Page 60 - Journeys Through Society-7
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Murshid Quli Khan, the first nawab of Bengal Alivardi Khan with his courtiers
The province of Bengal prospered under these rulers under direct Mughal control,
who reorganised the administration by removing the they had always acknowledged
corrupt and inefficient jagirdars. Mughal suzerainty. Akbar had
Under them, a new class of Bengali Hindu zamindars realised the importance of
came up who prioritised the collection of revenue. politically allying with them to
They became the loyal supporters of the nawabs. consolidate the Mughal Empire
in India. So, he had a politically
The nawabs also tried to check the rising power of the
prudent policy regarding them.
English East India Company, but were unsuccessful,
However, their relations
resulting in their defeat at the Battles of Plassey (1757)
deteriorated during the reign
and Buxar (1764). Sawai Raja Jai Singh
of Aurangzeb due to his
Emergence of Regional Kingdoms discriminatory policies. The most notable Rajput ruler
Some important regional kingdoms which were the at this time was Sawai Raja Jai Singh of Amber (now
old provinces of the Mughal Empire now declared Jaipur). He founded the city of jaipur and made it a
themselves independent. These were the states of centre of art and scientific learning. He was deeply
Awadh, Bengal and Hyderabad. interested in astronomy and built observatories at
Delhi, Jaipur, Ujjain, Varanasi and Mathura.
There also existed some regional kingdoms that were
ruled by semi-independent rajas. Though they were
independent in their territory, they acknowledge AI Fact Technology Literacy
Mughal overlordship and paid tribute. These included
The architect of the future, Artificial Intelligence (AI) can
several Rajput kingdoms, which now refused to lead the way in preserving our distinct cultural heritage
acknowledge Mughal suzerainty and became fully for the next generations.
independent.
Jats
The last category to break free from the Mughals were
Badan Singh and his son Suraj Mal were the two main
ethnic groups like Sikhs and Jats, etc., who had never
Jat leaders who carved out a separate Jat territory,
accepted Mughal suzerainty and had continuously
extending from Agra to areas near Delhi, which
carried out armed struggle against them.
included Hathras, Aligarh, Rewari and Gurgaon.
Rajputs Bharatpur was the capital of the Jats. They rebelled
The Rajputs were very powerful and had the support against the oppressive Mughal revenue collectors in
of the Mughal Empire. Though they had never been the seventeenth century.
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