India in the Eighteenth Century | ICSE Class 8 History & Civics Notes

This note covers the decline of Mughal authority, foreign invasions, the rise of regional kingdoms, Rajput, Sikh, Maratha and Jat power, agriculture and trade, European commercial rivalry, the East India Company's expansion, Mysore's resistance, administrative changes, historical evidence and the chronology of eighteenth-century India.

What was the political setting of eighteenth-century India?

The Mughal Empire faced serious difficulties towards the end of the seventeenth century. Aurangzeb's death in 1707 was followed by an increasing transfer of power from the emperor to provincial governors, local chieftains and other regional groups.

Delhi became less effective as a centre of government. Governors and powerful zamindars strengthened their control over land, revenue and armed forces. Several regional kingdoms emerged, while Mughal emperors continued to have symbolic importance.

How did political power change?

The century involved both the weakening of an empire and the building of new states. Bengal, Awadh and Hyderabad grew more autonomous. Rajputs, Sikhs, Marathas and Jats consolidated regional power. These developments differed in their origins, methods and consequences.

Another change gathered strength in the second half of the century. The East India Company, which had entered India for trade, acquired territory and revenue. By 1765, British control had expanded significantly in eastern India.

The map labels Sikhs, Awadh, Bengal, Gujarat, Malwa and Marathas. A broken boundary marks the external extent of the Mughal Empire in 1700. Delhi, Lahore, Poona and Hyderabad are among the places shown.

These changes should be understood together. Mughal decline did not immediately produce British rule throughout India. Regional rulers continued to build administrations, develop towns, collect revenue and resist rivals.

Why did Mughal authority decline after Aurangzeb?

How did war weaken the imperial government?

Aurangzeb's long war in the Deccan exhausted military and financial resources. An empire needed money to maintain soldiers and officials. Prolonged fighting strained these resources before the later emperors faced their own administrative problems.

Under Aurangzeb's successors, imperial administration became less efficient. The emperors found it increasingly difficult to control powerful mansabdars, the nobles who held ranks in Mughal service. Provincial governors acquired powers that made them less dependent on the centre.

Why did provincial control matter?

A subadar was a provincial governor. Some governors also controlled diwani, revenue administration, and faujdari, military administration. Combining these offices gave them substantial political, financial and military authority over their provinces.

1. Governors strengthened their control over provincial administration and local resources.
2. They sent less revenue to the imperial capital as their regional authority increased.
3. The emperor's ability to command resources and enforce authority weakened.
4. Provincial governors, local chieftains and other groups consolidated their positions further.

Peasant and zamindari rebellions added to the crisis in northern and western India. Some arose from growing tax demands. Others reflected the ambitions of powerful chiefs who wanted to strengthen their own positions.

Rebellions had occurred earlier, but rebellious groups could now seize regional economic resources and use them to sustain their power. The later emperors could not stop this gradual transfer of political and economic authority.

How did court rivalries worsen the crisis?

Nobles divided into rival factions, especially the Iranis and Turanis. Turanis were nobles of Turkish descent. Competition between these groups weakened the emperors, who often became dependent on powerful nobles rather than controlling them.

The humiliation of emperors showed the depth of this problem. Farrukh Siyar and Alamgir II were assassinated; Ahmad Shah and Shah Alam II were blinded by nobles. Military exhaustion, revenue difficulties, rebellions and factional rivalry reinforced one another.

How did foreign invasions deepen the Mughal crisis?

The empire faced outside attacks while its internal authority was already weakening. Nadir Shah, the ruler of Iran, attacked and plundered Delhi in 1739. He carried away immense wealth from the city and the Mughal treasury.

Accounts of the invasion describe the removal of valuables, including the Peacock Throne. They also describe the suffering of Delhi's inhabitants: wealthy people became impoverished, residents lost their homes and parts of the city suffered severe destruction.

What followed Nadir Shah's attack?

The Afghan ruler Ahmad Shah Abdali invaded northern India five times between 1748 and 1761. His raids added to the insecurity created by weakened imperial administration and competition among regional powers.

These invasions did not begin the Mughal crisis. Long wars, declining revenue remittances, provincial ambitions and rebellions were already undermining the empire. Foreign attacks deepened those difficulties by removing wealth and demonstrating the vulnerability of imperial power.

Note: Nadir Shah attacked Delhi in 1739, not Bengal. Ahmad Shah Abdali was a different ruler whose repeated invasions took place between 1748 and 1761. Keep the two rulers and their actions distinct.

The effects spread beyond Delhi. When Nadir Shah sacked the city in 1739, many of its notables took refuge in the Jat kingdom of Bharatpur. Regional states could therefore become places of refuge while the imperial capital suffered.

How did Bengal, Awadh and Hyderabad compare as regional states?

Bengal, Awadh and Hyderabad were important examples of provinces in which governors strengthened their own authority as Mughal power declined. Their rise illustrates how regional states could develop from institutions previously connected with the imperial government.

Autonomy meant increased freedom to govern regional affairs. A governor's control over revenue, appointments and armed forces could become more important in practice than the emperor's ability to issue commands from Delhi.

Who established regional authority?

Bengal's nawabs resisted the East India Company's efforts to gain privileges. Murshid Quli Khan, Alivardi Khan and Sirajuddaulah asserted their authority over trade, taxation and fortification. They opposed practices that deprived their government of revenue.

The nawabs demanded payment for the Company's trading rights and refused to allow unrestricted expansion of its forts. The Company, however, argued that duties and official demands interfered with profitable trade. Commercial disputes therefore became disputes over political authority.

Awadh also illustrates the changing military basis of regional states. Along with Banaras, it recruited peasants and trained them as professional soldiers. The Company later adopted a similar method in recruiting its own army.

The common feature was a shift of effective power away from the Mughal centre. Their later relations with the Company differed, but their emergence should first be understood as regional state-building.

How did Rajput rulers strengthen their kingdoms?

Rajput rulers, particularly those of Amber and Jodhpur, had served the Mughals and enjoyed considerable autonomy in their watan jagirs, their hereditary territories. In the eighteenth century, they sought to extend control over neighbouring areas.

How did imperial offices help expansion?

Raja Ajit Singh of Jodhpur held the governorship of Gujarat, while Sawai Raja Jai Singh of Amber governed Malwa. These offices were renewed by Emperor Jahandar Shah in 1713. Holding imperial office could support a ruler's regional ambitions.

Jodhpur annexed Nagaur, and Amber seized large parts of Bundi. Jai Singh founded a new capital at Jaipur and received the governorship of Agra in 1722. Maratha campaigns from the 1740s later placed pressure on Rajput kingdoms and checked their expansion.

What did forts and observatories contribute?

Rajput forts were centres of power containing palaces, temples, trading areas and water-storage structures. Chittorgarh contained ponds, wells and stepwells. Such complexes supported urban life as well as defence.

Jai Singh constructed five astronomical observatories: at Delhi, Jaipur, Ujjain, Mathura and Varanasi. Known as Jantar Mantar, they contained instruments for studying heavenly bodies. These projects show an aspect of rulership beyond warfare and territorial expansion.

Photograph: Jantar Mantar in Jaipur. The photograph shows an open complex containing several large built structures, including prominent sloping forms, with buildings in the background. The structures form part of the astronomical observatory.

A Persian account written in 1732 described Jai Singh's army, artillery and wealth. Together, political appointments, territorial expansion and major building projects show how a regional ruler could combine inherited authority with new ambitions.

How were the Sikhs organised into a regional power?

The development of the Sikhs into a political community helped state-building in the Punjab. Guru Gobind Singh fought battles against Mughal and Rajput rulers before and after the institution of the Khalsa, the Sikh community he organised, in 1699.

What did Banda Bahadur achieve?

After Guru Gobind Singh's death in 1708, the Khalsa rebelled against Mughal authority under Banda Bahadur. They established an administration between the Sutlej and Jamuna rivers and struck coins in the names of Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh.

Coinage expressed a claim to sovereign authority. Banda Bahadur was captured in 1715 and executed in 1716, but Sikh political organisation continued to develop after his death.

How did collective institutions work?

The Khalsa resisted Mughal governors and then Ahmad Shah Abdali. Their close organisation helped sustain this resistance. In 1765, they again asserted sovereign rule through their own coinage, using an inscription associated with Banda Bahadur's time.

By the late eighteenth century, Sikh territories stretched from the Indus to the Jamuna, but different rulers controlled them. Maharaja Ranjit Singh reunited these groups and established his capital at Lahore in 1799.

Sikh state-building therefore involved several stages: rebellion under Banda Bahadur, organisation through bands and collective institutions, resistance to outside rulers, and the later unification associated with Ranjit Singh.

How did the Marathas expand and govern their territories?

Shivaji, who lived from 1630 to 1680, built a strong kingdom through sustained opposition to Mughal rule. Powerful warrior families called deshmukhs supported him, while mobile peasant-pastoralist groups called kunbis formed the backbone of his army.

Shivaji used guerrilla warfare against opponents and developed an effective administration. Under his successors, effective power passed to the Peshwas, or principal ministers, from a family of Chitpavan Brahmanas. Poona became the Maratha capital.

Why were Maratha campaigns effective?

The Peshwas developed a military organisation that often bypassed Mughal forts, raided cities and fought where enemy supplies and reinforcements could be disrupted. Their methods weakened Mughal control while allowing Maratha influence to spread.

Between 1720 and 1761, Maratha power expanded. They seized Malwa and Gujarat during the 1720s. By the 1730s, the Maratha king was recognised as overlord of the Deccan peninsula and possessed rights to collect chauth and sardeshmukhi there.

After the raid on Delhi in 1737, Maratha influence expanded into northern, eastern and southern regions. Some territories paid tribute without being formally included in the empire. Tribute acknowledged Maratha sovereignty but did not necessarily mean direct incorporation.

What were the strengths and limits of expansion?

Conquests brought resources, but campaigns also created enemies. Other rulers were unwilling to support the Marathas at the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761. Their defeat damaged the ambition of ruling from Delhi.

Maratha government also encouraged agriculture and revived trade. Once control was secure, revenue demands were introduced gradually with attention to local conditions. Chiefs such as Sindhia of Gwalior, Gaekwad of Baroda and Bhonsle of Nagpur used regional resources to maintain armies.

Ujjain prospered under Sindhia's patronage, while Indore grew under Holkar. Chanderi silk found a market in Poona, and Burhanpur's trading connections extended towards Poona, Nagpur, Lucknow and Allahabad.

The Marathas remained important after Panipat. Their first war with the Company ended with the Treaty of Salbai in 1782, with no clear victor. Their eighteenth-century history therefore included both military setbacks and continuing regional strength.

How did the Jats build a strong regional state?

The Jats consolidated their power during the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Under Churaman, they gained control of territories west of Delhi. Their influence extended over the region between the imperial cities of Delhi and Agra.

For a time, they became virtual custodians of Agra. Their position was therefore closely connected with an important area of former Mughal authority rather than a distant frontier alone.

What supported Jat prosperity?

The Jats were prosperous agriculturists. Panipat and Ballabhgarh developed as trading centres in the areas they dominated. Agriculture and commerce provided an economic setting for the consolidation of political power.

Under Suraj Mal, Bharatpur became a strong state. He consolidated Jat power there during 1756 to 1763. His territories broadly included parts of present-day eastern Rajasthan, southern Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.

When Delhi was plundered in 1739, many notables sought refuge in Bharatpur. The movement of these people shows how a regional kingdom could offer security when the imperial centre was vulnerable.

What did Jat building projects show?

Suraj Mal built forts and palaces, including Lohagarh Fort at Bharatpur. At Dig, the Jats constructed an elaborate garden palace combining architectural styles associated with Amber and Agra. Regional rulers drew upon existing royal traditions while establishing their own centres of authority.

Which social groups participated in political and economic change?

How did peasants and cultivators participate?

Peasants were producers, taxpayers and sometimes rebels or soldiers. Rising tax demands contributed to revolts in parts of northern and western India. Kunbi peasant-pastoralists supported Maratha military power, while Jat agriculturists prospered under regional rule.

Awadh and Banaras recruited peasants and trained them as professional soldiers. In the Punjab, the rakhi system connected protection of cultivators with a payment of 20 per cent of their produce. Cultivators therefore supported states through both revenue and military service.

How did chiefs and nobles participate?

Governors, zamindars and warrior chiefs gained opportunities as imperial control weakened. Subadars consolidated provincial authority. Rajput rulers used governorships and territorial expansion, while Maratha deshmukhs and sardars helped build military power.

These groups did not have identical aims. Some sought greater freedom within existing political arrangements; others organised resistance or extended conquest. Competition among rulers could also prevent cooperation against a common opponent, as Maratha experience at Panipat demonstrated.

How did merchants and traders participate?

Merchants and traders benefited from some growing regional markets. Ujjain and Indore became important commercial and cultural centres under Maratha patronage. Panipat and Ballabhgarh developed as trading centres under Jat influence.

European companies bought Indian cotton, silk and spices for sale abroad. Their competition increased purchase prices and reduced profits. They therefore tried to exclude rivals, protect settlements with forts and secure concessions from Indian rulers.

The century cannot be described simply as universal economic collapse. Delhi suffered invasion and destruction, while several regional towns expanded. Political fragmentation and commercial growth could occur in different places during the same period.

How did the East India Company gain power in Bengal?

The English East India Company received its charter from Queen Elizabeth I in 1600. This granted exclusive English trading rights in the East, but did not prevent Portuguese, Dutch or French competition.

Its first English factory in Bengal was established on the river Hugli in 1651. A factory was a trading establishment with warehouses and offices. The traders working from it were called factors.

Why did trade turn into conflict?

The Company wanted concessions, fortified settlements and freedom from duties. Bengal's nawabs wanted revenue and control over activities within their territory. Company officials' refusal to pay duties on private trade was one major source of conflict.

After Alivardi Khan's death in 1756, Sirajuddaulah became nawab. He demanded that the Company stop interfering in politics, stop fortification and pay revenue. When negotiations failed, fighting followed.

1. In 1757, Robert Clive led Company forces against Sirajuddaulah at the Battle of Plassey.
2. Mir Jafar's forces did not fight; Clive had promised to make him nawab. Sirajuddaulah was defeated and later assassinated.
3. The Company installed Mir Jafar, later replaced him with Mir Qasim, and restored Mir Jafar after Mir Qasim's defeat at Buxar in 1764.
4. In 1765, the Mughal emperor appointed the Company as Diwan of Bengal's provinces, giving it access to their revenue.

Why was the Diwani important?

The Diwani gave the Company the right to collect land revenue. Revenue from India could now pay for Indian textiles, troops, forts and offices. The Company gained a financial base for both trade and political expansion.

Hatched shading identifies territory under British control. Bengal, Bihar and Orissa appear in the eastern shaded area. Other labels include Awadh, Rajputs, Marathas, Hyderabad and Mysore.

Plassey was the Company's first major victory in India. The sequence from commercial disputes to military victories and revenue rights explains how a trading company became a territorial power.

How did Mysore resist the Company's expansion?

Mysore became powerful under Haidar Ali, who ruled from 1761 to 1782, and his son Tipu Sultan, who ruled from 1782 to 1799. It controlled profitable trade on the Malabar coast.

The Company bought pepper and cardamom in this region. In 1785, Tipu stopped the export of sandalwood, pepper and cardamom through his kingdom's ports and prevented local merchants from trading with the Company.

Why did the Company regard Mysore as a threat?

Tipu also developed close relations with the French in India and modernised his army with their help. Mysore's commercial policies and military strength threatened the Company's interests, leading to direct confrontation.

In 1792, the Company, the Marathas and the Nizam of Hyderabad jointly attacked Tipu. In the final conflict, he died defending his capital on 4 May 1799. Mysore was placed under the former Wodeyar dynasty.

A subsidiary alliance was then imposed. Under this arrangement, a ruler could not maintain independent armed forces and had to pay for Company troops providing protection. Failure to pay could lead to loss of territory.

What were the consequences for government and administration?

The weakening of Mughal authority produced several centres of regional power. As the Company expanded, it also developed new institutions for governing its territories. Revenue collection, courts and military recruitment became important parts of this change.

How was Company government organised?

Company territories were divided into Presidencies: Bengal, Madras and Bombay. Each had a Governor, while the Governor-General was the supreme administrative head. Warren Hastings served as Governor-General from 1773 to 1785.

From 1772, districts were to have a criminal court, the faujdari adalat, and a civil court, the diwani adalat. European collectors presided over civil courts with help from Hindu pandits and Muslim religious scholars who interpreted laws.

Criminal courts remained under a qazi, or judge, and a mufti, a jurist who explained Muslim law, under collectors' supervision. These arrangements combined Company authority with Indian legal expertise.

Which legal changes followed?

The Regulating Act of 1773 provided for a new Supreme Court. A court of appeal, the Sadar Nizamat Adalat, was also established at Calcutta. In 1775, eleven pandits were asked to compile a digest of Hindu laws.

N. B. Halhed translated that digest into English. By 1778, a code of Muslim laws had also been compiled for European judges. The aim was greater uniformity in the interpretation of law.

The Collector collected revenue and taxes and maintained law and order with judicial and police assistance. The Collectorate became a centre of power. After Hastings returned to England in 1785, Edmund Burke accused him of misgovernment in Bengal, leading to impeachment proceedings lasting seven years.

Political change therefore affected more than royal titles. It altered who collected revenue, administered justice, maintained armies and exercised authority in districts.

What timeline connects the major developments?

This timeline brings together the decline of imperial control, the formation of regional powers and the Company's expansion. Events in different regions overlapped; they were not successive stages experienced identically throughout India.

Notice especially the difference between 1757, 1764 and 1765. Plassey, Buxar and the acquisition of Diwani were separate events. Likewise, the Maratha defeat in 1761 did not mean that Maratha power immediately disappeared.

How do historical sources reveal different views of the century?

Historical sources include accounts, letters, coins, paintings and buildings. They can reveal political claims and contemporary experiences, but a writer's purpose or a patron's interests can shape the evidence.

What do written accounts show?

A Persian account of 1732 described Jai Singh's military resources and wealth. Accounts of Nadir Shah's attack in 1739 described both looted treasure and the suffering of Delhi's residents. They illuminate different aspects of power and insecurity.

In 1733, Bengal's nawab complained that English traders had transformed a permitted trading establishment into a fortified settlement. He also complained about their collection of revenue. This presents the Company's growth from the perspective of a ruler defending his authority.

In a letter to William Pitt dated 7 January 1759, Robert Clive discussed the wealth and revenue that possession of Indian provinces might bring. His emphasis on financial opportunities differs from the nawab's concern about lost control.

How should visual evidence be examined?

Painting: Cornwallis receiving Tipu Sultan's sons as hostages. Daniel Orme's 1793 painting shows two boys beside adults wearing turbans and long robes, facing a prominent European officer in uniform. Other uniformed figures stand behind him.

The painting presents an event following Tipu's defeat in 1792, when two sons became hostages under a treaty. Its composition can be compared with the circumstances of that defeat. A ceremonial image does not by itself explain the war or the treaty's terms.

Coins struck by the Khalsa in 1765 expressed sovereign authority. Buildings and observatories reveal patronage and centres of power. Comparing different kinds of evidence helps distinguish a ruler's claims, a witness's experience and the wider course of events.

Glossary

• Subadar — A provincial governor in the Mughal system who could acquire extensive regional authority as central power weakened.
• Mansabdar — A holder of rank in Mughal service; powerful nobles became increasingly difficult for later emperors to control.
• Diwani — Revenue administration or the right to collect revenue, acquired by the Company in Bengal in 1765.
• Faujdari — Military administration, an office sometimes controlled by provincial governors alongside revenue administration.
• Watan jagir — A hereditary territory in which a Rajput ruler enjoyed considerable autonomy under Mughal arrangements.
• Misl — A Sikh band forming part of the political and military organisation that developed during the eighteenth century.
• Dal khalsa — The combined forces of Sikh bands, described as their grand army.
• Gurmata — A collective resolution taken by the Sikh body meeting at Amritsar during Baisakhi and Diwali.
• Rakhi — Protection offered to cultivators in return for a tax of twenty per cent of their produce.
• Peshwa — The Maratha principal minister, whose office came to exercise effective military and administrative power.
• Chauth — A claim amounting to twenty-five per cent of land revenue, collected by the Marathas in the Deccan.
• Sardeshmukhi — A payment of nine to ten per cent of land revenue to the Deccan's head revenue collector.
• Factory — A Company trading establishment containing warehouses for goods and offices for its officials.
• Subsidiary alliance — An arrangement requiring an Indian ruler to pay for Company protection and give up independent armed forces.
• Impeachment — A trial in England's House of Lords for misconduct charges brought against a person in the House of Commons.

Common errors and misconceptions

• Misconception: Mughal decline began only with foreign invasions. Correct: Long wars, administrative weakness, revenue difficulties and rebellions had already weakened the empire before Nadir Shah's attack.
• Misconception: Aurangzeb's death immediately brought all India under British rule. Correct: Regional states expanded, and the Company's territorial power developed through later conflicts and revenue rights.
• Misconception: Nadir Shah and Ahmad Shah Abdali were the same invader. Correct: Nadir Shah plundered Delhi in 1739; Abdali invaded northern India repeatedly between 1748 and 1761.
• Misconception: Every territory paying Maratha tribute was directly incorporated into the empire. Correct: Some regions acknowledged Maratha sovereignty through tribute without formal incorporation.
• Misconception: The Marathas ceased to matter after Panipat. Correct: They remained powerful regional rivals, and their first war with the Company ended without a clear victor in 1782.
• Misconception: Plassey and the acquisition of Diwani happened in the same year. Correct: Plassey occurred in 1757, Buxar in 1764 and the Company's acquisition of Diwani in 1765.
• Misconception: Political decline meant that every town became poorer. Correct: Delhi suffered devastation, while places such as Ujjain, Indore, Panipat and Ballabhgarh developed as regional commercial centres.

Exam-style questions with model answers

Q1. A provincial governor controlled diwani, or revenue administration, and faujdari, or military administration. Explain two kinds of power this combination gave him. [2 marks]

1. Control of diwani gave the governor authority over provincial revenue.
2. Control of faujdari gave him military authority. Together, these offices strengthened his regional position.

Q2. Aurangzeb's Deccan war exhausted resources; governors sent less revenue to Delhi; rising taxes contributed to rebellions; and nobles competed for influence over emperors. Explain four reasons for declining Mughal authority using these facts. [4 marks]

1. Prolonged war weakened the empire by consuming military and financial resources needed to sustain government.
2. Reduced provincial payments limited the resources available to the emperor and reflected governors' growing independence.
3. Rebellions caused by rising taxes challenged imperial authority and made control of regional resources more difficult.
4. Rivalries among nobles weakened the emperor's position because influential factions competed to control imperial decisions.

Q3. Sikh bands called jathas and later misls combined as the dal khalsa, or grand army. Gatherings at Amritsar during Baisakhi and Diwali adopted gurmatas. Rakhi offered cultivators protection for twenty per cent of their produce. Explain three features of this organisation. [3 marks]

1. Military organisation rested on bands whose combined forces formed the dal khalsa, or grand army. This linked separate groups in a common military structure.
2. Collective decision-making occurred at Amritsar during Baisakhi and Diwali. The decisions were called gurmatas.
3. The rakhi system connected protection and taxation: cultivators received protection in return for twenty per cent of their produce.

Q4. Maratha expansion brought tribute and resources; some tribute-paying regions were not formally incorporated. Campaigns made other rulers hostile, reducing support at Panipat in 1761. Once control was secure, revenue demands considered local conditions, agriculture was encouraged and trade revived. Explain both the strengths and limits of Maratha expansion. [5 marks]

1. Expansion increased Maratha resources because conquered or subordinate regions supplied tribute. This helped extend their political influence beyond the territories under direct control.
2. Tribute and incorporation were different: a region could acknowledge Maratha sovereignty through payment without becoming a formal part of the empire.
3. Military campaigns also created hostility among other rulers. This limited cooperation and reduced support for the Marathas at Panipat in 1761.
4. After securing control, Maratha authorities introduced revenue demands with attention to local conditions rather than treating every area identically.
5. Encouraging agriculture and reviving trade strengthened the economic life of controlled territories. Expansion therefore involved administration and economic activity as well as warfare.

Q5. Clive defeated Sirajuddaulah at Plassey in 1757 after Mir Jafar's forces withheld support. Mir Qasim was defeated at Buxar in 1764. In 1765 the Company gained Diwani, allowing Bengal's revenue to buy textiles and maintain troops, forts and offices. Explain the three stages and the financial importance of the last. [4 marks]

1. Plassey in 1757 gave the Company a major military victory over Sirajuddaulah. Mir Jafar's failure to fight contributed to the nawab's defeat.
2. Mir Qasim's defeat at Buxar in 1764 marked a further stage in the Company's struggle with Bengal's rulers.
3. Acquiring Diwani in 1765 gave the Company access to Bengal's revenue.
4. That revenue could pay for textiles and support troops, forts and offices, connecting commercial purchases with the maintenance of political power.

Q6. Tipu restricted exports and local trade with the Company in 1785 and modernised his army with French assistance. Wars occurred in 1767 to 1769, 1780 to 1784, 1790 to 1792 and 1799. He died defending Shrirangapatnam in 1799, after which Mysore accepted Company protection, paid for its troops and lost independent armed forces. Explain the conflict and its outcome. [5 marks]

1. Tipu's restrictions on exports and local merchants' trade threatened the Company's commercial interests. The dispute therefore involved control of trade as well as political authority.
2. French assistance helped modernise Mysore's army, strengthening a regional power opposed to the Company's interests.
3. Four wars, beginning in 1767 and ending in 1799, show that the struggle continued over several decades rather than being settled by one early encounter.
4. Tipu died defending Shrirangapatnam in 1799. His death marked the final defeat described in the question.
5. The subsequent arrangement reduced Mysore's military independence. It had to rely on Company protection and pay for Company troops while surrendering its own independent armed forces.

Q7. In 1733 Bengal's nawab complained that English traders had built fortifications and collected revenue. In a letter of 7 January 1759, Clive discussed the wealth and income obtainable from Indian provinces. Compare the concerns expressed in these two accounts. [3 marks]

1. The nawab's account emphasised the Company's growth beyond trading activity. Fortification and revenue collection appeared as challenges to his control.
2. Clive's letter emphasised the wealth and income that control of Indian provinces could provide.
3. The accounts therefore present different interests: the nawab was concerned about authority being undermined, while Clive considered the financial opportunities associated with territorial power.

Q8. The Regulating Act of 1773 provided for a Supreme Court. In 1775 eleven pandits were asked to compile a digest of Hindu laws, translated by N. B. Halhed. By 1778 a code of Muslim laws had been compiled for European judges. The compilations aimed to make legal interpretation more uniform. Identify three developments and their administrative purpose. [3 marks]

1. The Regulating Act of 1773 provided for a Supreme Court, forming part of the Company's developing judicial structure.
2. The Hindu law digest begun in 1775 collected interpretations into a compilation that Halhed translated into English.
3. The Muslim law code was compiled by 1778 for European judges. Together, the compilations sought greater uniformity and helped judges interpret the laws they were administering.

Key takeaways

• Mughal decline resulted from prolonged warfare, administrative weakness, provincial ambitions, rebellions, factional rivalry and the added pressure of foreign invasions.
• Regional states built their power through control of revenue, armed forces and local administration as Delhi's authority weakened.
• Sikh organisation combined military bands, collective decisions, protection payments and claims to sovereignty expressed through coinage.
• Maratha expansion brought resources and commercial growth, but also created hostility that reduced support at Panipat in 1761.
• Jat agriculture, trading towns and strong regional centres show that economic growth continued in some areas despite imperial decline.
• Plassey in 1757, Buxar in 1764 and Diwani in 1765 were distinct stages in the Company's rise.
• Mysore resisted Company expansion under Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan until the decisive defeat at Shrirangapatnam in 1799.
• Accounts, letters, coins and paintings reveal different aspects of the century and need to be considered in their historical setting.

Test yourself

Why did reduced provincial revenue payments weaken the emperor?

They reduced resources available at the centre while showing that governors were consolidating control over their own provinces.

Which city did Nadir Shah plunder in 1739?

He plundered Delhi, removing immense wealth and causing severe destruction and suffering in the imperial capital.

How were gurmatas connected with Amritsar?

They were collective Sikh decisions taken at gatherings in Amritsar during Baisakhi and Diwali.

What distinguished chauth from sardeshmukhi?

Chauth was a claim of twenty-five per cent of land revenue; sardeshmukhi was nine to ten per cent paid to the Deccan's head revenue collector.

Why is the year 1765 important for Company finance?

The Company acquired Diwani, allowing Bengal's revenue to finance textile purchases, troops, forts and offices.

Who established a capital at Lahore in 1799?

Maharaja Ranjit Singh established his capital there after reuniting different Sikh ruling groups.

What happened to Tipu Sultan on 4 May 1799?

He died defending Shrirangapatnam, his capital, during the final war between Mysore and the Company.

Why should a painting be compared with written evidence?

A painting can present a selected view of an event; written evidence can help explain its circumstances and political meaning.