Important Questions for CBSE Class 7 Social Science Our Past 2 Chapter 8 - Eighteen-Century Political Formations

Very Short Answer Questions:                                                               1 Mark

1. Fill in the blanks:

i. Aurangzeb fought the protracted war in ______.

Ans: Aurangzeb fought the protracted war in Deccan.

ii. In $1724$Asaf Jah founded the ____ state. 

Ans: In $1724$ Asaf Jah founded the Hyderabad state.

iii. In the ______ administration, Umara implied powerful sections. 

Ans: In the Mughal administration, Umara implied powerful sections.

iv. ______ founded Awadh.

Ans: Burhan-ul-Mulk Sa’adat Khan founded Awadh.

2. State true and false:

i. Bengal was invaded by Nadir Shah. 

Ans: False

ii. The ruler of Indore was Sawai Raja Jai Singh. 

Ans: False

iii. The tenth Guru of the Sikhs was Guru Gobind Singh. 

Ans: True

iv. In the eleventh century, Puna became the capital of the Marathas. 

Ans: True

3. Match the following:

Ans:

4. Choose the correct option: 

i. Chauth was a form of tax levied by ____ 

a) Marathas 

b) Kshatriyas 

c) Mughals 

d) None of these

Ans: a) Marathas

ii. Ijaradars were___ 

a) Ruler’s associates

b) Revenue Farmers 

c) Bidders 

d) None of the above

Ans: b) Revenue Farmers

5. Define the following:

i. Kunbis 

Ans: Kunbis were the peasant-pastoralists community of the Maratha kingdom and they also served in the Maratha army.

ii. Shivaji

Ans: Shivaji was a prominent ruler who founded the Maratha kingdom in 1627.

Short Answer Questions:                                                                             2 Marks

6. What did Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah aim for? 

Ans: Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah aimed to control the areas of the Coromandel coast in the east that were covered with rich textile.

7. Which states were parsed out of the old Mughal provinces in the ${18^{{\text{th}}}}$ century?

Ans: The states that were pared out of the old Mughal provinces in the \[{18^{th}}\] century were Awadh, Bengal and Hyderabad.

8. What was the importance of the peasant-pastoralists for Shivaji?

Ans: The peasant-pastoralists formed the backbone of the Maratha Army. Maratha ruler Shivaji sought their support for challenging the Mughals in the peninsula.

9. How did Aurangzeb’s long war affect the Deccan?

Ans: Aurangzeb’s long-term wars in the Deccan not only emptied the treasury but also stretched this Mughal’s military strength.

10. What was the reason behind Marathas wanting to expand their leadership beyond the Deccan?

Ans: The main reason behind Marathas wanting to enlarge their leadership beyond the Deccan was their aim to decrease the Mughal influence. In this direction, by the $1720$s, the Marathas seized Malwa and Gujarat from the Mughals. By $1730$, the king of Maratha was declared as the overlord of the entire Deccan peninsula.

Short Answer Questions:                                                                 3 Marks

11. What actions by Burhan-ul-Mulk led to the eradication of Mughal influence in the Awadh region?

Ans: Burhan-ul-Mulk took the following steps to eradicate Mughal influence in the Awadh region—

• He decreased the number of jagirdars or officeholders recruited by the Mughal emperors.

• He removed some jagirs from their jobs and hired his own loyal servants as their replacement. 

• The jagirdars’ accounts were thoroughly checked to avoid cheating. Also, the revenues of all districts were reevaluated by officials recruited by the court of the Nawab.

12. How were the states divided into three overlapping groups in the eighteenth century?

Ans: The states were divided into three overlapping groups in the eighteenth century in the following way—

• States under Mughal provinces such as Awadh, Hyderabad and Bengal.

• States like the Rajput principalities which were independent of the rule of the Mughals as ‘watan jagirs’. 

• States where people like Marathas, Jats and Sikhs dominated.

13. How did Awadh and the bankers were connected?

Ans. The state of Awadh and the bankers were connected in the following way—

• The entire state of Awadh was dependent on the local bankers and ‘mahajans’ to get access to loans. 

• It traded the right of tax collection to the highest bidders like the revenue farmers who accepted to pay the state a fixed sum of money. 

• This is where local bankers came into play. They confirmed to pay this contracted amount to the state. In return, it was decided to give the revenue-farmers considerable independence in the tax assessment and collection.

By this system, a new community of bankers and moneylenders emerged in Awadh. And the entire state started sharing a connection with them.

14. How did the Mughals lose their control over their nobles?

Ans: Under the Mughal emperors, the efficiency of the imperial administration was reduced highly. With time, it got tough for the Mughals to keep track of their powerful nobles recruited as the governors because of the following reasons—

• The governors became economically and politically powerful as they controlled the offices of revenue and military administration. 

• As the governors united their control over the provinces, revenue’s systematic periodic remission to the capital turned down at an enormous rate.

15. What was the impact of Nadir Shah’s attack on Delhi?

Ans: Nadir Shah, a ruler of Iran, invaded and looted Delhi in $1739$ and snatched away a big amount of wealth. The impact of this attack is given in the following points—

• All the wealth and treasures including money, gold coins, and jewels of the Mughals got emptied. 

• Delhi was turned into a deserted place. 

• The wealthy were turned into beggars. 

• People lacked basic necessities like clothes to wear and houses to live in.

In short, Delhi became submerged in a wave of poverty after Nadir Shah’s invasion.

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Long Answer Questions:                                                                    5 Marks

16. Explain the expansion of the Maratha Empire.

Ans: The expansion of the Maratha empire can be described as follows—

• The Maratha Empire was established by the great Shivaji. With his powerful standing army, he challenged the Mughals in the peninsular region of India. The Mughals were destroyed and chipped away by the Marathas.

• After his death, the Peshwas took over. Under them, Marthas emerged very strong militarily.  It enabled them to bypass the protected areas of the Mughals and attack cities.

• In $1720$, the Malwa and Gujarat were seized from the hands of Mughals. 

• Over time, Marathas fought with the Mughals strongly and defeated them in many wars, and recognised their supremacy in the Deccan peninsula. 

• The Maratha domination spread rapidly in Punjab, Bengal, Orissa, and Karnataka after $1737$. These states were directly not included in the Maratha kingdom but were made to pay their share of taxes and tributes as a sign of accepting Maratha supremacy. 

In this way, the Mughals were destroyed and chipped away by the Marathas as they expanded their empire fiercely from $1720$ to $1761$.

17. Write down the three common features of the states – Bengal, Awadh and Hyderabad.

Ans. The three common features of the above states are as follows—

• These states looked down upon the Mughals’ administration like the ‘jagirdari system’ with suspicion. 

• These three states were dependent on the ‘revenue farmers’ regarding the collection of taxes based on a contract signed. 

• These three states had very good relationships with merchants and bankers. They used to give loans to revenue farmers and with the help of their agents carried on their revenue collection.

18. Why did the Mughal Empire face a great fall?

Ans: The fall of the Mughal empire occurred because of the following reasons— 

• The Mughal emperor Aurangzeb was engaged in a war fought in Deccan in which he lost many resources and a lot of wealth got depleted.

• The successors of Aurangzeb could not handle his vast empire. The recruited governors became economically and politically powerful. Thus, it became difficult for them to keep a track of the governors. As the governors united their control over the provinces, revenue’s systematic periodic remission to the capital turned down at an enormous rate.

• During the rule of the last Mughal emperors, revolt against levying of high taxes increased to a great extent. 

• Rebellions were also started by strong chieftains to establish their own provinces. 

• In the meantime, Nadir Shah invaded Delhi, looted all the wealth of the Mughals, and made them weaker.

• Clashes grew among the two groups of nobles who made the last Mughal emperors nothing but puppets in their hands. The final downfall came as the last four Mughal rulers were either killed or blinded by them.

19. Moneylenders and bankers got prominent positions in Awadh? Describe.

Ans: Moneylenders and bankers got prominent positions in Awadh in the following manner—

• The entire state of Awadh was dependent on the local bankers and ‘mahajans’ to get access to loans. 

• It traded the right of tax collection to the highest bidders like the revenue farmers who accepted to pay the state a fixed sum of money. 

• This is where local bankers came into play. They confirmed to pay this contracted amount to the state. In this way, the bankers served as guarantors between the state of Awadh and the revenue farmers.

• In return, it was decided to give the revenue-farmers considerable independence in the tax assessment and collection.

• By this system, a new prominent community of bankers and moneylenders emerged in Awadh.

20. Define the following: 

i. Sardeshmukhi 

Ans: Sardeshmukhi can be defined as follows—

1. Sardeshmukhi was the term used to describe nine to ten percent of the additional land revenue paid to the head of the revenue collectors in the Deccan plateau region. 

2. This new system of collecting revenues was introduced during the administration of the Maratha ruler Shivaji. 

ii. System called Rakhi

Ans: The Rakhi system can be described as follows—

1. The Sikhs in the eighteenth century introduced a new system that protected or insured the cultivators against external aggression on the payment of a tax twenty percent of the produce was known as the Rakhi system.

2. b) It was just like an insurance system.