The successor states and the coming of the Company
As Mughal power faded, Hyderabad, Awadh, Bengal, Mysore, Travancore, the Sikh misls and the Jats rose — and the East India Company won Plassey and Buxar.
How it was ruled
Governors became independent rulers: the Nizam of Hyderabad (1724), the Nawabs of Awadh and Bengal. Mysore rose under Hyder Ali; Marthanda Varma built Travancore; the Sikh misls and the Jats of Bharatpur grew strong.
How people lived
Courts at Lucknow, Murshidabad and Hyderabad supported music, poetry and crafts; Nadir Shah's sack of Delhi in 1739 shocked the north.
What people did
Farming, weaving (Bengal's muslin was famous), and service in regional armies.
What people ate
Awadhi and Hyderabadi cuisines took shape in this period.
Trade
European companies competed for Indian textiles and saltpetre; the British won control of Bengal's revenue.
Region by region
- West Bengal: Battle of Plassey (1757): Robert Clive defeats Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah.
- Bihar: Battle of Buxar (1764); in 1765 the Company gains the diwani (revenue rights) of Bengal, Bihar and Odisha.
- Kerala: Marthanda Varma of Travancore defeats the Dutch at Colachel (1741).
- Telangana: Hyderabad becomes the Nizam's capital.
- Rajasthan: The Jat ruler Suraj Mal builds Bharatpur.
Key events
- 1739: Nadir Shah sacks Delhi
- 1741: Battle of Colachel
- 1757: Battle of Plassey
- 1765: The Company receives the diwani of Bengal
Legacy
Lucknow's and Hyderabad's culture and cuisine, and the beginning of two centuries of British rule.
Sources