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 18th 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.
