Presentations on India on the eve of british conquest

1. INDIA ON THE EVE OF
BRITISH CONQUEST
By- Shaheen Koser

2. Decline of Mughals
1. First half of the 18th century saw the decline of Mughals.
2. Aurangzeb’s misguided policies.
3. Muhammad Shah ruled for 29 years(1719-1748). He witnessed establishment of Independent
states of Hyderabad, Bengal, Awadh and Punjab during his reign.

3. Main challenge for Mughals
There were many external challenges which were faced by Mughal Empire because of lack of
internal coordination and stability .Also the most of invasions in India were from the North-west
and they Cared not to protect North- west borders because of which they dealt with heavy loss
and ultimately decline.
The two Invaders from North-west that were important in history are:-
1. NADIR SHAH
2. AHMAD SHAH ABDALI

4. Nadir Shah
1. He came from Persia.
2. Attacked India between 1738-1739.
3. Conquered Lahore.
4. Defeated Mughal Army at Karnal(February,1739).
5. Captured Muhammad Shah, looted and devastated Delhi.
6. Collected –Peacock Throne, Kohinoor diamond, seventy crore from official treasury

5. Ahmad Shah Abdali
1. He came from Afghanistan.
2. Successor of Nadir Shah.
3. Invaded India between 1748 and 1767.
4. Harassed Mughals.
5. Captured Delhi and left his care taker there to watch Mughal Emperor.
6. Before returning recognized Alamgir II as Mughal Emperor and Najib-ud-Daulla as Mir Bakshi of
Empire who has to act as personal supreme agent of Abdali.
7. 1758- Najib-ud-Daulla was expelled from Delhi by Maratha chief Raghunath Rao , who also
captured Punjab.
8. 1759- Ahmad Shah Abdali returned to India to take revenge.
He defeat Marathas in THIRD BATTLE OF PANIPAT(1761)
9. 1767 was his last invasion.

6. Why many Empire shaking battles at
Panipat?
PANIPAT
◦ Located in Haryana
◦ Banks of Yamuna and between fertile plains of Ganga and Indus river.
◦ Witnessed several battles that changed the course of Indian history at different points of time.

7. Why Panipat was favourite battle field?
1. Strategic location
2. Easier to transport weapons, military and food supplies etc., to battle ground from Delhi.
3. Surround region was flat ground which was suitable for Cavalry movement.
4. After the construction of Grand Trunk(GT) Road by Sher Shah Suri(1540-1545), Panipat was on
this route.
5. Duration of monsoon is short in this region.
6. Artisans/Smith’s of these region were experts in making warfere related materials which was
benefecial for both the parties.

8. Three Battles of Panipat
FIRST BATTLE OF PANIPAT(1526)
- Between Babur and Ibrahim Lodi
- Result laid the foundation of Mughal Empire by ending the rule of Delhi Sultanate.
SECOND BATTLE OF PANIPAT(1556)
- Between Akbar and Hemu.
- Decided in favour of continuation of Mughal Empire.
THIRD BATTLE OF PANIPAT(1761)
- Between Ahmad Shah Abdali and Marathas.
- Put an end to the Maratha ambition to ruling over India.

9. Week rulers after Aurangzeb
1. BAHADUR SHAH I (1709-1712)
1. Eldest son of Aurangzeb
2. Killed his brothers Muhammad Azam and Kam Baksh in the war of succession.
2. JAHANDAR SHAH (1712-1713)
1. Introduced Ijara system
2. Abolished jaziya
3. FARRUKHSIYAR (1713-1719)
1. Killed Jahandar Shah with the help of Sayyid brothers(Abdullah Khan and Hussain Ali) also known as
“King Makers”
2. Later Sayyid brothers with the help of Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath, dethroned, blinded and killed
Farrukhsiyar.
3. It was the first time in Mughal history that an emperor was killed by his nobles.

10. Week rulers after Aurangzeb
4. RAFI-UD-DARAJAT (feb28 to june4,1719)
1. Shortest period
5. RAFI-UD-DAULA(sept17,1719)
1. Sayyid brothers placed him on throne and gave him title- Shah Jahan II
2. He was opium addict.
6. MUHAMMAD SHAH(1719-1748)
1. Raushan Shah was the choice of Sayyid brothers now.
2. Popularly known as Muhammad Shah.
3. He was given title –Rangeela because of his luxurious life style.
4. He with the help of Nizam-ul-Mulk killed Sayyid brothers.
5. In 1724, Nizam-ul-mulk became the wazir and founded the independent state of Hyderabad.
6. In 1739, Nadir Shah invaded and he defeated Mughals in the Battle of Karnal and later Muhammad Shah was
imprisoned.

11. Week rulers of Aurangzeb
7. AHMAD SHAH(1748-1754)
8. ALAMGIR II (1754-1758)
1. During his reign battle of Plassey was fought(1757).
9. SHAHJEHAN III (1758-1759)
10. SHAH ALAM II (1759-1806)
1. His reign saw two decisive battles.
✓ THE THIRD BATTLE OF PANIPAT(1761)
✓ BATTLE OF BUXAR(1764)
2. Treaty of Allahbad was signed as a result of Battle of Buxar .
3. He granted Diwani to Britshers( right to collect revenue from Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.

12. Week rulers after Aurangzeb
11. AKBAR II (1806-1837)
12. BAHADAUR SHAH II (1837-1857)
1. Zafar was his nickname.
2. Last Mughal Emperor
3. Involved in The Revolt of 1857.

13. CAUSES OF DECLINE OF MUGHALS
1. Shifting Allegiance of Zamindar
- zamindars also known as rais, rajas, thakurs, khuts or deshmukhs.
- occupied an important place in Empire because they helped in collection of revenue
and in local administration for which they maintained soldiers.
- many local zamindars helped the nobility, the other powerful class within the empire to take
advantage of the weakness of Empire and make their own independent kingdoms.
2. Jagirdari system
- jagirs, mansabs or subahdars- rajput people
. - Akbar had well knit organisation and each category formed a group of its own unlike later
Mughals which lead to jealousy.

14. Causes of decline of Mughals
3. Rise of Regional Aspirations
-rise of powerful regional groups like- Jats, Sikhs and Marathas
- Marathas aim was at first limited to Maharashtra but later they got legal sanction from Mughal
emperor for collecting sarfeshmukhi and chauth(Tax).
- by 1740 succeeded in spreading their influence in provinces of Gujrat, Malwa and Bundelkhand.
4. Economic and Administrative Problems
- no. of amirs and their ranks or mansabs increased
- little land was left to distribute among them
- more money was required to pay salary
- peasantry suffered to a greater extent.
- the result was that the expenditure of the state much exceeded its income.
- economic and administrative problems only multiplied following the death of Aurangzeb.

15. Causes of decline of Mughals
5. Rise of Regional states
- Successor states
- Independent states
- New states
6. Survey of Regional Kingdoms
Hyderabad
◦ Kilich Khan popularly known as Nizam-ul-mulk was the founder of Asaf-Jah house of Hyderabad
◦ Zulfikar Khan first conceived the idea of Independent state of Hyderabad but he died .
◦ Kilich Khan disgusted Mubariz Khan because he was appointed as viceroy of Deccan.
◦ Kilich Khan defeated Mubariz Khan and later killed him in the the Battle of Shakr-Kheda.
◦ After that Kilich Khan assumed the control of Deccan.
◦ In 1725 he became the Viceroy and conferred on himself the title of Asaf-Jah.

16. Causes of decline of Mughals
Awadh
◦ Founder of Awadh was Saadat Khan popularly known as Burhan-ul-Mulk.
◦ He committed suicide due to pressure from Nadir Shah who was demanding a lot of treasury from
him.
◦ He was succeeded by Safdar Jang as the nawab of Awadh.
Bengal
1. Murshid Kuli Khan founded the independent state of Bengal
The Rajputs
Mysore
◦ This territory was ruled by Wodeyars before.
◦ State was brought under the rule of Haider Ali, he was involved in the constant warfere with British
and so was his son
◦ His son was Tipu Sultan.

17. Causes of decline of Mughals
Kerala
◦ Established by Martanda Varma as an independent state of Kerala with Travancore as its capital.
The Jats
◦ Under Surajmal Jat power reached its Zenith
◦ Teritorries included from Ganga in East to Chambal in south aslo included Subahs of Agra,
Mathura, Meerut and Aligarh.
◦ After death of Surah mal in 1763 the state split into small areas controlled by petty zamindars.

18. Causes of decline of Mughals
The Sikhs
◦ When Nadir Shah invaded, the Sikhs organised themselves into 12 misls or confederacies which
exercised control over different parts of Kingdom.
◦ The credit for establishment of strong kingdom goes to Ranjit Singh.
◦ He was son of Mahan Singh, the leader of Sukarchakiya misl.
◦ Ranjit Singh brought under control the area from Sutlej to Jhelum.
◦ He conquered Lahore in 1799 and Amritsar in 1802.
◦ By treaty of Amritsar britishers had right over some Sutlej territories.
◦ Britishers forced him to sign Tripartite Treaty in 1838 with Shah Shuja and English company whereby
he agreed to provide passage to the British troops through Punjab with a view to place Shah Shuja on
the throne of Kabul
◦ Ranjit Singh died in 1839
◦ His successors could not keep the state intact.

19. Causes of decline of Mughals
The Marathas
◦ Under the capable leadership of Peshwas Marathas uprooted the Mughal authority and
established their rule in Malwa and Gujrat.
◦ Their authority was challenged by Ahmed Shah Abdali in Third Battle of Panipat(1761).
◦ They quickly recovered from the defeat and offered the challenge to East India Company.

20. Socio-economic Conditions
Agriculture
Peasants were affected
Trade and Industry

21. Socio economic conditions
Education
◦ Muslim elementary schools were called Maktaba and Pathshalas.
◦ Female presence was rare
◦ Chatuspathis or Tols were the centre of higher education as they were called in Bihar.
◦ Centres for Sanskrit education were Kasi(Varanasi), Tirhut(Mithila), Nadia and Utkala.
◦ Persian being the court language learnt by Muslims as well as Hindus.
◦ Azimabad(Patna) was a famous centre for Persian education.
Societal Setup
Discrimination

22. Socio economic conditions
Position of women in society
◦ Patriarchal family ( except in some social groups of Kerala)
◦ Upper class women remained at home and lower class women used to work at fields
◦ Exploitative traditions like – purdah, sati, child marriage, poligamy did exhisted.
◦ Raja Swai Jai Singh of Amber and the Maratha general Parashuram Bhau tried to promote widow
marriage but failed
Menace of Slavery
◦ Higher class kept people as slaves for domestic work mostly women.

23. Development in Art, Architecture and
Culture
◦ At Lucknow, Asaf-ud-Daula built Bada Imambara in 1784.
◦ Sawai Raja Jai Singh built the pink city of Jaipur.
◦ Mural paintings were constructed
◦ The painting schools of Rajputana and Kangra became prominent.
◦ Periodof Urdu poets like- Mir, Sauda, Nazir and Mirza Ghalib.
◦ Kanchan Nambiar was noted as a Malayalam poet.
◦ The Tamil language was enriched by suttar poetry
◦ Heer Ranjha- was composed by Warris Shah
◦ Risalo(A collection of poems) – was composed by Shah Abdul Latif.

24. THANK YOU
◦ Your valuable questions are most welcomed. We all are learners and if I don’t know any answer
I’ll study it and tell you in next class.