Modern History Set 51
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📌 18th Century • Marathas
Q.1) Which Maratha Peshwa aggressively asserted Maratha power by invading Delhi with a small army of 500 horsemen in 1737?
Ans > Baji Rao I
- The Great Maratha Cavalry General: Baji Rao I, serving as the seventh Peshwa from 1720 to 1740, is historically recognized as an undefeated military genius, having fought over 41 major battles without a single loss. He successfully transformed the Maratha state from a regional power into the dominant empire of the Indian subcontinent.
- The Audacious Delhi Raid (1737): Implementing his aggressive forward policy to strike at the decaying “trunk” of the Mughal Empire, Baji Rao executed a masterstroke of rapid military mobility. Bypassing massive Mughal armies stationed in central India, his elite force of just 500 horsemen dashed directly to the outskirts of Delhi.
- Geopolitical Shift: This bold invasion completely panicked the Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah and unequivocally exposed the glaring vulnerability of the imperial capital. It permanently shifted the geopolitical center of gravity in India from Delhi to Pune, demonstrating that the Mughals could no longer defend their own seat of power.
📌 Mughal Decline • Later Mughals
Q.2) Who was the mother of Mughal Emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur, who effectively ruled state affairs with the help of a eunuch named Javid Khan?
Ans > Udham Bai
- Rise to Imperial Power: Originally a public entertainer and dancing girl before marrying Emperor Muhammad Shah, Udham Bai rose to absolute dominance during the reign of her ineffective son, Ahmad Shah Bahadur (1748–1754). She was granted the grand imperial title of ‘Qibla-i-Alam’ (Center of the Universe).
- The Corrupt Junta: She essentially ruled the crumbling empire by forming a highly powerful, yet incredibly corrupt, political junta with a court eunuch named Javid Khan, who was absurdly elevated to the title of ‘Nawab Bahadur’. Their administration was marked by catastrophic financial mismanagement and gross incompetence.
- Accelerating Imperial Collapse: Under her de facto rule, the imperial treasury was completely depleted due to extreme extravagance while the empire was in grave crisis. The royal army often went unpaid for several months, leading to violent mutinies in the capital. Her disastrous tenure ended when she was blinded and imprisoned following a bloody palace coup led by Imad-ul-Mulk in 1754.
📌 Mughal Decline • 18th Century Battles
Q.3) Which Mughal Emperor’s reign witnessed two decisive battles: the Third Battle of Panipat (1761) and the Battle of Buxar (1764)?
Ans > Shah Alam II
- A Reign of Tragedy and Warfare: Originally known as Ali Gauhar, Shah Alam II’s long but tragic reign vividly reflected the absolute dying gasps of Mughal authority. He was a nominal emperor who spent much of his life as a helpless spectator, a fugitive, or a pensioner of regional powers and foreign companies.
- The Carnage at Panipat (1761): His reign witnessed the devastating Third Battle of Panipat, fought between the Maratha Empire and the invading Afghan forces of Ahmad Shah Abdali. This massive clash resulted in the slaughter of tens of thousands of Maratha soldiers, permanently shattering their dream of building a unified pan-Indian empire.
- The Disaster at Buxar (1764): Attempting to reclaim his authority, Shah Alam II allied with the Nawabs of Awadh and Bengal. However, their combined forces were decisively crushed by the British East India Company at the Battle of Buxar. This forced him to sign the humiliating Treaty of Allahabad in 1765, legally granting the vital ‘Diwani’ (revenue rights) of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa to the British, marking the true beginning of British colonial rule in India.
📌 Regional States • Bengal
Q.4) Who was the founder of the independent state of Bengal in the early 18th century?
Ans > Murshid Kuli Khan
- From Revenue Officer to Independent Ruler: Murshid Kuli Khan was originally appointed as the Diwan (revenue administrator) of Bengal by Emperor Aurangzeb in 1700 to streamline a highly chaotic provincial economy. Demonstrating exceptional administrative acumen, he rapidly consolidated his power as the central Mughal authority decayed after Aurangzeb’s death, officially becoming the Nawab in 1717.
- Founding of Murshidabad: To physically and politically distance his administration from the Mughal prince Azim-ush-Shan (the Subahdar in Dhaka), he shifted the provincial capital from Dhaka to a new city he founded and named after himself—Murshidabad.
- Transforming Bengal’s Economy: He introduced the rigorous ‘Mal Zamini’ system, meticulously reassessing agricultural lands and collecting taxes directly through newly created, highly loyal local Zamindars. By establishing a hereditary succession model, he formally severed Bengal’s practical dependence on Delhi, turning it into the wealthiest regional state in 18th-century India, which eventually attracted the predatory gaze of the British East India Company.
📌 Regional States • Rajputs
Q.5) Which Rajput ruler built the pink city of Jaipur and five astronomical observatories at Delhi, Jaipur, Benares, Mathura, and Ujjain?
Ans > Sawai Jai Singh
- An Enlightened Renaissance Prince: Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II of Amber stood out as a brilliant patron of science, mathematics, and urban planning during an incredibly turbulent 18th century that was largely characterized by relentless warfare and the rapid political disintegration of the subcontinent.
- The Planned City of Jaipur: In 1727, seeking a more spacious and secure capital than the hilly terrain of Amber, he founded the city of Jaipur. It was India’s first meticulously planned city, designed strictly according to the ancient Hindu architectural grids outlined in the Vastu Shastra and the Shilpa Shastra.
- The Jantar Mantar Observatories: Recognizing massive inaccuracies in both European and Islamic astronomical tables, he constructed five massive masonry observatories across northern India. These incredibly precise geometric structures were designed to track planetary movements, predict eclipses, and measure time with unparalleled accuracy. He also compiled a highly accurate set of astronomical tables called the ‘Zij-i Muhammad Shahi’, profoundly advancing scientific knowledge in his era.
📌 18th Century • Economy
Q.6) During the 18th century, which region of India was specifically renowned as a center for woollen manufactures?
Ans > Kashmir
- The Center of Premium Woolens: While regions like Bengal, Gujarat, and the Coromandel Coast were globally famous for their massive production of fine cotton textiles and muslins, the northern mountainous region of Kashmir entirely dominated the high-end woollen manufacturing sector during the 18th century.
- The Legendary Pashmina: Kashmir’s most coveted export was the exquisite Pashmina shawl, woven from the incredibly soft, ultra-fine undercoat hair of high-altitude Himalayan mountain goats. The complex weaving process involved thousands of skilled artisans and specialized embroiderers, making it a highly organized, localized industry.
- Global Patronage and Trade: These luxurious shawls were heavily patronized by the declining Mughal nobility, the rising regional Nawabs, and eventually the invading Afghan rulers. By the late 18th century, Kashmiri shawls had become a major status symbol in Europe, actively traded by French and British merchants and heavily imitated by European textile mills in cities like Paisley, Scotland.
📌 18th Century • Society
Q.7) The ‘sharif’ Muslims in 18th-century India consisted of nobles, scholars, priests, and army officers. They frequently looked down upon which group of lower-class Muslims?
Ans > Ajlaf Muslims
- Deep Social Stratification: Despite the theoretical Islamic principle of universal equality and brotherhood, 18th-century Muslim society in the Indian subcontinent was deeply and rigidly stratified along the lines of ancestry, occupation, and social class, functioning similarly to a caste system.
- The Elite Ashraf/Sharif Class: The ‘Ashraf’ or ‘Sharif’ class consisted of the nobility, top administrators, military generals, and religious scholars. They proudly claimed pure foreign descent from Arab, Persian, Turkish, or Afghan lineages. They strictly monopolized high state jobs and owned vast land grants (jagirs).
- The Marginalized Ajlaf Class: In stark contrast, the ‘Ajlaf’ (meaning ‘base’ or ‘lowly’) comprised the vast majority of the Muslim population. They were largely indigenous Indian converts to Islam who continued to work in their traditional occupational roles as weavers, artisans, butchers, and poor peasant cultivators. The Sharif class actively socially distanced themselves from the Ajlaf, refusing intermarriage and largely denying them access to higher religious education or administrative power.
📌 Literature • Nationalism
Q.8) Who was the author of the prominent semi-historical Bengali novel Anandamath (1882)?
Ans > Bankim Chandra Chatterjee
- A Pillar of Literary Nationalism: Bankim Chandra Chatterjee was a towering figure in the Bengali Renaissance. His magnum opus, ‘Anandamath’ (The Abbey of Bliss), published in 1882, is widely considered one of the most important novels in the history of modern Indian literature due to its massive political impact.
- The Sanyasi Rebellion Backdrop: The novel is semi-historically set in the backdrop of the devastating Bengal Famine of 1770 and the subsequent Sanyasi Rebellion. It tells the story of a militant brotherhood of Hindu ascetics (the ‘Santan’) who violently rise up against the oppressive taxation and exploitation of the British East India Company and their local tax collectors.
- The Birth of Vande Mataram: Anandamath’s greatest legacy is that it contained the poem ‘Vande Mataram’ (I bow to thee, Mother). Bankim Chandra brilliantly synthesized religious devotion with patriotic fervor, transforming the nation into a divine mother goddess (Bharat Mata). The song became the primary battle cry for the Indian independence movement, deeply inspiring revolutionary nationalists across the country.
📌 Anglo-French Rivalry • Carnatic Wars
Q.9) The Battle of Ambur (1749) saw the combined forces of Muzaffar Jung, Chanda Sahib, and the French defeat and kill which Nawab of the Carnatic?
Ans > Anwaruddin
- The Spark of the Second Carnatic War: The Battle of Ambur in 1749 was a highly decisive military clash that marked the beginning of the Second Carnatic War. It was fundamentally driven by the brilliant, yet highly manipulative, political strategy of the French Governor, Joseph François Dupleix.
- Dupleix’s Masterstroke of Interference: Dupleix realized that the most effective way to establish European political dominance in India was to actively interfere in local dynastic succession disputes. He formed a powerful tripartite alliance with Muzaffar Jung (who claimed the throne of Hyderabad) and Chanda Sahib (who claimed the throne of the Carnatic).
- The Elimination of Anwaruddin: This combined French-backed coalition marched against the incumbent Nawab of the Carnatic, Anwaruddin Khan, who was quietly supported by the British. At the Battle of Ambur, the vastly superior French artillery and disciplined infantry completely routed the Nawab’s traditional cavalry forces. Anwaruddin was killed in action, allowing Chanda Sahib to capture the throne, briefly making the French the absolute supreme power in South India.
📌 British Expansion • Bengal
Q.10) The Dual Government system in Bengal, where the Company effectively held both diwani and nizamat rights while leaving the appearance of authority to the puppet Indian ruler, was introduced by whom?
Ans > Robert Clive
- The Aftermath of Buxar: Following the decisive British victory at the Battle of Buxar, Robert Clive returned to India as the Governor of Bengal in 1765. He masterminded the infamous Treaty of Allahabad, which legally granted the East India Company the ‘Diwani’—the absolute right to collect revenues directly from Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa.
- The Mechanics of the Dual System: Clive established a highly exploitative administrative mechanism known as the Dual Government (1765-1772). Under this system, the Company controlled the treasury and the military (the real power), while the puppet Nawab of Bengal was left with the ‘Nizamat’—the responsibility of maintaining law, order, and criminal justice, but completely deprived of the funds to do so.
- A Legacy of Unaccountable Ruin: This system created a disastrous scenario of power without responsibility for the British, and responsibility without power for the Nawab. The Company’s absolute greed led to ruthless over-taxation of the peasantry. When the catastrophic Bengal Famine of 1770 struck, killing over a third of the population, neither the powerless Nawab nor the profit-driven Company took responsibility for relief, exposing the deep horrors of early colonial exploitation.
📌 British Expansion • Burma
Q.11) The Treaty of Yandabo, which ended the First Anglo-Burmese War in 1826, required the Burmese to cede Arakan and which other coastal province?
Ans > Tenasserim
- The First Anglo-Burmese War (1824–1826): Triggered by the aggressive westward expansion of the Konbaung dynasty of Burma into Assam and the British-controlled frontiers of Bengal, this conflict was the longest and most expensive war in the history of British India. The British suffered massive casualties, largely due to tropical diseases and harsh jungle warfare.
- The Humiliating Terms of Yandabo: After British naval forces successfully navigated the Irrawaddy River and threatened the Burmese capital, the Burmese King was forced to sign the deeply humiliating Treaty of Yandabo in 1826. The terms were designed to permanently cripple Burmese military power and secure the eastern borders of British India.
- Territorial and Financial Ruin: The treaty mandated that Burma officially cede the crucial coastal provinces of Arakan and Tenasserim to the British, completely cutting off their maritime power. Furthermore, the Burmese were forced to recognize British control over Assam, Manipur, and Cachar, accept a British resident at their court in Ava, and pay a totally ruinous war indemnity of one million pounds sterling in four harsh installments.
📌 British Foreign Policy • Tibet
Q.12) The British military expedition under Colonel Younghusband was sent to Tibet in 1904 to negotiate an agreement by which Viceroy?
Ans > Lord Curzon
- Paranoia of the Great Game: Viceroy Lord Curzon, known for his highly aggressive and imperialistic foreign policy, was deeply paranoid about the expanding influence of Tsarist Russia in Central Asia. He falsely believed that the 13th Dalai Lama was engaging in secret diplomatic negotiations to allow a Russian military presence in the highly isolated region of Tibet, right on India’s northern border.
- The Younghusband Expedition: To force the issue, Curzon dispatched an armed diplomatic mission in 1903-1904, commanded by Colonel Francis Younghusband. What began as a diplomatic mission quickly escalated into a violent, unprovoked military invasion. The expedition mercilessly machine-gunned poorly armed Tibetan monks and militia at the Battle of Guru and successfully captured the forbidden city of Lhasa.
- The Treaty of Lhasa (1904): With the Dalai Lama fleeing to Mongolia, the British forced the remaining Tibetan officials to sign the highly unequal Treaty of Lhasa. Tibet was forced to pay a massive indemnity, open trade marts at Yatung, Gyantse, and Gartok to British merchants, agree not to grant any concessions to foreign powers (specifically Russia), and allow the British to temporarily occupy the strategic Chumbi Valley as security.
📌 British Foreign Policy • Afghan Wars
Q.13) Which Amir of Afghanistan had been deposed in 1809 and lived as a British pensioner at Ludhiana before the British attempted to restore him in the First Anglo-Afghan War?
Ans > Shah Shuja
- The Fear of Russian Expansion: In the 1830s, the British were consumed by “Russophobia,” deeply fearing that Russia would use Afghanistan as a staging ground to launch a massive invasion of British India. Lord Auckland, the Governor-General, aggressively sought a highly compliant, pro-British ruler in Kabul to serve as a buffer.
- The Tripartite Treaty of 1838: Finding the fiercely independent sitting Amir, Dost Mohammed, too uncooperative, Auckland formulated a disastrous plan. He signed a treaty with Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Punjab and the deposed former Afghan Amir, Shah Shuja. Shah Shuja had been exiled from Kabul 30 years prior and was living comfortably in Ludhiana on a British pension, totally disconnected from Afghan politics.
- A Catastrophic Intervention: The British Army of the Indus successfully invaded Afghanistan in 1839 and installed the deeply unpopular Shah Shuja on the throne. However, the Afghan tribes violently rejected this foreign puppet. The intervention culminated in the disastrous winter retreat of 1842, where an entire British army of 16,000 soldiers and camp followers was utterly annihilated in the freezing mountain passes, marking one of the greatest military humiliations in the history of the British Empire.
📌 British Foreign Policy • Afghan Wars
Q.14) During the Second Anglo-Afghan War, the Treaty of Gandamak (May 1879) was signed between the British and which Afghan ruler?
Ans > Yakub Khan
- The Cause of the Second War: The Second Anglo-Afghan War erupted in 1878 when Amir Sher Ali Khan, trying to maintain strict neutrality between the rival empires, was forced to receive an uninvited Russian diplomatic mission but turned away a subsequent British envoy at the Khyber Pass. Viceroy Lord Lytton used this as a pretext to launch a massive invasion.
- The Subjugation of Yakub Khan: As British troops rapidly advanced and captured major cities, Sher Ali fled and died in exile. His son, Yakub Khan, assumed the throne and, realizing his military situation was totally hopeless, surrendered to the British, signing the highly subjugative Treaty of Gandamak in May 1879.
- Terms and the Fatal Aftermath: The treaty officially turned Afghanistan into a British protectorate. Yakub Khan agreed to conduct his foreign policy strictly on the advice of the British government, ceded several crucial frontier districts, and allowed a permanent British Resident (Sir Louis Cavagnari) in Kabul. The Afghan populace fiercely resented this total loss of sovereignty. Just months later, Afghan mutineers stormed the residency and brutally murdered Cavagnari and his entire escort, instantly reigniting the war.
📌 British Foreign Policy • Afghan Policy
Q.15) Which Viceroy of India started the foreign policy of ‘proud reserve’ towards Afghanistan in 1876?
Ans > Lord Lytton
- Abandoning Masterly Inactivity: Before 1876, British policy towards Afghanistan, pioneered by John Lawrence, was known as “Masterly Inactivity”—a policy of strict non-interference in internal Afghan politics as long as no other foreign power intervened. This was designed to avoid repeating the total disaster of the First Afghan War.
- The Shift to Aggression: This completely changed when Lord Lytton was appointed Viceroy by the Conservative government in London. Lytton brought a highly aggressive, imperialistic “Forward Policy,” which he termed a policy of “Proud Reserve.” He believed the British needed a “scientific frontier” pushed deep into Afghan territory to effectively block any potential Russian advance.
- Provoking a Crisis: Driven by this highly paranoid and militant posture, Lytton deliberately provoked a diplomatic crisis with Amir Sher Ali by demanding he accept permanent British agents on his northern borders. When the Amir refused, citing his inability to guarantee their safety, Lytton ordered the invasion of Afghanistan, directly plunging the region into the bloody and highly costly Second Anglo-Afghan War.
📌 Boundaries • Afghanistan
Q.16) The ‘Durand Line’ was drawn in 1893 to establish the boundary between British Indian territories and which country?
Ans > Afghanistan
- The Need for Demarcation: Following decades of incredibly costly wars and constant tribal skirmishes on the rugged North-West Frontier, the British colonial administration sought to permanently define their territorial limits and create a formalized buffer zone between their Indian Empire and the expanding Russian Empire.
- The Durand Agreement (1893): Sir Mortimer Durand, a highly experienced British diplomat, was dispatched to Kabul to negotiate directly with the formidable “Iron Amir” of Afghanistan, Abdur Rahman Khan. They agreed upon a 2,640-kilometer (1,640-mile) porous border line to clearly delineate their respective spheres of influence.
- A Legacy of Conflict: The drawing of the Durand Line was incredibly controversial because it was an entirely artificial geopolitical construct. It deliberately sliced right through the heart of traditional ethnic Pashtun and Baloch tribal homelands, separating families, grazing lands, and ancient trade routes. The Afghan government has consistently refused to officially recognize this border since Pakistan’s creation in 1947, remaining the root cause of massive, ongoing cross-border militant insurgency and geopolitical tension today.
📌 Civil Rebellions • Assam
Q.17) The Moamaria rebellion in 1769 was a potent challenge to the authority of which kingdom’s rulers in Assam?
Ans > Ahom kings
- Origins of the Conflict: The Moamarias were a massive group of low-caste peasants, artisans, and marginalized tribes in Assam who were devout followers of the highly egalitarian Mahapuruxiya Vaishnava sect. They deeply resented the rigid social hierarchy, extreme caste discrimination, and oppressive forced labor (Paik system) imposed by the orthodox Hindu Ahom monarchy.
- The Eruption of Rebellion (1769): Driven to the absolute brink by continuous state persecution and economic exploitation, the Moamarias launched a massive, devastating armed rebellion in 1769. The uprising was so immensely powerful and widespread that the rebels briefly captured the Ahom capital, completely paralyzing the state machinery.
- The Fatal Weakening of Assam: Although the Ahom kings eventually managed to brutally suppress the rebellion over several decades—often seeking military assistance from the British East India Company—the conflict completely destroyed the region’s economy and drastically depopulated the countryside. This internal devastation fatally weakened the 600-year-old Ahom Kingdom, directly paving the way for the devastating Burmese invasions and the subsequent British annexation of Assam in 1826.
📌 Civil Rebellions • Awadh
Q.18) The 1781 civil uprising in Gorakhpur, Basti, and Bahraich was a violent reaction against the oppressive revenue demands of which English ‘izaradar’?
Ans > Major Alexander Hannay
- The System of Revenue Farming: Under extreme financial pressure, the Nawab of Awadh was forced to cede the revenue collection rights of the prosperous regions of Gorakhpur, Basti, and Bahraich to the British East India Company. Governor-General Warren Hastings then outsourced this collection to Major Alexander Hannay as an ‘izaradar’ (revenue farmer), tasked with extracting the absolute maximum wealth possible.
- Reign of Terror and Extortion: Hannay established a veritable reign of terror. He ruthlessly employed highly aggressive and violent methods to extract exorbitant land revenues, far exceeding the actual agricultural capacity of the region. He threw defaulting farmers into makeshift prisons and confiscated their ancestral properties, totally ruining the local agrarian economy.
- The Mass Armed Uprising (1781): Driven to utter desperation, the local Zamindars (landlords) and the impoverished peasant cultivators united in a massive, violent revolt in 1781. The uprising was incredibly intense, forcing Hannay’s troops to retreat and nearly resulting in the complete collapse of Company authority in the region before the British managed to brutally suppress the rebellion with heavy military reinforcements.
📌 Civil Rebellions • South India
Q.19) During the revolt of the Raja of Vizianagaram in 1794, the Raja died fighting the English in a battle at which location?
Ans > Padmanabham
- The Build-up to the Conflict: The Raja of Vizianagaram, Vijayaramaraju, had initially assisted the British in driving the French out of the Northern Circars. However, the relationship rapidly deteriorated when the new British Governor of Madras, Lord Hobart, aggressively sought to completely dismantle the Raja’s regional power and independence.
- Unreasonable British Demands: The Company presented the Raja with highly unreasonable ultimatums: they demanded a massive, sudden increase in his tribute payment (peshkash) and strictly ordered him to immediately disband his personal military forces, effectively stripping him of his honor and sovereignty. When he refused to comply, the British sequestered his entire estate.
- The Battle and Legacy (1794): Rather than submit to this complete humiliation, the proud Raja chose the path of armed resistance. He gathered his loyal troops and engaged the well-equipped British forces in a fierce battle at the town of Padmanabham on July 10, 1794. The Raja fought valiantly from the front lines and was killed in action, becoming a prominent early martyr against expanding British imperialism in the Andhra region.
📌 Civil Rebellions • Benares
Q.20) The ‘Massacre of Benares’ in January 1799, which involved the assassination of a British resident, was caused by which deposed Nawab of Awadh?
Ans > Wazir Ali Khan
- A Disputed Succession: Wazir Ali Khan ascended to the throne of Awadh in 1797. However, his strong independent streak and fiercely anti-British sentiments deeply alarmed the East India Company. Within a mere four months, the British Governor-General, Sir John Shore, forcibly deposed him, replacing him with his much more pliant and submissive uncle, Saadat Ali Khan II.
- The Spark of Violence (1799): Wazir Ali was sent into comfortable exile in Benares (Varanasi) with a large pension. Tensions boiled over in January 1799 when the British Resident in Benares, George Frederick Cherry, officially ordered Wazir Ali to relocate to Calcutta, a move designed to completely isolate him from his political supporters in Awadh.
- The Assassination and Rebellion: Feeling deeply insulted and trapped, Wazir Ali visited Cherry’s house under the guise of a farewell breakfast. During the meeting, he and his armed retainers suddenly drew their swords and brutally assassinated Cherry and several other British officials—an event notoriously known as the Massacre of Benares. He then launched a brief, desperate armed rebellion, gathering a force of several thousand men before being militarily defeated, captured, and imprisoned in Fort William for the rest of his life.
📌 Poligar Rebellion • Tamil Nadu
Q.21) Veerapandiya Kattabomman, a prominent rebel who fiercely fought against the East India Company between 1795 and 1799, was the poligar of which estate?
Ans > Panjalankurichi
- The Role of the Poligars: Poligars (Palayakkarars) were traditional feudal lords and military chieftains in southern India who maintained armed militias and collected local taxes. When the British East India Company assumed direct revenue collection rights over the Carnatic region, they attempted to completely subjugate these fiercely independent chieftains.
- The Resistance of Kattabomman: Veerapandiya Kattabomman, the courageous Poligar of Panjalankurichi, absolutely refused to accept the overarching sovereignty of the Company or pay the exorbitant agricultural taxes they demanded. His defiance escalated when he was deeply insulted by the arrogant British Collector, Colin Jackson, who forced him to stand for hours during an inquiry regarding pending tax arrears.
- The First Poligar War and Execution: This direct confrontation ignited the First Poligar War (1799). Kattabomman valiantly defended his heavily fortified mud fort at Panjalankurichi against superior British artillery. Ultimately betrayed by a rival local ruler (the Raja of Pudukottai), he was captured by the British and publicly hanged from a tamarind tree at Kayathar in 1799, securing his enduring legacy as a legendary folk hero of Tamil resistance.
📌 Poligar Rebellion • Tamil Nadu
Q.22) During the second phase of the Poligar rebellion in 1801, the escaped fugitives were led by the brother of Kattabomman. What was his name?
Ans > Oomathurai
- The Great Escape: Following the brutal execution of his brother Veerapandiya Kattabomman in 1799, Oomathurai (meaning ‘the mute lord’ due to a speech impediment) was imprisoned by the British in the Palayamkottai fort. In a daring and highly coordinated night operation in early 1801, armed rebel sympathizers successfully broke him out of the heavily guarded prison.
- Rebuilding the Rebellion: Wasting no time, Oomathurai immediately returned to the ruins of Panjalankurichi and achieved an incredible feat of engineering by completely rebuilding the massive mud fortress in a mere six days, rallying thousands of displaced peasants and angry warriors to his cause.
- The South Indian Rebellion (1801): Oomathurai became a central figure in the Second Poligar War, famously aligning his forces with a broader, highly formidable anti-British coalition led by the Marudu Pandiyar brothers of Sivaganga. This massive insurrection, known as the South Indian Rebellion, posed a severe threat to British control until the Company brought in massive reinforcements from Malaya and Bengal, leading to Oomathurai’s capture and subsequent execution.
📌 Civil Rebellions • Kerala
Q.23) In 1808–09, Diwan Velu Thampi led a massive revolt against the East India Company in which southern state?
Ans > Travancore
- The Burden of the Subsidiary Alliance: Velu Thampi Dalawa served as the highly capable Prime Minister (Diwan) of the princely state of Travancore. The primary catalyst for his massive revolt was the crushing financial extortion imposed by the British East India Company through Lord Wellesley’s ‘Subsidiary Alliance’. The British Resident, Col. Macaulay, aggressively demanded massive, ruinous increases in the annual tribute, completely bankrupting the state.
- The Kundara Proclamation (1809): Refusing to submit to this absolute economic tyranny and continuous interference in state affairs, Velu Thampi issued his historically famous ‘Kundara Proclamation’ in January 1809. It was a powerfully worded, highly emotional public manifesto that vehemently warned the people of the dire consequences of British rule—predicting the destruction of local religion, culture, and economy—and passionately urged the masses to take up armed rebellion.
- The Tragic Conclusion: The proclamation successfully ignited a massive popular uprising, and Velu Thampi’s forces famously attacked the British Resident’s house. However, the poorly equipped local Nair militia could not withstand the organized might of the reinforced British Madras Army. Rather than face the immense humiliation of capture by his enemies, Velu Thampi tragically took his own life inside the Mannadi temple.
📌 Peasant Uprisings • Odisha
Q.24) The Paika Rebellion of 1817 in Odisha was led by Bakshi Jagabandhu Bidyadhar, who was the former military chief of the Raja of which region?
Ans > Khurda
- The Displacement of the Paikas: The Paikas were a traditional landed militia in Odisha who had served the Kings of Khurda for generations, enjoying rent-free land grants (jagirs) in exchange for their military service. When the British East India Company conquered Odisha in 1803 and deposed the Raja of Khurda, they completely dismantled this deeply entrenched feudal system, brutally stripping the Paikas of their lands and ancestral status.
- Economic Extortion and the Salt Monopoly: The rebellion was not just a military grievance; it was deeply rooted in extreme economic exploitation. The British introduced a highly oppressive new revenue system, demanding taxes in hard silver currency instead of cowrie shells, heavily over-assessed the land, and cruelly established an absolute monopoly on salt, causing prices to completely skyrocket for the common peasantry.
- The Paika Bidroha (1817): Pushed to absolute starvation, the enraged Paikas, under the brilliant leadership of Bakshi Jagabandhu Bidyadhar (the former military commander of Khurda), launched a massive armed rebellion. They brutally attacked British police stations, completely burned down administrative buildings, and even managed to temporarily seize control of the holy city of Puri, declaring the deposed Raja as their sovereign before being suppressed by sheer military force.
📌 Civil Rebellions • Gujarat
Q.25) The Waghera Rising (1818–20) took place in the region of Okha Mandal due to resentment against alien rule and the exactions of which ruler?
Ans > The Gaekwad of Baroda
- The Waghera Community: The Wagheras were a fiercely independent, martial community consisting largely of chieftains and seafarers residing in the highly rugged Okha Mandal region of the Kathiawar peninsula in Gujarat. They had a long-standing tradition of autonomy and heavily relied on local tolls and occasionally piracy to sustain their economy.
- The Spark of the Rebellion: The primary cause of the massive rising (1818-1820) was the aggressive expansion and extreme revenue exactions imposed by the Gaekwad of Baroda, who was heavily backed by the military muscle of the British East India Company. The Wagheras deeply resented this alien interference and the heavy taxation that completely threatened their traditional livelihood and independence.
- Armed Resistance and Resolution: In retaliation, the Waghera chiefs carried out massive, highly disruptive armed incursions directly into British and Gaekwad territories, effectively utilizing their knowledge of the difficult coastal terrain to outmaneuver regular troops. The conflict heavily disrupted regional trade, eventually forcing the British to militarily intervene and carefully negotiate a peace treaty in 1820, which involved returning their lands while securing a promise to abandon piracy.
📌 Economic Agitations • Gujarat
Q.26) The Surat Salt Agitations of the 1840s were sparked by the government’s decision to raise the salt duty from 50 paise to what amount?
Ans > One rupee
- An Early Anti-Tax Movement: Decades before Mahatma Gandhi famously utilized the salt tax as the ultimate symbol of colonial oppression during the 1930 Dandi March, the citizens of Surat had already demonstrated the massive power of collective civil resistance against an unjust economic policy during the 1840s.
- The Spark of the Agitation (1844): The massive agitation was instantly triggered when the British colonial government announced an absolutely devastating 100% hike in the duty on salt, arbitrarily raising it from 50 paise to a full One Rupee per maund. Salt being an absolutely essential dietary requirement, this highly regressive tax heavily targeted the absolute poorest sections of society.
- Successful Mass Mobilization: The people of Surat, largely led by local merchants and community leaders, responded with an incredibly well-organized, massive, and entirely peaceful boycott. They successfully completely shut down the city’s markets, organized massive protest rallies, and absolutely refused to pay the inflated tax. The unprecedented scale and unity of the agitation completely panicked the British administration, forcing them to formally withdraw the steep hike to prevent a total breakdown of law and order.
📌 Socio-Religious Movements • Islamic Revivalism
Q.27) The Wahabi Movement in India was an Islamic revivalist movement inspired by the teachings of Abdul Wahab of Saudi Arabia and which scholar from Delhi?
Ans > Shah Waliullah
- The Intellectual Foundation: The Wahabi Movement in India, formally organized by the charismatic leader Syed Ahmed of Rai Bareilly, was primarily a fiercely puritanical Islamic revivalist movement. Its core ideology was deeply influenced by the strict teachings of the 18th-century Delhi theologian, Shah Waliullah, who vehemently argued for a complete return to the absolute pure Islam of the Prophet’s era, stripped of all modern “un-Islamic” innovations and Hindu cultural accretions.
- A Militant Political Agenda: What began as a strictly religious reform movement rapidly evolved into a highly militant political campaign. The Wahabis fundamentally believed that India under foreign rule had become a ‘Dar-ul-Harb’ (Land of the Enemy) and it was their sacred religious duty to wage an armed Jihad to transform it back into a ‘Dar-ul-Islam’ (Land of Islam).
- The Target of Jihad: Their primary initial target was the Sikh Kingdom of Punjab in the North-West, against whom they established an armed base in Sithana and fought fiercely. However, following the British annexation of Punjab in 1849, the entire massive organizational network and fury of the Wahabi Movement was redirected squarely against the British East India Company, sparking widespread sedition trials and military campaigns throughout the 1860s.
📌 Socio-Religious Movements • Punjab
Q.28) The Kuka Movement, which later propagated Swadeshi and non-cooperation concepts, was founded in 1840 in western Punjab by whom?
Ans > Bhagat Jawahar Mal
- Origins of the Namdharis: The movement was originally founded in 1840 by Bhagat Jawahar Mal, widely known as Sian Saheb, as a strict religious purification movement within Sikhism. Followers were known as ‘Kukas’ due to their unique, highly emotional style of reciting hymns, which often culminated in loud shrieks (Kooks) during religious ecstasy.
- Transformation into a Political Force: Under the dynamic leadership of Baba Ram Singh (after the British annexation of Punjab in 1849), the movement radically transformed into a fiercely anti-British political campaign. They aimed to completely restore Sikh sovereignty in Punjab and strongly advocated for strict social reforms, including the total abolition of caste discrimination and the protection of cows.
- Pioneers of Non-Cooperation: Decades before Gandhi, the Kukas were pioneers of political non-cooperation and the Swadeshi movement. They strictly boycotted all British educational institutions, laws, courts, and completely refused to wear foreign-manufactured clothing, advocating for hand-spun cloth. The movement was eventually brutally crushed by the British in 1872, culminating in the horrific execution of 65 unarmed Kukas who were blown away by cannons at Malerkotla.
📌 Peasant Uprisings • Bengal
Q.29) The Narkelberia Uprising in West Bengal, organized against Hindu landlords and British indigo planters, was led by Mir Nithar Ali, who is better known by what name?
Ans > Titu Mir
- The Rise of Tariqah-i-Muhammadiya: Titu Mir, a deeply devout follower of the Islamic reformist Syed Ahmed Barelvi, returned from Mecca and began preaching the puritanical Tariqah-i-Muhammadiya doctrines in rural Bengal. He heavily organized the vastly impoverished Muslim peasantry, urging them to strictly reject un-Islamic practices and unite against their oppressors.
- Resistance Against Exploitation: The uprising fundamentally began as a fierce economic protest. The local, predominantly Hindu Zamindars (like Krishnadeva Roy) imposed a deeply insulting, discriminatory tax specifically on the beards worn by Muslims. Concurrently, British indigo planters were ruthlessly forcing peasants to grow highly unprofitable indigo crops instead of food, utilizing extreme violence and illegal confinement.
- The Legendary Bamboo Fort (1831): Refusing to submit, Titu Mir declared himself independent and ordered his followers to stop paying revenues to the Zamindars. He famously constructed a massive, highly innovative fortress made entirely of bamboo and mud—the ‘Bansher Kella’—in the village of Narkelberia. The British eventually had to deploy heavy artillery and professional cavalry to destroy the fort in a massive battle, during which Titu Mir died fighting valiantly.
📌 Peasant Uprisings • Bengal
Q.30) The Faraizi Revolt in Eastern Bengal was organized to expel English intruders and support tenants against zamindars. Who was its original founder?
Ans > Haji Shariatullah
- The Core of the Faraizi Ideology: Haji Shariatullah founded this deeply influential movement in Eastern Bengal, primarily focusing on strictly urging Muslims to give up un-Islamic practices and diligently perform their mandatory religious duties (the ‘Faraiz’). Like the Wahabis, he radically declared that Bengal under British rule had become a ‘Dar-ul-Harb’ (Land of War) where Friday congregational prayers were no longer valid.
- Radical Agrarian Transformation: Under the highly aggressive leadership of his son, Muhsinuddin Ahmad (better known as Dudu Miyan), the movement rapidly transformed from a religious sect into a massive, highly organized agrarian rebellion. Dudu Miyan famously and radically proclaimed that “all land belongs to God,” and therefore, the entire system of demanding oppressive taxes by Zamindars was fundamentally illegal and anti-Islamic.
- Creating a Parallel Government: Dudu Miyan effectively established a parallel administration across Eastern Bengal. He heavily organized the poor peasantry into a highly loyal, unified force equipped with lathis (clubs), completely forbade his followers from paying illegal cesses or obeying the British courts, and ruthlessly attacked the properties of exploitative Hindu landlords and British indigo planters throughout the 1840s and 1850s.
📌 Quick Summary — Modern History Set 51
- Marathas: Baji Rao I launched a daring raid on Delhi in 1737 with 500 horsemen.
- Later Mughals: Udham Bai & eunuch Javid Khan controlled affairs during Ahmad Shah Bahadur’s reign; Shah Alam II witnessed Panipat & Buxar.
- Regional Powers: Murshid Kuli Khan founded independent Bengal; Sawai Jai Singh built Jaipur & 5 observatories.
- 18th Century Economy: Kashmir emerged as a massive center for woollen manufactures.
- 18th Century Society: The upper-class ‘Sharif’ Muslims socially distanced themselves from the lower-class ‘Ajlaf’ Muslims.
- Literature: Bankim Chandra Chatterjee authored Anandamath (1882) containing ‘Vande Mataram’.
- Carnatic Wars: Anwaruddin was killed by a French-led coalition at the Battle of Ambur (1749).
- British Bengal: Robert Clive introduced the exploitative Dual Government in 1765.
- Anglo-Burmese Wars: Treaty of Yandabo (1826) ceded Arakan and Tenasserim to the British.
- British Foreign Policy: Curzon sent Younghusband to Tibet (1904); Lytton initiated ‘Proud Reserve’ leading to Afghan wars.
- Afghan Treaties: Treaty of Gandamak (1879) was signed by Yakub Khan; Durand Line drawn in 1893.
- Early Rebellions: Moamaria rebellion challenged Ahom kings; Major Hannay’s oppression sparked 1781 Gorakhpur uprising.
- Poligar & South Indian Revolts: Kattabomman of Panjalankurichi & his brother Oomathurai led the Poligar wars; Velu Thampi revolted in Travancore.
- Armed Risings: Raja of Vizianagaram died at Padmanabham; Wazir Ali caused Massacre of Benares.
- Peasant & Tribal Revolts: Paika Rebellion led by Khurda’s chief; Waghera Rising targeted Baroda’s Gaekwad.
- Agitations: Surat Salt agitations (1840s) protested raising salt duty to one rupee.
- Socio-Religious Movements: Wahabi movement inspired by Shah Waliullah; Kuka Movement founded by Bhagat Jawahar Mal.
- Bengal Agrarian Revolts: Titu Mir (Mir Nithar Ali) led Narkelberia; Haji Shariatullah founded the Faraizi revolt.
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