Rise Of Marathas Online Test 7th Social Science Lesson 11 Questions in English

Explanation: The rising power of the Marathas in the south-west posed the real danger to the Mughal Empire.

Explanation: Shahji Bhonsle, Shivaji’s father, an officer of the Ahmednagar State and later Bijapur, proved to be a thorn in the flesh of the Mughals, even in Shah Jahan’s period.

Explanation: The prime minister of Maratha rulers, called the Peshwas from the time of Shahu, held real power.

Explanation: Under the aegis of Maratha power, the Peshwas continued their supremacy until 1761.

Explanation: The rocky and mountainous terrain gave protection to the Marathas from invaders. It proved to be advantageous in guerrilla warfare for Marathas.

Explanation: Eknath, Tukaram and Ramdas were the noted Bhakti saints. Tukaram and Ramdas had considerable influence on the life of Shivaji.

Explanation: Shivaji, born in 1627, grew up under the care of his mother, Jijabai, who influenced him with stories from the Hindu epics, Ramayana and the Mahabharatha.

Explanation: Shivaji’s teacher and guardian, Dadaji Kondadev, trained him in the art of horse riding, warfare and state administration.

Explanation: At the age of eighteen in 1645, when he had just entered the military career, he successfully captured Kondana, a fort near Poona. The following year, he took the fort of Torna. Then he succeeded in conquering Raigarh, which was rebuilt by him.

Explanation: Shivaji became totally independent after the death of his guardian Kondadev (1649). He also got his father’s jagir transferred to him, which was earlier looked after by Kondadev.

Explanation: Shivaji captured Puranthar from the Mughals.

Explanation: Shivaji’s military raids angered the Sultan of Bijapur. He held Shivaji’s father captive and released him only after Shivaji promised to suspend his military raids. Shivaji kept his word and remained at peace with Bijapur from then on till his father Shahji’s death. During this period he toned up his administration.

Explanation: Shivaji resumed his raids after his father’s death and conquered Javali (1656) from the Maratha chief Chandrarao More. He also reduced all the lesser Maratha chiefs around Pune to subordination.

Explanation: In 1659 shivaji killed Afzal Khan, a notable general of Bijapur.

Explanation: In 1663 he wounded and chased away the Mughal general and Aurangzeb’s uncle Shaista Khan.

Explanation: To cap his bold acts, shivaji audaciously directed his soldiers to plunder Surat (1664), the major Mughal port on the Arabian Sea.

Explanation: After Shivaji plundered Surat, Aurangzeb swung into action. An army under the command of a Rajput general, Raja Jai Singh, was ordered to destroy Shivaji and annex Bijapur. Shivaji finally sought peace, yielded the fortresses he had seized and accepted service as a mansabhdar in the Mughal service for the conquest of Bijapur.

Explanation: In 1674, Shivaji crowned himself by assuming the title of Chhtrapati and the coronation of Shivaji was celebrated with great splendour at Raigarh, as the occasion was the founding of a new kingdom and a new dynasty.

Explanation: Shivaji spent his last years trying to bring his son Shambhuji into his ways as he had defected to the Mughals. He fell ill with fever and dysentery and died in 1680.

Explanation: Shivaji’s political system consisted of three circles. At the centre was the swaraj. Shivaji was caring and would not allow the people to be harassed in any way.

Explanation: In Second Circle Shivaji claimed suzerainty, but he did not administer them himself. He protected the people from loot and plunder for which they were required to pay Chauth (one-fourth of the revenue as protection money) and Sardeshmukhi (an extra one-tenth, as the chieftain’s due). In the third circle, Shivaji’s only objective was plunder.

Explanation: Deshmukhs held sway over rural regions and their control was over between twenty and hundred villages.

Explanation: Each village had a powerful headman (Patil), who was assisted by a village accountant of a keeper of records (Kulkarni).

Explanation: Shivaji designated eight ministers as the Ashtapradhan, each holding an important portfolio.

Explanation: Peshwa was the equivalent of a modern prime minister in the Maratha Empire.

Pantpradhan / Peshwa - Prime Minister Amatya / Mazumdar - Finance Minister Shurunavis/Sacheev – Secretary

Waqia-Navis Interior Minister Sar-i-Naubat / Senapati Commander-inChief Sumant / Dubeer Foreign Minister Nyayadhish Chief Justice Panditrao High Priest

Waqia-Navis Interior Minister Sar-i-Naubat / Senapati Commander-inChief Sumant / Dubeer Foreign Minister Nyayadhish Chief Justice Panditrao High Priest

Shambhuji succeeded Shivaji after a succession tussle with Anaji Datto. There were family feuds splintering the Maratha kingdom. Durgadas of Rathore Marwar and Aurangzeb’s rebel son Akbar arrived in Maharashtra and took shelter in Shambhuji’s court.

Aurangzeb viewed these developments very seriously and took all out efforts to finish off Shambhuji. Marathas under Shambhuji were in no position to resist the Mughals. Aurangzeb himself arrived in the Deccan in 1681.

Aurangzeb’s main goal was the annexation of Bijapur and Golconda. These two sultanates fell to Aurangzeb by 1687. In little over a year, Shambhuji was captured by the Mughals and, after torture, put to death.

Aurangzeb himself arrived in the Deccan in 1681. Aurangzeb’s main goal was the annexation of Bijapur and Golconda. These two sultanates fell to Aurangzeb by 1687. In little over a year, Shambhuji was captured by the Mughals and, after torture, put to death.

Shambhuji was under the wicked influence of his family priest Kavi Kalash. Kavi Kalash was the caretaker of Shambhuji in Varanasi during Shivaji’s flight from Agra. He later brought Shambhuji safely to Raigarh.

Bajirao decided to launch a major Maratha onslaught against the Mughals and the Nizam of Hyderabad. He assumed the powers of the commander-in-chief. He was wise in his choice of commanders for these campaigns. Instead of relying on the traditional elite group, namely Deshmukhs, he gave commands to the Gaikwad, Holkar and Shinde or Scindhia families who had been loyal to the emperor Shahu, his father Balaji Viswanath and to him.

Balaji Vishwanath (1713–1720) began his career as a small revenue official and became Peshwa in 1713. Much against the advice from his close circles, Shahu appointed 20-year-old Viswanath’s eldest son Bajirao to occupy the office of Peshwa.

Shivaji's grandson Shahu means honest, originally a name given by Aurangzeb to contrast his character with that of Shivaji) ruled from 1708 to 1749. During the first half of the eighteenth century, consolidation of royal power was achieved through conferment of royal entitlements upon those who served Shahu.

The Prominent Maratha families • Gaikwad at Baroda • Bhonsle at Nagpur • Holkar at Indore • Shinde or Scindhia at Gwalior • Peshwa at Pune.

Bajirao proclaimed wars against Malwa and Gujarat and freed them from Mughal domination. The Mughal army and the troops of the Nizam that intervened on behalf of the Mughals were defeated. Bajirao succeeded in getting the recognition of Shahu as the king of Maharashtra and overlord of the rest of the Deccan, from which the tribute of Chauth and Sardeshmukhi could be legally collected by the Maratha officials.

The Maratha army, which consisted of no more than 5000 horsemen and no artillery had by 1720 had doubled in its size. Yet they were no match for the Mughals and the Nizam. The success of Marathas against the Mughals was mainly due to the weakness of the latter. The Maratha dominance in the Deccan is also attributed to the qualities of Maratha officials and generals who grew up under Shahu and the Peshwas.

When Balaji Bajirao was the Peshwa, Emperor Shahu died (1749). A possible succession struggle among factions of the royal family was averted, thanks to the timely intervention of Balaji Bajirao.

During the period of the Peshwa Balaji Bajirao, the northern frontiers of the Maratha state were rapidly touching Rajasthan, Delhi and the Punjab. At some point, the Maratha tributary regime extended itself to within fifty miles of Delhi.

Between 1745 and 1751 plundering expeditions were launched yearly by the Maratha chieftain Rahuji Bhonsle.

The revenue administration of Peshwas was headed by a key official called the Kamavisdar. He was appointed by the Peshwa.

A small staff of clerks and servants were employed to maintain the revenue records. These records were randomly checked by the office of the Peshwa. The contracts for revenue collection was auctioned annually after the revenue for a particular place was estimated by the Peshwa’s civil servants, based on previous years’ yields. A prospective tax or revenue collector who won the contract was expected to have a reputation for wealth and probity.

Abdali invaded eight times before finally marching onto Delhi. The Marathas were now divided among several commanders, who approached the battle with different tactics. Artillery decided the battle in January 1761.

The imperial moment of the Marathas sadly ended at Panipat near Delhi in 1761. The Marathas’ attempt to extend their domain beyond Punjab was checked by the king of the Afghans, Ahmad Shah Abdali.

The imperial moment of the Marathas sadly ended at Panipat near Delhi in 1761. The Marathas’ attempt to extend their domain beyond Punjab was checked by the king of the Afghans, Ahmad Shah Abdali.