Independent Kingdoms: Mysore, Kerala and the Rajputs, Jats and Rohillas

At a Glance

• What it is The regional kingdoms other than the successor states and the Marathas
• Independent kingdoms Mysore, Kerala (Travancore) and the Rajput states
• New states Jats of Bharatpur, the Sikhs, Rohilkhand and Farrukhabad
• Key rulers Haider Ali, Martanda Varma, Suraj Mal, Ali Muhammad Khan
• Exam link UPSC Prelims, Modern History: India on the Eve of British Conquest

Where Does It Fit?

This is the sixth topic of the category on India on the eve of British conquest. The previous topic described the successor states. This topic describes the other independent and new states. The next topic covers the largest of the new states, the Marathas. Previous topic: Successor States: Bengal, Awadh and Hyderabad. See also Tipu Sultan Born 1750; the Tiger of Mysore…">Kingdom of Mysore (Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan), Rajaram State builders Churaman, Badan Singh, Suraj Mal…">Jat Kingdom of Bharatpur and Rajput States of Medieval India.

What Happened to the Rajputs?

The Rajputs tried to re-establish their independence in the eighteenth century. This forced Bahadur Shah I to march against Ajit Singh in 1708, who had formed an alliance with Jai Singh II and Durgadas Rathor. The alliance was broken and the Mughals saved the situation. At one time the Rajputs controlled the whole territory from the south of Delhi up to the western coast.

How Did Mysore Rise?

Mysore, at the junction of the Eastern and Western Ghats, was ruled by the Wodeyars. Various powers interested in the territory turned it into a constant battlefield. In the end the state came under the rule of Haider Ali, who ruled it, though not without trouble. He and his son Tipu Sultan were in constant warfare with the British. Their story forms the topics on the Anglo-Mysore Wars in a later category.

How Did Kerala Rise?

Martanda Varma established an independent state of Kerala with Travancore as its capital. He extended the boundaries of his state from Kanyakumari to Cochin. He tried to organise his army on the Western model and adopted various measures to develop his state.

How Did the Jat State Rise?

The agriculturist Jat settlers living around Delhi, Mathura and Agra revolted against the oppressive policies of Aurangzeb. After some early setbacks, Churaman and Badan Singh succeeded in setting up the Jat state of Bharatpur.

Jat power reached its peak under Suraj Mal. He gave an efficient system of administration and greatly extended the territory. His state included territory from the Ganga in the east to the Chambal in the south and covered the subas of Agra, Mathura, Meerut and Aligarh. After Suraj Mal’s death in 1763 the state declined and split into small areas controlled by petty zamindars who mainly lived by plunder.

How Did the Sikh Misls Rise?

Guru Gobind Singh turned the Sikhs into a militant sect in defence of their religion and liberties. Banda Bahadur took over the leadership in 1708 and was defeated and killed. After the invasions of Nadir Shah and Ahmad Shah Abdali, the Sikhs again asserted their authority. They organised themselves into 12 misls, or confederacies, which controlled different parts of the kingdom.

The credit for building a strong kingdom of Punjab goes to Ranjit Singh, son of Mahan Singh, leader of the Sukarchakiya misl. He controlled the area from the Sutlej to the Jhelum, conquered Lahore in 1799 and Amritsar in 1802, and modernised his army with the help of Europeans. By the Treaty of Amritsar with the British, he acknowledged British rights over the cis-Sutlej territories. Towards the end of his reign the English made him sign the Tripartite Treaty of 1838 with Shah Shuja and the Company, agreeing to give passage to British troops through Punjab. Ranjit Singh died in 1839, and his successors could not keep the state intact. The British soon took control.

What Were Rohilkhand and Farrukhabad?

The states of Rohilkhand and of the Bangash Pathans were an outcome of the Afghan migration into India. Large-scale immigration of Afghans took place in the mid-eighteenth century because of political and economic turmoil in Afghanistan. Ali Muhammad Khan used the collapse of authority in north India after Nadir Shah’s invasion to set up the petty kingdom of Rohilkhand, the area of the Himalayan foothills between Kumaon in the north and the Ganga in the south. The Rohillas suffered heavily at the hands of other powers in the area, the Jats and the rulers of Awadh and later the Marathas and the British.

Mohammad Khan Bangash, an Afghan, set up an independent kingdom to the east of Delhi around Farrukhabad, during the reigns of Farrukhsiyar and Muhammad Shah.

Why Is This Topic Important?

• Broad political map The topic gives the full map of regional powers before British conquest
• Direct facts Martanda Varma, Suraj Mal and the Sikh misls are standard Prelims items
• Link to later wars Mysore, the Sikh state and the Rohillas all meet the Company in later topics

What Came Next?

The next topic covers the Marathas, the most formidable of the new states, and the Third Battle of Panipat. Next topic: Rise of the Marathas and the Third Battle of Panipat.

Key People and Terms

• Misl A Sikh confederacy; twelve existed in the eighteenth century
• Wodeyar The ruling dynasty of Mysore before Haider Ali
• Suraj Mal The Jat ruler under whom Bharatpur reached its peak
• Martanda Varma The founder of independent Travancore
• Rohilkhand The Afghan state in the Himalayan foothills between Kumaon and the Ganga
• Bangash Pathans Afghans who set up a kingdom around Farrukhabad

Exam Corner

Mains Angle

Questions ask for the political map of the eighteenth century. These points add depth.

• Diverse origins Some states arose from revolt, some from lapse of imperial control, some from migration
• Regional leaders Rulers like Haider Ali, Martanda Varma and Suraj Mal tried to build efficient states
• Limits Few kept their strength after their founders died