars and managed their holdings with relative autonomy.
• Misldari: Petty chiefs and retainers who aided the misl received land under misldari. Misldars could move allegiance between chiefs while generally retaining similar privileges.
• Tabedari: Retainers held land at the chief's pleasure and could lose it if their service or conduct displeased the chief; tenure was therefore conditional and non-hereditary.
• Jagirdari: Jagirs were often hereditary grants given to relatives and dependents of sardars; jagirdars were required to render military service to the chief in return for their holdings.

Social and Agrarian Unrest in the Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries

Various regional uprisings and social movements punctuated the period as rural populations resisted revenue demands, outsider encroachment and administrative changes introduced by regional authorities and later by the Company.

• Sanyasi Revolt: Sanyasis opposed restrictions by the Company on movement and pilgrimage to holy places.
• Kol Risings: The Kols of Chotanagpur protested the transfer of land to outsiders (notably violent disturbances in 1831).
• Santhal Rising (1855): Santhals under Sidhu and Kanhu rebelled against abuses by revenue officials, police, landlords and moneylenders.
• Ahom Revolt: Resistance to attempts to incorporate Ahom territory in Assam (Gomdhar Konwar's activities noted in relevant records).
• Khasi Rising: Local rulers opposed occupation of Jaintia and Garo territories by the Company; suppressed in 1833.
• Pagal Panthis and Faraizi Movements: Peasant and tenant movements that opposed zamindari oppression; Faraizis were followers of a Muslim reformist sect who supported tenant causes.

Gobind Singh and Banda Bahadur

• After the campaigns of Banda Bahadur the Sikh military groups fragmented into several predatory bands and adopted guerrilla tactics.
• By 1745 they had organised into as many as 65 roaming bands; in 1748 Nawab Kapur Singh consolidated many of these bands into the Dal Khalsa.
• The subsequent misls represented a decentralised confederacy of chiefs whose retainers held land in return for military service and who exercised independent judicial and fiscal authority in their domains.