Eighteenth-Century Political Formations

Q19. Name the new social groups that developed in Awadh to influence the management of the state’s revenue system.

Ans. New social groups, like moneylenders and bankers were developed to influence the management of the state’s revenue system.

Q20. How were peasant-pastoralists important for Shivaji?

Ans. Groups of highly mobile, peasantpastoralists (kunbis) provided the backbone of the Maratha army. Shivaji used these forces to challenge the Mughals in the peninsula.

Q21. What were the policies adopted by Asaf Jah to strengthen his position?

Ans. Asaf Jah brought skilled soldiers and administrators from northern India who welcomed the new opportunities in the south. He appointed mansabdars and granted jagirs.

Q22. What were the offices held by Sa‘adat Khan?

Ans. Sa‘adat Khan held the combined offices of subadari, diwani and faujdari. In other words, he was responsible for managing the political, financial and military affairs of the province of Awadh.

Q23. Who ruled the Maratha kingdom after the death of Shivaji?

Ans. After Shivaji’s death, effective power in the Maratha state was wielded by a family of Chitpavan Brahmanas who served Shivaji’s successors as Peshwa (or principal minister). Poona became the capital of the Maratha kingdom.

Q24. Why zamindars of Bengal had to borrow money from bankers and moneylenders?

Ans. Revenue was collected in cash with great strictness from all zamindars. As a result, many zamindars had to borrow money from bankers and moneylenders.

Q25. Name the three states that were carved out of the old Mughal provinces in the 18th century and stand out very prominently.

Ans. Amongst the states that were carved out of the old Mughal provinces in the eighteenth century, three stand out very prominently. These were Awadh, Bengal and Hyderabad.

Q26. What was the ambition of the Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah? Why was his ambition not fulfilled?

Ans. The ambitions of the Nizam to control the rich textile-producing areas of the Coromandel coast in the east were checked by the British who were becoming increasingly powerful in that region.

Q27. Write a short note on administration of Marathas.

Ans. The Marathas developed an effective administrative system as well. They introduced revenue demands gradually taking local conditions into account. Agriculture was encouraged and trade revived. This allowed Maratha chiefs (sardars) to raise powerful armies.

Q28. Why did the Marathas want to expand beyond the Deccan?

Ans. Marathas wanted to expand beyond the Deccan for power and authority. It gradually chipped away at the authority of the Mughal Empire. By the 1720s, they seized Malwa and Gujarat from the Mughals and by the 1730s, the Maratha king was recognised as the overlord of the entire Deccan peninsula. He possessed the right to levy chauth and sardeshmukhi in the entire region.

Q29. What was the impact of Nadir Shah’s invasion upon Delhi?
Or
Which foreign invaders arrived in the middle of the economic and political crisis in 1739?

Ans. In the midst of this economic and political crisis, the ruler of Iran, Nadir Shah, sacked and plundered the city of Delhi in 1739 and took away immense amounts of wealth. This invasion was followed by a series of plundering raids by the Afghan ruler Ahmad Shah Abdali, who invaded north India five times between 1748 and 1761.

Q30. Who established a stable Maratha kingdom and how?

Ans. The Maratha kingdom was another powerful regional kingdom to arise out of a sustained opposition to Mughal rule. Shivaji (1627-1680) carved out a stable kingdom with the support of powerful warrior families (deshmukhs). Groups of highly mobile, peasantpastoralists (kunbis) provided the backbone of the Maratha army. Shivaji used these forces to challenge the Mughals in the peninsula.