Modern History Set 27
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📌 Advent of Europeans • British East India Company
Q.1) Along with the ship ‘Dragon’, which other English ship successfully fought the Portuguese fleet off Surat in 1612, impressing Mughal Emperor Jahangir?
Ans > Osiander
- The Naval Engagement: In 1612, during the crucial Battle of Swally (Suvali), the English East India Company’s ships, primarily the ‘Dragon’ and the ‘Osiander’, engaged a much larger Portuguese armada.
- Leadership: The English fleet was successfully commanded by Captain Thomas Best, whose superior naval artillery tactics devastated the Portuguese galleons.
- Mughal Perception Shift: Prior to this battle, the Mughals believed the Portuguese were completely invincible on the open seas. The English victory shattered this myth entirely.
- Strategic Reward: Deeply impressed by the naval prowess of the English, Mughal Emperor Jahangir issued a historic royal farman (decree) in 1613, officially permitting them to establish a permanent trading factory at Surat, securing their first solid foothold in India.
📌 Advent of Europeans • Portuguese Impact
Q.2) Which crops did the Portuguese introduce to India alongside new plantation varieties of coconut?
Ans > Tobacco and Cashew nut
- The Columbian Exchange: The Portuguese acted as early agents of global agricultural exchange, bringing numerous crops from their colonies in Brazil and South America directly to the Indian subcontinent in the 16th century.
- Impact of Tobacco: Tobacco was introduced and rapidly adopted by the local populace. It became so widely consumed and addictive that Mughal Emperor Jahangir famously attempted to ban smoking in 1617, though unsuccessfully.
- Cashew Cultivation: Cashew nuts were initially planted heavily along the coasts of Goa by the Portuguese to prevent topsoil erosion, but they quickly evolved into a massive, highly lucrative cash crop.
- Other Culinary Additions: Beyond tobacco and cashews, the Portuguese fundamentally permanently altered Indian cuisine by introducing potatoes, tomatoes, papayas, pineapples, and the now-essential green chillies.
📌 Regional Powers • Maratha Empire
Q.3) In 1683, after two naval assaults, the Portuguese territory of Goa was invaded by which Indian power?
Ans > The Marathas
- Rise of Sambhaji: Following the death of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in 1680, his capable son Sambhaji took control of the rapidly expanding Maratha Empire and adopted highly aggressive military policies.
- Portuguese Betrayal: The invasion was sparked because the Portuguese had secretly allied with the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, allowing Mughal armies free passage through Portuguese territories to attack the Marathas.
- The 1683 Invasion: In a fierce retaliatory strike, Sambhaji launched a massive amphibious and land invasion in 1683, completely overrunning the Portuguese provinces of Bardez and Salcete.
- Near Collapse of Goa: The Portuguese Viceroy, the Count of Alvor, was in absolute despair and nearly surrendered the capital. Goa was only miraculously saved because a massive Mughal army under Prince Muazzam suddenly invaded the Maratha homeland (Konkan), forcing Sambhaji to retreat and defend his own kingdom.
📌 Military History • Modern Infantry
Q.4) To counter Dutch pressure in the 1630s, the Portuguese introduced the Spanish model of drilling groups of infantry. This military practice was later adopted by the French, the English, and which two Indian powers?
Ans > The Marathas and the Sikhs
- The Need for Modernization: Facing highly organized, lethal pressure from the Dutch VOC in the 1630s, the Portuguese were forced to adopt the renowned Spanish ‘Tercio’ model, focusing on strict, synchronized infantry drilling to maximize continuous musket fire.
- Changing Warfare Dynamics: Indian powers quickly realized that highly disciplined, drilled infantry armed with modern firearms could easily decimate traditional, loosely organized heavy cavalry charges.
- Maratha Adoption: The Marathas, particularly under later leaders like Mahadji Scindia, heavily integrated European drilling methods. They employed European mercenaries, like the Frenchman Benoît de Boigne, to train their formidable standing armies into disciplined infantry battalions.
- Sikh Military Evolution: Similarly, Maharaja Ranjit Singh totally modernized the Sikh Khalsa army. He formed the elite ‘Fauj-i-Khas’, which was rigorously drilled by former Napoleonic generals like Ventura and Allard using strict French and Spanish military manuals.
📌 Advent of Europeans • The Dutch
Q.5) The Dutch established a factory on the eastern coast at Bimlipatam in which year?
Ans > 1641
- Dutch Strategic Focus: The Dutch VOC (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie), founded in 1602, was primarily focused on monopolizing the highly lucrative spice trade in Indonesia, not directly colonizing India.
- The Textile Barter: However, the Dutch desperately needed high-quality Indian cotton textiles to barter with Indonesian natives for spices. This drove them to heavily establish themselves on India’s eastern Coromandel Coast, a massive hub for textile production.
- Establishment of Bimlipatam: In 1641, the Dutch successfully established a major fortified settlement at Bimlipatam (modern-day Bheemunipatnam in Andhra Pradesh). It quickly became a highly prosperous port for exporting textiles, saltpetre, and indigo.
- Historical Remnants: The Dutch heavily fortified the town, minted their own distinct copper coins, and controlled the regional economy for decades. The historic Dutch cemetery and ruined fort walls still exist there today, standing as remnants of their eclipsed empire.
📌 British East India Company • Charters
Q.6) Queen Elizabeth I issued a charter on December 31, 1600, to a group of ‘Merchant Adventurers’. What was the official name of the company established by this charter?
Ans > Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading into the East Indies
- The Foundation: This incredibly lengthy title was the original, official legal name of the entity that would later become famously known as the British East India Company (EIC).
- The Royal Monopoly: The charter, granted on the absolute last day of the 16th century by Queen Elizabeth I, granted this specific group of merchants an exclusive 15-year royal monopoly on all English trade east of the Cape of Good Hope.
- Joint-Stock Structure: It was established as an innovative joint-stock company, initially comprising 218 wealthy London merchants and aristocrats who pooled their massive capital to fund highly dangerous, speculative oceanic voyages. Thomas Smythe was elected as its very first governor.
- Initial Failures and Shift: The company initially tried to break into the Indonesian spice market but was violently expelled by the dominant Dutch (culminating in the Amboyna massacre). This forced the EIC to shift its entire focus to the Indian subcontinent.
📌 British Expansion • Bengal
Q.7) Following the sacking of Hooghly in 1686, Job Charnock negotiated with the Mughals and returned to establish an English factory at Sutanuti in which month and year?
Ans > August 1690
- The Anglo-Mughal Conflict: In 1686, during what is known as Child’s War, arrogant English forces sacked Hooghly. A furious Emperor Aurangzeb heavily retaliated, utterly crushing the English and driving them completely out of Bengal.
- Diplomatic Return: Realizing they could not defeat the massive Mughal army, the English pleaded for pardon. The pragmatic Company agent, Job Charnock, successfully negotiated a peace settlement to resume highly profitable trade.
- Founding the Settlement: Specifically on August 24, 1690, Charnock returned and anchored on the eastern, muddy banks of the Hooghly River, officially establishing an English factory at the village of Sutanuti.
- The Birth of a Capital: In 1698, the English formally purchased the zamindari rights to Sutanuti, along with neighboring Govindapur and Kalikata, for a mere Rs 1200. These three villages were heavily fortified (becoming Fort William) and merged to form the mega-city of Calcutta, the capital of British India until 1911.
📌 French East India Company • Indian Ocean
Q.8) The reorganized ‘Perpetual Company of the Indies’ in 1720 gained strength partly due to the French possession of Mauritius and which other island in the southern Indian Ocean?
Ans > Reunion
- French Corporate Revival: The French East India Company (Compagnie des Indes) was financially ruined but was aggressively reorganized and heavily recapitalized in 1720 by the Scottish economist John Law.
- Naval Geography: The true strength of the revived French company relied heavily on controlling strategic deep-water naval bases in the vast Indian Ocean, allowing them to project massive military power.
- The Island Bases: The islands of Mauritius (then known as Île de France) and Reunion (historically known as Île Bourbon) provided absolutely crucial docking, repair, and vital resupply stations for French armadas during the dangerous monsoon seasons.
- Strategic Advantage: Under highly capable, aggressive governors like Mahé de La Bourdonnais, these island bases allowed the French to launch devastating naval strikes against British supply lines during the Carnatic Wars, even successfully capturing Madras temporarily in 1746.
📌 Anglo-French Rivalry • Carnatic Wars
Q.9) The Third Carnatic War in India was an extension of the Seven Years’ War in Europe, which began in 1756 when Austria attempted to recover which territory?
Ans > Silesia
- A Global World War: The Third Carnatic War (1758-1763) in India was not an isolated regional dispute, but rather the direct Indian theater of the first truly global conflict, the Seven Years’ War.
- The European Spark: The massive global war was ignited in Europe in 1756 strictly because Austria’s Empress Maria Theresa desperately attempted to recapture the incredibly rich, heavily industrialized province of Silesia from Frederick the Great of Prussia.
- Web of Alliances: This territorial dispute triggered a massive web of alliances: Britain allied with Prussia, while France allied with Austria. As a result, British and French forces immediately began attacking each other’s colonial possessions in North America, Africa, and India.
- The End of French Ambitions: In India, this conflict culminated in the decisive Battle of Wandiwash (1760), where British General Sir Eyre Coote utterly crushed the French forces under the Count de Lally, effectively destroying French imperial ambitions in the subcontinent forever.
📌 Advent of Europeans • Portuguese Policy
Q.10) Which Portuguese Governor made the famous remark, “The Portuguese entered India with the sword in one hand and the crucifix in the other…”?
Ans > Alfonso de Souza
- Tenure and Context: Martim Afonso de Sousa served as the powerful Portuguese Governor of India from 1542 to 1545. His violent tenure is historically famous for the arrival of the radical Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier.
- Dual Imperial Motives: This famous quote perfectly encapsulates the dual, intertwined motives of the Portuguese Empire in the East: violent territorial conquest (the sword) paired seamlessly with zealous, uncompromising religious expansion (the crucifix).
- The Padroado System: This aggressive approach was legally backed by the ‘Padroado’—a direct papal grant from Rome authorizing the Portuguese to conquer non-Christian lands and monopolize ocean trade, provided they actively spread Catholicism.
- Brutal Implementation: The practical application of this ideology led to aggressive forced proselytization, the systematic destruction of ancient local Hindu temples and mosques, and the establishment of the brutal, terrifying Goa Inquisition shortly after his departure in 1560.
📌 Pre-Colonial India • Economy
Q.11) J.T. Sunderland noted that prior to the British arrival, India was not only a great manufacturing nation but also the greatest nation in which specific industry?
Ans > Shipbuilding
- Pre-Colonial Wealth: J.T. Sunderland, a prominent historian and anti-imperialist, heavily documented India’s massive pre-colonial economic wealth, noting that it dominated global manufacturing before systemic British deindustrialization.
- Superior Craftsmanship: India’s shipbuilding industry was highly advanced and globally renowned. Indian master builders utilized incredibly durable, water-resistant teak wood sourced heavily from the Malabar coast and Burma.
- Longevity of Vessels: Indian-built ships were famous for lasting 50 years or more in harsh oceanic conditions, compared to European ships built of oak that typically rotted and required massive overhauls after just 12-15 years.
- British Protectionism: The British East India Company frequently had its own ships built or repaired in Surat and Bombay docks by legendary Indian builders like the Wadia family. Eventually, the British Parliament, pressured by Thames shipbuilders, passed strict laws in 1813 to explicitly ban Indian-built ships from entering British ports.
📌 Social History • Slave Trade
Q.12) In the 17th century, Abyssinian slaves were brought to India by European trading companies and sold at Madras, Calcutta, and which other major market?
Ans > Surat
- The Indian Ocean Slave Trade: During the 17th century, European maritime companies (specifically the Dutch, English, and Portuguese) were heavily engaged in the brutal, highly profitable Indian Ocean slave trade, a fact often overshadowed by the Atlantic trade.
- The Hub of Surat: As the absolute primary trading port of the wealthy Mughal Empire on the western coast, Surat served as a massive, bustling commercial hub. Tragically, humans were treated as cargo alongside spices and textiles.
- Abyssinian Demographics: Abyssinian (Ethiopian) and various East African slaves, known locally in the subcontinent as Habshis or Siddis, were forcibly brought via the grueling Red Sea route to these major markets.
- Military Evolution: While initially employed as domestic servants, royal guards, and sailors, many Africans escaped or earned their freedom. Over time, some formed powerful, independent military communities, such as the famous Siddis of Janjira, who became the formidable, undefeated naval admirals for the Mughal Empire.
📌 Cultural History • Literature
Q.13) In South India, the Malayalam language was significantly enriched by Kalakkathu Kunchan Nambiar, who was heavily patronized by the rulers of which state?
Ans > Travancore
- A Literary Giant: Kalakkathu Kunchan Nambiar (1705–1770) was a highly prominent early Malayalam poet, a brilliant satirist, and the legendary inventor of the ‘Ottan Thullal’ solo performing art form.
- Royal Patronage: He enjoyed the rich, continuous patronage of the powerful King Marthanda Varma (who consolidated the state) and his successor Dharma Raja of the Kingdom of Travancore.
- Linguistic Democratization: Nambiar’s works heavily enriched the Malayalam language by actively moving away from elite, strict Sanskritized structures. He deliberately utilized simple, accessible vernacular language that the common masses could easily understand and enjoy.
- Social Satire: His incredible poetic satires humorously but sharply critiqued the rigid social injustices, immense caste hypocrisies, and political corruptions prevalent in 18th-century Kerala society, making him incredibly popular among the common people.
📌 Decline of Mughals • Maratha Expansion
Q.14) In 1758, the Rohilla chief Najib-ud-Daula was expelled from Delhi by which Maratha chief?
Ans > Raghunath Rao
- Maratha Zenith: In 1758, the Maratha Empire reached its absolute territorial zenith when Raghunath Rao (the brother of the ruling Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao) launched a massive military expedition deep into North India and the Punjab.
- Capturing the Capital: He successfully captured Delhi, the symbolic heart of the decaying Mughal Empire, boldly and directly challenging the authority of the fearsome Afghan invader Ahmad Shah Abdali.
- Expelling the Afghan Agent: Upon taking the city, Raghunath Rao immediately expelled Abdali’s primary Indian political agent, the powerful Rohilla chief Najib-ud-Daula, who had been managing Delhi’s affairs on behalf of the Afghans.
- Catastrophic Consequences: This incredibly aggressive northern expansion severely provoked Abdali. It led directly to the formation of a massive Afghan-Rohilla-Awadh alliance that eventually crushed the Marathas at the catastrophic Third Battle of Panipat in 1761, altering Indian history forever.
📌 Later Mughals • Revenue Policy
Q.15) Which Mughal Emperor is noted in the text for abolishing the Jaziya tax?
Ans > Jahandar Shah
- A Puppet Ruler: Jahandar Shah (1712-1713) was an incredibly weak Later Mughal emperor who was largely a mere figurehead, entirely controlled by his brilliant, immensely powerful wazir (prime minister), Zulfiqar Khan.
- Recognizing Imperial Decay: Zulfiqar Khan acutely realized the rapid, terminal decay of the empire. He initiated drastic policies of political appeasement to desperately win back the loyalty of alienated Hindu subjects and powerful Rajput kings.
- Reversing Aurangzeb’s Policy: In a major departure from orthodox policy, he formally abolished the Jaziya, a highly discriminatory, deeply resented poll tax levied strictly on non-Muslims that had been notoriously reinstated by Aurangzeb in 1679.
- Pacifying the Marathas: In addition to abolishing the tax, Jahandar Shah’s administration officially granted the rights to collect Chauth and Sardeshmukhi (revenue shares) of the Deccan to the Marathas, attempting to buy peace with their most dangerous enemy.
📌 Anglo-French Rivalry • Carnatic Wars
Q.16) In 1752, the French candidate for the Carnatic, Chanda Sahib, was executed following his surrender. Who executed him?
Ans > Muhammad Ali
- The Succession Crisis: Chanda Sahib was the ambitious, French-backed claimant to the highly contested throne of the Carnatic during the bloody Second Carnatic War.
- The Turning Point: After Robert Clive’s brilliantly executed, diversionary capture of Arcot (1751), Chanda Sahib’s massive siege forces were severely depleted and demoralized, turning the tide of the war in favor of the British.
- The Surrender: Cornered and out of options, Chanda Sahib was forced to surrender to the allied forces of Tanjore, who were fighting alongside the British and their preferred candidate for the throne, Muhammad Ali.
- The Execution: To permanently eliminate the succession dispute and secure his position, Muhammad Ali explicitly ordered a Tanjorean general to execute Chanda Sahib. This brutal act effectively secured the Carnatic region strictly within the British sphere of influence.
📌 British Expansion • Bengal
Q.17) The Treaty of 1760 stipulated that tenants of Mir Kasim’s territory would not be allowed to settle where?
Ans > In the lands of the Company
- The Deposition of Mir Jafar: The Treaty of 1760 was a secret, highly coercive agreement signed between the EIC (acting under Governor Henry Vansittart) and Mir Kasim to depose the financially drained, incompetent Mir Jafar.
- Territorial Cessions: In exchange for being made Nawab, Mir Kasim ceded the incredibly rich, revenue-generating districts of Burdwan, Midnapore, and Chittagong permanently to the Company.
- Preventing Tax Evasion: To ensure maximum, uninterrupted revenue extraction, the British intentionally inserted a strict clause forbidding the tenants, farmers, and zamindars of the Nawab’s remaining territory from migrating into the newly acquired Company lands.
- Captive Labor Force: The Company desperately wanted to prevent widespread tax evasion. By sealing the borders, they secured a captive agricultural and artisan labor base, preventing subjects from fleeing the Nawab’s heavy taxation to seek Company protection.
📌 British Economic Policies • Bengal
Q.18) Following the reinstatement of Mir Jafar as the Nawab of Bengal, the English were permitted duty-free trade except for a 2 per cent duty on which commodity?
Ans > Salt
- The Reinstatement: Mir Jafar was cynically reinstated as the puppet Nawab of Bengal in 1763 after the British deposed and waged war against the fiercely independent Mir Kasim.
- Restoring the Dastak: As an absolute condition of his reinstatement, Mir Jafar had to immediately restore the heavily abused duty-free trading privileges (Dastak) of the Company’s private servants, which Mir Kasim had abolished to level the playing field for Indian merchants.
- The Sole Exception: Even while granting the British these sweeping privileges to relentlessly extract wealth and ruin local competitors, the Nawab managed to retain a nominal 2.5% (often cited as 2%) duty exclusively on the internal trade of salt.
- The Salt Monopoly: Salt was a massive, heavily monopolized industry and a daily biological necessity. Controlling its trade generated immense illicit profits and massive personal fortunes for corrupt British officials like Robert Clive.
📌 Modern Historiography • Economic Drain
Q.19) The author of the book An Era of Darkness, from which an excerpt detailing the global export of Bengal’s fine muslins is quoted, is whom?
Ans > Shashi Tharoor
- The Critique of Empire: In his acclaimed book “An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India,” author and politician Shashi Tharoor meticulously details the systematic, brutal destruction of India’s thriving pre-colonial economy.
- The Tragedy of Muslin: Tharoor heavily emphasizes the specific tragedy of Bengal’s legendary muslin weavers. These incredibly skilled artisans produced ultra-fine, transparent, lightweight cotton fabrics that were world-renowned and highly prized by European royalty.
- Protectionist Tariffs: To aggressively protect their own nascent, inferior domestic textile mills in Lancashire from superior Indian competition, the British imposed brutal, prohibitive tariffs (often up to 70-80%) on Indian imports.
- Systematic Destruction: The British physically destroyed the local looms, heavily taxed the weavers, and flooded the Indian market with cheap, machine-made goods, reducing a world-leading manufacturing hub to a completely impoverished agricultural colony.
📌 Maratha Empire • Treaties
Q.20) The Treaty of Rajpurghat, which marked the defeat of the Holkars and their reduction to British vassalage, was signed in which year?
Ans > 1806
- Conclusion of Conflict: The Treaty of Rajpurghat marked the absolute conclusion of the bloody Second Anglo-Maratha War, specifically dealing with the fierce Holkar faction of Indore.
- Yashwantrao’s Resistance: Yashwantrao Holkar had fought a brilliantly executed, highly successful guerrilla campaign against the British, famously embarrassing them by forcing Colonel Monson’s army into a disastrous retreat.
- Overwhelming Force: However, ultimately facing the overwhelming logistical and financial resources of the EIC, and lacking support from other Maratha chiefs, he was forced to sign this devastating treaty.
- Loss of Independence: Drafted in late 1805 and ratified by Governor-General George Barlow in early 1806, it stripped the Holkars of all their territories north of the Chambal River and forced them to accept British paramountcy, effectively neutralizing the last major independent threat.
📌 Sikh Empire • Treaties
Q.21) By the Treaty of Lahore (March 8, 1846), the Sikhs were forced to pay a war indemnity of what amount to the English?
Ans > More than 1 crore rupees
- The End of the First War: The First Anglo-Sikh War, marked by incredible Sikh bravery but massive internal treachery by their own commanders, concluded disastrously with the harsh Treaty of Lahore in 1846.
- Financial Crippling: The British deliberately imposed an impossibly steep, crushing war indemnity of 1.5 crore rupees on the defeated Sikh Empire, explicitly designed to financially ruin the Lahore durbar.
- Territorial Extortion: Knowing full well the Lahore treasury could not pay the massive sum in cash, the British forced the Sikhs to cede the fertile Jalandhar Doab and the entirety of the hill regions, including Jammu and Kashmir.
- The Sale of Kashmir: In a highly controversial move, the British almost immediately ‘sold’ Kashmir to the ambitious Dogra king Gulab Singh for 75 lakh rupees via the subsequent Treaty of Amritsar, recovering half the indemnity while creating a new, loyal princely state.
📌 Geography • Regional States
Q.22) According to the text, the state of Mysore was geographically located at the junction of which features?
Ans > The Eastern and Western Ghats
- Strategic Geography: The Kingdom of Mysore possessed a uniquely advantageous geographic position, located on a high-altitude, rocky plateau precisely at the convergence of the Eastern and Western Ghats.
- Natural Fortifications: This rugged, highly elevated terrain provided immense natural defensive barriers, making it incredibly difficult for sudden, sweeping cavalry raids from the Marathas to the north and the Nizam of Hyderabad to the east.
- Access to the Coast: Despite being inland, the geography gave Mysore strategic, relatively easy access to the vital Malabar coast. This was absolutely crucial for engaging in the highly lucrative spice trade and procuring modern firearms from European ports.
- Agricultural Wealth: The convergence also meant control over the fertile, highly productive river valleys of the Kaveri, which provided the massive agricultural surplus necessary to fund Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan’s modern armies.
📌 Anglo-Mysore Wars • Treaties
Q.23) Under the Treaty of Seringapatam (1792), Tipu Sultan ceded regions surrounding the Tungabhadra and its tributaries to which power?
Ans > The Marathas
- A Disastrous Defeat: The Third Anglo-Mysore War ended disastrously for Tipu Sultan. Lord Cornwallis, utilizing overwhelming numbers and allied with the Marathas and the Nizam of Hyderabad, successfully laid siege to Tipu’s heavily fortified capital.
- Dismemberment of Mysore: The humiliating Treaty of Seringapatam forced Tipu Sultan to cede exactly half of his entire kingdom to the victorious allies.
- Dividing the Spoils: The spoils were strategically divided to hem Mysore in: the British took the incredibly wealthy Malabar coast, Dindigul, and Baramahal. The Nizam received vast territories from the Krishna down to the Pennar River.
- The Maratha Share: The Marathas, for their crucial cavalry support, received the highly strategic, fertile regions extending up to the Tungabhadra River, greatly expanding their southern frontier. Tipu was also forced to pay a massive 3.3 crore rupees indemnity.
📌 Regional Rulers • Tipu Sultan
Q.24) Tipu Sultan despised the use of palanquins, describing them as fit only for the use of the disabled and whom else?
Ans > Women
- A Reformist Ruler: Tipu Sultan was a fiercely active, highly driven reformist ruler who attempted to deeply militarize and totally modernize Mysorean society to effectively resist relentless European expansion.
- Rejection of Decadence: He absolutely despised the decadent, highly luxurious, and lethargic lifestyle adopted by the traditional Indian aristocracy of the 18th century, viewing it as the primary reason for their political weakness.
- Banning the Palanquin: To enforce this ethos, he actively banned the use of palanquins (enclosed sedan chairs carried by laboring servants) for his officers, nobles, and administrators.
- The Equestrian Ideal: He famously declared palanquins suitable only for women and the physically disabled. He strictly insisted that all able-bodied administrators and military commanders should ride on horseback to maintain constant physical readiness, martial discipline, and a rugged ethos.
📌 Maratha Empire • Administration
Q.25) Which Maratha Peshwa initiated the Maratha confederacy to manage the expanding power and appease the kshatriya section led by the senapati Dabodi?
Ans > Bajirao I
- The Architect of Expansion: Peshwa Bajirao I (1720-1740) was an incredibly brilliant cavalry tactician and the primary architect of the Maratha Empire’s massive, unprecedented northern expansion beyond the Narmada River.
- Administrative Necessity: Acutely realizing that centralizing all military and administrative power in Pune would dangerously slow down rapid conquests, he formally initiated the ‘Maratha Confederacy’ (Mandal) system.
- Delegating Autonomy: He delegated immense military autonomy and the rights to collect revenue in newly conquered territories to his most capable, ambitious Kshatriya generals.
- The Major Houses: This brilliant system gave rise to the legendary Maratha houses: the Scindias in Gwalior, Holkars in Indore, Gaekwads in Baroda, and Bhonsles in Nagpur. This satisfied the ambitions of the military elite and allowed the Marathas to simultaneously wage war across multiple vast fronts.
📌 Anglo-Maratha Wars • Treaties
Q.26) Under the Treaty of Salbai (1782), which territory was confirmed to continue in the possession of the English?
Ans > Salsette
- A Bloody Stalemate: The First Anglo-Maratha War (1775-1782) resulted in a massive, costly, and bloody stalemate for both the EIC and the highly capable Maratha generals like Mahadji Scindia.
- Strategic Peace: Desperate to avoid fighting both the powerful Marathas and the formidable Hyder Ali of Mysore simultaneously, Governor-General Warren Hastings urgently sought a diplomatic resolution.
- Terms of Salbai: The resulting Treaty of Salbai guaranteed mutual peace between the EIC and the Marathas for exactly 20 years. The British returned most captured territories (like Bassein) and officially recognized Madhavrao II as the legitimate Peshwa.
- British Gains: In return for these concessions, the British retained absolute, permanent control over the highly strategic island of Salsette (immediately adjacent to Bombay harbor) and the lucrative trading fortress of Broach in Gujarat.
📌 Subsidiary Alliance • Treaties
Q.27) The Treaty of Bassein (1802) stipulated that the Peshwa receive a permanent British native infantry of not less than how many troops?
Ans > 6,000 troops
- The Flight of the Peshwa: After being heavily and humiliatingly defeated by the brilliant Maratha rebel Yashwantrao Holkar at the Battle of Poona, the cowardly Peshwa Baji Rao II fled to the British coast at Bassein for protection.
- The Subsidiary Alliance: Desperate to regain his throne, he signed the devastating Treaty of Bassein in 1802, officially and willingly entering Lord Wellesley’s infamous ‘Subsidiary Alliance’ system.
- The Military Occupation: The core stipulation of the treaty was that the Peshwa agreed to station a permanent British native infantry force of exactly 6,000 troops (plus supporting artillery) inside his sovereign territory.
- Loss of Sovereignty: To pay for their massive upkeep, he ceded prime territories yielding 26 lakh rupees annually. He permanently surrendered Maratha foreign policy to the British, outraging the other Maratha chiefs and immediately triggering the Second Anglo-Maratha War.
📌 Anglo-Maratha Wars • Final Defeat
Q.28) Following the Third Anglo-Maratha War, Appa Sahib of Nagpur launched an attack on the British residency located where?
Ans > Nagpur
- The Final Struggle: During the decisive, highly destructive Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817-1818), massive coordinated uprisings erupted against the deeply resented British Subsidiary Alliances across central India.
- The Rebellion of Appa Sahib: Mudhoji II Bhonsle (widely known as Appa Sahib), the ruler of the powerful Nagpur state, desperately attempted to break free from suffocating British political control and align with the Peshwa.
- The Attack: In late November 1817, he launched a massive, sudden attack on the lightly defended British Residency located directly in his capital of Nagpur.
- The Battle of Sitabuldi: This desperate attack led directly to the famous Battle of Sitabuldi. Despite being vastly outnumbered, a small, highly disciplined British force heavily defeated Appa Sahib’s much larger army (which included formidable, highly paid Arab mercenaries), resulting in his deposition and permanent exile.
📌 Regional Powers • Sindh
Q.29) The Talpuras, under Mir Fath Ali Khan, established a complete hold over Sindh in 1783. They were originally a tribe of what descent?
Ans > Baluch
- The Overthrow: The Talpura dynasty, a fierce martial tribe originating from the rugged, mountainous Balochistan region, successfully overthrew the incumbent Kalhora rulers in 1783 following a decisive victory at the Battle of Halani.
- The Confederacy of Amirs: Mir Fath Ali Khan brilliantly established a highly unique system of regional governance. Sindh was strategically divided and ruled by a confederacy of ‘Amirs’ (powerful chieftains) hailing from different branches of the extended Talpur family (Hyderabad, Khairpur, Mirpur).
- Economic Control: They maintained fierce, uncompromising independence for decades, tightly controlling the incredibly lucrative, high-volume riverine trade flowing down the mighty Indus River.
- The Unjust Annexation: Their reign lasted until 1843, when British General Charles Napier ruthlessly and entirely unjustifiably annexed Sindh to secure the Indus. Recognizing the immoral nature of his own unprovoked conquest, Napier famously telegraphed a single Latin word: “Peccavi” (I have sinned/Sindh).
📌 Sikh Empire • Regional Politics
Q.30) Who was the ruler of Afghanistan who appointed Ranjit Singh as the governor of Lahore in 1799?
Ans > Zaman Shah
- The Afghan Threat: In the highly chaotic late 18th century, the Durrani Empire of Afghanistan continually launched devastating, plundering invasions into the fragmented Punjab region.
- The Incident of the Cannons: During his hasty retreat to Kabul in 1798, the Afghan ruler Zaman Shah lost several heavy, highly valuable artillery cannons in the flooded, raging waters of the Jhelum River.
- Ranjit Singh’s Diplomacy: The young, brilliantly pragmatic Sikh chieftain of the Sukerchakia Misl, Ranjit Singh, salvaged the sunken cannons and, in a masterstroke of diplomacy, safely sent them back to Zaman Shah in Kabul.
- The Foundation of Empire: Highly impressed by this deeply honorable act, and acutely realizing he lacked the logistics to permanently hold the region, Zaman Shah appointed Ranjit Singh as the official Governor of Lahore in 1799. This royal decree inadvertently, but legally, legitimized the rapid rise of the sovereign, mighty Sikh Empire.
📌 Quick Summary — Modern History Set 27
- Portuguese in India: Introduced tobacco/cashew, initiated Spanish infantry drilling, and utilized aggressive religious/territorial strategies (Alfonso de Souza). Goa invaded by Marathas in 1683.
- EIC & English Power: Charter issued in 1600. English ships Dragon and Osiander beat Portuguese at Swally (1612). Calcutta established by Job Charnock at Sutanuti (1690).
- Other European Powers: Dutch set up Bimlipatam factory (1641). French strengthened by holding Reunion and Mauritius in the 1720s.
- Bengal Conquest: Post-Mir Jafar, English paid only 2% duty on Salt. Treaty of 1760 restricted Mir Kasim’s tenants from settling in Company lands.
- The Marathas: Bajirao I initiated the Confederacy. Took Delhi (Raghunath Rao) in 1758. Treaty of Salbai (1782) secured Salsette for British. Treaty of Bassein (1802) forced 6,000 British troops on Peshwa. Holkars subdued in 1806.
- Mysore: Situated between Eastern and Western Ghats. Tipu Sultan lost Tungabhadra to Marathas in Treaty of Seringapatam (1792).
- Sikh Empire: Ranjit Singh given Lahore by Afghan ruler Zaman Shah (1799). Later forced to pay 1.5 crore indemnity in Treaty of Lahore (1846).
- General History: India led globally in shipbuilding pre-British. Later Mughals like Jahandar Shah abolished Jaziya. Sindh ruled by Baluch Talpura tribe.
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