Eighteenth Century Political Formations Test - 4

The Mughals did not have a law of primogeniture i.e., a law, whereby the first born son would naturally inherit the throne. Hence, every time a king died, there was a war of succession among the contenders to the throne. 

• Humayun was unable to properly estimate the increasing power of Sher Shah.
• The presence of large numbers of Afghan tribes across the north India and their nature of getting united under a capable leader was ignored by him.
• Without getting the support of the local rulers and zamindars, the Mughals were bound to remain numerically inferior.

Balaji Vishwanath died in 1720. He was succeeded as Peshwa by his 20-year-old son Baji Rao I. In spite of his youth, Baji Rao I was a bold and brilliant commander and an ambitious and clever statesman. He has been described as “the greatest exponent of guerrilla tactics after Shivaji”.

The period of the Great Mughals, which began in 1526 with Babur’s accession to the throne, ended with the death of Aurangzeb in 1707. Aurangzeb’s death marked the end of medieval era and beginning of modern era in Indian history. 

Gulbadan Begum was the daughter of Mughal emperor Babur. She is best known as the author of Humayun Nama, the account of the life of her half-brother, Humayun. Later, her nephew, Prince Jalal-ud-Dīn ascended the imperial throne as Emperor Akbar the Great. She was also the paternal aunt of Akbar's chief consort, Empress Ruqaiya Sultan Begum.

• In the Maratha region, Kotwals were responsible for town administration.
• People of this community were made the leaders of forts and head of town police. 

Baji Rao I did not Built a Fort at Satara and did not made satara his centre. Baji Rao I never lost a single Battle. He was one of the major contributors in expansion over the Indian subcontinent.

In Rajasthan and central India there arose a number of small kingdoms ruled by dynasties that came to be called the Rajputs. Many parts of North India and modern-day Pakistan were ruled by these dynasties. Some of these were Solanki dynasty who ruled over present day Gujarat, Chandelas of Khajuraho, Chauhans of Ajaymeru and Delhi, Bundelas of Bundelkhand, etc

The battle of Kannauj took place in May 1540, Humayun was defeated in the hands of Sher Khan because the gun powder carried by Humayun soldiers were kept in open ground and due to heavy rain it got wet and became unusable.

Chand Bibi was a Muslim woman warrior from medieval India. She acted as the Regent of Bijapur (1580–90) and Regent of Ahmednagar (1596–99). Chand Bibi is best known for defending Ahmednagar against the Mughal forces of Emperor Akbar in 1595.