Aurangzeb- A Controversial Ruler.

Chapter 2: Aurangzeb was last of the strongest Mughal Emperors- He was son of
Lesson 1: Shahjahan, grandson of Jehangir and great grandson of Akbar the Great.
Ruled from 1658-1707 after killing three brothers and imprisoning his father,
the Emperor Shahjahan.
Decline of  He had control over more area in India than any other Mughal Ruler before
Mughal Empire him.
 He was a Calligrapher of Quran and also used to make Prayer
Caps with his own hands.
Aurangzeb’s Policies  He was accused of being non-tolerant towards believers of other religions in
India.
towards Non-Muslims.
 He was accused of having destroyed many Hindu temples.
 He built an expensive “ Moti Masjid” in Red Fort for the prayers of his
beloved wife Nawab Bai.
 He had Hindus as Military Commanders in his army.
 He appointed Hindus on most important posts in his revenue administration.
It is also reported that he gave donations to built some new Hindu temples.
  Re-imposition of Jizya Tax angered the Hindu majority of
Chapter 2: India who organised opposition against the Mughals and
Lesson 1: started to occupy lands in South India which reduced the size
and control of Mughals causing the start of decline of
Mughal Empire.
Decline of  Destruction of Hindu Temples hurt the religious sentiments
Mughal Empire of Hindus who were now determined to challenge the
Mughal Rule in India..
 Killing of 9th Sikh Guru- Tegh Bahadur in 1675, infuriated
Aurangzeb’s Policies the Sikhs in Punjab who remained a permanent source of
towards Non-Muslims. trouble for the Mughal Empire for the next century
 Action by Aurangzeb against a Hindu custom-Satti was felt by
Hindus as an interference into their religious matters and
became another reason of Hindu opposition to the Mughal
Empire.
 2. Wars of Succession
Chapter 2:
Lesson 2.  Lack of System of Succession
 succession Wars to succeed ShahJahan
Decline of  Impact on Mughal treasury, Mughal Army and People.
Mughal Empire 3. Administrative Problems.
 Mansabdari System
Reasons of Decline Impact of collapse of Mansabdari system

 Wars of Succession 4. Weak Military

 Administrative  Complacency of Mughals

Problems  Lack of training and new technology
 Impact of weak military
 Weak control Over Mughal Court
Chapter 2:
 Ministers and nobility became very powerful
Lesson 3
 Emperors became puppets in the hands of Ministers.
Decline of  Shah Alam II stayed away from Delhi for 12 years
Mughal Empire  Alamgir II was killed in the court

Reasons of Decline Internal Attacks

 Weak Control over  Marathas in South

Mughal Court.  Sikhs in Punjab
 Internal Attacks  Jats near the Capital
 Foreign Attacks
Chapter 2:
 Persian King Nadir Shah sacked and plundered Mughal
Capital, Delhi in 1738-39. He took away the Mughal prestige
along with the famous Pea-cock Throne of Shah Jahan to Iran
Decline of in 1740.
Mughal Empire  Former commander of Nadir Shah and Afghan King, Ahmad
Shah Abdali attacked Mughal India repeatedly from 1748 to
1767. He not only took control of Mughal Provinces of
Punjab and Kashmir but also defeated the Marathas in 3rd
Reasons of Decline Battle of Panipat in 1761. Mughals were never able to regain
Punjab and Kashmir.
 Foreign Attacks
 European forces like Portuguese, the French, the Dutch also
 Pleasure Seeking took considerable areas under their control further
Attitude weakening the Mughal Empire. A more formidable European
Power, the British sealed the fate of Mughals and proved to
 Neglect of Naval be the final nail in the coffin of Mughal Empire in the mid of
Force. 19th century.
 Pleasure Seeking Attitude
Chapter 2:
Later Mughal Emperors neglected the state-craft and indulged
themselves in pleasure seeking attitude more than what was
desirable encouraging different local Chiefs to become rulers
Decline of of Mughal lands here and there in India. Emperor Muhammad
Shah was so found of music, poetry and dance that he was
Mughal Empire nicknamed as “Rangila”.
Neglect of Naval Force.
Reasons of Decline Later Mughal Emperors neglected to modernize their Naval
Force which was a decisive factor in their failure to stop
 Foreign Attacks European invasions of different Indian Ports. In last decades of
Mughal rule in India, the British Navy was reigning supreme on
 Pleasure Seeking Indian waters and the Mughal had no answer to it. Bombay
Attitude and madras were two very important sea-ports controlled by
the British which provided the platform or British supremacy
 Neglect of Naval in whole of the India
Force.
 East India Company (EIC)
Chapter 2:  It was established on 31st December 1600 by a group of English
merchants with the permission of Queen Elizabeth I.
 Originally, EIC was granted permission by the Queen to trade with
Decline of modern day Indonesia which was called East Indies at that time.

Mughal Empire  EIC was granted “ monopoly” of trade

 EIC landed in India in 1608 after failing to establish its trade in East
East India company Indies.
 EIC’s trade of Spices, tea. indigo and silk proved to be very
successful encouraging it to expand its influence in India
 EIC established three big trade centres in Madras, Calcutta and
Bombay which were called factories but later with greater
expansion, those factories were named as presidencies.
 EIC established its rule in Bengal and other provinces of India
during 18th and 19th centuries.
 EIC was abolished in 1873 by the British Government.
Chapter 2:  It was called Child’s War because of the name of British
commander Josiah Child who started this war.
 It was fought during Emperor Aurangzeb’s reign (1686-89)
Expansion of  East India Company captured Muslims convoy going to
British Control in Makkah for pilgrimage which infuriated Aurangzeb who
India attacked and defeated the British forces depriving them of all
their possessions in India.
Child’s War (1686-89)
 British were made to apologise and their delegation had to
prostrate in font of Aurangzeb who pardoned the British and
ordered them to pay 150,000 rupees (roughly 4.4 million
dollars of today).
 British requested to permit them to resume their trade in
India which was granted by Aurangzeb.
Do you think Aurangzeb committed a mistake by permitting
the British to resume their trade in India?
Chapter 2: Robert Clive was a British military commander and first British
Governor of Bengal. He defeated Ruler of Bengal, Nawab Siraj
ud Daula in the Battle of Plassey fought in 1757. He left India
in 1759 and settled in England but returned back to India in
Expansion of 1764 to become Governor of Bengal for the second time in
British Control in 1765. He had to face a corruption trial in England which he felt
India (1750s-1856) to be insulting. Although, he was found not guilty but the trial
left him a depressed man who eventually took his own life in
1774

Robert Clive Siraj ud Daula was ruler of Bengal with the title of “Nawab”
under the Mughal Emperor. He was offended by the British
Siraj ud Daula fortification of Fort William in Calcutta which was situated in
his territories. He sacked the Fort in 1756 aided by the French.
Mir Jafar However, the British retaliated under Robert Clive in 1757 to
take back the Fort. Clive was secretly supported by Nawab’s
Battle of Plassey(1757) Commander, Mir Jaffar who was bribed by Clive resulting in
defeat and death of Nawab.
Chapter 2: Mir Jaffar was the Commander of forces of the ruler of
Bengal,Nawab Siraj ud Daula. He had a long time desire to become
the ruler of Bengal himself. His chance came when Robert Clive
offered him a deal to help the British to dethrone the Nawab with a
Expansion of promise to made him the next Nawab of Bengal. He agreed the deal
with Clive and in Battle of Plassey deserted the battlefield leaving
British Control in behind Nawab Siraj to loose his territory and life. Mir Jaffar became
India(1750s-1856) the next Nawab as promised by Clive but only as a puppet to serve
interests of East India company. He was dismissed by the British in
1760 on failing to meet the British demands.

Robert Clive Battle of Plassey was fought between the forces of Nawab of Bengal
and those of East India Company led by Robert Clive in 1757. Robert
Siraj ud Daula Clive was able to defeat the Nawab with his force of only 3000
soldiers against 50,000 of Nawab. It was made possible by betrayal
Mir Jafar of Nawab by his Commander Mir Jaffar, Clive’s extra-ordinary war
tactics and the rain. In the middle of Battle, rain set in which caused
Battle of Plassey(1757) Nawab’s guns to become wet as he had no arrangement to cover his
weapons while British had tarpaulins to cover their guns. When rain
stopped and war re-started, the British guns were ready to fire while
Nawab’s were not resulting in his defeat and death.
 Battle of Buxar (1764).
Chapter 2:  This Battle was fought between East India Company and the combined forces
of a) Mir Qasim b)Nawab of Oudh (Awadh) c) Shah Alam II- the Mughal
Emperor who were all determined to oust British from India for different
reasons of their own.
Expansion of  Mir Qasim ( Son in Law of Mir Jafar and one time Nawab of Bengal) was
British Control in unhappy with the British over dismissing him and wanted to become the ruler
of Bengal again.
India(1750s-1856)  Nawab of Oudh (Muslim ruler of the largest state of India neighbouring
Bengal) was fearful of British expansion in to his state
 Shah Alam II ( Emperor of India from 1760-1806) was wary of British Power
Battle of Buxar and wanted to get rid of it once for ever.
 British forces were led by Major Hector Monroe who was successful in
Hector Monroe defeating the combined Indian forces due to his better war strategy and lack of
coordination among the Indian forces. It was a decisive Battle which
established the British as a formidable force in India.
 British control expanded into Bihar and some parts of Awadh as well in
addition to Bengal. British also secured right of collecting taxes (Diwani) from
the Mughal Emperor after signing the Treaty of Allahabad in 1765.
 This Batle also marked the end of Puppet Rulers in Bengal and the East India
company took complete control of the Government. Robert Clive became the
first Governor of Bengal without any Puppet Nawab.
Chapter 2: Warren Hastings was a British administer who remained
the first Governor General of Bengal from 1774 to 1785. He is
considered one of the founders of British Empire in India as he
introduced complete take over of the Government by the East
Expansion of India Company in Bengal. He consolidated British rule by forcing
British Control in Marathas and the Sate of Mysore to peace agreement in 1778
India(1750s-1856) and 1784 respectively. On his return to England in 1785, he faced
a trial by the British Parliament which continued for 7 years but
Hastings was acquitted eventually.

Warren Hastings Pitts India Act was named after the British Prime Minister
William Pitt the Younger. It was introduced in 1784 to as the Act
Pitts India Act 1784 of 1773 failed to control the corruption and exploitation by the
officials of East India Company in British controlled Bengal and
other areas. The Governors of Madras and Bombay were also
made to work under the Governor General who was now the
ruler of all Indian possessions of the British. Some of the political
powers of East India Company were now under the control of
British Government in England.
Chapter 2: Lord Cornwallis was the 3rd Governor General of India
after Warren Hastings from 1786 to 1793 and once again in
1805 when he died. He introduced Cornwallis Code ( a set of
Laws) in India for better and more honest Civil Servants. A
Expansion of new system of revenue (Tax collection) was also introduced by
British Control in him. He was able to defeat Tipu Sultan in 3rd Battle of Mysore
India(1750s-1856) in 1792 though temporarily.

Lord Wellesley was the 5 th

Governor General of India
Lord Cornwallis from 1798 to 1805. He defeated Tipu Sultan in the last and
decisive Battle of Mysore in 1799 in which Tipu Sultan also lost
Lord Wellesley his life. He founded Fort William College in Calcutta which
trained the future administrators of India. He also signed a
number of Subsidiary Alliances with local India Princes which
helped the British to expand their control India. to control the
affairs of the Empire.
 Haider Ali was a Muslim Ruler of Southern Indian State of
Chapter 2: Mysore. He established his rule in Mysore in 1761. He was
successful in resisting the British attempts to expand their
control to his state. He enjoyed an upper hand against the
British in the First Anglo Mysore War fought between 1767-69
Expansion of despite the fact that British were joined by forces of another
British Control in Muslim Ruler, the Nizam of Hyderabad. He forced the British to
India(1750s-1856) sign a peace treaty at Madras in 1769. This victory kept British
away from the Sate of Mysore for a decade or so to come.
Haider Ali
In the Second Anglo Mysore War (1780-84), Haider Ali joined
Tipu Sultan hands with Marathas and defeated the British at many fronts.
Haider Ali was victorious until a British force reached from
& Anglo-Mysore Wars. Calcutta and turned the tide of the battle. However, he died in
(1767-1799) 1782 and his son Tipu Sultan had to sign a Treaty with the
British to keep the Status-quo which means the war ended in a
draw and did not prove to be decisive in establishing supremacy
of any force in the South India
 Tipu Sultan became the ruler of Mysore in 1782. He
Chapter 2: successfully resisted British attempts to occupy his state until
the Third Anglo Mysore War (1790-92) started in which Tipu
Sultan had to give away half of his territories to the British. He
still held control of main parts of Mysore.
Expansion of
British Control in However, Tipu was defeated by the British under Lord Wellesley
India(1750s-1856) in the Fourth Anglo Mysore War (1799) when British stormed
his Capital Seringapatam. Tipu fought valiantly but was let down
Haider Ali by one of his commanders, Mir Sadiq who opened the doors of
Tipu’s Fort from inside letting British force enter. Tipu was killed
Tipu Sultan and British control was expanded to Mysore State as well.
& Tipu was a popular ruler among his subjects, mostly Hindus who
called him the Tiger of Mysore.. However, he was feared and
Anglo-Mysore Wars. hated by the British who used to call him “ the monster of
Mysore”. Tipu had close relations with the French which
(1767-1799) offended the British. He had regular communication with
French Government under Napoleon who sent French Military
Officers to train Tipu’s Army.
 First Anglo-Maratha War was fought between 1775 and 1782
Chapter 2: when warren Hastings was the Governor General. This was not
decisive but a Peace Agreement was signed between the British
and the Marathas.
Expansion of Second Anglo Maratha War started in 1803 and ended in 1805.
British Control in During this War the Conquest of Delhi happened when the
India(1750s-1856) British were able to defeat Marathas and took control of Delhi-
the Mughal capital.
Anglo Maratha Wars.
Third Anglo Maratha War was fought in 1817-18. It was a
1775-1818 decisive War which resulted in complete elimination of Maratha
power in South India.
Victory in Third Anglo Maratha War made the British supreme
masters of whole of South and Central India including Bengal,
Bihar, Mysore, Parts of Awadh, Delhi as well. Now British were
well placed to expand further into North India.
 British invaded Afghanistan in 1839 but they were wiped out of
Chapter 2: Afghanistan in 1842. British wanted to take revenge form
Afghans and one way to reach Afghanistan was to go through
Sindh and Baluchistan. Therefore, they decided to annex
( attach Sindh to their territories) and the task was given to
Expansion of British Commander Charles Napier.
British Control in
India(1750s-1856) The problem was British had signed a Treaty of Friendship with
Rulers of Sindh ( titled Amirs) in 1809. Charles Napier provoked
the Amirs to breach the treaty by starting firing from within
British territory inviting Sindhi Army to enter into British
Annexation of Sindh territory. It gave British an excuse that the Sindhi Army had
breached the Treaty of Friendship by entering British territory
(1843) and now the British were justified to attack Sindh. This is how
the British annexed Sindh and marched into Afghanistan to seek
revenge from the afghans.
  Treaty of Perpetual Friendship signed in 1809 between the
Chapter 2: British and Maharaja Ranjeet Singh- the Sikh Ruler of Punjab
(1799-1839)
 Strengths of Ranjeet Singh
Expansion of
 Ranjeet Singh dies in 1839 and his incapable successors
British Control in created an anarchic situation in Punjab
India(1750s-1856)
 British sensed the weakness of Sikhs and decided to take
Annexation of Punjab advantage of it.
(1849)  First Anglo-Sikh War (1845-46)
 Maharaja Dulip Singh
 Appointment of Henry Lawrence as the Resident Officer
 Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848-49)
 Sikhs comprehensively defeated and Punjab was annexed by
the British on March 12,1849.
 Yet another important Indian State became under British
control
  British feared Russian attack from North West of India through
Chapter 2: Afghanistan
 Russian quest for warm Waters

Expansion of  British Need to secure the Border with Afghanistan

British Control in  Agreement signed between Sir Mortimer Durand and Amir
India(1750s-1856) Abdul Rehman Khan in 1893 to demarcate boundaries
between Afghanistan and British India
Natural and Scientific
Border (Durand Line)  Durand Line- around 2400 km long border between
Afghanistan and British India and now between Pakistan and
Afghanistan
 Border line was drawn using scientific methods and
measurements.
 It had Hindu Kush Mountains as Natural divider between
India and Afghanistan
 A permanent source of conflict between Pakistan and India
since 1947