Eighteenth-Century Political Formations

UPSC GS1 — Mughal Decline (structural + individual causes):

Structural causes:

1. Jagirdari crisis: The Mughal system required enough jagirs (land revenue assignments) to pay all mansabdars. Population of mansabdars grew; available jagirs didn't → nobles fought each other for resources, weakening central authority
2. Deccan wars drain: Aurangzeb's 26-year Deccan campaign (1681–1707) exhausted the treasury without decisive victory
3. Succession wars: No clear succession rule → each emperor's death triggered violent civil war among princes; killed talent, destroyed loyalty networks
4. Overextension: Empire too large to govern effectively with pre-modern communication/transport
5. Revenue decline: Long wars, peasant revolts, agricultural disruption → revenue fell; military couldn't be paid

Individual causes (important for UPSC):

• Aurangzeb's religious policies alienated Rajputs, Marathas, Sikhs — reduced support base
• Weak successors after 1707 — 8 emperors in 50 years, several installed and deposed by nobles
• Sayyid Brothers (kingmakers, 1713–1720): Two Sayyid nobles controlled Delhi; installed and removed emperors — showed how hollow Mughal power had become

External shocks:

• Nadir Shah's invasion (1739): Took the Peacock Throne and Koh-i-Noor diamond; Delhi massacre; took enormous wealth back to Persia
• Ahmad Shah Abdali's repeated invasions (1748–1767): Punjab repeatedly attacked; Marathas (the only force capable of resisting) were decisively defeated at Panipat (1761)

UPSC GS1 — Marathas:

Shivaji (~1630–1680): Founded the Maratha kingdom in the Deccan. (Birth year: Maharashtra's official position is 19 February 1630; 1627 appears only in the Jedhe chronology — minority scholarship.)

• Guerrilla warfare from hill forts against Mughal and Bijapur forces
• Chhatrapati: King-title; coronation at Raigad fort (1674)
• Revenue system: Chauth (1/4 of revenue from territories he raided/protected) and Sardeshmukhi (1/10 additional levy as hereditary right)
• Navy: Built a fleet on the western coast — one of the few Indian rulers with a significant navy
• Capital: Raigad; Sinhagad, Purandar, Pratapgad — key Maratha forts

Peshwa period (after Shivaji's line weakened):

• Peshwas (Prime Ministers from Brahmin Chitpavan community) became the real power; based at Pune
• Peshwa Bajirao I (1720–1740): Greatest Peshwa; expanded empire to Malwa, Gujarat, Bundelkhand; undefeated in battle; transformed the Marathas from a regional power to a pan-Indian presence
• Maratha Confederacy: Loose confederation of chiefs — Bhonsles (Nagpur), Holkars (Indore), Scindias/Shinde (Gwalior), Gaekwads (Baroda), Peshwas (Pune)

Maratha expansion and three Panipat battles:

• 1st Panipat (1526): Babur vs Ibrahim Lodi → Mughal empire founded
• 2nd Panipat (1556): Akbar vs Hemu → Mughal empire consolidated
• 3rd Battle of Panipat (1761): Ahmad Shah Abdali vs Maratha forces under Vishwas Rao and Bhau (Peshwa's son and cousin) → Maratha defeat; ~28,000 soldiers killed; political setback but Marathas recovered

Three Anglo-Maratha Wars:

[Additional] Four Anglo-Mysore Wars, Mysorean Rockets, and Tipu's Diplomacy (GS1 — Modern History / GS3 — Science):

Hyder Ali — rise and significance:

• NOT a hereditary ruler — rose through military service; effectively took power in 1761 by confining the Wodeyar king as a nominal sovereign (a pragmatic move to avoid Hindu nobility resistance to a Muslim ruler)
• Developed Mysore's military: modern French-trained infantry, artillery, and a rocket corps of ~1,200 men
• Died December 7, 1782 of cancer during the Second Anglo-Mysore War

The Four Anglo-Mysore Wars:

Mysorean Rockets — innovation and legacy:

Tipu's diplomacy — France and Napoleon:

• 1787 Embassy to Versailles: Tipu sent ambassadors seeking French engineers, weapons manufacturers, and a Franco-Indian military alliance; received with ceremony but mission failed (France was descending into the Revolution that overthrew Louis XVI)
• Embassies to Persia, Turkey, Afghanistan: Tipu sought wider Muslim alliances against the British; none materialized as concrete military cooperation
• Napoleon's Egypt Campaign (1798): Napoleon's stated strategy included linking up with Tipu Sultan to challenge British India; Talleyrand's report (February 13, 1798): "Having occupied and fortified Egypt, we shall send a force of 15,000 men from Suez to India, to join the forces of Tipu-Sahib and drive away the English"
• Napoleon wrote to Tipu promising French forces were advancing toward India and urging joint operations
• This perceived Franco-Tipu alliance was the British justification for launching the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War in 1798

Gumbaz, Srirangapatna:

• Mausoleum built by Tipu in 1782–84 to honour his father Hyder Ali
• Buried here: Hyder Ali (centre) + Fakhr-Un-Nisa (Tipu's mother, east) + Tipu Sultan (west)
• British after the 1799 siege permitted Tipu's burial with full military honours

UPSC synthesis: Anglo-Mysore Wars = GS1 Modern History. Key exam facts: Hyder Ali = NOT hereditary = rose from military service = usurped Mysore 1761 = died December 7, 1782 during 2nd war; Tipu = "Tiger of Mysore" = died May 4, 1799 at Srirangapatna; 4 wars: 1st (1767-69, Treaty of Madras) + 2nd (1780-84, Treaty of Mangalore = ONLY time Indian power dictated equal terms to British EIC) + 3rd (1790-92, Treaty of Seringapatam = half territory + 2 sons as hostages) + 4th (1798-99, Siege of Srirangapatna May 4 1799 = Tipu killed = Mysore → Wodeyar dynasty); Mysorean rockets = iron tubes + up to 2 km range + ~5,000 corps + influenced William Congreve's Congreve rocket (1805); Tipu's 1787 France embassy + Napoleon's 1798 Egypt campaign Franco-Tipu plan; Gumbaz = Srirangapatna = Hyder Ali + Tipu + mother. Prelims trap: Treaty of Mangalore = Second (NOT Third) war (1784); it is the ONLY equal-terms treaty between an Indian power and British EIC in this era (NOT Treaty of Seringapatam — that was 3rd war and British won); Treaty of Seringapatam = Third war (1792) = Tipu LOST half his territory; Fourth war ended with Tipu's death (NOT a treaty — Tipu died at Srirangapatna); Mysore was restored to the Wodeyar dynasty after 1799 (NOT kept directly by British); Mysorean rockets used iron tubes (NOT bamboo — bamboo was the earlier, less effective version).

[Additional] Dual Government, Bengal Famine 1770, and Regulating Act 1773 (GS1 — Modern History / GS2 — Governance):

Treaty of Allahabad (August 12, 1765):

Diwani vs. Nizamat — the divided sovereignty:

The Dual Government system (1765–1772):

• Established by: Robert Clive (1765)
• Core mechanism: Company held the financial resources of the richest province in India; the Nawab nominally held administrative and judicial authority but lacked money and real power to exercise it
• Fundamental problem: Company extracted revenue but took no administrative responsibility for law, order, or welfare; Nawab had responsibility but no resources

Bengal Famine of 1770:

Warren Hastings abolishes the Dual Government (1772):

Regulating Act 1773:

UPSC synthesis: Dual Government + Regulating Act = GS1 Modern History + GS2 Governance. Key exam facts: Treaty of Allahabad = August 12, 1765 = Shah Alam II grants Diwani of Bengal + Bihar + Orissa = Company pays Rs 26 lakh/year to Shah Alam + Rs 53 lakh/year to Nawab for Nizamat; Dual Government = Clive 1765–1772 = Company holds Diwani (revenue) + Nawab holds Nizamat (civil administration) nominally; Deputy Diwans = Mohammad Reza Khan (Bengal) + Raja Sitab Roy (Bihar); Bengal Famine 1769–70 = ~one-third of Bengal's population = Dual Government's divided responsibility worsened relief failure; Warren Hastings abolished Dual Government 1772 + assumed direct revenue administration + Sadar Diwani Adalat + Sadar Nizamat Adalat; Regulating Act 1773 = first Parliamentary oversight of Company = Warren Hastings = first Governor-General of Bengal (October 20, 1773) = 4-member Council = Supreme Court Calcutta 1774 = Sir Elijah Impey = first Chief Justice. Prelims trap: Diwani = revenue + civil justice (NOT criminal justice — criminal justice = Nizamat = Nawab); the famine was in 1770 (crop failures began 1769); Warren Hastings abolished Dual Government in 1772 (NOT 1773 — 1773 is the Regulating Act; he abolished the Dual Government BEFORE the Act); first Governor-General = Warren Hastings (NOT Robert Clive — Clive was Governor, not Governor-General; the post of Governor-General was created by the 1773 Act); Supreme Court Calcutta = established 1774 (NOT 1773 — the Act passed in 1773 but the Court was established the following year); first Chief Justice = Sir Elijah Impey (NOT Warren Hastings — Hastings was Governor-General, Impey was the judicial appointee).