The 18th Century

Thursday, March 1 2012, 4:10 PM

Disintegration of Mughal Empire

Factors Responsible

1. Role of Aurangzeb: His religious, rajput and deccan policies.

2. Monetary Crisis: Worldwide excess of silver and its prices went down. So general inflation.

Economic Decline or Prosperity?

1. The old theory was that of an economic decline but it is based on a centrist view. The 'revisionist' literature looks at the 18th century from the perspective
of the periphery. The Mughal decline according to them was founded on growing regional prosperity, the rise of regional powerful groups and the inability
of the distant ruler to control them and appropriate resources. There is ample evidence to support this view as regions like Oudh, Bengal etc. had immense
surplus but the emperor was unable to appropriate it. There is evidence of extension of cultivation in these regions and growth in monetization. This would
have made available more resources at the disposal of the zamindars and local lineages emerged.

Portfolio Capital Theory or the Decentralized View (Bayley)

1. Throughout the Mughal period there had been a constant process of reconciliation between the central power and the regional elites. The Mughals
concept of suzerainty didn't mean direct rule always and left enough space for the continued existence of local powers. Even Akbar didn't try to eliminate
the zamindars rather tried to ensure their cooperation. The Rajputs and Marathas were accommodated by giving them vatan jagirs, there were different
systems of assessment and local laws in different places. 18th century mere saw an acceleration of this process as local power centers (including some
jagirdars) grew. They all accepted Mughal suzerainty and thus were within the Mughal framework.

Scientific Backwardness (by Athar Ali)

1. Indians showed no interest in adopting the new technology and production methods from Europeans. The scientific attitude was lacking among the rulers
as well as the commoners. Thus Indians didn't use new technologies like clocks, telescopes, guns (mughals still used cavalry and swordsmen), iron casting,
modern canons. Means and methods of agricultural production were stagnant as well.
2. Despite the fact that Indian commerce and production was flourishing, the technology of production remained backward and we see no attempts to adopt
the modern methods like machines which used water power, modern spinning technique etc. We don't find the use of modern navigational equipment, we
don't find the use of even a wheel barrow in the construction business. We don't find metallurgical advances, chemical advances etc.

Noblery

1. Aurangzeb had given the office of wazir to a most trusted and able noble. In his time the appointment to the office was considered an act of grace by the
emperor. But in the period of later mughals powerful nobles began to consider this as their right. Once they helped an emperor to the throne after the war
of succession they expected the office of wazir as a matter of right in exchange of the service they had rendered.
2. Another important change was that now the office of wazir went to the most powerful noble (military, political and economic power) so that the weak
emperor could use the power of the wazir for his cause when needed. But this greatly increased the influence of the wazir and proved harmful for the
emperor himself. It must be noted here that Akbar had maintained caution that the office of wazir didn't have any military influence so as to keep it in
check.
3. The emperors began to accord high mansabs to their supporters on non political base. Such newcomers were often incompetent and the existing nobles
took it as a challenge to their prospects. For instance Jahandar Shah gave a mansab of 7000 to a brother of her queen Lal Kunwar who was a dancing
girl! For this he even had to convert some of the khalisa land into jagirs and undermine his own authority.
4. There was only one way left to check the financial crisis in front of the empire which was to follow austerity measures including a cut on the privileges and
jagirs of the nobles. Farukh Siyar's diwan came up with such proposals which was agreed to by the emperor but vetoed by his wazir Abdullah Khan. He
was subsequently killed by his wazir. Later on Nizam-ul-Mulk also came up with proposals to reform the noblery which were agreed to by the emperor
Muhammad Shah but a powerful section of noblery was against it. Thus again nothing could be done to arrest the crisis. It proved that nothing could be
done now which could go against the noblery even at the cost of sacrificing the empire. Factions of nobles were more powerful than the emperor and
hence loyalty began to go for the factions and not for the emperor.
5. A minor reason was the ethnic grouping of noblery which used to organize itself into rival factions. Thus the Turanis were Sunnis while the Iranis were
Shias which also lent a religious color to their mutual animosity. But more importantly in the final days as the Mughals tried to win over the Deccani
elements, the Deccani group rose in the noblery clashing with the existing interest groups. Thus finally the Mughal noblery was divided into 3 warring
groups - the Iranis led by Asad Khan, the Turanis led by Nizam ul Mulk and the Indian muslims led by Saiyyid brothers. These factions were organized
more on the lines of family ties, personal friendship and self interests.
6. The nobles became more interested in carving out autonomous principalities for themselves. The more powerful ones defied transfers, developed local
power base and began to retain the local revenue to develop their own autonomous principalities.

Jagirdari Crisis

1. Mughal administrative system was based on the balance between the needs of the empire and the agriculture surplus available. In the late 17th century this
balance broke up (due to rising demand of the empire and consequent decline of the surplus) and hence flaws in the mansabdari / jagirdari systems came
to fore.
2. Aurangzeb was unable to defeat the Marathas. So he resorted to bribery and promises of high mansabs to lure the local chieftains to his side. This led to
an escalation in demand for jagirs but the supply was limited. This created a competition for jagirs as it affected adversely the interests of the existing amirs
or the khanzadas. This led to internal feuds and quarrels. Also slowly even khalisa land had to be distributed as jagirs which nailed the coffin for the
emperor. The pressure on jagirs also created a serious agrarian crisis.
3. Jagirdari system was an alien system not suited for Deccani conditions. It could work where resources were plenty and military needs were few and LR
could be collected efficiently by the government. In Deccan, none of these were true and it was anyways a revenue deficit province. Most of the jagirs
 were thus bad and didn't permit the jagirdar to maintain enough army needed to maintain his control. Too few jagirs were being chased by too many
jagirdars and many of them remained jagir less for years. This led to corruption and lower morale of the troops and Marathas took advantage of this
crisis.
4. The Mughal emperor failed to understand the root cause of the crisis and kept on taking decisions in haste. Deccan was anyways always a deficit area.
The problem was aggravated to some extent by Aurangzeb himself as he mindlessly kept on increasing the size of the khalisa. Thus after the conquest of
Bijapur and Golconda there was a 23% increase in revenue. But instead of distributing this extra income among his mansabdars (to resolve the crisis) he
chose to appropriate the new land in khalisa only.

Agrarian Crisis

1. The frequent transfers, shortfall of hasil compared to jama had led to lack of investment and exploitation. It led to a conflict of interests between jagirdars
and the emperors. Jagirdars (due to frequent transfers and shortfall of hasil) made no attempts to encourage long term growth of agriculture. On the
contrary they were inclined to increase their immediate revenue by exploiting the peasants. The interests of the emperors were opposite for they wanted
the long term growth of agriculture. So long as emperors were strong they could keep the jagirdars under check but during the later half of 17th cent and
early 18th cent, the situation went out of hand.
2. There was a conflict of interest between jagirdars and zamindars as well. The zamindars had to collect the revenue from the peasants and hand over a part
to the jagirdar. So when jagirdars pressed for more revenue this naturally increased the pressure on zamindars. Moreover it was against the zamindar's
interest that peasants be exploited to such an extent that they leave en masse - something jagirdars didn't care about. So zamindars also sided with the
peasants and revolted. They were strong anyways in their locality since they maintained armed men and the responsibility to maintain local law and order
was theirs. Zamindar revolt was not a new phenomenon, but as Aurangzeb's troubles increased they also increased in frequency, spread and intensity.
3. Jagirdars who didn't have sufficient resources / will to collect the LR on their own began to contract out LR collection - something known as revenue
farming or ijardari system. This increased the pressure on the peasants because the contract was assigned to the ijardar who had the highest bid. By the
18th century ijardari system had spread into vast areas. Peasants began to flee. Naturally this was not to the liking of zamindars who were also themselves
hard pressed by the ijardars. LR was increased to 50% by SJ. All this led to the breakdown of the 'Mughal compromise' i.e. a delicate balance between
the revenue needs of the state and the surplus to be left with the peasants and the zamindars.
4. The zamindars (specially the primary zamindars) had close caste, clan or religion based links with the peasantry. They also had their own forts and small
armies and thus they organized the peasants behind them who too found a leadership (as it was difficult for them to rally on their own against the Mughal
army) and many peasant revolts broke out. Religion was often used as a rhetoric to rally the peasants.

Weak Personalities (JN Sarkar)

1. He argued that the weak emperors and incompetent commanders were responsible for the downfall. But then there was no dearth of able personalities in
the 18th century. Just that tey were preoccupied with self aggrandizement agenda than to serve the Mughal empire. And the reasons were to be located
within the institutional framework of the empire.

Later Mughals
Bahadur Shah 1 (1707-12)
 1. He gave high titles to Rajput kings Ajit Singh (Marwar) and Jai Singh (Amber).
2. He released Shahu, allowed him Sardesmukhi but didn't allow Chauth.
3. He had friendly relations with Sikhs until the death of Guru Gobind Singh. After his death, his follower Banda Bahadur waged a war against Mughals and
defeated them in 1710 in Battle of Chapparchiri / Sirhind. After this victory Banda Bahadur established the 1st Sikh capital @ Lohagarh.
4. He maintained friendly relations with Bundelas and Jats.

Jahandar Shah (1712-13)

1. Under him the real administration was run by Zulfiqar Khan. He removed jiziya and encouraged ijardari system.

Farukh Siyar (1713-19)

1. He was put on throne by Saiyyid brothers (Abdullah Khan and Hussain Ali Khan). Abdullah Khan was made the wazir and Hussain was made the mir-
bakshi.
 2. He defeated Banda Bahadur in 1715.
3. He was cured of a serious illness by a £ embassy and then he issued the farmaan granting £ the right to issue dastaks which they could use to certify that
the goods were theirs and then carry out free trade in Ahemdabad, Bengal and Hyderabad.
4. When Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath visited Delhi, he granted right to chauth of Deccan to Marathas as well.

Rafi-ud-dajarat & Rafi-ud-daullah (1719)

1. Farukh Siyar was killed by Saiyyid brothers and these 2 were raised to throne. They died quickly out of lung disease and dysentery respectively.

Muhammad Shah (1719-48)

1. He promoted Urdu language by patronizing poet Wali Deccani.

2. He was a good kathak dancer himself. He patronized sitar musician Niyamat Khan "Sadarang" and classical musician Firuz Khan "Adarang".
3. In his reign Hyderabad was founded, Peshwa came to Delhi in 1937, Nadir Shah invaded.

Ahmed Shah (1748-54)

1. He faced repeated Abdali invasions and lost Punjab and NWFP to him.
2. His wazir was Imad who also killed him and placed his son Alamgir II on the throne.

Alamgir II (1754-59)

1. Nawab Safdarjung of Oudh (who also considered himself wazir) was defeated by Rohillas. So he signed a treaty with Marathas. But Marathas switched
sides and signed a treaty with wazir Imad.
2. In one of his invasions, Abdali recognized Alamgir II as the emperor, Imad as wazir and Rohilla chief as the mir-bakshi and his supreme agent in India.
3. Marathas appointed their own governor in Punjab and also expelled the Rohilla chief from Delhi thereby bringing the BoP 3.

Shah Alam II (1759-1806)

1. He was under the protection of Nawab of Oudh, then £, then Marathas, then £ again.
2. In 1771 Mahadji Scindia helped him getting back Delhi and was made wakil in return. In 1803 Delhi was captured by £ and he lived on their pension
then.

Akbar II (1806-37)

1. He was treated on equal terms by £ company in 1827. The demand was initially made by Lord Hastings.
2. He sent Raja Ram Mohun Roy to London in 1829.

Bahadur Shah Zafar (1837-58)

1. He was a patron of Urdu poetry and patronized Ghalib. He even wrote himself.

The Regional Principalities

The 18th century thus witnessed the rise of a variety of regional states, some of which built on "older local or regional tradition(s) of state formation", others
focused on ethnic identity and associated "notions of community"

1. "older local or regional tradition(s) of state formation" refers to the successor states of Hyderabad, Oudh and Bengal where the powerful nobles (who
were also governors of the territory) began to defy imperial authority and appropriated the local resources to prepare their own power base. Rajputs can
be put in the same category as well.
2. "ethnic identity" and "notions of community" refers to the states of Jats, Sikhs, Marathas who due to agrarian crisis organized themselves around the
zamindars and established their own states.

Influence of Local Factors in the Polity of Regional States

1. At the political level all these states continually made adjustments between concepts of centralized kingship and local loyalties, between pre bended
lordship and hereditary rights, or in more general terms, between centripetal and centrifugal tendencies.

18th Century: Political Collapse or Transformation

1. The successor states as well as may of the 'rebel' states continued Mughal institutions and administrative systems. Changes were introduced according to
the local needs but they were gradual. Thus 18th century was more of a transformation than a collapse.

Debate: Rajput 'Nationalism' in 18th Century

1. Mewar's decision to interfere in Marwar's succession issue against Aurangzeb was out of its desire to increase its own influence and not out of any sense
of a Rajput nation. Other Rajput princes sided with Aurangzeb.
2. Similarly the war was also not of any religious character since the Rani was willing to compromise to the last point, pay a peshkash, destroy some temples
and accept Sharia.

Hyderabad

1. It was founded by Chin Qulich Khan or Nizam-ul-Mulk in 1725 and he declared his independence. He was a Turani by descent. He was a loyalist to the
throne and it was when the Saiyyid brothers killed the emperor Farukh Siyar and installed Muhammed Shah on the throne in 1719 that out of loyalty (in
order to save the Timurid rule from being subverted in this way), he organized the Turanis and the Iranis against the Saiyyid brothers and had them killed.
2. But after his death, Hyderabad witnessed a war of succession between Muzaffar Jung (supported by French) and Nasir Jung (supported by £).
Revenue Administration

1. He too created a new zamindari section by subduing the dissenting zamindars and showing tolerance towards Hindus. The locally powerful rulers /
zamindars were allowed to rule their territories upon the payment of annual peshkash to the nizam.
2. For the collection of land revenue, the intermediary zamindars were employed but unlike the Mughals he made no attempt to check the excesses of the
ijardars. He retained the jagirdari system of the Mughals and made it hereditary.

Administrative System

1. He kept the local conditions in mind but didn't throw out the Mughal institutions completely. He didn't try to destroy the local power structures but sought
to enlist their support in the Mughal way of establishing a 'patron - client' relationship. Thus the locally powerful rulers / zamindars were allowed to rule
their territories upon the payment of annual peshkash to the nizam. He also extended his patronage to the local traders, moneylenders and military
aristocracy and won their support.
2. He retained the jagirdari system of the Mughals and made it hereditary. He retained the mansabdari system but in practice only few of the mughal
practices were followed. He also cultivated a set of new noblery loyal to him and thus power remain fairly diffused in Hyderabad.

Bengal

1. It was founded by Murshid Quli Khan. Initially Aurangzeb had appointed him the diwan of Bengal and his strength lay in organization of revenue
administration. Farukhsiyar not only confirmed his position but also made him the deputy governor of Bengal and the governor of Odisha. Then in 1717 he
was appointed as the governor of Bengal as well and thus he got the unprecedented privilege of holding the twin offices of the governor as well as the
diwan. This made him very powerful and he began to carve out his separate principality.
2. He never formally defied Mughal authority and continued to send the revenue regularly to the imperial treasury (in fact in these times he was the only major
constant source of income for the emperor). But beyond this he enjoyed complete autonomy. His power was based on the support of the local influential
segments. The government of Bengal began to look more like government by cooperation of the dominant forces in Bengal, rather than the imposition of
the rule from outside.
3. This growth of local elements also had its drawbacks and in 1740 a local commander Alivardi Khan staged a coup and ousted the nawab Sarfaraz Khan
not because he was an inefficient administrator but because he had lost the support of the powerful banking family of the jagat seth and also alienated
other influential land magnates. Alivardi Khan stopped all nominal references to the emperor and also the revenue payment to the Mughal territory.
4. His grandson Siraj-ud-daula had to face similar problems (like Sarfaraz) as the powerful zamindars, nobles and the family of jagat seth conspired against
him.

Revenue Administration

1. He laid down the foundation of a strong revenue system which made Bengal a regular revenue surplus area even in those times. Thus the revenue
collection in Bengal increased by 20% between 1700 and 1722.
2. He sent his officials to every area to make a detailed survey and compelled the zamindars to pay in full and on time. He punished the errant zamindars and
also sent them to the outlying areas of Odisha. To ensure further compliance of local small zamindars, he cultivated a group of powerful land magnates at
the expense of the smaller zamindars. These new magnates were loyal to him and assisted him in timely collection of revenue. But they were to become a
source of trouble in not too distant a future.

Trade and Commerce

1. Trade and commerce flourished under the political stability, state support, growth of agriculture and silk textiles, cotton textiles, sugar, oil etc. became
major items of trade. Due to the political disturbances the overland trade declined but the marine trade increased manifolds - also helped immensely by the
growth of european companies. Europe became a major destination of textiles and Bengal came to represent 3% of her total trade (up from 1% earlier).
The trade with English increased immensely after the disruption of the land routes caused by the Maratha raids and this increase paved the way for the
eventual £ influence. The european companies brought bullion which increased monetization in the local economy.
2. The local merchants also became very powerful and had cordial relations with the state. The payment of revenue in cash and the insistence on timely
payment + the immense growth in trade led to the growth of financiers.

Administrative System

1. He ensure the loyalty of officials by appointing his loyalists, friends, relatives to important positions and driving out his potential enemies out of the
province.

Oudh

1. It was founded by Sadat Khan. He was appointed the governor of Oudh in 1722 with the difficult task of quelling all the local revolts. He was successful
and he began to consolidate his power. After a fallout with the emperor he built his autonomous influence in Oudh. He had the offices of deputy governor
and diwan taken out of the imperial reach and thus monopolized power in Oudh.

Revenue Administration

1. He suppressed all the dissenting zamindars and also increased the revenue demand by 50%. He continued the jagirdari system but the jagirs were granted
only to the local gentry and thus created a class loyal to him. This new class was mainly that of Indian Muslims, Hindus and Afghans.

Mysore
Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan

1. The doctrine of military fiscalism was advanced by Burton because he believed that the resources were collected from a wide base directly by the state
officials in order to mobilize resources to build up and maintain a large army. They wanted to establish a centralized military hegemony by eliminating the
intermediaries who were the co-sharers of power in the previous 'segmentary state' of Vijaynagar kingdom. The reforms introduced by Hyder Ali and
Tipu are as follows.
 2. Military reforms: He employed Frenchmen to train his army regularly, he built an efficient infantry, weapons and artillery. He organized his army along
european lines vis risala where each unit or risala was under a commander appointed by Hyder himself and had a clear chain of command going up to
Hyder. The provisions for weapons and transport and salaries of the soldiers were all made by Hyder.
3. Agricultural reforms: When he rose to power, the local deshmukhs and polygars were powerful and appropriated all the surplus at their level only. Hyder
suppressed them effectively. He bypassed them by introducing a system of imposing the land revenue directly at the peasant level and appointed salaried
officials for its collection. This land revenue was imposed after a detailed land survey and sometimes the rent was fixed and sometimes a fixed share of
produce was taken. The rate of revenue varied according to the classification of land and whether it was dry or wet. Though he didn't completely dispense
with the jagirdari system, he limited it to a small proportion. Tipu encouraged extension of cultivation by providing tax exemption for the reclamation of
wasteland and tried to protect the peasants from the exploitation of the tax collectors. He was interested in modernizing the agriculture by introducing
modern means of irrigation and other technology. Thus it is said, "his country was the best cultivated and its population the most flourishing in India".
4. Technology & commercial reforms: He was interested in modernizing the agriculture by introducing modern means of irrigation and other manufacturing
technology. He sent ambassadors to France to bring in new technology, he built a modern navy to participate in modern oceanic trade like the europeans,
he even launched in 1793 a state trading company. Soon Mysore wa participating in the valuable trade of sandalwood, rice, silk, sulfur etc. on the W
coast and he established over 30 trading centers both inside and outside India (including Muscat). Mysore began to control the rich trade of the Malabar
coast which was seen as a threat to £ interests in the pepper and cardamom trade. In 1785 he declared an embargo on the export of pepper, sandalwood
and cardamom and in 1788 he explicitly forbade any trade with the £. The "mercantilist" state of Tipu now represented same kind of hegemonic ambition
as those of the Company and thus their long term interests were in clash. Tipu was now seen as posing a "direct challenge to the mercantile interests of the
£". But Irfan Habib has argued that his reforms remained "far away from a real opening to modern civilization" because his plans of modernization went far
beyond his resources.
5. Wars and battles: The territorial ambitions and trading interests led Mysore into a number of wars and battles. Thus Hyder Ali invaded and annexed
Malabar in 1766 to expand Mysore's frontiers significantly and to control the lucrative trade. The Marathas were also interested in Malabar and this put
Mysore in conflict with them. Then Hyder Ali defeated £ in 1769. Tipu's kingdom now extended from Krishna to Malabar and his enemies were
Marathas, Nizam and £ who suspected his friendship with French. But this threat perception (of French) was more illusionary than real since by now there
was hardly any possibility of a French revival in India or a French attack from outside. Finally it was Tipu's attack on Travancore which precipitated the
3rd Anglo - Mysore war.

Tipu and the Mughals

1. Unlike other states which didn't challenge the political legitimacy of the Mughal emperors and recognized their nominal suzerainty, Tipu defied it. He issued
coins in his own name and had his own khutba read. He also sought an investiture for himself by the Caliph. But he too didn't sever all links and
recognized his authority when it suited him and defied on other occasions.

Emergence of Afghan Power

Eve of British Conquest
Economic Life in 18th Century India
Urbanization and Population

1. To begin with we don't find any evidence of a decline in population in this century despite the foreign invasions and consequent destruction of cities like
Lahore, Multan, Delhi. Instead we see that population in new cities was increasing.
2. While some old administrative towns like Delhi and Agra declined then new ones like Lucknow, Patna etc. emerged. Likewise on the one hand old trade
centers like Madurai, Nagapattan, Surat, Masaulipatnam etc. declined and new ones like Bombay, Madras, Calcutta emerged.
3. Many historians believed that Indian villages were self sufficient so 18th century witnessed large scale demonetization. This is not true because of the
reasons mentioned elsewhere (under the 'Economy' note).

Industrial Production Setup

1. The dominant industry was cotton textiles (and allied) which was widely dispersed. Silk industry too was flourishing. Agro based industries like sugar and
colors were important as well. Then metal working (precious metals to make jewelry and iron for making weapons) was important. Saltpeter was
produced for exports.
2. Yet the production system was highly caste based. People from higher castes didn't want to indulge in any productive activity and the craftsmen were
treated as low castes or even out castes. Occupations were hereditary and unit of production was family.
3. In the villages Jajmani system was used i.e. certain craftsmen (from lower castes) would render services to the entire village and in turn would get a share
from the common produce of the village. This system was hereditary as well and thus there was no competition.. The system of paying additional wage in
the form of cash / extra produce for extra services rendered had emerged though more common practice was to allocate some land for cultivation. In
western India, such craftsmen were called Balutedar and their hereditary rights were called watan. In S India they were called Ayagar. Production was
limited mainly for the village and the small surrounding markets.
4. With the advent of the european companies, the dadni system grew because they needed large quantity of produce. In places where raw material was not
available locally or was expensive, the merchant himself would also provide the craftsman with the raw material. Also due to specific and larger demand of
the Europeans many craftsmen would have to buy new tools etc. which entailed substantial risk. This risk could be alleviated by the dadni system.
5. The needs of the companies favored a localized system of production (as against the diversified system of production prevalent in India). As their trade
grew, localized clusters of production began to emerge as the craftsmen from villages began to migrate to these centers. Thus large number of craftsmen
migrated and began to live in cities like Calcutta, Madras, Kasimbazar (Dutch had a silk factory there). A natural progression would have been emergence
of factories in India but this was checked by the emergence of factories in England and the consequent change in the pattern of trade. Anyways even this
urban production system was organized along caste system only. The commercial system (merchants engaged in local as well as marine trade etc.) was
also organized on case basis only.
6. Old centers of commerce like Gujarat began to decline while new ones like Bengal emerged on the global scale. The decline of Gujarat can be attributed
as much to the changing trade pattern as to the fall of Safavid empire (which was a major trade destination for ships form Gujarat). Until then Gujarat used
to export mostly medium and coarse cloth to Asian markets but european demand was for fine cloth which was produced in Bengal and Coromandel
only.
7. Despite the fact that Indian commerce and production was flourishing, the technology of production remained backward and we see no attempts to adopt
the modern methods like machines which used water power, modern spinning technique etc. We don't find the use of modern navigational equipment, we
don't find the use of even a wheel barrow in the construction business. We don't find metallurgical advances, chemical advances etc.
Agricultural Production Setup

1. Agrarian crisis (see 'decline of mughal empire') and ijardari system. This translated into more exploitation of peasants.
2. No efforts were made to improve agriculture technologies or irrigation. This when coupled with increased exploitation meant frequent famines.
3. In the 18th century we see the influence of jagirdars declining while that of the local zamindars increasing. They increasingly became rebellious. With time
the zamindars became more like the local kings.
4. Indian agriculture was highly caste based. The zamindars belonged mainly to the higher castes and didn't cultivate themselves. In south brahmans enjoyed
the ownership of large tracts of land and got it cultivated by lower castes. Paikashts and Muzaris belonged to lower castes.
5. Indian agriculture could never become a capitalist affair because the capital owning agriculture class (i.e. the khudkashts) used to pay LR @
concessionary rate while others paid @ higher rate. So the administration didn't let khudkashts grow but the other peasants didn't have any capital with
them to grow.

Social Life in 18th Century India

1. Casteism was the dominating determinant in not only the social intercourse but also economic matters. It severely constrained the mobility and thus
inhibited development of the nation. It had become so strong a factor and the rules had become so elaborate that there was no need for interference by
the governmental authorities. But there were so many castes and sub castes that each region had its own system which was different from that in other
regions.
2. Indian society in 18th century was a feudal society. A person's status and privileges were birth determined. The higher castes along with elite family groups
among the muslims formed the ruling class. The clergy had special status in the society and its own privileges. They got tax free land grants and other
grants from the ruling class as well as other people. The rich merchants too came from higher castes. The productive class often comprised of lower castes
as the higher caste people didn't take to production directly. In S India there were the Ilangais and the Valangais. The lowest were the outcastes.
3. European travelers write that there was no middle class in India but this was not the case. India had merchants, white collared professionals etc.
4. Condition of women was absolutely pathetic though S Indian women were not so restricted as the N Indians. Lower caste women didn't practice purdah
mainly for economic reasons.
5. Education system continued to expand at a slow place. Hindu kids used to study in elementary schools and muslim kids in makhtabs. These did face some
issues in getting patronage though. Higher education used to be imparted in tolls and madarssas in N India and maths or viharas in S India. Girls of elite
class only received education and that too within the home while girls of lower class went uneducated. The biggest drawback of this age was indifferent
and sometime hostile attitude towards technological and scientific development.
6. But one positive aspect of the social life was that there was communal harmony.

Cultural Life in 18th Century India

1. Culturally it was an encouraging scenario. It saw a spurt in the fusion of various art forms. Urdu emerged as the major language in the elite class in various
parts of the country and various eminent poets like Sauda, Mir and Nazir wrote in this age. The regional kingdoms were able to fill in the void created by
the mughal empire effectively here.
2. Literature too saw a resurgence. Regional literature grew. In painting Rajputana and Kangra emerged as the new hub. In architecture one can point to
Jaipur and Lucknow. But the biggest winner was music. Khyal emerged. Then in dance bharatnatyam flourished in TN and other areas of S India.
Kathakali was the ancient dance of Kerala and in this period it got patronage of Travancore and Kottayam royal houses. Manipuri developed as a formal
style under Raja Bhagyachandra. Kathak developed into a secular dance form under the Mughals first and then under Oudh.

India as Depicted in Urdu Literature of 18th Century

1. The resurgence of Urdu as the dominant language in 18th century signifies the falling significance of the Persian speaking ruling class and the emergence of
the Urdu speaking classes to the fore. Having developed as Deccani in the deccan, Urdu became popular in the north when the famous poet Wali reached
Delhi. His poems became very popular instantly as they were refreshing as against the traditional Persian gazals. From then on we can see evidences of
falling number of Persian poets while the number of Urdu poets rose. Sauda, Mir and Nazir were other major poets of the age.
2. The works of these poets don't remain confined to the ruling class and instead also capture the dominant currents of the age vis mysticism and
humanism. In the cultural field their works speak of communal harmony, assimilation, sufi principles etc. We can see a clear attempt by these poets to
portray a life beyond the palace walls as seen from their perspectives. These poets also talk about the flourishing regional centers like Lucknow, Bengal
etc. They describe the excesses of Muhammad Shah while also describing the pathetic condition of Shah Alam II. They praise the rising regional nawabs
like Shuja-ud-daula, Asaf Jahan highly while at the same time blaming the corrupt amirs who had led to the downfall of their patron emperors. Perhaps this
is a reflection of the general decline in the influence of centralized ruling class.
3. They had seen the ravages of foreign invasions which led to a loss of their riches. This clearly shows in their sad tone while describing it. The emerging
powers like Marathas and Jats had little ear for their art and hence didn't patronize them. Naturally while speaking of these powers such poets are found
wanting for appreciative words. This produces a source of exaggeration in their works. But at the same time they tell us about the prevailing crises of the
day like the jagirdari - mansabdari crisis (how the income from jagirs had virtually come to a naught), financial crisis.
4. They also speak of the decline in Delhi as if it became void of life. But we know Delhi remained a large city in the 18th century. Perhaps they themselves
had left the city and due to this their description is somewhat exaggerated. Similarly in Agra only a certain area had declined but other areas continued.
They also completely ignore the development due to efforts of Jats and Marathas.
5. In the economic sphere they tell us how the trade routes from Delhi and Agra to rest of the country had declined due to anarchy and repeated invasions.
But in that age also there were many merchants and traders who took advantage of the situation and got rich. Our poets criticize such low born newly rich
class as they themselves were left poor.

Debate #1 18th century: Break or Continuity?

Colonial Interpretation: Break
(a) Politics

1. Previous two centuries were age of political unity, centralized control.

2. Indian powers had superior military.

(b) Economy
 1. Prosperity in previous two centuries.

(c) Socio-Cultural

1. Remarkable progress in cultural pursuits in past 2 centuries.

Nationalist Interpretation: Continuity

(a) Politics

1. Marathas filled up the void with an empire almost as large as the Mughal empire.

(b) Economy

1. Highly developed economy continued. Economic activities largely similar to previous centuries.
2. Indian products, specially textiles, were still in high demand in whole world. The European governments had to impose trade barriers. India continued to
be the sink of bullion of the world. India had a great share in the world trade.
3. Urban centers were still flourishing. There was no decline in ports, craft centers and trade centers.

(c) Socio-Cultural

1. Culture also flourished. Examples of Jai Singh, Imam-bada of Lucknow. Literature also flourished specially Urdu and regional language. A number of
regional schools of painting flourished like the Kishangarh school, the Bundi school, the Bikaner school.
2. The social evils prevalent were not a product of this century.

Critical Analysis

1. That it was an age of sharp break can't be accepted. But doesn't mean it was seamlessly continuous. Changes took place, some features took turn for
worse, some for better. Sometimes there is an apparent continuity, but if viewed in the relative context and against the needs of the age, a change emerges.

(a) Politics

1. Maratha structure was mainly a confederacy unlike the centralized character of Mughals.
2. Maratha territorial influence @ peak may have been close to Mughal territorial influence, but the nature of Maratha influence in areas beyond Maratha
territory was that of exploitation and alienation of locals. No surprise, they didn't help others, nor did others help them.
3. Their peak influence remained for a short time. Apart from them, there were significant powers like Bengal, Mysore, Oudh, Hyderabad etc.
4. The military technology may have remained the same but if we look at relative superiority, then definitely India was lacking. Naval importance too was
increasing but Indians continued to ignore it.

(b) Economy

1. Continuity was of a higher order here. Trade etc. remained but crisis was also increasing. Mughal official records tell us of agrarian crisis, general price
levels in economy were going up.
2. It was neither a period of de-urbanization, nor de-monetisation.
3. Though Indian economic traditions and technologies remained the same, yet in a relative perspective, its position was changing from being a leader to
laggard.
4. Decline in foreign maritime trade happened not with the advent of € but when they gained political control.

(c) Socio-Cultural

1. Same relative perspective. European nations were embracing new modern ideas, Indians didn't.

Debate #2: 18th century: Dark Age or Progress?

1. Scholars like Jadunath Sarkar, some Persian historians and some £ historians have treated the decline of mughal empire as a symbol of the decline of the
entire socio-economic-cultural environment of India.
2. On the other hand some nationalist historians have challenged this view and claim that there are no clinching evidences of a general decline in the socio-
economic-cultural environment in India in the 18th century. They contend that decline of mughal empire didn't lead to anarchy but it was replaced by
strong regional powers. While some old administrative towns like Delhi and Agra declined then new ones like Lucknow, Patna etc. emerged. Likewise on
the one hand old trade centers like Madurai, Nagapattan, Surat, Masaulipatnam etc. declined and new ones like Bombay, Madras, Calcutta emerged.