Chapter 16
Emergence of Independent States
KA Gha om Rast Multan Detha Jodhpur Rag Aga. Joure Amer Meww SIND Berres Namdabad Guarat
Beg Surat Hugo Ahoradraga Man BAY OF BENGAL GOOD ARABIAN SEA. Spur Mysore Go Madres Pondicherry Calato
Cochin INDIAN LANKA OCEAN Independent States
The Mughal empire had
knitted the whole country into one single unit.
The death of the Emperor Aurangzeb led to a steady decline of the Mughal
empire. Gradually, it lost its glory and
the empire became limited to only a few square kilometres around Delhi. In 1803, the British army occupied Delhi and
the Mughal emperor became a mere pensioner.
The wars of succession had become a tradition among the Mughals. This deteriorated the political and the
financial condition of the empire. Many
local and regional forces started emerging in India. In the eighteenth century, a large number of
independent and semi - independent powers came to the front like Bengal, Awadh,
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Hyderabad, Mysore and Maratha kingdoms. The British had to overcome these powers to
establish their empire in India. Some of
these states had come into existence because of the breaking away of the
governors of the provinces from the Mughal empires. Some other states came into powe. because of the revolts by local Chiefs and
Zamindars. But unfortunately, they were
not able to improve the economic condition of their states. BENGAL Murshid Quli Khan took advantage of
the weak central authority and took over the control or Bengal where he had
been appointed as a Subedor and then a Dewan.
He became the Governor of the province of Bengal only in 1717 CE and
established internal and external peace there.
He organized the revenue system and gave loans to the poor cultivators. He granted equal opportunities to the Hindus
and Muslims in the appointment to high official posts. After the death of Murshid Quli Khan, Shuja -
ud - din and Alivardi Khan became the Nawabs of Bengal later. All three Nawabs of Bengal realized the
importance of trade and thus, provided Do You Know? all facilities to the local and foreign
merchants. They built roads, thanas,
etc. The Nawabs of Bengal were short -
sighted and they were even forced the officers of the East failed to see the
increasing threat of the East India Company, as they were ignorant of the
destruction India Company to obey the laws of the caused by Western trading
companies in Africa, land and pay the
same customs duty as parts of Asia and South America, was paid by local
merchants. AWADH Saadat Khan laid the
foundation of a kingdom in the province of Awadh when the Mughal emperor
Muhammad Shah appointed him as the Governor of Awadh in 1722 CE. He controlled the opposition by the zamindors
and reformed the revenue system to protect the peasants from the
zamindars. He established an efficient
administration and a well - paid, well - trained and well - armed army. Saadat Khan's nephew, Safdar Jung, succeeded
him in 1739 CE. He also became a Wazir
at the Mughal court. He established
peace which led to the development and prosperity of Awadh. It also helped in the growth of Lucknavi
culture around the Awadh court.
HYDERABAD The state of Hyderabad was founded by Nizam - ul - Mulk Asaf
Jah in 1724 CE. He was a powerful noble
under the Mughal emperor, Farrukh Siyar.
He was made the Viceroy of Deccan to suppress the opposition and to
establish an efficient administration.
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administration, but was disgusted with the corruption and
fickle - mindedness of the emperor. He
decided to go back to Deccan and laid the foundation of Hyderabad state, but
never openly declared sh ay in 1720 CE, he became a Wazir of the Emperor,
Muhammad Khan. He tried to improve the
Hyderabad again. mis independence from
the Mughal ruler. He suppressed the
revolts of zamindars and put an end to the corruption in the revenue
system. But after his death in 1748 CE,
disturbance started in the states of Bengal, Awadh and Hyderabad never openly
asserted their independence even though they had established independent
kingdoms. They continued to please the
emperor by sending tributes or by helping him in the time of need. But, there were other states that openly
asserted their independence from the Mughal empire. They were the Sikhs, the Marathas and the
Rajputs. SIKHS Guru Nanak was the first
guru of Sikhs. Sikhism was a religious
reform movement but Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth guru, transformed the Sikhs
into a powerful political and military force.
He fought many wars against Aurangzeb.
After the demise of Guru Gobind Singh, the institution of Guruship came
to an end. The leadership of the Sikhs
passed into the hands of his trusted disciple, Banda Bahadur. He tried to unite the peasants and the lower
castes and wage an unequal war against the Mughal army but failed. The upper castes in Punjab were against him
and hence, joined his opponents. Guru
Nanak Do You Know? Maharaja Ranjit Singh
acquired the world famous Koh - I - Noor, diamond and brought it back to India
which had been taken away by Nadir Shah.
The plunder caused by the invasion of Nadir Shah and Ahmed Shah Abdali
gave an opportunity to the Sikhs to rise once again. They looted and fortified their army to
establish a Sikh state. They took over
Punjab and Jammu. 133
At the end of eighteenth century, Ranjit Singh rose to
power. He was a born leader, a brave
soldier and an able administrator. He
captured Lahore and Amritsar. He brought
all the Sikh chiefs under his control and established his kingdom in
Punjab. He also conquered Kashmir,
Peshawar and Multan His army was well equipped and disciplined. It comprised of Sikhs as well as Gurkhas,
Biharis, Oriyas, Pathans, Dogras and Punjabi Muslims. He also manufactured cannons. Ranjit Singh used the political power for the
benefit of all the communities, as he was tolerant towards other
religions. His most trusted minister was
Fakir Azizuddin and his finance minister was Dewan Dina Nath. He was a clever diplomat. When the British took over the control of the
Sikh states in Maharaja Ranjit Singh the east of Satluj, he kept quiet as he
realised his superior military strength.
In this way, he saved his own kingdom from them for the time being. After his death, the British conquered his
kingdom. MARATHAS Shivaji challenged the
powerful empire of Mughals during the reign of Aurangzeb and laid the
foundation of the Maratha state. The
brilliant Maratha commanders and statesmen filled the vacuum created by the
disintegrating Mughal authority. They
became a major political power in India and succeeded in capturing Delhi in
1760. But they failed to replace the Mughal empire because of lack of unity and
organized programmes. But their constant
wars destroyed the Mughal empire.
Shivaji was an able administratoranda military commander. His mother Jija Bai instilled patriotism in
him. He captured the Forts of Torana and
Purandar and fought many battles against Bijapur and the Viceroy of Deccan. You have read that Aurangzeb had sent Jai
Singh to persuade Shivaji to meet the Mughal emperor but was tricked and was
imprisoned. He managed to run away from
the prison along with his son Sambhaji, hidden in fruit baskets. Shivaji 134
Aurangzeb had to accept Shivaji as a king and want fum the
Jagir of Berar. Shivaji established a
Hindu state and took over the title of Chhatrapati. of Shivaji and his aunt Tara Bai that divided
the loyalty do you know? A civil war
started between Shahu, the grandson Shivaji divided his empire into three
parts: Swaraj or own kingdom, Mulk - t - quadim or old territory and the
territories that were a part of Mughal empire.
of the Maratha sardars. The
Maratha government underwent a change under Balaji Vishwanath, the Peshwa
domination began. peshwa (Chief
Minister) of King Shahu and a period of the Maratha power spread over Malwa,
Gujarat and parts of Bundelkhand. Nizam
- ul - Mulk of Deccan was forced to grant the chauth and sardeshmukhi to the
Marathas. The Marathas made repeated attacks
on Bengal and forced the Nawab of Bengal to do you know? give them Orissa (now Odisha). The main source of the state income was taxes
The Maratha army was strengthened by like chauth and sardeshmukhi Chauth was
one including European style infantry and artillery. fourth of the land revenue. It was collected in return of the protection
provided to the territories which were not under the direct control of the
king. Sardeshmukhi was an additional tax
of ten per cent which Shivaji demanded as he was the Chief (Head) of
Maharashtra. An efficient team of
officers ran the administration under the Maratha king. There were 280 forts in Shivaji's
possession. A Havaldar controlled each
fort and the surrounding territory. The
army was also divided into different grades.
Shivaji's army was well - known for Guerilla Warfare which suited the
mountainous region. A small band of
soldiers could easily attack the large enemy force and then run away to safety
RAJPUTS Many Rajputs tried to establish independent states after the death of
Aurangzeb. Ajit Singh, the King of
Marwar (Jodhpur) and Sawai Jai Singh, the King of Amber (Jaipur) took advantage
of the war of succession among the emperor's sons and declared their
independence from the Mughal empire.
They were fed up of religious and administrative intolerance under
Aurangzeb. Jai Singh had the
governorship of Surat and Agra and Ajit Singh was the Governor of Ajmer and
Gujarat. The King of Mewar (Udaipur) had
always opposed the Mughals. Now he got
an opportunity to consolidate power Unfortunately, the Rajput states were
unable to unite due to mutual rivalry.
The surrounding territories diminished due to the increasing power of
Jats, Sawai Jai Singh Marathas and local rulers. 135
MYSORE The state of Mysore rose to prominence in south India
after the decline of the Mughal power earlier, it was ruled by Chikka Krishna
Raj but the real power was in the hands of Wodeyar brother Devaraja and
Nanajaraja. Haider Ali (1760–82) became
the ruler of Mysore and carried out successful wars against Marathas and the
Nizam after Haider Ali, his son Tipu Sultan (1782.99 became the ruler. He
introduced many reforms in the army, trade, coinage, weights and measurements, etc. He encouraged hardwork and
protected the farmers. He was also an able warrior and general. He organized
his army on European style. He was a Muslim but was tolerant towards other
religions. Tipu Sultan was a staunch enemy of the British and kept opposing them till his death. He Haider
Ali sent his ambassadors to France, Turkey, Iran and Arab states to seek help
against the British. He tried to modernize his naval power to strengthen his
power and to develop external trade. On the whole, India of eighteenth century lacked social
unity due to feudal divisions and economic disparity. The condition of the
women was not good. The backwardness of agriculture and industry at the hands
of foreign companies destroye d the
internal and the external trade.
Culture, architecture, painting, music and literature also
suffered. Urdu emerged as the 'lingua
franca' of high class. The Hindus received
primary education at the temples and the Muslims at the mosques. Tipu Sultan 136
MARATHAS HYDERABAD
Mangalore MYSORE Bangalore Seringapatan o Madras • Kanchipuram Boundary after
1792 Mysore QOR MALABAR VIVI Pondicherry Mysore CARNATIC Ceded to Company in
1792 Ceded to NIZAM in 1792 Offered to MARATHAS but sub gently shared by
COMPANY and NIZAM Ceded to COMPANY after 1799 PAN NIZAM after 1799 Mysore Kingdom after 1792 CE
Keywords ambassadors: an accredited diplomat sent by a state as its representative
in a foreign country. fickle-minded
individuals or things that are not firm or steady in behavior, opinion or
loyalty guerilla warfare: making surprise attacks on the enemy in small groups
especially in mountainous region. jagir:
land granted by the king to an officer for his administrative or military
service. lingua franca: language adopted
as a common language between speakers whose native languages are different
tributes: an act or statement to show gratitude, respect or admiration 137
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