Modern History

Rise of Regional
States
(Theory + MCQ)
By – Indo Pathshala
Contact Number – 9123206137
https://www.youtube.com/@indopathshala400

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 The death of Aurangzeb in 1707 triggered the decline of Mughal Empire in India. The rise of
regional powers was primarily due to the decline of the Mughal Empire

 Emperor Aurangzeb had depleted the military and financial resources of his empire by
fighting a long war in the Deccan

 Nobles who were appointed as governors (subadars) controlled the offices of revenue and
military administration (diwani and faujdari) which gave them extraordinary political,
economic and military powers over vast regions of the Mughal Empire

 Peasant and zamindari rebellions in many parts of northern and western India added to
these problems

 The Mughal Empire gradually disintegrated into a number of independent, regional states
throughout the eighteenth century

 The new states did not directly challenge his authority, instead of seeking his approval to
legitimize their rule. The emergence of these states in the eighteenth century thus
represented a polity transformation rather than a collapse. It represented power
decentralization rather than a power vacuum or political chaos

 However, none of these states were able to halt the economic crisis that had begun in the
17th century. They were all basically rent-seeking states.

 The zamindars and jagirdars, whose numbers and political power grew steadily, continued
to fight over agricultural income, while the peasantry's condition deteriorated

 While these states prevented internal trade breakdowns and even attempted to promote
foreign trade, they did nothing to modernize their states' basic industrial and commercial
structures

 Three overlapping categories can be used to generally classify the states of the eighteenth
century:

 States like Awadh, Bengal, and Hyderabad that once belonged to the Mughals. Despite the
fact that these republics were very strong and independent, their leaders had formal
relations with the Mughal Emperor.

 States known as watan jagirs possessed a great deal of freedom from the Mughals. Several
Rajput principalities were among them and Mysore

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  States governed by the Marathas, Sikhs, and other ethnic groups, such the Jats, made
comprised the final category. These were of various sizes, and after a protracted war with
the Mughals, they became independent

Hyderabad
 Chin Qulich Khan, a powerful noble at the imperial court who later took the title of Nizam-
ul-Mulk Asaf Jah, founded the autonomous kingdom of Hyderabad in 1724 was appointed
by Mughal Emperor Farrukh Siyar. He returned to Hyderabad after serving as a wazir in
Delhi for two years

 He never openly declared his independence from the Central government, but in practice
he ruled as an independent ruler

 He was entrusted first with the governorship of Awadh, and later given charge of the
Deccan

 He subdued the obstinate zamindars and showed tolerance toward Hindus wielding
economic power, and as a result, Hyderabad witnessed the emergence of a new regional
elite who supported the nizam

 The state of Hyderabad was perpetually at odds with the Marathas to the west and with
autonomous Telugu military chiefs (nayakas)

 Hyderabad began to experience a series of crises following the death of Nizam, Asaf Jah. The
Marathas, Mysore, and the Carnatic all settled their territorial scores with Hyderabad in the
years that followed

Awadh
 The historical region of Avadh in northern India is currently a part of the Uttar Pradesh
state. Saadat Khan Burhan-ul-Mulk, Safdar Jung/Adbdul Mansur, Shuja-ud-daula, Asaf-ud-
daula, and Wajid Ali Shah were the Nawabs of the Awadh State.

 Awadh was established as one of the twelve original subahs (top-level imperial provinces)
by Mughal emperor Akbar and it became a hereditary tributary polity after the death
of Aurangzeb in 1722.

 Its initial capital was Faizabad, and Saadat Ali Khan served as both the nation’s first
Subadar Nawab and the founder of the Awadh dynasty of Nawabs.

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  Burhan-ul-Mulk Sa’adat Khan founded one of the most significant nations to arise from the
collapse of the Mughal Empire in 1722 after being appointed subadar of Awadh

 Awadh was a prosperous region, controlling the rich alluvial Ganga plain and the main
trade route between north India and Bengal

 Burhan-ul-Mulk was the combined subadari, diwani, and faujdari

 Burhan-ul-Mulk attempted to reduce Mughal power in the Awadh region by lowering the
number of Mughal-appointed officeholders (jagirdars)

 The state depended on local bankers and mahajans for loans

 The privilege to collect the tax was sold to the highest bidder. These “revenue farmers”
(ijaradars) agreed to pay a set amount of money to the state. As a result, they were granted
great leeway in tax assessment and collection

 These improvements enabled new social groups, like moneylenders and bankers, to exert
influence over the management of the state’s tax system, which had not previously
occurred

Bengal
 The erstwhile Bengal region, which includes present day West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha and
various districts of Bangladesh, was one of the most significant provinces of the Mughal
Empire.

 The subedars of the province were known as Nawabs, and were responsible for Nizamat or
governance of the province. Though, nominally they were under the Mughals and paid
tribute to them, in reality after the weakening of Mughal Empire in 18th century they were
the actual rulers of the province

 Bengal gradually broke away from Mughal control under Murshid Quli Khan who was
appointed as the naib, deputy to the governor of the province and he was neither a formal
subadar

 Murshid Quli Khan was the first Nawab of Bengal, who served from 1717 to 1727. Murshid
Quli Khan, who was a brahmin by birth belonged to Burhanpur. After being converted to
Islam he was known as Muhammad Hadi

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  Like the rulers of Hyderabad and Awadh, he also commanded the revenue administration
of the state

 He sent all Mughal jagirdars to Orissa and ordered a detailed evaluation of Bengal’s income
to limit Mughal authority in Bengal

 The division of power that had existed throughout the Mughal period in order to keep both
imperial officers under control through a system of checks and balances was thus abolished

 The foundation of Bengal state was, of course, his very successful revenue administration,
which made Bengal a constant revenue-paying surplus area even during times of political
chaos elsewhere in the Empire

 Revenue was collected in cash from all zamindars with tremendous zeal

 This shows that all 3 States Hyderabad, Awadh, Bengal richest merchants, and bankers
were gaining a stake in the new political order

The Rajputs’ Watan Jagirs

 Many Rajput monarchs, especially those from Amber and Jodhpur, had distinguished
themselves in their service to the Mughals. In return, they were allowed a great deal of
freedom in their watan jagirs.

 These kings made an effort to take over neighbouring territories in the eighteenth century.
At the Mughal court, Ajit Singh, the ruler of Jodhpur, participated in factional politics

 These powerful Rajput families claimed the subadari of the rich provinces of Gujarat and
Malwa

 Gujarat was led by Raja Ajit Singh of Jodhpur, and Malwa was led by Sawai Raja Jai Singh of
Amber

 Emperor Jahandar Shah renewed these offices in 1713. They also attempted to expand their
territories by seizing portions of imperial territories adjacent to their watans

 They also attempted to expand their holdings by conquering parts of imperial lands
adjacent to their waters

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  While Amber seized large portions of Bundi, Nagaur was conquered and annexed to the
house of Jodhpur

 Sawai Raja Jai Singh created Jaipur as his new capital in 1722 after receiving the subadari
of Agra. Maratha operations into Rajasthan starting in the 1740s exerted heavy strain on
these principalities, preventing further growth

 The Rajputs gained political power after the disintegration of ancient India’s great empires,
and they ruled over regions such as Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana, and the Western Gangetic
plains from the 7th century onwards

 Rajput-ruled kingdoms dominated central and northern India until the 20th century.

 Sawai Raja Jai Singh was the most outstanding Rajput ruler of the eighteenth century. He
was a great reformer and made Jaipur a veritable museum of intellectual activities.

 He founded the city of Jaipur on strict architectural principle. Himself a great astronomer,
he erected observatories with sophisticated instruments at Delhi, Jaipur, Ujjain, Varanasi
and Mathura

Mysore
 Vijayanagar Empire ended in early 18th century. Yet the kingdom of Mysore preserved its
independence. It was being ruled by the two ministers Nanjaraj (the Sarvadhikan) and
Devraj (the Dulwai). The king of Mysore, Chikka Krishna Raj was mere a puppet in hands of
the two ministers

 Nizam-ul-Mulk regarded Mysore as Mughal territory and his successors also considered
that Mysore was a part of their Kingdom. The Marathas repeatedly invaded Mysore

 In the Anglo-French conflict Mysore involved itself but failed to make any political or
territorial gain. It was Haidar Ali, a military adventurer of humble origin, who made Mysore
powerful

 Haider modernized his army with French experts who trained efficient infantry and
artillery and instilled European discipline in the Mysore army

 The method of levying land taxes directly on peasants and collecting them through salaried
officials and in cash was established by Haider and later his son Tipu Sultan, considerably
extending the state’s resource base

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  This boosted the state’s resources and allowed it to consolidate its military hegemony.
Mysore’s territorial ambitions and commercial interests led to conflicts with other regional
powers and the English.

 Haider defeated the English at Madras in 1769. Tipu Sultan continued his father’s policies
after Haider died in 1782

 Tipu questioned the Mughal emperor’s political legitimacy and sought a sanad from the
Ottoman Khalif to legitimize his rule.

 Mysore under Tipu continued to grow as a formidable power. He sent envoys to France and
Turkey (1787) and received some vague encouragement. Supported science and
technology, known as the “pioneer of rocket technology” in India. Supported democracy
and helped French soldiers establish a Jacobin Club in 1797

 Tipu considered himself a realist, accepting Mughal authority when it suited him and
rejecting it when it did not. Tipu was defeated by the English in 1799, leading to the end of
his reign

The Maratha
 The Maratha Empire also known as the Maratha Confederacy was a Hindu state which
existed from about 1674 to 1818. At its peak, the empire’s territories covered almost one-
third of South Asia

 The Maratha Empire was established by Shivaji after the weakening of Mughals and its
power was consolidated by Peshwas, a line of Prime Ministers. They presented the largest
threat to the expansion of British Empire in India

 Shivaji (1627-1680) 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

 Poona was designated as the capital of the Maratha kingdom. Following Shivaji, Peshwas
[chief ministers] established a highly effective military organization by attacking cities and
confronting Mughal forces in locations where supply lines and reinforcements could be
easily disrupted

 By the 1730s, the Maratha king was recognised as the overlord of the entire Deccan
peninsula. He possessed the right to levy chauth[25 per cent of the land revenue claimed by
zamindars]. and sardeshmukhi[9-10 per cent of the land revenue paid to the head revenue
collector in the Deccan] in the entire region
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  After invading Delhi in 1737, the Maratha empire’s frontiers grew, but these places were
not technically included in the Maratha empire and were forced to pay tribute as a manner
of admitting Maratha control

 The Maratha Empire was at its zenith in the eighteenth century, under the leadership of
Shahu and the Peshwa Baji Rao I. The losses suffered by the Marathas at the Third Battle of
Panipat in 1761, brought an end to further expansion of the empire and reduced the power
of the Peshwas to a greater extent

 By all accounts cities[Malwa, Ujjain etc] were large and prosperous and functioned as
important ant commercial and cultural centers show the effective administration capacities
of Marathas

The Jats
 Similar to the other successor states the Jats also consolidated their power during the late
seventeenth and eighteenth-centuries. They were the first section to come in conflict with
the Mughal government.

 The Jats were mostly peasant cultivators, only a few of them being Zamindars. The conflict
of Jats had taken place during the reign of Jahangir and Shah Jahan over the collection of
land revenue.

 Since the imperial road to the Deccan and the western seaports passed through the jat area,
the Mughal government had taken serious view of these rebellions and taken stern action

 Under their leader, Churaman, they gained control of territories to the west of Delhi, and by
the 1680s, they had begun to dominate the region between the two imperial cities of Delhi
and Agra

 The Jats were successful farmers, and in areas where they predominated, towns like
Panipat and Ballabhgarh developed into significant trading hubs.

 Bharatpur’s kingdom expanded under Suraj Mal to become a significant state. Many of
Delhi’s notables sought refuge there when Nadir Shah stormed the city in 1739

 To fight the Mughals, his son Jawahir Shah had 30,000 troops of his own and hired another
20,000 Maratha and 15,000 Sikh troops.

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  While the fort at Bharatpur was built in a fairly traditional style, the Jats built an elaborate
garden palace at Dig that combined styles seen at Amber and Agra

 During Shah Jahan’s reign, the architectural styles used in its structures were inspired by
those used by royalty

The Sikhs
 The establishment of the Sikhs as a political group in the seventeenth century facilitated
the creation of a Punjabi regional state. Both before and after the Khalsa was founded in
1699, Guru Gobind Singh engaged in a number of conflicts with Rajput and Mughal
emperors.

 The rise of Sikh power was coincidental with the decline of Mughal Power in Delhi. In this
period, Many Sikh sardars became owners of large parts of land called as Misls. The head of
these Misls were called Misldars

 Banda Bahadur was apprehended in 1715 and executed the following year. The Sikhs
organized themselves into a number of bands called jathas, and later misls, under a
number of capable leaders in the eighteenth century. The grand army was the name given
to their combined forces (dal khalsa)

 The repeated invasions by the western invaders were responsible for acquiring of martial
skills by the people of Punjab for their survival. The Misldars were militarily very strong.
Although powerful, Misls were not consolidated politically

 Following his death in 1708, the Khalsa rose in revolt against Mughal authority, declaring
sovereign rule by striking coins in the names of Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh, and
establishing their own administration between the Sutlej and the Jamuna

 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

 Their tight-knit organization allowed them to successfully resist Mughal administrators

and then Ahmad Shah Abdali, who had conquered the rich province of Punjab and the
Sarkar of Sirhind from the Mughals

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  In 1765, the Khalsa asserted their sovereign rule by minting their coin. The coin was the
same as it had been under Band Bahadur’s reign

 In the late eighteenth century, Sikh lands stretched from the Indus to the Jamuna, although
they were partitioned between various kings. One of them, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, brought
these factions together and made Lahore his capital in 1799.

Important Question Related to Rise of Regional States.

Shivaji submitted to Jai Singh and signed the treaty of
A. Poona
B. Purandhar
C. Konkan
D. Surat

Answer: Option B

The Peshwa’s Secretariat at Pune (Poona), the pivot of the Maratha government was known as
A. Huzur Daftar
B. El Beriz Daftar
C. Chalte Dafter
D. Peshwa Dafter

Answer: Option A

In which year, Shivaji was crowned as the Chhatrapati?

A. 1608
B. 1674
C. 1646
D. 1710

Answer: Option B

Chhatrapati Sambhaji (1680-1688 AD) was the ruler of which dynasty?

A. Maratha
B. Nanda
C. Haryanka
D. Maurya

Answer: Option A

Bajirao-I (1720-1740 AD) was the ruler of which dynasty?

A. Nanda
B. Peshwas
C. Haryanka
D. Maurya
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Answer: Option B

Shivaji founded the Maratha kingdom by annexing the territories of

A. Bijapur
B. Mughals
C. Both (a) and (b) above
D. Bijapur Golcunda and the Mughals

Answer: Option C

After the death of Rajaram in 1700A.D., Marathas continued the war against the Mughals under
his brave wife
A. Tarabai
B. Lakshmibai
C. Ramabi
D. Jijabai

Answer: Option A

Sambaji plundered the Mughal territories in

A. Deccan
B. Gujarat
C. Punjab
D. Bengal

Answer: Option A

Banda Bahadur, a Sikh leader who led a revolt against the Mughals after the assassination of Guru
Gobind Singh, was captured and executed during the reign of
A. Bahadur Shah
B. Aurangzeb
C. Jahandar Shah
D. Farrukh Siyar
Answer: Option D

Guru Gobind Singh had sent Banda Bahadur to Punjab

A. To propagate the Sikh religion
B. To show off his strength and valour
C. To crush the enemies of Khalsa
D. To establish a Sikh empire

Answer: Option C

Zafarnama was letter written to a Mughal emperor by which of the following Sikh Gurus?
A. Hari Rai
B. Arjan Dev
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C. Tegh Bahadur
D. Gobind Singh

Answer: Option D

Khalsa Panth was created by Guru Gobind Singh in which year?

A. 1599
B. 1707
C. 1699
D. 1657

Answer: Option C

Sawai Raja Jai Singh was the ruler of __________

A. Amber
B. Ajmer
C. Satara
D. Kannauj

Answer: Option A

The Battle of Buxar fought between __________

A. The English the Nawab of Bengal and the French
B. Mir Kasim the Nawab of Bengal Nawab of Oudh and Shah Alam II The Mughal Emperor
C. Akbar II the Nawab of Bengal and Nawab of Oudh
D. Akbar II the Nawab of Bengal and the Marathas

Answer: Option B

The Mughal troops were largely drawn from

A. The Rajput Chiefs
B. Tributary Chiefs
C. Mansabdars
D. Central Contingents

Answer: Option C

Which of the following is not true about Tipu Sultan?

A. He was a Great admirer of Jagadguru Sankracharya of Sringeri
B. His autobiography was Tarikh-i-Khudai
C. He died during the fourth Anglo-Mysore war
D. He laid the foundation of Krishnaraj Sagar Dam on Cauvery

Answer: Option C

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Which of the following are the four Agnikula classes of Rajputs?
A. Tomars Pariharas Chauhans Pawars
B. Chandellas Tornars Solankis Chauhans
C. Chandellas Pariharas Chauhans Pawars
D. Pariharas Chauhans Pawars Solankis

Answer: Option D

Which statement (s) is/are correct related to Mughal’s decline?,

I. Mughal’s noble were well known for their loyalty but war of successor degenerated the nobility
led to the decline of Mughal.,

II. Mughal Empire declined due to over decentralization of administration.

A. Only I
B. Only II
C. Both I and II
D. Neither I and II

Answer: Option A

When was the second Anglo-Mysore War fought?

A. 1780-84
B. 1788-89
C. 1784-88
D. 1770-74

Answer: Option A

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