Q1.

Explain the various reasons behind the downfall of the

Mughal Empire in India? (200 words)

Approach:

 Give a brief introduction

 Then explain the various reasons like:
1. Downfall due to the crisis of personality
2. Downfall due to the inherent weaknesses in the Mughal
Institutions
3. Others
 Conclude appropriately

Model Answer :
The first half of the eighteenth century witnessed the decline of the Mughal Empire. There are
various explanations given by the historians behind the downfall of the Mughal Empire. They are:
1. Downfall due to the wrong policies of Aurangzeb
Aurangzeb was the last great Mughal Emperor and was blamed for the decline of Mughal
Empire, due to his religious policies and expansionist military campaigns against Bijapur,
Golconda and Marathas. The economic drain caused by Aurangzeb’s continuous wars in the
Deccan had disastrous effects.
2. Personality Crisis
Crisis of personality is also seen as one of the major causes. The able statesmen were
preoccupied more in self - aggrandizement and had little concern for the fate of the empire.
During the times of crises, they could not provide leadership.
3.Weakness in the Mughal institutions:
By the time decline started, Mughal institutions suffered from weaknesses in institutions. Those
include:
a) Problem in Mansabdari System:
• The Mansabdars were were paid in the form of a Jagir, that is landed estate.
• About 4/5th of the landed revenue of the Mughal was under the controls of the Mansabdars but
this income was very unevenly distributed.
• However, less than 6% of the about 8000 mansabdars controlled 61% of the revenue of the
empire.
• This created jealousy and tensions particularly when the resources of the empire were stagnant
or even diminishing. This economic situation is known as the “Jagirdari Crisis.”
• It also created resentment against the Mughal Empire.
b) Decline of the Army:
• Crisis in Jagirdari System also led to corruption in army. No Mansabdar maintained the required
number of soldiers and horses and there was no effective supervision either.
• The decline of army became more palpable as there was no fresh technological input or
organizational innovation.
• The nobles now were more interested in carving out autonomous or semi-autonomous
principalities for themselves, which resulted in a virtual fragmentation of the empire.

4. Agrarian crisis:
 Agrarian crisis is also seen as one of the primary causes of Mughal decline. The crisis was
caused by endemic state oppression aimed at extracting high revenues from the farmers. This
generated resistance on the part of exploited peasants who had to choose between starvation
and slavery or armed resistance.
5. More causes:
It is also believed that the Mughal decline is the result of the rise of new groups to economic and
political power and the inability of a distant and weakened centre to control them any longer.
Conclusion
Thus, the inherent weaknesses of the Mughal body politic and the numerous contemporary
operative causes had sapped the strength and spirit of the Empire.

Q2. Discuss the consequences of the Battle of Plassey and the

Battle of Buxar in the Modern Indian history. (200 words)
Approach:

 Introduce with the two battles

 Explain the various consequences of the Battle of Plassey
 Then explain the consequences of the Battle of Buxar
 Conclude appropriately
Model Answer :

The Battles of Plassey (1757) and Buxar (1764) are seminal moments in Modern Indian history
as they marked the beginning on the rise of British colonial rule in India.

In 1757, the Battle of Plassey was fought by the forces of Siraj Ud Daulah (Nawab of Bengal)
with the support of French support troops against the troops of the British East India Company,
led by Robert Clive. Victory at Plassey had enabled the East India company to establish a puppet
Nawab on the throne of Bengal. The 1764 Battle of Buxar was more decisive in result than the
Battle of Plassey, with even more significant consequences.

Consequences of Battle of Plassey:

 From the military point of view, the Battle of Plassey was not an important engagement.
However, what followed thereafter is often referred to as the “Plassey plunder”.
 Immediately after the war, the English army and navy each received the hefty sums of money.
 Prior to 1757, the English trade in Bengal was largely financed through import of bullion from
England, but after Plassey not only bullion import stopped but bullion was exported from Bengal
to China and other parts of India, which gave a competitive advantage to the English company
over its European rivals.
 Company officials made personal fortunes not only through direct extortion but also through
private trade.

Consequences of Battle of Buxar:

 After Buxar, the English power in Northern India became unchallengeable.

 At the Treaty of Allahabad of 1765, Shah Alam granted the company the Diwani (revenue
collecting rights) of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.
 The British resident posted at the court of Murshidabad (Bengal) gradually, by 1772, became the
locus of real administrative power in the province. Thus it was in Bengal that the system of
indirect rule as a policy of the company’s imperial governance was first initiated.
Conclusion
If the Battle of Plassey had made the English a powerful factor in the politics of Bengal, the
victory of Buxar made them a great power of North India and contenders for the supremacy of
the whole country.