GK SERIES FOR SSC,IAS,PCS,HAS,HCS AND OTHER COMPETITIVE EXAMS (HISTORY-22)

GK SERIES FOR SSC,IAS,PCS,HAS,HCS

AND OTHER COMPETITIVE EXAMS

(HISTORY-22)

THE AUTONOMOUS STATES

AWADH

• The subah of Awadh extended from Kanauj district in the west to the river Karmansa in the east.

• It became virtually independent in 1722 when a Persian Shia adventurer named Saadat Khan Burhan-ul-Mulk was appointed its Governor by Muhummad Shah.

• Saadat Khan became subahdar of Agra in 1720 and was transferred to Awadh two years later.

• As a leading member of the Irani party, he had a powerful rival, Nizam-ul-Mulk, who was a leader of the Turani party.

• Fresh revenue settlement in 1723

• Did not discriminate between Hindus and Muslims. The highest post in his government was held by a Hindu, Maharaja Nawab Rai.

• Saadat Khan was succeeded by Abdul Mansur Khan Safdarjang in 1739.

• Abdul Mansur Khan Safdarjang led a virtually unsuccessful expedition against the Rohillas (1745), took part in the battle of Manipur against Ahmad Shah Abdali (1748), and received appointment as wazir from the emperor Ahmad Shah (1748).

• Troubled by enemies on all sides, he entered into an alliance with the Maratha chiefs, Jayapala Sindia and Malahar Rao Holkar.

• Safdarjang’s successor in the governorship of Awadh was his son Shuja-ud-daula.

• In the conflict between Ahmad Shah Abdali and the Marathas, which culminated in the third battle of Panipat (1761) Shuja-ud-daula was an ally of the Afghan invader.

• His involvement in the struggle between the British and the deposed Nawab of Bengal, Mir Qasim, led to his defeat by the former in the battle of Buxar (1764).

PUNJAB

• Capital at Lahore.

• Creation of Khalsa by the last Sikh Guru Govind Singh in 1699.

• Sikh leader Banda Bahadur began the Sikh war of independence against the Mughal imperial authority.

• In 1716, Banda Bahadur and his son were tortured to death by the Mughals .

• Sikhs found a leader in Kapur Singh who began organizing what later on developed as the celebrated Dal Khalsa or the Army of the theocracy of the Sikhs.

• In 1764, the triumphant Sikhs assembled at Amritsar and struck the first coins of pure silver with the legand degh, tegh, fateh which was the first proclamation of Sikh sovereignty in the Punjab.

• Between 1763 and 1773, the Sikhs extended their power from Saharanpur in the east to Attock in the west and from Multan in the south to Kangra and Jammu in the north.

• They organized themselves into 12 Misls (military brotherhoods with democratic setup).

• Maha Singh, the father of Ranjit Singh was the leader of the Sukarchakiya Misl and controlled the territory between the Ravi and the Chenab.

• After the death of his father Maha Singh, the leader of Sukarchakiya Misl, Ranjit Singh succeeded at the age of 12 and under him the Sikh power reached its zenith.

• Between 1799 and 1805, Ranjit Singh captured Lahore and Amritsar from the Sardars of the Bhangi Misl and made Lahore his political capital. He established his authority over the entire territory from the Sutlej to the Jhelum.

• In 1808, after crossing the Sutlej, he captured Faridkot, Malerkotla and Ambala.

• In 1809, Ranjit Singh, by the treaty of Amritsar, accepted the East India Company’s greater right over the Cis-Sutlej territories.

• In 1809, when Shah Shuja, the grandson of Ahmad Shah Abdali was ousted from power by his brother, Ranjit Singh rendered him help to recover his throne and took from him (Shah Shuja) the famous Koh-i-noor diamond.

• Hari Singh Nalwa, the marshal of the Sikh forces, defeated the Afghans and captured Jamrud.

• East India Company removed Dost Mohmmad from the throne of Kabul and put Shah Shuja in his place.

• The British forced Ranjit Singh to sign the tripartite treaty (1838) with Shah Shuja and the English company which gave freedom to British troops to pass through the Punjab.

• Between the death of Ranjit Singh (in 1839) and the accession of Dalip Singh (1843), three rulers ruled.

• In 1843, Dalip Singh, a minor son of Ranjit Singh was placed on the throne.

• During his reign, the British invaded the Punjab (The First Anglo-Sikh War, 1845-46), occupied Lahore and dictated a peace treaty (known as the treaty of Lahore) on March 9, 1846, by which the Sikhs renounced all their claims to the territories lying to the south of the river Sutlej. The Sikh army was limited to 20,000 infantry and 12,000 cavalry, a British resident was posted at Lahore.

• Gulab Singh was given Kashmir by the East India Company.

• Second Anglo-Sikh war (1848–49), after which the Punjab was annexed to the East India Company. Maharaja Dalip Singh was deposed and given a pension. The annexation of the Punjab by Lord Dalhousie has been condemned by many writers.

MYSORE

• Mysore was ruled by the Wodeyars, but between 1731 and 1734, two brothers Deva Raja (Dalwai or commander-in-chief) and Nana Raja (sarva-dikari or controller of revenue and finance) usurped power in the Mysore state.

• Haider Ali became all the more powerful and he, after pensioning off Nana Raja in 1761, became the de facto ruler of Mysore.

• Established a modern arsenal at Dindigal with the help of French experts.

• Haider Ali allied with the French and the Nizam and gave a crushing defeat to the British in the First Anglo-Mysore War (1767–69).

• In the Second Anglo–Mysore War (1780–84), Haider formed a common front with the Nizam and the Marathas against the British.

• Haider captured Arcot and inflicted a very humiliating defeat on the British in 1782. But while the war was in progress, Haider Ali died in Dec 1782 and left the task of continuing the war against the British to his son Tipu Sultan.

• Tipu Sultan was an innovator; he introduced a new calendar, a new system of coinage and new scales of weights and measures.

• Keen interest in French Revolution; planted a ‘tree of liberty’ at Srirangapatnam and became a member of the Jacobin Club.

• Made efforts to build a modern navy.

• Tipu Sultan continued the second Anglo-Mysore war till 1784 when both the sides got tired and concluded peace by the treaty of Mangalore (Mar 1784).

• The Marathas and the Nizam formed a coalition in 1786 against Tipu.

• Tipu dethroned the Raja and openly assumed the title of Sultan in 1786.

• Tipu had great regard for Jagadguru Shankaracharya of Sringeri.

• Tipu was the first Indian sovereign who tried to apply western methods to his administration.

• Third Anglo-Mysore War (1790–92) the British, supported by the Marathas and the Nizam, marched towards Sri Rangapattanam. Tipu offered a tough fight, but finding it impossible to prolong the struggle, concluded the treaty of Sri Rangapattanam (March 1792).

• The Fourth Anglo-Mysore war (1799) ended the complete collapse of Tipu’s power. Tipu died while fighting at Sri Rangapattanam (May 1799).

HYDERABAD

• Founded by Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah in 1724.

• Tolerant policy towards Hindus. A Hindu, Puran Chand, was his Dewan.

• Established an orderly administration in Deccan on the basis of the jagirdari system on the Mughal pattern.

•He died in 1748.

BENGAL

• Bengal became an independent under Murshid Quli Jafar Khan. Three major uprisings during his time: Sitaram Ray, Udai Narayan and Ghulam Muhammad, and then by Shujat Khan, and finally by Najat Khan.

• Carried out fresh revenue settlement; introduced the system of revenue farming; laid the foundations of the new landed aristocracy in Bengal.

• After the death of Murshid Quli Khan in 1727, his son-in-law Shuja-ud-din usurped the throne of Bengal.

• The principal advisors of Shuja-ud-din in matters of administration were Rai Rayan Alam Chand, an able financier who had loyally served him in Orissa as Diwan, Jagat Seth Fateh Chand, the famous banker and 2 muslim officers, Alivardi Khan and his brother Haji Ahmad.

• After the death of Shuja-ud-din in March 1739, his son Sarfaraz, entitled Alam-ud-daula Haider Jang, peacefully ascended masnad of Bengal.

• In 1739, Alivardi Khan killed and deposed Shujauddin’s son, Sarfaraz Khan, and made himself the Nawab.

• Early in May 1752, Alivardi Khan had declared his grandson (son of one of his daughters) as his successor.

• All three Nawabs encouraged merchants, both Indian and foreign; Safety of roads and rivers.

• Thanas and Chowkies were established at regular intervals.

• Maintained strict control over the foreign trading companies.

• They, however, did not firmly put down the increasing tendency of the English East India Company to use military force, or to threaten its use, to get its demands accepted.

• They also neglected to build a strong army Awadh.

KERALA

• Divided into large number of feudal chiefs in the 18^th century.

• Four important states: Calicut (under Zamorin), Chirakkal, Cochin and Travancore.

• In 1729, Travancore rose to prominence under King Martanda Varma.

• Conquered Quilon and Elayadam, and defeated the Dutch.

• From 1766, Haidar Ali invaded Kerala and annexed northern Kerala up to Cochin.

• Revival of Malayalam literature.

• Trivandram became a famous centre of Sanskrit scholarship.

RAJPUT STATES

• Rajputana states continued to be divided as before.

• Raja Sawai Jai Singh of Amber was the most outstanding ruler of the era.

• Founded the city of Jaipur.

• Made Jaipur a great seat of science and art.

• Astronomer; erected observatories at Jaipur, Ujjain, Varanasi, and Mathura.

• Translated Euclid’s “Elements of Geometry” into Sanskrit.

• Social reformers, reduce lavish marriage expenditures.

JATS

• Jat peasants revolted in 1669 and 1688.

• Jat state of Bharatpur set up by Churaman and Badan Singh.

• Reached its highest glory under Suraj Mal, who ruled from 1756 to 1763.