12 important questions for IAS exam! Answered

IAS Exam Questions

1. What was the nature of Indian polity during mid-18 century

18th century was described as a Dark Age when chaos and anarchy ruled. The Mughal Empire collapsed, regional powers failed to establish empires and stability returned only with the spread of British supremacy in late 18th century. There were various changes in the Indian polity during mid 18 such as:

(a) Decline of Mughal Empire:

The Mughal Empire’s decline starts in 18th century. In middle of the century, the Mughal emperor was pensioner of British. There are so many reasons for the great empire’s decline for example:

i. Internal Weakness:

Aurangzeb’s misguided policies had weakened the stable Mughal polity, but at the time of Aurangzeb’s time the main two pillars army and administration were till fit. The generation after that was unable to take the responsibility of great empire. At the time of Mohammed Shah’s incompetence that in his region Nizam-ul-Mulk set up independent state of Hyderabad in 1724 and after followed by Awadh, Punjab etc. All this happens due to the internal weakness and lack of administration.

ii. External Challenges:

Nadir Shah attacked India in 1738-39 when Mughal emperor Mohammed Shah was on throne. He was involved in his life that neither he tried to oppose the attack nor to save the innocent public beside that he gave his Mayur Singhasan and Kohinoor as a gift to save his life. Nadir Shah also attacked North India. This type of external attacks also became a part of Mughal’s decline.

iii. Internal Problem:

The Mughal emperors were weak to control the administration of various states. Peasant revolution, tax problems, caste problem was also responsible for the Mughal decline.

(b) The Emergence of Regional Polities:

Along with the decline of Mughal Empire, the second major change in 18th century was emergence of regional polities. Broadly there were three kinds of states which came into prominence:

i. The Successor States:

These are the states which broke away from the Mughal Empire. Hyderabad, Bengal and Awadh were the three cases where provincial governors under the Mughals set up independent states. The separation from Delhi occurred in the stages-the revolt of individuals followed by the social groups, communities and finally region. Governors did not get support from the centre and tried to get support from local powers, but till then the centre were maintained and Mughal tradition continued. The financial status of Awadh, Bengal and Hyderabad became prosper.

ii. The New States:

The second group of regional states was the new states or insurgent states set by the rebels against Mughal such as Maratha, Sikhs, Jats and Afgans. The first three began as popular movements of peasant’s insurgency. The leadership was not with the nobility, but with “new men” often from lower orders, e.g. Hyder Ali, Sindhias and Holkars.

iii. Independent Kingdoms:

The third type of state was independent kingdom which was neither the result of a separation from or rebellion against Delhi. Mysore the Rajput states and Kerala fall in this category such as Mysore, Rajput, Kerala etc.

(c) Rise and expansion of the British power in India:

The third and the most crucial feature of the 18th century polity were the rise and expansion of the British power in India. It opened a new phase in the history of India and which changed the fate of India, also the fate of Indians.

2. Discuss about the rise of British powers in 18th century

There was a drastic change in the polity of India. On one hand, the Great Empire of Mughal was declining on other hand the British power was raising. The various phases of British power in India were:

i. From Trading Company to Political Power:

The mid-18th century there was the transformation of the English East India Company from trading enterprises to a political power. From its establishment on 31 December 1600 to 1744, the English East India Company slowly expanded its trade and influence in India. The Portuguese and Dutch were eased out by a strategy combining war at the Mughal court. By the 18th century the main foreign power remaining in the, fray was the French East India Company, a comparatively late entrant in the race. The English East India Company had remained a commercial body for one and a half centuries.

The company’s need for more revenue from taxation inclined it towards establishing an empire. The company needed money to maintain its trade and pay its troops. So acquisition of territory seemed the best method of meeting this requirement. The company’s interest in conquering Bengal was two-fold- protection of its trade and control over Bengal’s revenue. The intention was to remit the surplus revenue of Bengal as tribute through the channel of investment in Bengal goods. The value of Bengal goods exported rose from 4, 00,000 in 1765 to one million towards the end of the 1770s

ii. Anglo-French Struggle in South India:

Hyderabad had become independent of central authority under Nizam-ul-Mulk, but after his death in 1748 it entered into a period of grave instability, as did the Carnatic. Disputes over succession offered the foreign companies a chance for intervention.

(a) First Carnatic War:

The First Carnatic War was provoked by the outbreak of hostilities in Europe in 1742 between the two countries. By 1745 the war spread to India where French and English East India Companies were rivals in trade and political influence. The English attack of French ships near Pondicherry was duly matched by the French occupation of Madras. With the end of the war in Europe, the hostilities in India ceased, but only temporarily. The issue of supremacy had not been decisively settled. From 1748 onwards a situation of conflict once again emerged.

(b) Second Carnatic War:

The second war was the outcome of the diplomatic efforts of Dupleix, the French Governor-General in India. Disputes over claims to the throne arose both in Hyderabad and in the Carnatic. Dupleix was quick to extend support to Chandra Sahib in the Carnatic and Muzaffar Jang in Hyderabad, with the intention of obtaining handsome rewards from them.

This early preparation was useful as the French and their allies defeated their opponents in 1749. The French gained territorially and monetarily. Significant gains were the Northern Sarkars, Masulipatnam and some villages around Pondicherry. Political influences were secured at the Nizam’s court by the appointment of an agent at the court.

The English revenged their defeat in 1750. Robert Clive master minded the “occupation of Arcot with only 200 English and 300 Indian soldiers. Chandra Sahib had no option, but to rush to the defence of his capital, lifting the siege of Trichonopoly and releasing Muhammad Ali in consequence. This was what Clive had hoped would happen.

The French state was not only corrupt and decadent it failed to keep in line with current developments and visions into the future. Dupleix was recalled after negotiations with the English company in 1754. The French challenge was virtually over.

(c) Third Carnatic War:

A third war broke out in 1756 with the commencement of war in Europe. Count De Lally sailed to India to aid the French army, but his ships were sent back and the French troops were defeated in Carnatic. The French position at the court and territory in Hyderabad state were taken over by the English. The battle of Wandiwash in 1760 marked the elimination of French influence in India.

The conflict between the English and French companies was a crucial stage in the consolidation of British power in India. At the end of 20 years the superiority of the British over the French was clearly proved. The lessons learnt in the Carnatic were well applied in other parts of the country.

iii. Conquest of Bengal:

Plassey to Buxar: Bengal was the first province where the British established political control. The Nawab Siraj-ud-daula, was defeated at the battle of Plassey in 1757. The grant of the Zamindari of 24 Parganas by Mir Jafar in 1757 and then of the Burdwan, Midnapore and Chittagon in 1760 by Mir Kasim gave the Company’s servants the opportunity to oppress the officials of the Nawab and the peasants. Mir Kasim followed Siraj-ud- daula’s example and refused to accept these attacks on his sovereignity. He joined battle with the British at Buxar in 1764 along with the Nawab of Awadh and the Mughal emperor. The company won an easy victory.

The treaty of Bengal in 1765 inaugurated the Dual Government of Bengal. Clive became Governor of Bengal and Company the virtual ruler. The Nawab was the ruler merely in name as his army had been disbanded. The administration was handed over to a Deputy Subahdar, who would function on behalf of the Nawab, but would be nominated by the company. The company had direct control over collection of revenues through the Deputy Diwan as the offices of Diwan and Subahdar were held by the same person.

Moreover, the great advantage was that responsibility continued to be with the Nawab. The blame for the extortions and oppression by the company’s servants fell on the Nawab. It is estimated that 5.7 million were taken away from Bengal in the years 1766 to 1768 alone. Senior British officials including Clive admitted that Company’s rule was unjust and corrupt and meant untold misery for the people of Bengal.

iv. Reorganisation of the Political System:

The administrative abuses were so great that the company ended the dual government in 1772. The company was essentially a trading corporation, ill equipped to administer territory. Changes were necessary in the constitution to enable it to wield political power and for the British Government to regulate the functioning of the company. This was affected by the Regulating Act of 1773.

The significance of the Regulating Act for our discussion lies in its introduction of the British mode of governance. British style institutions were introduced. The Governor-General and his council were to run the administration of Bengal and supervise that of Bombay and Madras.

The Supreme Court of justice was set up at Calcutta to administer justice according to British percepts. The nucleus of an administrative apparatus already existed within the company, as it had an army, collected taxes and imparted justice. Initially the old system was only extended. But by the turn of the century, British principles had permeated deep.

Reliance on Indians to man the services continued, but on different terms. Both the Nawab and his subordinates lost power as the company became the supreme authority. The powerful state apparatus created was intended to enforce obedience of the subjects. Continuities with earlier practice existed, but the change in the way people were ruled was fundamental. Change was not immediately visible.

Revenue collection procedures were derived from varied traditional and Mughal practices. But the establishment of control of the British Government over the Company’s administration and policies marked the replacement of the indigenous political system by an imperial system subservient to the interests of Britain.

3. What were the financial and territorial gains made by Nadir Shah?

India was prospering country full of wealth and natural gold. It attracts the outsiders; one of them was Nadir Shah who attacked India in 1738-39 when Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah was on throne.

He was so afraid of Nadir Shah that he gave him 70 crores rupees from official treasury and safes of the rich nobles along with Peacock throne and Kohinoor diamond. As regards territorial gains, Nadir Shah gained strategically crucial Mughal territory to the west of river Indus including Kabul, making it once more vulnerable to attack from the north-west.

4. Did the Mughal traditions end with the decline of the Mughal Empire?

Even after the decline of Mughal Empire the prestige of emperor remained so considerable that even rebel chiefs like Sikhs and Maratha made offerings in 1783 and visited Aurangzeb’s tomb in 1714.

Besides, the British and Maratha fought over passions of the person emperor hoping to gain legitimacy for their claims to inherit the imperial mantle. Moreover Mughal administrative practice was adopted by regional powers, successor’s states. Even states like Maratha which began as popular reactions against imperial rule also copied Mughal methods on administration.

5. What do you mean by dual government and its advantages for the British?

The dual government was introduced in Bengal in 1765 which rendered the Nawab only a nominal ruler by disbanding his army.

Under this new system, the administration was to be carried on by a Deputy Subahdar who would function on behalf of the Nawab, but would be nominated by the Company. The company was to oversee the revenue collection through the Deputy Diwan. Moreover, the great advantage to the company was that responsibility continued to be with Nawab, who had to be blamed for the oppressions and extortions by Company’s servant.

6. Why did the Bengal Nawabs fail to uphold their autonomy?

The massive structure of independent state of Bengal was carefully built by Murshid Kuli Khan, but Bengal along with several other states failed to uphold their autonomy after the death of Alivardi Khan. The main reasons of the autonomy failure were:’

i. The absence of the rule of any definite succession under the prevailing system provided the full opportunity for a conflict each time. Obviously, it required the support of the nobility and military that could be won over besides encouraging factionalism within court. The support extended by Zamindars, moneylenders and others definitely turned the scale of favour of them, but this seriously threatened the stability of the independent Bengal provisions. The battle of Plassey in 1757 has exhibited that it was than the superior might of the English that decided the fate of battle.

ii. The imperial control had been loosened to a great extent under the independent states. The Nawab could not retain the effective control over the officers through the system of checks and balances. Nawabs were dependent on the military of the Company. Whereas the company also provided the English ideal circumstance to demand more finances and other privileges whose position definitely did not allow meeting that. The company therefore indulges into a direct confrontation with Nawabs, who had to abdicate his throne.

7. What do you mean by the Buxar and it’s after effect?

Having sat on the throne, Mir Kasim made sincere and genuine efforts to rebuild the independent state of Bengal.

The first step, he took in this regard was the shifting of his capital from Murshidabad to Monghr in Bihar with an objectives of remaining way from the sphere of English influence and establish a thoroughly controlled power structure. He initiated the rehauling of the financial and military system of the province by remodeling the army, establishing a fine arms manufacturing and disbanding the suspected troops of loyalty.

As regards finance, he checked embezzlements, cut down non-essential expenditures and undermined the position of Zamindars and of those who depended on assignments. Similarly he also dismissed and disposed the rebel Zamindars and appointed the Amils and revenue farmers in their place. This exhibited the Nawabs firm determination to exercise his authority to the utmost.

Battle of Buxar (1764) and its Importance: The war between Mir Kasim and the Company broke out in 1763. In the series of encounters that followed, Mir Kasim was worsted. He escaped to Oudh and organised a confederacy with the Nawab of Oudh and the Emperor in a final bid to expel the English from Bengal. The combined armies of the three powers numbering between 40,000 to 60,000 met an English army of 7,072 troops commanded by Major Munro at the battlefield of Buxar on 22 October 1764. Casualties on both sides were heavy. The English won the day.

The battle of Buxar was a closely contested battle in which the losses of the English numbered 847 killed and wounded while on the side of the Indian powers more than 2,000 officers and soldiers were killed. If the victory of Plassey was the result of British conspiracy and diplomacy, the same can hardly be said of Buxar.

Mir Kasim had made adequate preparations for the conflict and the Nawab of Oudh had mustered his best soldiers in the field. Evidently it’ was a victory of superior military power. Buxar confirmed the decisions of Plassey. Now English power in Northern India became unchallengeable. The new Nawab of Bengal was their assistant, the Nawab of Oudh a grateful subordinate group, the Emperor their pensioner.

The whole territory up to Allahabad lay at their feet and the road to Delhi open. Never after Buxar did the Nawabs of Bengal or Oudh ever challenge the superior position of the Company, rather the years following witnessed the tightening of English grip over these regions.

If the battle of Plassey had made the English a powerful factor in the politics of Bengal, the victory of Buxar made them a great power of Northern India and contenders for the supremacy of the whole country. The English now faced the Afghans and the Marathas as serious rivals in the final struggle for the Empire of Hindustan. If Plassey had imposed the European yoke on Bengal, the victory of Buxar riveted the shackles of bondage. The battle of Buxar proved to be a decisive struggle with far reaching political consequences in the destiny of India.

8. What do you mean by battle of Plassey and its importance in history?

When the news of the capitulation of Calcutta reached Madras, the authorities there immediately decided to direct an army which had been built up to fight against the French towards Calcutta. The command of the expedition was given to Robert Clive who had recently returned from England.

Clive was urged to do his work as rapidly as possible for the Madras authorities wanted their troops back in Madras for defence against the impending French attack. The expedition sailed on 16 October 1756 and reached Bengal on 14 December.

Manik Chand, the Nawab’s officer in-charge of Calcutta, was bribed and he surrendered Calcutta to the English after making a show of resistance. In February 1757, the Nawab made peace with Clive by the Treaty of Alinagar restoring to the English their former privileges of trade, granting permission to fortify Calcutta and promising compensation for the losses suffered by the English.

Taking advantage of the disaffection among the Nawab’s officers, Clive arranged a conspiracy in which Mir Jaffar, Rai Durlabh, Jagat Seth and Omi Chand, an intermediary joined. It was planned to make Mir Jaffar the Nawab who in turn was to reward the services of the Company and pay compensation for the losses suffered by them earlier.

On 23 June 1757 the rival forces faced each other on the battlefield of Plassey, a mango grove 22 miles south of Murshidabad. The English army consisted of 950 European infantry, 100 European artillery, 50 English sailors and 2,100 Indian sepoys. The Nawab’s large army of 50,000 was commanded by the treacherous General Mir Jaffar.

An advance party of the Nawab’s troops led by Mir Mudan and Mohan Lai got the better of the English troops and forced Clive to withdraw his forces behind the trees. A stray shot from the English side, however, killed Mir Mudan. Siraj-ud-daula summoned his army officers and sought their advice. Mir Jaffar played upon the fears of the Nawab and counseled a withdrawal of the army behind the entrenchment. Further, the Nawab was advised to retire from the battlefield leaving the control of operations to his Generals. The card was well played. The Nawab retired to Murshidabad followed by 2,000 horsemen.

The little band of Frenchmen who held out were soon overpowered by Clive’s troops. Mir Jaffar merely looked on. Clive won the day and received a message of congratulations from Mir Jaffar. Mir Jaffar reached Murshidabad on 25th and proclaimed himself the Nawab of Bengal. Siraj-ud-daula was captured and put to death. Mir Jaffar rewarded the services of the English by the grant of the zamindar of 24-Parganas besides a personal present of £234,000 to Clive and giving 20 lakh rupees in reward to army and naval officers.

The Company was compensated for the losses suffered at Siraj-ud-daula’s capture of Calcutta. All French settlements in Bengal were surrendered to the English. It was also understood that British merchants and officials would no longer be asked to pay duties on their private trade. Importance of the Battle of Plassey:

i. The battle of Plassey is important because of the events that followed it. Plassey put the British yoke on Bengal which could not be put off. The new Nawab, Mir Jaffar, was dependent on British bayonets for the maintenance of his position in Bengal and for protection against foreign invasions.

An English army of 6,000 troops was maintained in Bengal to help the Nawab maintain his position. Gradually all real power passed into the hands of the Company. How hopeless was the position of Mir Jaffar is clear from the fact that while he wanted to punish Diwan Rai Durlabh and Ram Narayan, the deputy governor of Bihar, for disloyalty, the English held his hand. Mr. Watts, the British Resident at Murshidabad, held considerable influence.

Ghulam Hussain Khan, the Muslim historian, noted that English recommendation was the only sure way to office. Very soon Mir Jaffar found the English yoke galling and intrigued with the Dutch to oust the English from Bengal. Clive thwarted this design and defeated the Dutch at Bedara. When Mir Jaffar refused to read the writing on the wall, he had to give place to Mir Kasim, a nominee of the Company, in 1760.

ii. A great transformation came about in the position of the English Company in Bengal. Before Plassey the English Company was just one of the European Companies trading in Bengal and suffering various exactions at the hands of the Nawab’s officials. After Plassey the English Company virtually monopolised the trade and commerce of Bengal. The French never recovered their lost position in Bengal; the Dutch made a last bid in 1759, but were humbled. From commerce the English proceeded to monopolies political power in Bengal.

Plassey proved a battle with far-reaching consequences in the fate of India. “There never was a battle.” writes Malleson, “in which the consequences were so vast, so immediate and so permanent.” Col. Malleson certainly overstates the case when he writes that it was Plassey which “made England the great Mohatnmadan power in the world. Plassey which forced her to become one of the main factors in the settlement of the burning Eastern Question. Nevertheless, the battle of Plassey was an important event in the chain of developments that made the English the masters of India.

The consequences of Plassey shaped the form of British over rule and the modes of cultural contact.

9. What was the relationship between the Mir Kasim and the East India Company?

The Company had thought that they had found in Mir Kasim “an ideal puppet”. He seemed capable of improving the finances of the province and in a better position to meet the heavy demands of the Company.

In fact, the Company looked for a capable yet timid ruler. Warren Hastings had supported the revolution of 1760 at Murshidabad wrote about Mir Kasim, the new ruler, as “a man of understanding, of an uncommon talent for business and great application and perseverance…… His timidity, the little inclination he had ever shown for war, with which he has been often reproached, would hardly have disqualified him for the Subahship, since it effectively secured us from any design that he might form against our Government and disposed him the easier to bear the effects of that superiority which we possessed over him………… since a spirit superior to that of a worm when trodden upon could not have brooked the many daily affronts which he was exposed to from the instant of his advancement to the Subahship.”

A closer examination of the available evidence, however, suggests that Mir Kasim was not working for political independence. Nowhere do we find him seeking to get back the three assigned districts or to question the Company’s monopoly in saltpetre trade on their share in the chunam trade of Sylhet. He did not seek independence, but only sought to limit the fast-expanding encroachments of the English on his jurisdiction. He merely sought the observance of the treaties in letter and spirit.

The abuses of inland trade, which were multiplying year after year, not only decimated the financial resources of Mir Kasim, but more and more circumscribed his political authority. The methods of the English traders and their gomastahs were a growing menace to his political authority. These English agents and their gomastahs not only injured the people, but would bind and punish the Nawab’s officers.

According to Macaulay, “Every servant of a British factory was armed with all the power of his master and his master was armed with all the power of the Company”. The Company’s agents would often hold a court under a tree and award punishments to natives that suited their fancy. Mir Kasim really wanted was restoration of the jurisdiction of his courts over the gomastahs in cases of dispute.

The English knew well that their illegitimate trade involved coercion of the natives and the gomastahs were the instruments of that coercion. To subject the gomastahs to the jurisdiction of country courts was bound to weaken the foundation of their illegitimate trade. Thus, it was not Mir Kasim’s desire for independence which generated the crisis, but the efforts of the English to overstep their political and legal rights that drove Mir Kasim to the point of desperation.

Mir Kasim took the drastic step to abolish all inland duties, thus placing the Indian merchants on the same footing as the English. The Nawab was perfectly justified in this move. Vansittart and Warren Hastings believed, “The Nawab has granted a boon to his subjects and there are no grounds for demanding that a sovereign prince should withdraw such a boon or for threatening him with war in the event of refusal”. The majority of the members of the

Governor’s Council wanted to compel the Nawab to tax his subjects, for in that case alone the English merchants could misuse the dastak to their advantage. Thus, the Calcutta Council wanted to deny to Mir Kasim the right to rule his people with justice and economy. Mr. Ellis, the Chief at Patna, provoked hostilities by an attack on the Patna town. The war between the Nawab and the Company was “a war of circumstances rather than intentions”.

While the Nawab wanted to rule in his own right the English demanded extraordinary privileges which were wholly inconsistent and irreconcilable with the Nawab’s independence. In fact, the Nawab was fighting against the march of events and against a force far stronger than himself.

The question at issue was not of moral rights, but of superior might. Mir Kasim’s fault was that he incorrectly judged the political situation. Mir Kasim was more sinned against than sinning. He had betrayed Mir Jaffar, his father-in-law, in the lure for Nawabship. However, his sins recoiled on him.

The superior authority of the English always stood like a Damocle’s sword over his head. The continuous English interference made his Nawabship ineffective and ridiculed his position in the eyes of his countrymen. Mir Kasim realised that he had been entangled in a trap. He became desperate and challenged the Company, but was defeated. Mir Kasim had to atone for his sins not only by losing his Nawabship, but spent the rest of his life in abject misery as a homeless wanderer.

10. Compare the administrative system of the Peshwa and the Saranjam states

The administrative system of Peshwas can broadly be divided between two of their dominions:

i. Non-regulation areas and

ii. The regulation areas

In the former came zamindars, autonomous and semi-autonomous chiefs and internal administrating autonomy. The King’s demand of tribute was based on the military and the power resistance of the ruler.

Later there was a proper system of revenue assessment management and accountancy. These areas were divided among vatandars, who were co-sharers of land produce with rights like dues from revenue exempt land. All the rights under this system were vested in the brotherhood of patrilineal relatives. This right could be sold in principle.

The standard rate of assessment of previous period continued to be maintained in the 18th century in the regulating territories. Under the Peshwa, the tankha a permanent standard assessment for each village was the basis of revenue settlements.

In the late 1750s and 1760s the Kamal settlements were made by taking into consideration newly cultivated lands. It was based on measurement and the.

Classification of qualities of the land the Kings share now comes to the % th of the produce. The internal distribution was left to Dalit or village itself. Beside these collections, the Governments also imposed several other extra collections under the head of village, expenses that the district officials and the revenue collection were commonly designated as Kamvisdars or Mamlatdars.

The village settlement were normally made annually throughout the 18th century, but in the 1790s and 1810s the state’s demand were increased owing to its need for more revenue to pay for armies and British obligation. These revenues were mostly remitted from villages through the districts to Poona through bills of exchange.

On the other hand the administrative system in Northern Saranjam states were exact imitations of Peshwa in principle except that they had Diwans and supervisory officials imposed on their administration from Poona. The different grade of Brahmins dominated the bureaucracy in Deccan and North.

11.What was the general thrust provided by the 18th century?

Under the regime of Chikkadeva-Raja -Wodeyar the state of Mysore underwent unprecedented militarization. He increased the general revenue collection by the state official to sustain this increased military capacity and exempted the soldiers from paying land revenue demand Haider Ali too consolidated himself with such tactics. He auctioned off large territories revenue demands.

Haider Ali also refused their claims of independence and this eroded their local lands to either private individuals or Government officials. He also improved upon by paying the salary of troops in cash than paying them with spoils of war.

As regards reforms in the organisation of army he attempted to enforce discipline more strongly along European lines. This was done by recruiting French troops and employing them for training the special troops.

According to the French general De-la-Tour the number of French personnel in Mysore army grew considerably which certainly helped in the training of infantry and artillery. Secondly this discipline conquered the hostile attitude towards firearms and canons.

12. How was the nature of state formation different in Hyderabad and Mysore?

The emergence of regional politics like Hyderabad and Mysore is due to weakness of Mughal emperor, but the nature of the state formation is quiet different because after the death of Nizam-ul-Mulk in 1798 marked the closing of the glorious first chapter in the history of Hyderabad. It had started with the foundation of state in 1724 by Nizam-ul-Mulk a prominent noble at the time the saiyids controlled the court of Delhi.

He assisted Mohammad Shah in deposing the saiyids and return was given the office of subadar of Deccan. He recognised the administration and streamlined the revenue system. After brief tenure of Wazir at Delhi from 1722 to 1724, he returned to Deccan to set up state which was independent in practice, though he continued to declare allegiance to the Mughal emperor.

The formation of regional elite gave stability to this independence as Karen Leonard has shown in her study of Hyderabad political system. Reforms of the revenue system, subduing of zamindars and tolerance towards Hindus were among his wise policies.

But his death in 1748 exposed Hyderabad to the machinations of the Marathas and later the foreign companies. The Marathas invaded the state at will and imposed Chauth upon the helpless inhabitants Nizam-ul-Mulk’s son Nasir Jang and grandson Muzaffar Jang entered into the bloody war of succession.

The French under Dupleix used the opportunity to pay off one group against the other and supported Muzaffar Jang who gave them handsome monetary and territorial rewards while Mysore was an independent kingdom in mid 18th century Mysore emergences as a significant power in South India.

Haider Ali laid the foundation of Mysore’s power which was consolidated by his able son Tipu Sultan. Haider Ali was a brilliant commander same as Tipu Sultan. The boundaries of Mysore extend to the rich coastal areas of Canara and Malabar. Hence, Mysore was the most powerful state of that time.