Chapter 4: India in the 18th Century

Question 1

Name the early Mughal rulers.

Answer 1

Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, ShahJahan and Aurangzeb.

Question 2

Who were the later Mughal rulers? Name the first and the last later Mughal rulers.

Answer 2

The Mughal rulers who ruled after Aurangzeb were termed as later Mughals. The first one was Bahadur Shah and the last was Bahadur Shah Zafar.

Question 3

What was the law of primogeniture? Did the Mughals follow it?

Answer 3

Primogeniture is a law that states whenever a King died, the elder male child had the right to succeed to the throne. The Mughals did not follow primogeniture. Hence, whenever a King died, there was always a war of succession. After Aurangzeb’s death, a war of succession broke out. It further contributed to the weakening of the empire.

Question 4

Who took away the peacock throne and the Kohinoor?

Answer 4

Nadir Shah, the ruler of Iran, invaded India in 1739 during the reign of Muhammad Shah. He looted and plundered Delhi and took away the peacock throne and the Kohinoor.

Question 5

Write any two causes of the downfall of the Mughal Empire.

Answer 5

a) Weakness of Kings: Most of the later Mughal Kings were weak and they did not have any administrative quality. For almost all the decisions, these Kings depended on the advice of nobles and wazirs who forced them to become puppets in their hands.
b) War of Succession: The Mughals did not have any law whereby the eldest son would be the next King. The death of the King was followed by a war of succession and the most capable and able son became the next King. Aurangzeb’s successors were weak. The nobles played a major role in King-making to serve their own interests and motives.

Question 6

Write a short note on the Marathas

Answer 6

1. The Marathas were the most powerful state of the Deccan and became important after the decline of the Mughals, but they did not have the unity to establish an all-India empire. The successors of Shivaji fought with each other.
2. Shivaji had two sons Rajaram and Shambhaji. Shambhaji ascended the throne in 1680 and was defeated and killed by Aurangzeb in 1689.
3. Shahu (Shivaji II), the minor son was taken prisoner and he remained in prison till Aurangzeb’s death in 1707. A civil war broke out for the throne, after the release of Shahu.
4. Tara Bai, who was carrying out the anti-Mughal struggle since 1700, wanted her son Shivaji III to be the King. Shahu established his capital at Satara and Tara Bai established her capital at Kolhapur.

Question 7

Write a short note on Peshwaship-

Answer 7

1. The conflict between Shahu and Tara Bai gave birth to a new system of
   government called the ‘Peshwaship’.
2. ‘Peshwa’ was the title of the Prime Minister of the Maratha State. Since Shahu was an incompetent ruler, the powers were passed on to the hands of Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath who founded the Peshwa dynasty (1720-1740).
3. Slowly the Peshwas became very powerful and transformed the Maratha State into an empire.