Q. With reference to Aurangzeb’s Deccan campaigns, which led to the annexation of Bijapur and Golconda, consider the following statements:
1.The primary political justification for the annexation of the two Deccan Sultanates was their alleged secret collusion with the rising Maratha power led by Shambhaji.
2.The conquest led to a catastrophic financial strain, famously known as the ‘Deccan Ulcer’, resulting in a deepening of the Jagirdari Crisis across the entire Mughal Empire.
3.The final annexation of the region proved counter-productive, as it removed the protective buffer states and exposed the Mughal administration directly to the vast, dispersed, and decentralized Maratha guerrilla forces.
How many of the statements given above are correct?
Answer: C
Notes:
Explanation:
- Statement 1: Correct. Bijapur and Golconda often aided the Marathas against the Mughals. This alliance was the stated political justification for the annexations (Bijapur 1686, Golconda 1687).
- Statement 2: Correct. The endless, expensive wars in the Deccan drained the imperial treasury and strained the Mansabdari system, intensifying the Jagirdari Crisis (shortage of available Jagirs relative to the number of Mansabdars).
- Statement 3: Correct. The Sultanates acted as a buffer. Their removal meant the Mughals had to deal directly with the highly mobile and resilient Maratha armies across the vast, difficult terrain, which the Mughal forces were ill-equipped to handle, thus accelerating the empire’s decay.
