CHAPTER1 0

New Political1Formations
in 18th Century
the

The Big ldea History Maker

Bhimsen
ethe Later Mughals Nuskha-i Dilkusha (also known as Tarikh-i
e rise of independent kingdoms Dilkusha) was written by Bhimsen around thee
ethe Marathas same time as Aurangzeb's reign. It gives details
oflife under the Mughals duringthe time of
Aurangzeb, and also tells us a little about the
Maratha leader Shivaji.

ANa Glance Political Formations during 18th century

Reasons Behind the

Downfall of the Mughals Rise of Regional Powers

the Rajputs
the Sikhs Awadh Hyderabad Bengal Mysore Marathas

Sawai Raja Guru Gobind Singh

lal Singh Saadat Khan Asaf Jah Murshid Quli Khan Hyder Ali
Ranjit Singh Shuja-ud-din Tipu Sultan
Shivaji
Alivardi Khan

neline
C. 1627 CE 1680 CE 1724 CE
state of Hyderabad
Birth of Shivaji death of Shivaji
founded

1600CE 1700 cE 1701 cE-1800 CE

1674 cCE 1713 cE

Shivaji's coronation Peshwa rule of the
Marathas established" HISTORY 89
 kh and kin Heletves the
manage huge empire.
re. Soom-
h e Mughal Empire began declining
durin
reign. overnors
declared Soom, the dista
themselves
of Aurangzeb's
the last years
Thereafter, independent regional
kingdoms
distinct political,
Vastness of the Empire:
successors were The
incapable of
independen
came into existence with their We
economic and cultural systems. The
18th century 1s Mughal Empire that managing
stretched across
he
characterised as a period of political and
economic India and some territories in the s northen
cost of administering such a vast e Ihe
change in India.
huge.
DOWNFALL OF THE MUGHAL Wars of Succession: The Mughals did
EMPIRE have a clear succession
policy.
Shaj From
Jahan onwards, most successive Mughal
There were several causes for the decline of the ascended the throne
rulers had by
Mughal Empire. They are as follows:
his kith and kin. These wars of killing
Bahadur success
WeakSuccessors of Aurangzeb:was weak tarnished the image of the Mughal rulers
Shah I, who succeeded Aurangzeb, Policies of Aurangzeb: Aurangzeb's gd
and inefficient. Successors of Aurangzeb
were all weak and incompetent, and
could not Teligious policy led to serious revolts bythe
Rajputs, the Sikhs, the
Jats and the Satnamis
Rise of Regional Powers Moreover, he spent the
in the 18th Century last years of his reign in
Peshawar KA`HMIR
the south fighting the
J h e l u n p

Enoreo
SIKH CeMab) Marathas at the cost of
the northern part of his
RO

^ull Earlamg kungpa empire. Z O

Kamalo
MUGHAKS
Delhi
ROHLKHANDS Powerful Nobility:
Bareily rakmapure The nobles became very
Jaipur JATS cknow |

RAJPUTS Gwalic
alior n AWADHPatna powerful during the rule
b

Koraabad Bukar of the Later Mughals.

Chem
Allahaba0 BENO
Murshidabap to control
MARATHAS PlasseyO They sought
GAEKWAD HOLXAR
Chandemagore (Fr)O
administration,
and m
Baroga madinIndore N D A Calcytta the
BHONSLE iahamad
cases
also declared
Nagpure O Sambalput some

themselves independent
Bassei
Salsette
NORTHERNCIRCARS
Bombay (Br. PESHWAA
nduuari 41 Defects in the
OPune
ARRABIAN
B E N GAL Mansabdari System:
L OHyderabad
Kiisina NIZAM'S
J a g i r s b e c a m e hereditary

TERRITORIES coruption
GOA Knnar
which led to
(Portu.
and factionalism.
Madras
9Adot Shah's
Pondichery (Fr.) Nadir Nadir
Karaikal nvasion;
In 1739,
Tanjore of
Delhi
raid
TRANVANCORE
Shah's death knell
MAPPING rang the
GEOGRAPHY SKILLBULDER: Understanding directions empire
Mughal
o f the away
Look at the Maratha Kingdom. Write down the names of the modern carried
Shah
Indian states that formed a part of the kingdom. Nadir

2 Name the cities that were a partofthe Sikh state.

90 HISTORY
 enormous wealth, including the Kohinoor
diamond and the Peacock Throne. Connect to History
Many forts were
ISE OF THE REGIONAL POWERS constructed by the
Rajputs to defend their
Three types of regional
powers arose with the centres of power.These
declining power oftheMughals. massive structures
. Firstly, there were the old provinces of included places for
the Mughals such as Awadh, Bengal and living, temples, water
reservoirs and trading
Hyderabad who though independent, centres.
maintained a connection with them in name. DY.
Secondly, there were the so called 'watan T h e Sikhs
jagirs of the Rajputs, who had managed to
exist with considerable independence under Guru Gobind
the Mughals.
Singh (1666
1708 CE), the
.Thirdly, there were the powers that rebelled tenth Sikh Guru
against the Mughals and declared their organised the
independent status, such as the Jats, Marathas Sikhs into a
and so on. Khalsaormilitary
brotherhood and
The Rajputs fought against the
Mughals and the
Sawai Raja Jai Singh (1681-1743CE) of Amber
is remembered as a prominent Rajput ruler. neighbouring hill
states. The-Sikhs
He was the governor of Malwa.
werehowever,
Sawai RajaJaiSingh founded Jaipur, one defeatedby-the-
of the finest planned cities of India and the Mughals an illustration of Maharaja
capital of the present-day state of Rajasthan. Ranjit Singh
During the reign
'An accomplished astronomer, Sawai Jai of Bahadur Shah I, the Sikhs emerged as
Singh also built observatories with highly a powerfül group under the leadership of
sophisticated instruments in Jaipur, Delhi, Banda Bahadur who fought the Mughals for
Ujjain, Mathura and Varanasi. These were eight years.
commonly known as Jantar Mantar.T ® After his death, the Sikhs organised
Constantinfighting, their inability to organise themselves into 12 misls or groups, which
themselves as a cohesive unit as well as subjugation were later organised into a single force by
by the Marathas, led to the decline of the Rajputs. Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
Jantar Mantar in Jaipur

HISTORY 91
 aob SOme one belnr d rbyal famy

T eIzing Lahore in 1799 CE

and Amritsar brought the rebellious
1802 CE, Ranjit Singh established one of the Deccan region under their zamindars
strongest kingdoms of the period. ] control
Oo The Nizams also
opposed the gro
of the Marathas.
AWADH
Awadh emerged as an independent state Bengal
comprising the regions around Lucknow, Kanpur,
The Nawabs of Bengal were
Varanasi and some areas near Allahabad. It had initially a
rich agricultural resources and controlled the trade
as governors of the

the
region.
political instability at
Taking advantagointedof
the
between Bengal and north India.
became de facto rulers. Mughal court, they
the-
The first Nawab of Awadh was Burhan-ul- actual
Mulk Saadat Khan. He was appointed as
The Mughal Emperor Farrukhsiyar appointei
the subedar of Awadh. Murshid Quli Khan as the
Bengal in 1717 CE. The latter governor of
Saadat Khan reduced the number of jagirdars his independence and shifted hislater declared
capital from
in the state. He also appointed 'revenue Dhaka to Murshidabad.
farmers called ijaradars, who collected
H e was succeeded by
revenue on behalf of the Nawab and paid the Shuja-ud-din (1727-39
CE) and Alivardi Khan (1740-56 CE).
Awadh state a fixed sum of money.
The nawabs took a number of steps for
H e was succeeded by his son-in-law Safdar
efficient administration of Bengal in terms of
Jung, under whose reign the state of Awadh
restructuring the administration, effectively
extended up to Rohilkhand.
tackling corrupt and inefficient officials,
encouraging the growth of agriculture, trade
Hyderabad and industry, and regularising the collection
OLNizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah was a powerful Mughal of revenue.] m 0 9
noble in the court of Farrukhsiyar and Muhammad
Shah dats
P nitialy, he entrusted with the
was The Jats consolidated their power under ther
governorship of Awadh and later given leader Churaman, and brought the rego
charge of the Deccan ASáMughal subedar, between Delhi and Agra under their control
all financial and military
powers were
concentrated in his hands. He was
responsible The
The Lohagarh (Iron
(Iron Fort)
Fort) in
in
for
managingthe executive and
judicial Bharatpur was built by Suraj Mal.
departments. The title of Nizam-ul-Mulk was
conferred upon him by
Farrukhsiyar
R Thereafter, with the decline of Mughal
authority, Asaf. Jah_established the
independent state of|Hyderabad in 1724 CE.
6 He founded the Asaf
Jahi dynasty and his
successors, known as the Nizams, set up
an efficient system of administration and

Words to Know subedar: the governor of the suba, a Mughal province, usualy eror
de facto: actual appointed by the Mughal emp
92 HISTORY
 Shivaji seized the fort of Torana at the age
of 16, followed by the forts at Kondana and

Raigad.
him
T h e conquest of the Javli kingdom made
supreme in the Mavala region, thus-paving
theway-fer-further conquestsin the Konkan
regior
The Deeg Palace is a garden Shivaji successfully dealt with the Mughals
palace built by the Jat rulers. by bypassing their main forts and attacking
their cities and supply lines.
Agriculture was their main source of income. He assumed the title of Chhatrapati
1674 in ceremony at
Bharatpur emerged as strong kingdom
a
(severeignking) in CE a

Mal. Many nobles Raigad.

under the rule of Suraj
from Delhi took refuge
in Bharatpur, when
Nadir Shah attacked and plundered the capital
city of the Mughals.

CASE STUDY: THE MARATHAS

Agroup of people who were successful in carving
outapowerfiul rgional kingdom through prolonged
and sustained opposition to the Mughals were the
Marathas. The Maratha story began with Shivaji.

ruins ofthe Raigad Fort

Sombho
Shivaji's son Sambbaji was defeated and
killed by the Mughals. His successors were
weak and gradually power effectively passed
intothe hands ofthe Peshwas(1713-1818 CE).
Under the first three Peshwas, the Maratha
empire gradually expanded and became
powerful.
Balaji Vishwanath (1713-20 CE), the first
Shivaji Peshwa, was an expert administrator and
ivaji was born in 1627 CE, to an official at under him, the office of Peshwa became
e court of Bijapur, Shahji Bhonsle. hereditary.
He leamt the art of administration
and Baji Rao I succeeded his father Balaji
guerrilla warfare under the guardianship of Vishwanath and
Dadaji Kondadeva, pursued
expansionist policy. He brought Gujarat,
an ambitious

ords to Know guerrilla: a form of warfare by a small group of soldiers who attack the enemy suddenly andswiftlyand then flee and
guerrilla: a
hide in the surrounding hills and forests
Peshwa: the main minister of the Maratha kings, who became really powerful in the 18th century
HISTORY 93
 The Maratha Army
Malwa and Bundelkhand under his control. He
defeated the Nizam of Hyderabad and capturea Shivaji appointed nobles and officia
Bassein and Salsette from the Portuguese on merit.

He maintained strict discipline in hi

Under Balaji Baji Rao, the Maratha kingdom
reached its greatest extent wherein both Delhi and paid his soldiers well. army
and Punjab were captured in the years 1753 .The Maratha army included infantrv. e
and 1758, respectively. artillery and even a navy. valry,
Ihe period under study also saw the rise of Forts played an important role in Maratha
powertul Maratha families like the Bhonsle, warfare. Shivaji repaired many old forts
and
built new ones.
Gaekwad, Scindia and Holkar.
The army mostly adopted the guerrilla made
The Mughals entered into a treaty with the
of warfare, which proved successful.
Marathas by which:
the Marathas would defend the Mughal The Maratha Land Revenue System
empire from further invasions by Ahmad
Land revenue was the main source of income for
Shah Abdali.
the Maratha state. The assessment of land was
the Mughals granted the Marathas the right to done regularly and land revenue was fixed after a
collect taxes like chauth and sardeshmukhi
proper survey. It was contingent on the quality of
from many areas.
and its yield.
land
The growth ofthe Maratha empire induced a certain
degree of anxiety amongst the Sikhs, the Rajputs, e land was divided into two categories:
the Nizams of Hyderabad, Nawabs of Bengal, : Swarajya ftmderMaratha-contro) and
and so on. Therefore, when the Marathas clashed Mughlai fnet-directly-under-the
the-controt-ef
with Ahmad Shah Abdali in the Third Battle_of the-Marathas-butunder their attherity).
Panipat in 1761 CE none of these powers extended Two (kinds of taxes were levied on the
military aid to them resulting in the beginning of Mughlai lands: chauth and sardeshmukh,
the decline of the Marathas.
Chauth was one-fourth of the yield of the
The Maratha Administration territory
. T h estate was divided into prants or provinces Sardeshmukhi was one-tenth of the yield.
which were further subdivided into tarafs
I n the swarajya lands, each d two-
(districts), and manza (sub-districts). farmer
tifths of his produce to the state as tax, eitnc
The administration of the kingdom was in cash or
kind. )
carried on with the aid of the ashtapradhan LO
or the council of eight ministers. During a famine ora bad harvest, grains an
and
money were advanced to the farmers, a
The most important functionary was the
Peshwa or prime minister who looked after
they could repay the same in easy instalmen
civil and military affairs of the empire. Agriculture was actively encouraged, along with
trade. and
Theldabir looked after foreign affairs and the Existing trade routes were protectu
new trade routes
senapati was the commander in chief. were
encouraged.
Extensive were
The secretary or chitnis, managed royal
undertaken
fortificationof
by the
territories
of
correspondence. Marathas, the Scm lias
Gwalior, the Holkars of Indore,
S o f

the B
Nagpur and the Gaekwads of
94 HIST ORY
a o9 boundaie newr o Baroda.
Medec aMea.
h a tW a s Jas Happening Elsewhere GLOBAL CONNECT OTTOMAN EMPIRE
The Decline of the Ottoman Empire

century,
winds ofchange began to blow across
18th this signified the decline and
For some,
Europe.
and empires, especially
disappeara re
of grand institutions
Asiaà

others, particul in Europe, it heralded the

while for
This period saw not only the decline of
f a n e w age.
Empire in outh
b e g i n n i n g

Asia, but also the Safavids in Persi.

Mughal
the
Ottomans
in Turkey.
and the
Theoverseascommercial expansion of the western European
of new technologies and rationalist
the adoption
powers,

the e m e r g e n c e
ofstrong, centralised, national
attudes

the absence of a clear policy of

in western Europe Ottoman Empire
old map from the
m o n a r c h i e s

etc. were major factors that led to forthe decline of an

SuCcession,
the Ottoman Empire.

Chapter Checklist
have understood.
Tick() the concepts you
number of crises towards the end of the 17th century.
TheMughal empire faced a
not able to hold the empire together.
The weak successors of Aurangzeb
were

further weakened the Mughal empire.

Foreign invasions
Bengal, Awadh, Hyderabad, the Marathas and the Sikhs was consequence
Therise ofregional kingdoms likethe
ofthe weak political structure of Mughal empire.
eventually successful in carving out large
a
the Mughals and were
The Marathas offered stiff resistance to
empire under the leadership of Chhatrapati Shivaji.

Let's Recall
Based on your understanding, tick () the correct option.
transform themselves into a military brotherhood?
1. Which Sikh guru encouraged the Sikhs to
a. Banda Bahadur
b. Guru Teg Bahadur Guru Gobind Singh
2. Who was the first Nawab of Awadh?

a. Alivardi Khan b. Saadat Khan Asaf Jah

throne were looted by:
3. The Kohinoor diamond and the Peacock
a. Ahmad Shah Abdali b. Ismail Shah Nadir Shah
4. Asaf Jah was the founder of the independent state of
C. Hyderabad
a. Bundelkhand .Rohilkhand
5. Which military tactic adopted by the Marathas proved successful against the Mughals?

guerrilla warfare b. mobile archery C. cannons

HISTORY 95
 and rewrite the incorrect statem.
a t e whether the following statements are true orfalse nts to
correct them.
1.
Aurangzeb was the last Mughal. Fale
2.The Gobind Singh.
Sikhsformeda separate state underGuru ]uJe
3. Banda Bahadur
fought the Mughals for 20 years. Falle
4 The Marathas faced Ahmed Shah Abdali inthe Third Battle of Panipat. 19ie
.
Answer the following in one sentence.
What did Awadh, Bengal and
Hyderabad have in common?
How did Jaipur
2 develop under the Rajputs? 1/
D o you think Bengal had
4. What was
efficient administrative system?
an 2
Maharaja Ranjit Singh's contribution to the development of Sikh regional power? Po 9
V. Answer the
following questions in brief.
1. What were the administrative
steps taken by the Nawabs of Bengal? Pa.2
2. Write a short note on
Shivaji. Rg 45
3. Examine the land administration of the Marathas. P
evenue
4
4. How did the
Mughal nobles become so powerful that they contributed to the downfall of the
Empire? How did the policies of Mughal
V. Answer the
Aurangzeb contribute to the decline? a.0
following questions in detail.
1. Write a short note on the reasons for the decline of the
2. Describe the establishment of Sikh Mughal empire.Pg. Go
regional power. Pq q11
.How was the state of Hyderabad established? Pa
4. What do you know about
the Maratha land
2
revenue system? Same anKwN
VI. Look at this
picture and answer the following questions: eIN fa 49
1. Whose statue is
shown in the photograph?M ahoaja Raniit
2. How did he create one
of the strongest kingdoms
of
Siah
the period under study?
Lahore(n99 CE) ard Seized
astatue at Amritsar Amutar ( 18oa CE)

ntttertCCS
HISTORY
My History Corner
hrough Their Eyes: magine yourselfas the chief builder of Sawai Jai Singh's astronomical observatories.
W o r l dT h r o u

you
tobuild
bu the Jantar Mantar at Jaipur. Write a letter to the ruler, Sawai Jai Singh, outlining your plan.
instructs

e
tivitv: Divide the class into groups and ask each group to prepare a chart on the different regional
G r o u pA c t i

that a r o s e
the 18th century.
iers

HOTS

over the past, with its changing empires that rose andfell, and you can foresee the future, too.
Look back
Marcus Aurelius

dhse the medieval period of Indian history in the light of this statement.
Anayse t

Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah

Jai Singh
Sana Raa

HISTORY 97