Three types of the Autonomous states:

1. Successor states
   • which broke away from the Mughal Empire and
   • controlled by the governors of the Mughal provinces
   1. Hyderabad,
   2. Carnatic,
   3. Bengal, and
   4. Awadh.
2. The new states
   • which arose as a result of a rebellion by local chiefs -
   1. Marathas,
   2. Sikhs,
   3. Jats, and
   4. Afghans.
3. The independent states
   • which only nominally were a part of the Mughal Empire
   • but in the 18th century became completely independent.
   • which were regions on the South-West and South-East coast of India.
   1. Mysuru,
   2. Kerala and
   3. Rajput

The fiction of Mughal sovereignty was kept alive through the following points:

1. Annual revenues were sent to the Imperial Treasury.
2. Emperor's formal confirmation was taken for appointment to high offices.
3. Orders and titles were given in the name of the Mughal Emperor.

Hyderabad and the Nizams

Zulfiqar Khan

• The idea was first conceived by Zulfiqar Khan, who obtained the Viceroyalty of the Deccan in 1708.
• He was appointed by the Subedar of Deccan at Hyderabad.
• Died in 1713.

Chin Qilich Khan

• After his death in 1713, Chin Qilich Khan became the Deccan Viceroy upon the insistence of Farrukhsiyar.

Nizam ul Mulk

• Farrukhsiyar called upon Nizam ul Mulk to fight off Sayyid brothers but Sayyids blinded and killed the emperor with the help of Peshwa Balaji Viswanath.
• In 1720 Nizam ul Mulk assisted Mohammad Shah Rangeela in killing the Sayyid Brothers, for which he was rewarded the post of Wazir in the court of Mohammad Shah. He tried to reform the corrupt administration but earned many enemies for himself.
• Left the emperor in 1724 and marched south, which showed the flight of loyalty and virtue of the empire, the physical breakdown of the empire had begun.
• Died in 1748.

Battle of Shakr - Kheda (1724)

• The then Viceroy of Deccan, Mubariz Khan, refused to vacate it.
• Hence, Nizam-ul-Mulk defeated and killed Mubariz in the Battle of Shakr - Kheda in 1724.
• The Emperor bestowed the title of Asaf Jah, and founded the Asaf Jah dynasty.
• His successors came to be known as Nizams of Hyderabad.

Battle of Karnal (1739)

• Conducted wars, signed treaties, conferred mansabs and made important appointments without any references to the Mughal emperor.
• Still, posed as the defender of the Mughal empire
• Fought the Battle of Karnal (1739) along with the emperor against Nadir Shah.

Qualities

• Wise Statesman
  • diverted Maratha towards the expedition in the north, taken up by Baji Rao I.
• Benevolent ruler
• Reformed revenue system
• Subdued the power of zamindars
• Tolerant policy towards Hindus (His Diwan Puran Chand, a hindu)

War of Succession - Son vs Grandson (1748)

• Son - Nasir Jung
• Grandson - Muzaffar Jung
• Marathas, Mysore, Carnatic and French settled their scores.
• Marathas - attacked and started to collect Chauth
• Dupleix (French) supported grandson Muzaffar Jung, in return for monetary and territorial rewards.

The Carnatic Region

• ! Carnatic region is the name given to the Coromandel coast and its hinterland though no longer a political or administrative division, it has a great historical significance.
  
  

Nawab Saadatullah Khan (1710-1732) and Dost Ali (1732-1740)

• In the 18th century. Mughal Province or Subah of Carnatic was under the authority of the Governor of Deccan.
• But the Deputy Governor or the Nawab of Carnatic established independent authority.
• In 1740, Marathas killed Nawab Dost Ali and took his son-in-law Chanda Sahib as a prisoner to Satara.
• From 1744 to 1763 the English and the French continuously fought under the name of the Carnatic Wars (1740 to 1763).

Bengal and the Nawab Nazims

The Governor with exceptional ability, Murshid Quli Khan and Aliwardi Khan.

Bengal Provincial Administration

• The region Bengal comprised current-day Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa.
• Some officials (like Nazim and Diwan) were directly recruited by the Mughal emperors.

The main officials included the following:

• Diwan, Head of the revenue administration
• Nazim, Executive head of the other matters of civil and military administration
• Bakshi, Military paymaster of the Subah or the province
• Kotwal, Head of the Police department
• Qazi, Dispense the Justice
• Waqai Navis, Collection of news bearing political significance

Nizamat and Diwani

• A subah or province was further divided into sarkars headed by the faujdars, which was further divided into parganas.
• At local level zamindars had maximum control.
• In the 18th century the relationship between the central authority and provincial administration became loose and the tribute paid became irregular.
• Nizamat (civil administration)
  • The provincial subahar was in charge of the Nizamat, hence he was also called as the Nazim, the governor or the Viceroy of the province.
• Diwani (revenue administration)
  • The Diwan was in charge of the revenue administration.
  • The Diwan worked independent of the Nazim.

Murshid Quli Khan

• In 1700, Mohammad Hadi was sent to Bengal as Diwan by Aurangzeb, where he proved to be a successful revenue administrator.
• In 1717 Farrukhsiyar appointed him to be the Subedar or Governor of Bengal, thus making him hold two offices simultaneously.
• To consolidate his position he declared himself as the Nawab of Bengal, which led to him founding the independent state of Bengal in 1717.
• He shifted the capital from Dhaka to Murshidabad.
• 

Changes in the Land Revenue System:

• To rationalize the revenue collection he resumed all the jagirs and converted them into the state lands or Khalisa lands.
• He gave dispossessed officers fresh jagirs or land in the new province of Orissa.
• He replaced the Mughals' jagirdari system with the system of revenue farming or Ijaradars or Malzamini system or a contract system
  • under which Ijaradars (i.e. contractors) were granted contracts for the collection of land revenue by taking security bonds from them.
• He preferred Hindus while choosing Ijaradars or contractors. This second or third generation of contractors became the future Zamindars in the region.

Rise of new powerful allied classes under Murshid Quli Khan.

• There was a new class of landed aristocracy whose position was confirmed later by the Permanent Settlement system in 1793.
• In the matters of revenue collection Murshid Quli Khan was ruthless.
• He increased pressure on the zamindars and peasants, which opened opportunities for financiers and saw the emergence of the house of Jagat Seths, who assumed full responsibility for the remittance of the Bengal revenue to Delhi.
• The Bengal revenue was the only regular income for the beleaguered Mughal emperors because of which Murshid Quli Khan enjoyed a considerable autonomy and established a dynastic rule.
• He was the last governor appointed by the Mughal emperor to the Bengal province.

Successor, Sarfaraz Khan

• Murshid named his daughter's son, Sarfaraz Khan, as his successor but Sarfaraz was ousted by his own father, Shuja-ud-Din Mohammad Khan, who was also the son-in-law of Murshid Quli Khan.
• 

Shuja - ud - Din (1727-1739)

• Shuja-ud-Din took control of two provinces of Bengal and Orissa in 1727 and ruled till 1739.
• 

Battle of Gheria (1740)

• After the death of Shuja-ud-Din, Sarfaraz Khan became the Nawab but again he was deposed and killed by Alivardi Khan, the deputy governor of Bihar, in the Battle of Gheria on 10th April 1740.

Alivardi Khan (1740 - 1756)

Alivardi Khan, from 1740 to 1756, became victorious with the help of the banking family of Jagad Seth. His rise showed a virtual break from the Mughals in two different forms:

1. Payment of annual tribute
2. Appointment of higher provincial officials by the emperor

• He kept the fiction of Mughal sovereignty throughout his reign.
  

External threat for Alivardi Khan:

1. Marathas
2. Afghan rebels

Marathas

• Marathas attacked Bengal 3-4 times between 1742 and 1751. In 1751 Alivardi signed a peace deal with the Marathas under which he agreed to pay the annual Chauth and parted with Orissa. The Marathas assured that they will not enter Alivardi's territory in the future.

Afghan

• The second threat was from Afghan general Mustafa Khan.
• These prolonged wars put a severe strain on the Bengal government.
• In 1756 Alivardi died after nominating his grandson Siraj-ud-Daulah as his successor.

A comparison between Murshid Quli Khan and Alivardi Khan:

• Both were of exceptional quality and fiercely independent. They established regular dhanas and chowkis and did not discriminate on religious grounds. They had strict control over foreign companies trading in their realm.
• Alivardi Khan did not allow the fortification of the French and English factories at Chandranagore and Calcutta.

Weaknesses:

• Both were shortsighted and ignorant that they failed to see the English Company was not merely a company of traders.
• Their lack of contact with the rest of the world proved them dear, particularly with respect to the trading companies of Europe

Siraj ud-Daula:

His succession was challenged by two other contenders:

1. Shaukat Jung, the faujdar of Purnia.
2. Ghaseti Begum, Alivardi Khan's daughter.

• 

Some of the dominant groups in the Nawab's court were:

• Jagat Seth,
• Umi Chand or Amarchand
• Raj Ballabh
• Rai Durlabh
• Mir Jafar
• Zamindars of different capacities

Plassey Conspiracy

• The main contention between the English East India Company and the Bengal Nawabs was the Farman of 1717.
• Anticipating another round of Anglo-French struggle, the English Company began the fortifications of Fort Williams and mounted a gun on its walls. The Bengal Nawabs objected to this fortification, which led to a military conflict between the two.
• The disaffected nobles of the Siraj court, particularly Jagat Seth, Rai Durlabh, and Amirchand, joined hands with the English to oust Siraj and install their protege, leading to the Plassey Conspiracy of 1757.
• More than the might of the English it was the treachery of the Nawab's confidence that decided the fate of the Battle of Plassey, where the British victory ended the rule of and inaugurated a new phase of Company's rule in India.

Awadh

• Awadh was situated between the north bank of the Ganges and the Himalayas,
• extended from Kannauj district in the west to the river Karamnasa in the east, and
• comprised of Benares and some districts near Allahabad.
• Proximity to Delhi added to its importance.
• Economically prosperous in the 18th century with flourishing agriculture and trade.
• The rise as an autonomous state was the result of political pursuit by the Irani and Shiite family of Burhan-ul-Mulk Saadat Khan.

Timeline of rulers

Saadat Khan I (1722-39)

• founder of the independent kingdom
• very bold and intelligent,

Appointed by Muhammad Shah Rangeela

• Was appointed as the governor of Awadh by the Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah, who conferred upon him the title of Burhan-ul-Mulk.

Administration and Military system

• He was given the responsibility of subduing the rebellion zamindars who refused to pay the land tax and behaved like autonomous chiefs. He succeeded with the task within a year, returned to Delhi.
• But ended up with a quarrel with one of the emperor's favorites and was forced to return to Awadh.
• In 1723 he introduced a new land revenue settlement by levying equitable land revenue. He too did not discriminate between the Hindus and Muslims in the administration system.
• His troops were well trained and well paid, making his administration very efficient.

Got nephew as deputy governor

• He got his nephew and son-in-law Safdar Jang recognized by the emperor as his deputy governor, thus making the province a hereditary possession and gradually securing the independence of Awadh.

Continued to be connected with Mughals

• by 1735 he extended his influence to Kora, Jahanabagh, Banaras, Jaunpur, Gazipur, and Chunnagar. He kept the communication open with the imperial court of Mughals

Battle of Karnal, 1739

• in 1739 he was called to Delhi to assist the Mughal Empire in fighting against the invader Nadir Shah.
• He was taken prisoner in the Battle of Karnal.
• He felt frustrated when the Mir Bakshi went to Nizam. He considered this as a betrayal and in vengeance joined Nadir Shah.
• The invader demanded a sum of ₹20 crore, promised to him. Sadat Khan poisoned himself to death, the day after the occupation of Delhi.

Safdur Jung (1739-54) - 15 years in rule

• Nadir Shah remained the emperor of India for just 2 months. Then he recognised Safdarjung as the successor in Awadh by accepting 2 crores as peshkash.
• Both Muhammad Shah Rangeela, and Nizam-ul-Mulk died in 1748.
• Thus he was appointed wazir by the new emperor Ahmad Shah.
• His successor came to be known as Nawab Wazirs.

Administration

• He was also granted the province of Allahabad
• Peace and stability to the people of Awadh and Allahabad.
• Suppressed the rebellious zamindars,
• A very high standard of personal morality was maintained. All the other founders of the other three autonomous states led austere and simple lives.

Alliance with Marathas

• Made an alliance with the Maratha sardars
• Set up an equitable justice system, and
• Did not discriminate on religious grounds. The highest post was held by a Hindu maharaja, Nawab Rai.

Death

• Died in 1754.

Shuja - ud - Daulah (1754-75)

• Son of Safdur Jung.
• Appointed as the governor after the death of his father in 1754.
• died in 1775.

$3^{rd}$ Battle of Panipat (1761)

Ahamad Shah Abdali + Shuja - ud Daulah (winner) vs Marathas (lost)

• Afghan invader Ahmad Shah Abdali arrived again in India in 1761.
  • He fought the battle of Panipat against the Marathas.
• Shuja ud Daulah joined the Afghan invader.
• The Marathas were humbled and weakened.
• This helped him to keep his power and remain unchallenged

Battle of Buxar (1764)

Mughals + Nawab of Bengal + Shuja ud Daulah (lost) vs British East India Company (win)

Treaty of Allahabad (16 August, 1764)

Shuja - ud - daulah

• pay war indemnity of ₹50 lakh.
• Reciprocal arrangement with the company for defence of each other's territory.
• The company gradually stepped up its fiscal demands.

Another treaty in 1773:

• The Nawab to pay Rs 2,10,000 monthly for each brigade of the company's troops present in Awadh.
• This led to indebtedness to the company.
• Military presence within the territory undermined the Nawabi regime.

Asaf ud Daulah (1775-97)

• Son of Shuja ud Daulah, he became the Nawab in 1775.
• The first thing he did was to shift the capital from Faizabad to Lucknow.

Art and Culture

• He concentrated his energies in the cultural pursuits and built up a Lucknow culture distinct from Delhi, which rivaled Delhi in the patronage of arts and literature.
• It became a second home for men who had left Delhi, this included Mirza Rafi Sauda and Mir Gulam Hasan.
• He also built the famous Bara Imam Bara.
• This gave rise to a well-known saying in Lucknow,

"Jisko na de Mola usko de Asaf ud Daula" meaning "He who does not receive from the Lord will receive it from Asaf ud Daula".

Buffer state until 1801 for EIC

• Until 1801 the English saw Awadh as a buffer state protecting the Bengal against the western powers, notably the Marathas.
• When Awadh became an obstacle they took over it in 1856.

Changing political system

The geography of Awadh changed drastically during these reigns due to treaties with the British East India Company:

1. Expansion Phase (1722–1764): Under the first three Nawabs, Awadh was a massive, prosperous subah (province) of the Mughal Empire, extending from the borders of Bihar to the gates of Delhi.

2. The Great Cession (1801): Under Saadat Ali Khan II, the "Ceded Provinces" (including Rohilkhand and the Lower Doab) were handed over to the British. This reduced Awadh to a landlocked "buffer state."

3. Final Annexation (1856): By the time of Wajid Ali Shah, the borders were static but the sovereignty was entirely lost to the British Resident in Lucknow.

New States

Marathas

constituted in the 17th century, it became a much wider Maratha samrajya in the 18th century, meaning a sovereign state.

• The first part of the 18th century was the decline of the Mughals, the last part was the rise of the British, and the middle part was swaying political fortunes for the Marathas.
• Mughals retreated from the Deccan; Marathas became a confederacy of military leaders called Maratha Sardars.
• The Sardars held temporary assignments of collecting land revenue and became hereditary over time
• lacked unity and vision for founding an all-India empire.
• Continued the struggle against the Mughals till last date.

Marathas and Mughals

27-year war started by Aurangzeb in 1681.

• 1689: Aurangzeb defeated and killed Shivaji's son and successor, Sambhaji Maharaj, and captured his son, Shahu. He treated Shahu and his mother with great dignity, hoping to arrive at a political agreement with Shahu.
• 1700: The Maratha nation rose against the Mughals. The younger son of Shivaji, Raja Ram, carried the struggle till his death in 1700.
• Then the struggle was carried on by his wife, Tarabai, acting as a regent for his minor son, Shivaji II.
• 1707: Aurangzeb's death; successors released Shivaji's grandson, Shahu, the hope of throwing an apple of discord in Maharashtra.

Civil war - Tarabai vs Shahu

• Shahu's release divided the Marathas into two rival camps:

1. Tarabai at Kolhapur (Shahu's aunt)
2. Shahu at Satara

• She declared Shahu as an imposter and refused to recognize his succession.
• A long civil war started.
• Shahu emerged victorious, with the help of new independent Sardars and able Chitpavan Brahmin from Konkan, Balaji Vishwanath.

Peshwa Domination

• This gave rise to a new system under the leadership of Balaji Vishwanath, the Peshwa (prime minister) of the king Shahu.
• The period of Peshwa domination started
• This transformed the state into an empire.

1. Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath (1713-20)

• King Shahu appointed him in November 1713.
• He turned the office of Peshwa into a functional head and the Raja became a mere figurehead.
• [/] Second founder of the Maratha state

Ambition for expansion in north, in 1719

• In 1719, he helped the Sayyid brothers to remove Farrukhsiyar and place a puppet in Delhi.
• He himself went to Delhi with the Maratha contingent of 15,000 troops.
• Witnessed the weakness of the Empire for the first time.
• This created an ambition of an expansion in the north.
• Secured the Mughal Sanad (imperial order) for the Maratha king.

Mughal Sanad of 1719

• Marathas got:
  • allowed to collect chauth (one fourth of the revenue) and
  • sardeshmukhi (additional 10%) from the entire Deccan (Aurangabad, Berar, Bidar, Bijapur, Hyderabad and Kandesh) and Karnataka.
• Marathas gave:
  • place a contingent of 15,000 rupees at the Emperor's disposal
  • maintain peace and order in the Deccan
  • pay an annual tribute of 10 lakh to the Emperor
• [!] Magna Carta of the Maratha Dominion

Maratha confederacy

• He assigned separate areas to the Maratha Sardars, laying the foundation for the Maratha Confederacy.
• This system of watans and saranjams (grants of land) was another form of jagir system.
• This turned into a major Maratha weakness, as it made the king dependent on the Sardars for his finances and military power.
• The conquests made outside the original kingdom were not made directly by the Maratha king but by the Sardars with their own private parties. This often led to clashes with one another and did not hesitate them to join hands with enemies like Nizams, Mughals, or English.
• Sardars began to establish their control and became more or less autonomous chiefs.

2. Peshwa Baji Rao I (1720-40)

• Succeeded his father after his death in April 1720
• 20 years old when ascending the throne
• Bold Commander,
• Wise Statement,
• The Greatest Exponent of Guerrilla Tactics After Shivaji Maharaj
• "The fighting Peshwa"
• Died at the age of 42 in 1740.

New Forward Policy for Expanding Beyond the Narmada:

"Let us strike at the trunk of the withering tree, (Mughal Empire), and the branches with fall of themselves. Thus should the Maratha flag fly from the Krishna to the Indus."

• Preached with the ideal of Hindu Pad Padshahi (Hindu empire) and to secure the support of Hindu chiefs against the Mughals.

Expanded from Punjab to Bengal

• Gained control over the Malwa, Gujarat, and parts of Bundelkhand.
• Picked up war leaders like Scindias and Holkars, who later rose into prominence.
• Twice defeated the Nizam-ul-Mulk in Deccan and made him grant the Marathas the Chauth and Sardeshmukhi for the six mughal provinces in Deccan.
• Expelled the Sidis of Janjira Island in 1733.
• Defeated the Portuguese and captured Salsette and Bassein.
• Transformed the kingdom into an empire expanding into the north.
• Brought the provinces from Punjab to Bengal under the Maratha influence by 1760.

Mistakes

• Little attention was paid to the administration of new territories.
• The interests of new sardars remain limited to revenue collection.
• Made no attempt to check the dangerous feudal tendency
• Premature death.

3. Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao (1740-61)

• 18-year-old when ascending the throne
• Also known as Nana Sahib
• After the death of Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj in 1749, he became the supreme authority in Maratha polity.
• Witness the appearance of new powers like the Afghans, Sikhs, French and English.

Sangola Agreement of 1750

• The Constitutional Revolution of 1750.
• Shahu's successor, Raja Ram, executed this, which transferred the supreme power from the Chhatrapati to the Peshwa.
• Peshwa became the de facto ruler of the Maratha state.
• As a symbol of this, he shifted the government to Pune, which later became his headquarters.

Achieved the territorial zenith from Cuttack to Attock

East: Under Raghuji Bhonsle, raided Bengal, Bihar, Orissa. A treaty was achieved in 1751 with Alivardi Khan. He surrendered Orissa and agreed to pay Rupees 1 lakh 20 thousand as an annual chauth for the other three provinces.

South: All the states, including Mysore, were forced to pay tribute.

North: Raided the Rajput kingdoms of Jaipur, Udaipur, Bandi, Kota, etc. They became the power behind the Mughal throne.

Afghan invasion: A Treaty in 1752 brought the Mughal Emperor under Maratha protection. In 1753, installed their chosen candidate on the Mughal throne. In 1754, Marathas helped Imad-ul-Mulk to become a new wazir.

Conflict with Abdali - 3$^{rd}$ Battle of Panipat, 14 January, 1761

Abdali +Najib-ud-Daulah of Rohikant and Suja-ud-Daulah of Awadh (both suffered in the face of Maratha's depredations) {win} vs Balaji Baji Rao + Imad ul Mulk (wazir) {lost}

• The Marathas wanted Punjab, which was ruled by an agent of Abdali.
• Abdali came back to challenge the ever-growing ambitions of the Marathas.

European style contingent with Peshwas

• Peshwa sent an army under the nominal command of his minor son, Vishwas Rao. The actual command was with Peshwa's cousin, Sadashiv Rao Bhao, son of Chimaji Appa, a younger brother of Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao I.
• It is said that the army also had a contingent of European-style infantry and artillery commanded by Ibrahim Khan Gardi.

Marathas all alone fight

• The earlier behaviour of the Marathas antagonized every other power in the country at that time, which made them fight all alone, only with the weak support of Imad-ul-Mulk, the wazir of the Mughal Empire at that time.

Defeat of Marathas

• The Maratha army was completely routed with more than 50,000 casualties.
• Both Vishwas Rao and Sadashiv Rao Bahu perished in the battle.
• Soldiers who fled were chased by the Afghan cavalry and robbed by Jats, Ahirs, and Gujars of the Panipat region.
• The Peshwa, when he was on his way to the North, was shocked by the tragic news and met with an early death in June 1761.

Net result of the battle

• Neither the Marathas nor the Afghans benefited from this battle. The only beneficiaries were the British, who grasped this opportunity.
• The Marathas suffered from immense losses and never recovered to their pre-1761 position.
• The Afghans could not even hold the Punjab.
• Hence, it is said The third battle of Panipat did not decide who would rule India, but rather who would not. It is neither the Marathas nor the Afghans. This cleared the way for the rise of British power in India. If Plassey had sown the seeds of British supremacy in India, Panipat afforded time for their maturing and striking roots.

Abdali's forces outnumbered the Marathas, with more than 60,000 soldiers, while the Marathas did not even exceed 45,000. Abdali's forces were better organized and better equipped with muskets, light guns with a long barrel, and swivel guns (small cannons mounted on a swiveling stand). The Marathas fought with swords and lances. The Marathas had no support, but Abdali had the support of Muslim powers of North India.

Famine conditions prevailed in the Maratha camp as the Afghans cut off the road to Delhi. Mutual jealousy between the Maratha leadership, Bhau took pride in his Brahmin birth and looked down upon the Malhar Rao Holkar.

4. Peshwa Madhav Rao (1761-72)

Weakness in Maratha empire exposed

In 1772, the Peshwa Madhav Rao died, and a factional struggle for power started within the Marathas. This exposed the Marathas to get defeated at the hands of the British in the Anglo-Maratha War.

17-year-old talented statesman ruled for a period of 11 years, restored the lost fortune, key player in the Maratha resurrection. Helped by his minister, Nana Phadnavis, he helped in holding the Maratha confederacy together amid the growing power of the English company. Mathava Rao successfully subdued the old enemies, the Rohillas, Rajputs, Jat chiefs in the north, Mysore and Hyderabad in the south. In 1771, he brought back the emperor Shah Alam to Delhi, who became a pensioner thereafter. Mathavarav died of tuberculosis in 1772.

5. Peshwa Narayan Rao (1772-73)

• After the death of Madhav Rao, a struggle for power between Raghunath Rao, younger brother of Balaji Baji Rao, and Narayan Rao, younger brother of Madhav Rao, started.
• Narayan Rao succumbed to the intrigues of his uncle Raghunath Rao in 1773.

6. Peshwa Raghunath Rao (1773-74)

Deposed by Nana Phadnavis and 11 other administrators who were known as Baarbhai, being known as Baarbhai conspiracy. This included Mahadji Shinde or Scindia and Tukoji Rao Holkar.

Mahadji Shinde or Mahadji Scindia

Mahadji Shinde or Scindia, 1768-1794. Maratha Sardar ruled the Gwalior state in Central India. With Madhavrao I and Nana Phadnavis, he was one among the three pillars of the Maratha Resurrection. Gwalior became a leading state, recruiting Rajputs and even Muslims in the army. Organised his army along the European and scientific lines. Also appointed a Savoy resident, Count Benoit de Boigne, and later on Monsieur Perron as specialists.

Defeated the Rajputana, Jats of Mathura, Rohillas from Dauab, and captured Delhi in February 1771. He helped the Peshwa in reinstating Shah Alam II at Delhi. During the First Anglo-Maratha War (1775-82), he humbled the British in Central India single-handedly and signed the Treaty of Salwai in 1782. The British government accepted his independency, and he was succeeded by Daulat Rao Scindia.

7. Peshwa Sawai Madhav Rao or Madhav Rao II (1774-95)

The Baarbhai installed Narayan Rao's posthumous son, Madhavrao II, as the Peshwa, led by Nana Phadnavis as the regent. He was barely forty days old when he was instated. The power was dominated by Nana Phadnavis. Sawai means one and a quarter. This succession frustrated Raghunath Rao, and he turned to the British, which resulted in the first Anglo-Maratha war. Later, Pune became a seat of constant intrigues between the supporters of Sawai Madhav Rao and the supporters of Raghunath Rao. Big Sardar started to carve out a semi-independent state in the north.

Their allegiance to the Peshwa became more nominal. Sawai Madhav Rao committed suicide in 1795. A power struggle emerged for succession. The powerful Chief Daulat Rao Scindia and Minister Nana Phadnavis installed Bajirao II, son of Raghunath Rao, as a puppet peshwa.

8. Peshwa Baji Rao II (1796-1802) (1803-18) {LAST}

The British divided the warring Sardars through clever diplomacy and defeated them in separate battles in the Second Maratha War (1803-05) and Third Maratha War (1817-18). The seat of the Peshwa was extinguished, and the Maratha states were allowed to exist as subsidiary states.

After the death of Nana Phadnavis in March 1800, Peshwa Baji Rao II, Daulat Rao Scindia, and Yeshwant Rao Holkar emerged as the main Maratha leaders.

Peshwa and Scindia formed an alliance against Holkar, and Peshwa killed Holkar's brother with Vithoji Rao Holkar in 1801.

Holkar defeated the Peshwa and Scindia near Hadapsar in the Battle of Poona and captured Pune. Peshwa took refuge in Bassein and approached Lord Wellesley for help. He accepted the subsidiary alliance and signed the Treaty of Bassein in 1802, which provoked the Second Anglo-Maratha War in 1803-1805, which laid the foundation for the breakup of the Maratha Confederacy.

The Third Anglo-Maratha War started in 1817. On 3rd June 1818, Peshwa surrendered to the British. He was dethroned and pensioned off to spend his last days in Bithoor near Kanpur.

10. Nana Sahib

Nana Saheb, the 10th Peshwa, was the leader during the revolt of 1857. He was the adopted son of the exiled Maratha Peshwa Bajirao II, who sought to restore the Maratha confederacy and Peshwa tradition.

Reasons for the decline:

• Same decadence in the social order as the Mughals and suffered from the same weaknesses.
• Did not try to develop a new economy, nor encourage science and technology, nor improve trade and industry.
• Failed to establish a bond with the common people.
• Focused only on squeezing out revenue from the helpless peasants.
• Nearly half of the agricultural produce was collected as the tax.

This made way for the rise of the British in the Indian sub-continent.

Sikhs

Punjab province

The former Mughal province of Lahore is different when compared to other Mughal provinces. Other provinces had a Mughal provincial governor who established an autonomous state, but in the case of Punjab it was a group of local people, the Sikhs.

Sikhism

• Sikhism was founded by Guru Nanak in the 15th century.
• It is as old as the Mughal Empire.
• Guru Nanak began when Babur was founding the Mughal Empire.
• Sikh literally means learner or disciple.
• It spread among the Jat peasantry and other lower castes. The movement was peaceful and secular in the beginning.
• Guru Nanak was succeeded by nine gurus. All the gurus emphasized the simplicity of the religion and freedom from bigotry.

10 Gurus

Sikhs allegiance to five signs:

• Kesh - Uncut Hair
• Kirpan - Short Sword

Guru Gobind Singh (last guru)

Tradition of carrying arms

• The rise of Jat peasantry among the Sikhs, carrying arms, was already a part of the cultural tradition of the Jat.
• The Khatri traders were another component who aspired for equality with the Jats, which was fulfilled when Guru Gobind Singh decided to end the Guruship.
• The power of Guru was vested in the Panth and the Granth.

Anandpur

• In 1696, Guru Gobind Singh tried to carve out an autonomous domain in and around Anandpur.
• In 1704, Anandpur was captured by the Mughals, and the Guru was compelled to leave.
• Guru Gobind was murdered in a conspiracy in 1708, and the leadership of the Sikhs passed to his disciple Banda Bahadur.

Banda Bahadur

• also known as Banda Singh or Banda Bhairagi.
• He led a struggle against the Aurangzeb successors for continuously 8 years.
• The dissension within the Sikh community, with some of the Jat zamindars and Khatri revenue farmers, went to the Mughal side, like Churaman Jat of Agra.
• Banda Bahadur was captured and put to death in 1715.

Sikhs finally succeeded in establishing their political power in the Punjab for the following reasons:

• The weakening of the Mughal imperial authority in the early decades of the 18th century.
• The series of Persian and Afghan invasions undermined the Mughal authority. After the withdrawal of Abdali, they began to fill the political vacuum.
• The Maratha tried to establish control over the Punjab but failed.
• The internal struggle within the provincial administration, like Zakariya Khan, the Mughal governor, during 1726-1745, died, which resulted in a struggle among his three sons over the governorship of Punjab.
• All this allowed the Sikhs to emerge supreme.
• Between 1765 and 1800, they brought Punjab and Jammu under their control.
• From 1765, they saw a steady development in the rise of Sikh political power, which culminated in the establishment of an autonomous state in the early 19th century.

Misls or Confederacies

• [!] Misls - horizontally structured confederacies or brotherhood based on kinship ties, held territories as units.
• The Sikhs organized themselves into small mobile bands called Jats, headed by a Jathedar.
• After 1765, they regrouped into 12 larger regional conflict raises or missiles, led by local chiefs like Bangis, Ramgarhias, Kanhayias, Singhpurias, Ahluwalia, and Sukerchakias.
• They occasionally united but largely were decentralized and horizontally dispersed.

Ranjit Singh (1801-39)

• Son of Mahan Singh, the leader of Sukerchakias misls
• courageous soldier,
• efficient administrator,
• skilled diplomat.
• Controlled the area extending from the Sutlej to Jhelum.
• Conquered Lahore in 1799 and Amritsar in 1802.
• He tried to raise a more centralized Sikh state at the end of the 18th century.

Treaty of Amritsar, 1809

• The English East India Company emerged supreme in the East and turned their attention to the north, where the Sikhs under Ranjit Singh were expanding territorially.
• They signed the Treaty of Amritsar, according to which,
• the British East India Company recognized him as the sole sovereign ruler of the Punjab, permitting him complete freedom of action to the north of Sutlej.
• The British established their control over the Cis-Sutlej Sikh states, thus preventing Ranjit Singh from any further expansion to the south of Sutlej.
• Cis Sutlej states means:
  • First came into use in 1809.
  • Applied to the country south of Sutlej and north of Delhi Territory.
  • This refers to the sikh chiefs south of Sutlej who passed under the British protection.

Expansion to the north of Sutlej

• Ranjit Singh conquered Kashmir, Peshawar, and Multan and established his own kingdom.
• No changes in the land revenue system, as the Mughal system was allowed to continue.
• Land revenue was at the rate of 50% of the gross produce
• Popularly known as Sher - e - Punjab.

Tolerant leader

• He greatly modernized his army along the European lines with the help of European instructors.
• Recruited Gorkhas, Biharias, Oriyas, Pathans, Dogras, and Punjabi Muslims in his army.
• He was tolerant and liberal in religious matters.
• He patronised Hindu and Muslim holy men.
• He is known to step down from his throne to wipe the dust off the feet of Muslim mendicants with his long grey beard.
• Fakir Azizuddin and Diwan Dinar Nath were some of his most trusted ministers.

Tripartite Treaty (1838) - Shah Shuja + EIC + Ranjit Singh

• The British forced him to sign a tripartite treaty in 1838 with Shah Shuja and the English Company.
• In this, he agreed to provide a passage to the British troops through Punjab to place Shah Shuja on the throne of Kabul.

Continuous deaths within years

• In 1839, he died, but there was no major tension, as he was succeeded by his eldest son, Kharak Singh.
• He proved to be an unworthy successor and died suddenly in 1839.
• Kharak Singh's son, Naunihal, also died accidentally when he was returning from his father's funeral.
• This continuous death led to an anarchic situation and an internal struggle.
• The British moved quickly to conquer the Punjab.
• The first Anglo-Sikh war in 1845, and the British finally annexed Punjab in 1849, within a span of four years.
• Thus, within a decade after the death of Ranjit Singh, the Sikh state was absorbed into the British Empire.

Jats

• Jats were an agricultural caste inhabiting the Delhi-Agra belt.
• They revolted against Aurangzeb under the leadership of Jat zamindars in the latter half of the 17th century.
• The revolt was suppressed, and the Jat state remained feudal, with the zamindars holding the main power.
• The foundation for the Jat state of Bharatpur in Rajasthan was laid by Churaman and Badan Singh.

Churaman (1695-1721)

• He built a strong fort at Thoon.
• In 1721, the Mughal army led by Jai Singh II, the Governor of Agra, captured the fort.
• Churaman committed suicide.

Badan Singh (1721-1756)

• Churaman's nephew
• Built four forts at
  1. Deeg,
  2. Kumher,
  3. Weir, and
  4. Bharatpur
• Consolidated the Bharatpur kingdom.

Suraj Mal (1756 - 63)

• The Jat power reached its glory under him
• A brave soldier and an able administrator.
• This state extended from
  • Delhi in the North to Chambal in the South,
  • Agra in the West to Ganga in the East,
  • which includes the subahs of Agra, Mathura, Meerut, and Aligarh.
• Also known as Sujan Singh.
• Suraj Mal has been called the Plato of the Jat tribe and the Jat ulysses for his steady intellect and clear vision.

3$^{rd}$ battle of Panipat

• The third battle of Panipat was against Abdali and the Marathas.
• Agents of Peshwa visited the court of every Hindu prince to gather support.

Suraj Mal's neutrality in the war

• A meeting with Sadashivrao Bhau was held, after which Suraj Mal decided to join the Marathas against Abdali.
• Soon differences emerged, which made Suraj Mal withdraw his support for the Marathas, the only Hindu powerful raja in the Maratha camp.
• Abdali tried to secure Suraj Mal's neutrality, if not active assistance.

Sympathies with Marathas

• Raja Suraj Mal agreed to maintain neutrality, though his sympathies continued to be with the Marathas.
• A major contributing factor for the defeat of the Marathas.
• Abdali depended on supplies from Rohilkhand, but the Marathas depended on those of the Jat kingdom, which made the Marathas fight on an empty stomach at Panipat.
• When the Maratha survivors left Bani Pat and entered the Jat kingdom, the Jats provided them with food, medicine, and clothes for relief.

Ruled for a short time

• His rule was short-lived
• He died on 25th December 1763 fighting the Rohillas under the Najib ud Dhaula.
• His death marked the end of the Jat state.

Afghans

• The states of Farukhabad and Rohilkhand were a fallout of the Afghan immigration because of political disruption in Afghanistan.
• The Afghani use of artillery, the flint gun, ended the domination of cavalry.
• Both the Rohillas and the Bangash helped Ahmad Shah Abdali during the Third Battle of Panipat. This accentuated the decline of the Mughals
• But the Rohillas also suffered heavily from the Jats, Awadh rulers, Marathas, and later the British.

Farrukhabad

was controlled by Muhammad Khan Bangash, also known as Ahmad Khan Bangash, an Afghan adventurer the Farrukhabad territory between present-day Aligarh and Kanpur during the reigns of Farrukhsiyar and Mohammad Shah.

Rohilkhand

• an Afghan soldier, Daud, and his son Ali Muhammad Khan established an independent principality to take advantage of the collapse of authority in North India following Nadir Shah's invasion.
• A kingdom at Rohilkhand, located at the Himalayan foothills northwest of present-day UP, between Kumaon in the north and Ganga in the south.
• Capital at Aolan in Bareilly, later at Rampur.

Independent Kingdoms

Mysore

• Located at the south of Hyderabad, at the junction of the Eastern and Western Ghats, originally under the Vijayanagar Empire in the 16th century.
• In the early 18th century, ruled by Wadiyar or Wodeyar king Chikkakrishna Raja. His ministers, Nanjaraja (Prime minister or sarvadhikari) and Devaraja (Dulwai or commander in chief) , seized power and made him a puppet.
• In the mid-18th century, emerged as the second most significant power in South India after Hyderabad.
• The foundation of the Mysuru state, led by Hyder Ali, was later consolidated by his son Tipu Sultan.
• Mysuru was always sought by various powers like the Marathas, Hyderabad, Carnatic, and the English, which turned it into a constant battlefield.

Haider Ali

• born in an obscure family in 1721, started as a petty officer in the Mysore army.

• The English contemporaries often termed him as usurper, uneducated but a man of great energy and intellect.

• He became a brilliant commander in 1761, overthrew the Nanja Raja, and established his authority over the Mysore state.

• Controlled the rebellious polygars or zamindars and conquered Bidnur, Sunda, Sera, Canara, and Malabar. The reason for the occupation of Malabar was to have access to the Indian Ocean.

• Clashed with the Marathas, Nizam, and English due to his expansionist ideology.

• Maratha raided the state in 1764, 1766 and 1771. After the death of the Peshwa in 1772, he quickly recovered the territories earlier lost and also acquired several new territories in the Krishna-Tungabadra doab.

• Inflicted a heavy defeat on the British near Madras in 1769.

• Established a model army by inducting French experts and establishing a modern arsenal at Dindigul. Induced organizational discipline along the European lines through the system of Risalas, a clear chain of command.

• Practiced religious tolerance with many of his ministers being Hindus.

• Died during the Second Anglo-Mysore War in 1782, succeeded by his son, Tipu Sultan.

Tipu Sultan

• Asserted his autonomy in 1787, assuming the title of Padshah,

• issuing coins in his name without any reference to the Mughal emperor;

• inserted his home name in the Khutba - Friday sermons of the mosque;

• issued a new calendar;

• sought sanad or royal order from the Ottoman Caliph to legitimize his role;

• recognized the Mughal authority when it suited and defied when it did not.

• Took great care to work for the welfare and happiness of the people.

• Recognised the threat that the Britishers posed to South India.

• Raised an efficient military force by employing French officers to train its troops and also raised a French corps.

• Tried to build a modern navy after 1796.

• Mysore flourished economically.

• Tipu understood the importance of modern trade and industry.

• He recognized economic strength as the foundation of military strength.

• He promoted inland and foreign trade by setting up a number of factories which manufactured paper, sugar, silk, fabrics, tools, and implements, etc.

• He sent emissaries to France, Turkey, Iran, and Pegu Myanmar to develop foreign trade and set up trading companies on the lines of European companies.

• He modernized agriculture, and he introduced seri culture in Mysore.

• He had a library with books of Western thought and sciences.

• He had a keen interest in the French Revolution and believed to have planted a tree of liberty at Seringapatnam.

• He became a member of the Jacobin Club

• He made himself be addressed as Citizen Tipu.

• The Sringeri letters reveals that he issued funds for repair of temple works and never interfered with the worship in temples situated within the Seringapatnam fort.

• He fondly said, "Better to live a day as a lion than a lifetime as a sheep."

• He died in 1799 defending his capital, Seringapatnam, in the course of the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War.

• Hyder and Tipu fought four wars against the British before the final surrender of Mysore in 1799.

• The Marathas, the Nawab of the Carnatic, and the Nizam of Hyderabad aligned with the British from time to time to subdue the Mysore state.

• Tipu Sultan's government was a despotic one.

• The Sultan himself was the highest political, civil, and military authority in the state.

• No office nor wazir.

• There were seven principal departments, each under Mir Asif:

Kerala (Keralam, 2026)

The beginning of the 18th century, Kerala had four most important states:

• Calicut under Zamorin
• Chirakal
• Cochin
• Travancore

Travancore

• Travancore, the southernmost state, was independent from the Mughal rule
• Hyder Ali invaded Kerala and annexed Malabar and Calicut in 1766, while sparing Travancore.
• The initial capital was Padmanabhapuram from 1729 to 1795; later shifted to Thiruvananthapuram from 1795 to 1849.

The rise of Travancore after 1729

Marthanda Varma

• expanded the kingdom from Kanyakumari to Cochin
• had a modern army trained on Western lines
• defeated the Dutch, and ended their political power in Kerala.

Rama Varma

• His successor of Marthanda Varma
• a man of great creativity and learning, including Western knowledge, conversed fluently in English.
• He regularly read newspapers published in London, Calcutta, and Madras.
• He made Trivandrum the capital center of scholarship and art.

British Resident in 1800

• After his death, he succumbed to British pressure, accepting a resident in 1800.

Rajputs

• Warrior clans with a majority in Rajasthan, and Saurashtra

• Akbar patronized them by following a policy of indirect rule.

  • They paid an annual tribute, peshkash, as a mark of subordination but enjoyed autonomy in the internal administration.
  • In return, they were given high military ranks, Mansabs in the Mughal army.

• The 18th century saw a love-hate relationship between the Mughals and the Rajputs.

• Rajputs started taking advantage of the declining Mughal Empire to re-establish their independence.

Reasons for alienating relationships

Bipan Chandra

• The harsh treatment of the Rajput by Aurangzeb through ruthless campaigns in Rajasthan. He practiced religious intolerance and revived Jeziah, which alienated the Rajput from the Mughal Empire.

Shekar Bandopadhyaya

• Aurangzeb did not discriminate but could not tolerate the territorial expansion of Mewar.
• He interfered in the succession of the Marwar, refusing to recognize Ajit Singh, the posthumous son of Rana Jaswant Singh of Marwar, as Rana.
• Instead, he appointed Inder Singh Rathore, the nephew of Jaswant Singh, as Rana.
• Ajit Singh rose in revolt and was helped by Mewar.

Anti-Mughal League in 1708

• In 1708, Emperor Bahadur Shah forced Ajit Singh into submission.
• Ajit Singh, Jai Singh II, and Durga Das Rathore (a senior officer of Jaswant Singh), formed the Anti-Mughal League.
• They adopted the method of slowly loosening their ties with Delhi and functioning independently and participating in the struggle for power in the Delhi court.

In the Farrukhsiyar-Sayyid brothers' tussle in Delhi

• They followed the policy of opportune adherence or aloofness.
• The Sayyids appointed Ajit Singh of Jodhpur with the governorship of Ajmer and Gujarat, which he held till 1721.
• The Anti-Sayyids Party appointed Jai Singh II of Jaipur as the governor of Agra in 1721.

Policy of opportune adherence or aloofness

• Through this policy, at one point the Rajputs controlled the entire territory from 600 miles south of Delhi to Surat on the west coast.

Divided amongst

• Still, the Rajput rulers remained divided among themselves and were not competent enough to fight the Marathas or English to become a paramount power.

Jai Singh II or Raja Sawai Jai Singh (1699-1743)

• Most powerful Rajput Chief

- Distinguished Statesman and Reformer

• Founded the City of Jaipur and made it a seat of science and art
  • Built scientifically based on a city plan
  • Broad streets intersected at right angles

- Great Astronomer

• Built observatories at
  1. Jaipur
  2. Delhi
  3. Ujjain
  4. Varanasi
  5. Mathura
• Drew up a set of tables called Zij Muhhamadshahi
  • to make astronomical observations
• several texts on geometry and trigonometry translated into Sanskrit including Euclid's Elements of Geometry.

- Social Reformer

• reduced lavish expenditure on daughter's wedding, which had given rise to female infanticide.

Conclusion

• Jagirdari crisis intensified as income from agriculture declined

Satish Chandra

There were considerable economic variations. There was creation of new wealth and social power in the provinces, resulted in decline of centralised Mughal Power. Scientific backwardness Limited attempts to modernise industry and commerce Resources attracted European power for the supremacy in the sub continent

18th Century India - Economic and Social Conditions

(On the Eve of British Conquest)

Economic Conditions

Village Economy

• Self sufficient, self governing village community
• Agriculture and Handicraft industry
  • Handicraft had reached a high level of development and were in much demand
  • Famous handicrafts included cotton, silk, woollen fabrics, metal work
• Agrarian structure
  • concept of private property not yet developed
  • Karl Marx described this kind of collective ownership of land as Indian form of Communism
  • Land revenue collected by village headman or patil, passed onto ruler or nawab.
  • State demand varied from one-sixth to one-third
  • Land related issued and disputes settled by Patil in consultation with village panchayat
• Self Governance
  • local chief not interfere in day to day village affairs
  • "Unchangeableness of Asiatic communities" - Karl Marx
  • Village communities in India lasted when nothing else seemed to last
• Stagnation
  • Socio-economic stability on one hand and stagnation on the other
  • Agriculture was technically backward and stagnant
  • Isolation of village communities obstructed the creation of wider market
  • Caste - permitted little mobility
  • Political indifference - Barrier to growth of national consciousness
  • Indian villages - Stagnation, untouched from all modern scientific developments
• Urban Economy
  • no sharp division between urban centres and rural centres
  • Industrial production - largely rural based activity

- Condition of Indian Industry

Textiles

• cotton manufacturers of Bengal (Dacca, Murshidabad), Gujarat (Ahmedabad, Surat, Bharuch) and Andhra (Masulipatnam, Aurangabad, Vishakapatnam)
• silk fabrics of Murshidabad, Lahore, Agra
• Woollen Shawls and carpets from Agra, Lahore and Kashmir - demanded in India and abroad

Other agro based industries

• Dye stuffs