Read Aloud the Text Content

This audio was created by Woord's Text to Speech service by content creators from all around the world.

Text Content or SSML code:

The rise of autonomous regional kingdoms The decline of the Mughal Empire in the eighteenth century led to a political chaos A number of important and powerful nobles broke away from the Mughal Empire and formed their own autonomous states. In some cases, these autonomous states remained nominally under Mughal suzerainty but practically, they established complete autonomous administration within the states. This was the period of gradual emergence of the Sikhs and the Marathas. Several Mughal provinces such as Awadh, Hyderabad, Carnatic and Mysore also asserted their independence. Bengal, Maratha Confederacy The Maratha kingdom emerged powerful under Shivaji and his successors. The Marathas had fought fiercely to maintain their independence from Mughal control The Mughal-Maratha conflict continued after Shivaji's death. His grandson Sahu was imprisoned by Aurangzeb and was released only after the death of the Mughal Emperor in 1707. A war of succession broke out between rival contenders to the Maratha throne-Sahu and his aunt Tarabai and her son. Finally, Sahu became the ruler with the help of Balaji Vishwanath. In return, Sahu made Balaji the Peshwa or the Chief Minister of the Maratha Kingdom in 1713. Rise of the Peshwas Sahu was a weak and fun-loving ruler. Gradually, the effective control of the Maratha kingdom fell into the hands of the Peshwas. The Maratha ruler became merely a figurehead. Thus, began the rule of the Peshwas. The Maratha confederacy gained new heights of power and prestige under the able guidance and leadership of the Peshwas. Balaji Vishwanath He took advantage of the declining power of the Mughal Empire and consolidated the Maratha power. He restored all the territories of the Marathas which were captured by the Mughals after the death of Shivaji. This greatly enhanced the power and prestige of the Marathas. •He was successful in getting the right to levy chauth and sardeshmukhi on the six Mughal provinces in the Deccan. He marched up to Delhi to help the Sayyid brothers to overthrow the Mughal ruler, Farrukhsiyar. He laid the foundation of the dynastic rule of the Peshwas. Baji Rao I Balaji Vishwanath was succeeded by his son Baji Rao L. He was a great military statesman. He led several successful campaigns into the territories of the Mughals and other regional powers. He transformed the Maratha kingdom into a huge empire . It was during his period that the Maratha families-the Holkars of Indore, Scindhias of Gwalior, Bhonsles of Nagpur and Gaekwads of Baroda-rose to prominence. The territories from the erstwhile Mughal Empire were put under complete control of these Maratha chiefs. The Maratha Empire was converted into a Maratha confederacy with the Peshwa as its official head. Balaji Baji Rao Baji Rao I was succeeded by his eighteen-year-old son Balaji Baji Rao. During his period, the Maratha ruler Sahu died. The Peshwa became the official head of the Marathas Balaji Baji Rao shifted the Maratha capital fromSatara to Poona. He expanded the Maratha territories to Delhi and Punjab in the north, Bengal and Orissa (now Odisha) in the east, and Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in the south. The Mughal throne was virtually controlled by the Marathas Bengal Bengal was one of the richest provinces of the Mughal Empire. The decline of the Mughal power gave Murshid Quli Khan, the Governor of Bengal, an opportunity to assume autonomy. However, he continued to pay tribute to the Mughal Emperor. Bengal under the Nawabs . Murshid Quli Khan: He was an efficient administrator. He reorganised the revenue department, employed both the Muslims and Hindus in his administration, promoted trade and established law and order in the province Alivardi Khan; Murshid Quli Khan was succeeded by Alivardi Khan. He was the Nawab of Bengal between 1740 and 1756. He promoted Indian and foreign merchants and traders. He prevented tthe French and the English East India Company from fortifying their settlements at Chandernagore and Calcutta (now Kolkata), respectively. Siraj-ud-Daulah: Alivardi Khan was succeeded by Siraj-ud-Daulah. He was the last independent ruler of Bengal. He was defeated by the British forces led by Robert Clive in the Battle of Plassey (1757). This led to the gradual increase in the domination of the British in Bengal. Causes of Company's success in Bengal The Nawabs of Bengal failed to understand the true motives of the English East India Company. They felt that it was a trading company which did not wish to gain political power and could not challenge their authority. The administration of Bengal was full of corrupt nobles and officials. This made the province a victim of the growing ambitions of the Company. Awadh (Oudh) Saadat Khan was appointed the governor of Awadh by Emperor Muhammad Shah in 1722. Later, he founded an autonomous state of Awadh.. Rulers of Awadh • Saadat Khan: He introduced several reforms which made Awadh economically and politically strong. He reorganised the revenue department and strengthened the army •Safdar Jung: He succeeded Saadat Khan. His wars against the Rohillas, Jats and the Marathas resulted in the expansion of his territories. He was succeeded by his son Shuja-ud-Daula. Uniqueness of Lucknow Lucknow rose to prominence as the capital of Awadh under the Nawabs. The Nawabs were great patrons of art, especially dance and music. The refined Lucknaci culture, which finds special mention even today, became popular under the Nawabs. It left behind a rich legacy of fine monuments, beautiful language, food,dressing style and gracious living Hyderabad Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah was the Mughal Governor of the Deccan provinces between 1713 and 1715. He founded the state of Hyderabad in 1724. He became practically independent, though he continued to recognise the Mughal Emperor as his sovereign Achievements of Asaf Jah He was an efficient administrator. He recruited skilled soldiers and administrators from northern India. He appointed mansabdars and granted them jagirs He removed corruption from the revenue department and promoted trade. He was successful in protecting his kingdom from internal and external threats. The death of Asaf Jah was followed by a war of succession. This allowed the foreign powers, such as the French and English East India companies, an excuse to get involved in the internal politics of this kingdom. Carnatic Carnatic was one of the subas in the Deccan under the control of the Nizam of Hyderabad. The Nawab freed himself from the Nizam's rule and founded a hereditary rule in his state. This led to political instability and a war of succession broke out in the Carnatic. The Europeans took advantage of this and interfered in its internal affairs. They made territorial and economic gains out of this struggle. Mysore The powerful Vijaynagar Empire collapsed in the seventeenth century. Mysore emerged as a powerful kingdom from this disintegration in the middle of the eighteenth century under the leadership of Hyder Ali. Rulers Hyder Ali Hyder Ali was a foot soldier in the army of the Kingdom of Mysore. He rose in rank and eventually became the de facto ruler of Mysore. He overthrew the government of Mysore and established his authority in 1761. He made Mysore a very prosperous and powerful state. Tipu Sultan Hyder Ali was succeeded by his son Tipu Sultan. He was a powerful ruler. He was popularly known as the Tiger of Mysore. He carried out several reforms and tried to modernise his army and administration. He tried to strengthen the economy of the state by encouraging agriculture and promoting trade and commerce. He posed a severe challenge to other regional powers and the British. Sikhs The Sikhs gained political and military power after the formation of the Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh. They rose in revolt against the Mughal authority under the leadership of Banda Bahadur. Banda Bahadur declared the sovereign rule of the Sikhs by striking coins in the name of Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh in the region between the Suttuj and Yamuna. He was, however, imprisoned and put to death in Delhi in 1716. Maharaja Ranjit Singh The Sikhs again rose to prominence in the last decades of the eighteenth century under Ranjit Singh. He brought all the misls (groups) together and became the ruler of Punjab. He established his capital at Lahore in 1799. He signed the Treaty of Amritsar (1809) with Lord Minto, the Governor General of the English East India Company. From then onwards, River Sutluj was accepted as the boundary between the Sikh kingdom and the British territory. By this treaty, the British promised not to interfere in the internal affairs of their kingdom. Rajputs The Rajput states of Jaipur, Mewar and Marwar asserted their autonomy after the decline of the Mughal power. However, these states never attempted to form a united Rajput Empire. They continued to fight against each other. These kingdoms were also plagued by constant internal strifes. As a result, they became easy prey to the expansionist policies of the British.