Political Formations in the Eighteenth Century
Short answer questions.
1. Who were the king-makers? Why were they
called so?
Ans. Abdullah Khan Baraha and Hussain. Ali Khan
Baraha were the king-makers. They were called so
because they chose who was to be made king.
2. What is the significance of kangha and
kara' for the Sikhs?
Ans. Kangha' is a symbol of cleanliness and kara' acts
as a reminder to stop a person when he raises his
hand to do anything wrong.
3. How did Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan make
Mysore powerful?
Ans. Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan modernized the army
and introduced new and efficient weapons. With the
help of the French, Haider Ali established a modern
arsenal at Dindigul. Tipu Sultan even made effors to
build a modern navy.
4.Write any two conditions that Shivaji agreed
to by the Treaty of Purandhar.
Ans. By the Treaty of Purandhar Shivaji agreed to
accept Aurangzeb as his overlord and pay him
one annual tribute.
surrender 23 forts to Aurangzeb.
5. Under which Peshwa was the Maratha power
at its greatest? How?
Ans. The Maratha power was at its greatest under Balaj!
Baji Rao. After the death of Shahu in 1749, he
became the head of the Marathas. He shifted the
capital from Satara to Poona (now Pune). During
his reign, the Maratha armies reached as far as
Punjab and Rajasthan in the north and Bengal and
Odisha in the east. The kingdoms of Mysore and
Hyderabad were forced to hand over territories and
pay tribute.
Long answer questions.
1. What was the political scenario after the
death of Aurangzeb? Explain.
Ans. Aurangzeb died in 1707. His successors were known
as the Later Mughals. Bahadur Shah I ruled from
1707 to 1712. He tried to win over the Rajputs,
the Marathas and the Sikhs. He was succeeded by
Jahandar Shah, who ruled for a few months only.
He was a puppet in the hands of Zulfiqar Khan, a
powerful noble.
Jahandar Shah was succeeded by Farrukhsiyar. But
he was just a puppet of Sayyid brothersAbdullah
Khan Baraha and Husain Ali Khan Baraha. In
1720, they made Muhammad Shah the emperor
Muhammad Shah checked the power of the Sayyid
brothers. The invasions of Nadir Shah in 1789 and
of Ahmad Shah Abdali in 1761 shook the Mughal
Empire. The already tottering empire was on the
verge of collapse.
2. How did Bengal become dependent on the
English?
Ans. In the Battle of Plassey, Siraj-ud-Daulah was
defeated, imprisoned and later killed by the British.
Then, the British made Mir Jafar the nawab of
Bengal. Mir Jafar was a puppet in the hands of
the British. Mir Jafar tried to free himself from the
British control. He hired European experts to train
the army. He formed an alliance with Shuja-ud-
Daulah, the nawab of Awadh and Shah Alam l1,
the Mughal Emperor. The combined armies met the
British forces Buxar on 22 October, 1764. The
Indian army was defeated.
The Battle of Buxar thoroughly exposed the
weakness of the Indian armies. The British had
total financial control of Awadh and Bengal. Thus,
Bengal became dependent on the English.
3.How did Mysore emerge as a power in South
India?
Ans. Mysore had been only nominally a part of the Mughal
Empire. In the eighteenth century two strong rulers
Haider Ali and his son Tipu Sultan were powerful
Both Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan modernised the
Army and introduced new and efficient weapons.
With the help of the French, Haider Ali established a
modern arsenal at Dindigul. Tipu Sultan even made
efforts to build a modern navy. Haider Ali and his
son fought against the English. Haider Ali defeated
them in the first Anglo-Mysore war.
4. Discuss the role of Shivaji in establishing and
strengthening the Maratha Empire.
Ans. Shivaji wanted to establish a large empire. While still
young, he put together a small army. Using guerilla
warfare, he captured many forts near Pune.
War with Bijapur: The growing power of Shivaji
alarmed the king of Bijapur. He sent an army under
Afzal Khan to crush the Marathas. Shivaji killed Afzal
Khan and defeated the Bijapuri army.
War with the Mughals: The growing power of
Shivaji posed a great threat to Aurangzeb. In 1663,
he sent Shaista Khan to capture him. One night,
Shivaji with a few soldiers entered the Mughal camp
and wounded Shaista Khan. He then defeated the
Mughal army. A year later, he raided Surat and
plundered it. Shivaji attacked the Mughal territories
in 1674. He raided Surat and captured a huge
booty. He also recaptured some forts surrendered
earlier.
5. Who were the Peshwas? How did they
strengthen the Maratha power?
Ans. Peshwas were the head of the council and
incharge of general administration. They remained
powerful during 1713 to 1761. They were the real
decision-maker
6. Write short notes on (a) Sawai Raja Jai
Singh (b) Sikh misls (c) the ashtapradhan.
Ans. (a) Sawai Raja Jai Singh was the ruler of Amber.
He was 11 years old when he became the king.
He encouraged the teaching and learning of
science. He founded the city Jaipur and made it
his capital.
(b) In the second half of the eighteenth century, the
Sikhs formed 12 political groups called misls.
Each misl controlled a specific area and had
a leader. Towards the end of the eighteenth
century, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the leader of the
Sukerchakia misl, united all the misls.
(c) Shivaji had a council of eight ministers, called
the ashtapradhan, to advise him. These were-
Peshwa (head of the council and incharge of
general administration)
Senapati (commander-in-chief of the army)
Nyayadhish (justice)
Amatya or Majumdar (finance)
Pant Sachiv (General Secretary)
Sumanta (foreign affairs)
Mantri (head of intelligence)
Dandadhyaksha (religious matters)
Hots
Why did Shivaji adapt the guerilla warfare?
How did the physical terrain of Maharashtra
help Shivaji in guerilla warfare?
Ans. Shivaji did not have as much soldiers that he could
openly fight the war against the Mughal who had
much more soldiers and weapons than Shivaji.
That's why he adopted the guerilla warfare method.
Shivaji was well-known about the Deccan plateau
which he used to hide his soldiers at the time of
attacking Mughal soldiers.
