NCERT Book Class 7 History Eighteenth Century Political Formations

EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY POLITICAL FORMATIONS

If you look at Maps 1 and 2 closely, you will see something significant happening in the subcontinent during the first half of the eighteenth century. Notice how the boundaries of the Mughal Empire were reshaped by the emergence of a number of independent kingdoms. By 1765, notice how another power, the British, had successfully grabbed major chunks of territory in eastern India. What these maps tell us is that political conditions in eighteenthcentury India changedquite dramatically and within a relatively short span of time.  In this chapter wewill read about the emergence of new political groups in the subcontinent during the first half of the eighteenth century – roughly from 1707, when Aurangzeb died, till the third battle of Panipat in 1761.

The Crisis of the Empire and the Later Mughals In Chapter 4 you saw how the Mughal Empire reached the height of its success and started facing a variety of crises towards the closing years of the seventeenth century. These were caused by a number of factors. Emperor Aurangzeb had depleted the military and financial resources of his empire by fighting a long war in the Deccan.

Under his successors, the efficiency of the imperial administration broke down. It became increasingly difficult for the later Mughal emperors to keep a check on their powerful mansabdars. Nobles appointed as governors (subadars) often controlled the offices of revenue and military administration (diwani and faujdari) as well. This gave them extraordinary political, economic and military powers over vast regions of the Mughal Empire. As the governors consolidated their control over the provinces, the periodic remission of revenue to the capital declined.

Peasant and zamindari rebellions in many parts of northern and western India added to these problems. These revolts were sometimes caused by the pressures of mounting taxes. At other times they were attempts by powerful chieftains to consolidate their own positions. Mughal authority had been challenged by rebellious groups in the past as well. But these groups were now able to seize the economic resources of the region to consolidate their positions. The Mughal emperors after Aurangzeb were unable to arrest the gradual shifting of political and economic authority into the hands of provincial governors, local chieftains and other groups.

Let’s recall

1. Fill in the blanks:

(a) Aurangzeb fought a protracted war in the _______________________.

(b) Umara and jagirdars constituted powerful sections of the Mughal ____.

(c) Asaf Jah was given charge of the Deccan subadari in ______________.

(d) The founder of the Awadh nawabi was __________________________.

2. State whether true or false:

(a) Nadir Shah invaded Bengal.

(b) Sawai Raja Jai Singh was the ruler of Indore.

(c) Guru Gobind Singh was the tenth Guru of the Sikhs.

(d) Poona became the capital of the Marathas in the eighteenth century.

3. What were the offices held by Sa‘adat Khan?

Let’s discuss

4. Why did the Nawabs of Awadh and Bengal try to do away with the jagirdari system?

5. How were the Sikhs organised in the eighteenth century?

6. Why did the Marathas want to expand beyond the Deccan?

7. What were the policies adopted by Asaf Jah to strengthen his position?

8. Do you think merchants and bankers today have the kind of influence they had in the eighteenth century? 

9. Did any of the kingdoms mentioned in this chapter develop in your state? If so, in what ways do you think life in the state would have been different inthe eighteenth century from what it is in the twentyfirst century?

Please refer to attached file for NCERT Class 7 History Eighteenth-Century Political Formations