Q. Clarify how mid-eighteenth century India was beset with the spectre of a fragmented polity? [UPSC, GS Mains- 2017]

Ans:

• During 16th & 17th century, major parts of India gradually came under a centralized administrative system with the Mughal emperor at its apex and his Mansabdari bureaucracy ruling the provinces. ©crackingcivilservices.com
• The first half of the eighteenth century witnessed decline and disintegration of the mighty Mughal Empire and rise of virtually independent regional powers.
  • ‘Later Mughal period’ started in the first decade of 18th century with Bahadur Shah ascending the Mughal throne after the death of Aurangzeb in 1707 and a war of succession among his 3 sons.
  • This was characterized by:
    • weak central ruler,
    • lack of strong central authority,
    • emergence of autonomous regional states who pledged only namesake loyalty to the emperor.

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Fragmented Polity in North & East India

• The internal conflicts/factionalism among the Mughal family members and nobles emboldened Nadir Shah and Ahmed Shah Abdali to invade India.
  • Nadir Shah captured and sacked Delhi in 1739 and went off with three years worth of revenue. This had significant impact on Mughal emperors’ reputation, financial and military strength in the later years.
• Aurangazeb’s policies on religion, economy and Deccan region had already started discontent among Mansabdars, the weak personalities and lack of foresight of the later Mughal rulers enhanced it. Consequently, the viceroy governors of Awadh (1722), Hyderabad (1724) and Bengal (1746) founded independent states.
  • While they acknowledged Mughal emperor as their symbolic political sovereign but exercised autonomy in the local administration.
  • The emperor couldn’t rely upon them for financial and military help during foreign invasions.
• Bengal’s ruler Alivardi Khan stopped paying any tribute to Mughal emperor (1746), as Maratha, English and French became more active in his region.
  • His son Siraj-ud-Daula was defeated by Robert Clive at the battle of Plessey (1757)- which marked the foundation of British rule in India.

Fragmented Polity in Deccan and the South:

• Hyderabad:
  • Viceroy of Deccan Chinquilich Khan had founded the Hyderabad state in 1724, but instead of punishing him, the weak Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah granted him the title ‘Asaf Jah’- thus Hyderabad became practically an independent state whose rulers recognized the Mughal emperor as their namesake sovereign.
  • After death of the first Nizam, there were constant family feuds for successions with involvement of British who signed the treaty of friendship at Masulipatanam (1768).
  • Thus, Hyderabad became a puppet of British East India Company.
• Carnatic Region:
  • From Chanda Sahib to Muhammad Ali- puppet rulers of Carnatic state were installed, toppled or assassinated by the British and French generals (1749-52).
• Mysore:
  • It gained prominence as Haidar Ali trained and modernized its troop with the help of French (1755).
  • Mughal writ did not run over this region while British and French fought for its control.
• Marathas:
  • They agreed to protect Mughal emperor Ahmad Shah from internal and external enemies, in-lieu of revenue from certain provinces of North-west.
  • But the Marathas were defeated by Ahmed Shah Abdali in the third battle of Panipat (1761).
  • The succession disputes weakened Peshwas’s hold over Maratha confederacy. Consequently, Peshwa, Holkar and Scindia fell prey to the Europeans.

It was a spectre:

• Frequent wars of succession / invasion by foreign and neighboring rulers resulted into large scale death.
  • Masses suffered hardship as a result of heavy taxation, inflation, trade embargos, mass-murder by the invading armies.
• To finance their economic and military expansion, the regional rulers would loot the standing crops in neighboring provinces, and lay siege on the prosperous cities.
  • This had impacted the growth of agriculture and trade despite the entry of multiple trading companies from Europe.
• Mughal emperors used to supervise and transfer Jagirdars to keep a check on their oppressive and corrupt practices.
  • But in the 18th century, these Jagirdars would defy transfer orders of the Emperor, and extract exorbitant amount of revenue from local peasants.
• In some regions, “Ijaradari” system was implemented, wherein revenue collection rights were tendered out to the highest bidder which led to the indulgance of Ijardars in exploitation and malpractices.

• By 1761 the Mughal empire was empire only in name, as its weaknesses had enabled the local powers to assert their independence. These new states were of various kinds:
  • Successor states:
    • Successor states of Mughal empire Bengal, Hyderabad and Awadh were the three successor states of the Mughal empire, as they were founded by Mughal provincial governors who never formally severed their links with the centre, but virtually exercised autonomy in matters of execution of power at the local level.
  • Rebel states:
    • Rebel states against the Mughal rule Apart from the successor states formed by Mughal governors, the other states that emerged in eighteenth-century India were those founded by rebels against the Mughal state, such as the Marathas, the Sikhs, the Jats and the Afghan kingdoms of Farukhabad and Rohilkhand.
  • Autonomous but dependent polities which became complete independent
    • Apart from the successor states and the rebel states, which came into existence following the weakening of the Mughal empire, there were also a few principalities, like the Rajput kingdoms, Mysore or Travancore, which already enjoyed considerable amount of autonomy in the past and now in the eighteenth century became completely independent.
• European companies trying to carve out space for themselves
  • In addition to these states, there were foreign companies like French, English, Dutch etc. which were meddling in the political conflicts of the time and were trying to carve out political space for themselves to support their trade and commerce.

Conclusion:

• Indian subcontinent in the middle of the eighteenth century was marked with political fragmentation and regional instability. Mughal Empire ceased to exist as an all-India empire in practice.
• The weakening of the centralised Mughal empire led to a dispersal of political power across the regions and there was a transformation of the polity, rather than complete collapse.
• But still the British took advantage of the situation. They defeated the forces of Bengal in Battle of Plassey and finally combined forces of Bengal, Awadh and Mughal were crushed in Battle of Buxar. This led to the colonisation of India for the next 200 years. ©crackingcivilservices.com