Later Mughals and the Decline of the Empire

Prerequisites

• Akbar to Aurangzeb — Aurangzeb’s Deccan wars and revolts are where the decline story begins.
• Mughal Administration and Mansabdari — you need the mansab–jagir system to understand the jagirdari crisis.

The Hook: 1739 in Delhi, 1741 in Ratanpur

Why it matters: Prelims asks about the Sayyid brothers, the 1717 farman, Karnal (1739), the founders of Hyderabad, Awadh and Bengal, and the last emperors. Mains GS-I regularly asks for the causes of Mughal decline and the 18th-century debate.

The Later Mughals: Who Ruled When

The Sayyid brothers: the “king-makers”

• Abdullah Khan (wazir) and Husain Ali Khan (Mir Bakhshi), the Sayyids of Barha, controlled the throne from 1713 to 1720. They made and unmade four emperors.
• They tried to win over Rajputs, Jats and Marathas: the jizya was abolished again, and in 1719 Husain Ali’s agreement recognised Shahu’s right to chauth and sardeshmukhi in the Deccan subas.
• A Turani faction led by Nizam-ul-Mulk and backed by Muhammad Shah overthrew them in 1720: Husain Ali was murdered and Abdullah Khan defeated.

The 1717 farman

Farrukhsiyar’s farman of 1717 allowed the English East India Company to trade in Bengal free of customs duties in return for a fixed annual payment of ₹3,000, and to use dastaks (passes) for its goods. It also gave privileges in Hyderabad and Gujarat. The British historian Robert Orme called it the “Magna Carta” of the Company. Abuse of dastaks by Company servants for private trade became a major cause of conflict with the Nawabs of Bengal. See Advent of Europeans and British Expansion.

Nadir Shah’s invasion (1739)

Ahmad Shah Abdali (Durrani), one of Nadir Shah’s generals, invaded repeatedly from 1748 to 1767; his victory over the Marathas at the Third Battle of Panipat (14 January 1761) checked Maratha expansion in the north.

timeline
    title Fall of the Mughal Empire, 1707–1857
    1707 : Aurangzeb dies, Jajau
    1713–1720 : Sayyid brothers rule as king-makers
    1717 : Farrukhsiyar's farman to the Company
    1724 : Nizam-ul-Mulk founds Hyderabad state
    1739 : Nadir Shah - Karnal, sack of Delhi
    1761 : Third Panipat - Abdali defeats Marathas
    1764–1765 : Buxar, Treaty of Allahabad - diwani to the Company
    1803 : British take Delhi
    1857 : Bahadur Shah Zafar leads the revolt, dynasty ends

Regional States of the 18th Century

Historians (and the NCERT) usually group the new states into three types:

Causes of Decline

graph TD
    A["Mughal decline"] --> B["Structural
jagirdari and agrarian crisis,
no rule of succession"]
    A --> C["Political
weak later emperors,
noble factions, king-makers"]
    A --> D["Policy
Aurangzeb's Deccan wars,
religious and Rajput policy"]
    A --> E["Regional
Marathas, Sikhs, Jats,
autonomous governors"]
    A --> F["External
Nadir Shah, Abdali,
European companies"]

The historians’ debate (Mains)

Memory Tricks

Don’t Confuse

Common Mistakes

Practice

All questions below are original practice questions written in CGPSC style. They are not previous-year questions.

Level 1: Foundation

1. Nadir Shah defeated the Mughal army at the Battle of ______ in 1739.
2. The Mughal emperor who issued the farman of 1717 to the English East India Company was ______.
3. The last Mughal emperor, exiled to Rangoon after 1857, was ______.

Level 2: Prelims MCQs

Q1. Consider the following statements about the later Mughals:

1. The Sayyid brothers were overthrown during the reign of Muhammad Shah.
2. Nadir Shah’s invasion took place during the reign of Ahmad Shah.
3. Shah Alam II was one of the parties defeated at the Battle of Buxar.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

• (a) 1 only
• (b) 1 and 3 only
• (c) 2 and 3 only
• (d) 1, 2 and 3

Q2. Match List I (State) with List II (Founder):

• (a) A-4, B-2, C-1, D-3
• (b) A-4, B-1, C-2, D-3
• (c) A-1, B-4, C-2, D-3
• (d) A-4, B-1, C-3, D-2

Q3. The farman issued by Farrukhsiyar in 1717 is significant because it:

• (a) granted the diwani of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa to the English East India Company
• (b) allowed the English East India Company to trade in Bengal without paying customs duties in return for a fixed annual sum
• (c) recognised the Maratha right to chauth over the whole empire
• (d) ceded the territories west of the Indus to Persia

Q4. Arrange the following events in chronological order:

1. Battle of Karnal
2. Execution of Banda Bahadur
3. Third Battle of Panipat
4. Maratha conquest of Ratanpur

• (a) 2, 1, 4, 3
• (b) 1, 2, 4, 3
• (c) 2, 4, 1, 3
• (d) 2, 1, 3, 4

Q5. Which historian is most closely associated with the view that a “jagirdari crisis” was central to Mughal decline?

• (a) Jadunath Sarkar
• (b) Satish Chandra
• (c) C.A. Bayly
• (d) Robert Orme

Level 3: Mains Answer Writing

Q1. (150–200 words) Discuss the causes of the decline of the Mughal empire in the first half of the 18th century.

Q2. (60 words) Why is the 1717 farman called the “Magna Carta” of the English East India Company?

Quick Revision Table

Key Takeaways

What’s Next

• The Mughal Empire — Quick Revision — the whole chapter on one page
• Advent of Europeans and British Expansion — Plassey, Buxar and the Company’s conquest
• Maratha Rule in Chhattisgarh — how the Bhonsles ruled our state after 1741
• The Revolt of 1857 — Bahadur Shah Zafar’s final role