Mughal decline and East India Company rule
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Flip to reveal answersWhat happened to Mughal central authority after Aurangzeb died in 1707?
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All 12 Flashcards — Mughal decline and East India Company rule
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Question
What happened to Mughal central authority after Aurangzeb died in 1707?
Answer
It fragmented — provincial governors (nawabs) stopped sending revenue to Delhi and ruled as independent powers, while the emperor's real authority collapsed.
Question
Nawab
Answer
A regional Mughal governor who, as central power weakened, ruled semi-independently while still nominally loyal to the emperor.
Question
What happened at the Battle of Plassey (1757)?
Answer
Robert Clive's EIC force defeated Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah of Bengal after secretly bribing his commander Mir Jafar to hold back troops; the EIC installed Mir Jafar as a puppet nawab.
Question
Why is the Battle of Buxar (1764) more significant than Plassey?
Answer
Buxar defeated a combined army including the Mughal emperor's own forces, not just one nawab — it forced the emperor to grant the EIC the Diwani in 1765, making the Company a legal ruler.
Question
Diwani
Answer
The legal right to collect land tax revenue, granted to the EIC by Emperor Shah Alam II in 1765 after the Battle of Buxar.
Question
Doctrine of Lapse
Answer
Lord Dalhousie's policy (1848–56) that annexed any princely state whose ruler died without a biological heir, even if he had a legally adopted son.
Question
Name three states annexed under or alongside the Doctrine of Lapse.
Answer
Satara (1848, the first), Jhansi (1854, denying Rani Lakshmibai's adopted son), Nagpur (1854); Awadh (1856) was annexed outright for alleged 'misrule', not technically under the doctrine.
Question
What was the immediate spark for the 1857 Rebellion?
Answer
A rumour that new Enfield rifle cartridges were greased with cow and pig fat, offending both Hindu and Muslim sepoys who had to bite them open to load their rifles.
Question
List the deeper causes of the 1857 Rebellion beyond the cartridge rumour.
Answer
Annexations under the Doctrine of Lapse and Awadh; high land taxes and collapse of Indian textile industries; fears of forced Christian conversion; sepoy grievances over pay, promotion and overseas service.
Question
What role did Bahadur Shah Zafar play in the 1857 Rebellion, and what happened to him afterward?
Answer
Rebels proclaimed the powerless Mughal emperor their symbolic leader in Delhi; after defeat he was exiled to Rangoon, Burma, where he died in 1862, ending the Mughal dynasty.
Question
'Mutiny' vs 'War of Independence' — how should a strong essay treat this debate?
Answer
Neither label fully fits: it was more than a narrow military mutiny (peasants and nobles joined) but not a unified national movement (Punjab's Sikh states and many princes stayed loyal to Britain).
Question
What did the Government of India Act 1858 change?
Answer
It abolished East India Company rule and transferred all its territories to the British Crown, beginning direct rule known as the British Raj under a Viceroy.
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Topic 12.2 hub
The Mughal Empire and the British East India Company (1526–1858)
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