India in 1700 - Introduction

The 1700s was a rather turbulent time in Indian history with several invasions resulting in the loss of thousands of human lives and some of the most precious cultural relics such as the Kohinoor diamond and the Peacock throne. The extent of the territories controlled by the British increased from this period and by the middle of the next century, the British controlled the entire country. 

During this time several groups were controlling different parts of India. Considering that India was not a united nation at this time, to understand what was happening in India, one needs to focus not only on India but also on the neighboring countries such as Afghanistan, Nepal, Persia, and Sri Lanka. Pakistan and Bangladesh were part of the Indian subcontinent at that time and any reference to India also includes these countries.  

To begin with, we will focus on what was happening in the Northern part of India as that was the area that was subject to maximum strife. Our methodology will involve describing the events involving the two key invaders  (Nadir Shah, and Ahmad Shah Durrani), Moghuls, Marathas, Sikhs, Gurkahas, and the Rajputs in the Northern part of India plus Hyder Ali and Tippu Sultan in the South plus a whole lot of other key personalities.

The groups within India stood up to the invaders in general and there were people from every side who were more interested in making themselves rich and powerful, often betraying their own community.  We mustn’t judge people as “patriots” or “traitors” during this time. At the same time, it is important to state the facts as they are, and it is up to the reader to draw their conclusions.

To start with, we will focus on the two major invaders Nadir Shah and Ahmad Shah Durrani. Their invasions, plunder, and mayhem caused major wounds for the people and the psyche of India, and it also strengthened the British foothold. While the people would eventually rebel in 1857 it was too little and too late. They were disorganized, unweaponized, unindustrialized, divided by religion and ethnicity, or simply too tired after being beaten up and invaded for centuries. 

There are plenty of extraordinary figures that were present in this time - such as the extraordinary Sikh leader Nawab Kapur Singh plus the leading Maratha and Rajput Kings. Please note that there were good and bad people belonging to all the religious communities in India (Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Jain and others) and they all have committed atrocities and heroic deeds. Our intention is not to single out a single community and glorify them and condemning the others. People commit atrocities in the name of their faith to propel their personal agenda. That is how history has been in the past and that is how it will be in the future. Chronicling the events simply allow to learn from the past.

After chronicling the invader’s life, we will discuss in detail the trials and tribulations of Sikhs, Rajputs, the Gurkhas, and the Marathas and how their kingdoms intersected and interacted with the invaders, and what was the outcome. After that, we will transition back to the Southern part. There were other local powers but for the sake of brevity, we will omit them for now. Most importantly, during this time the British effectively exploited the strife to their advantage and eventually emerged as the only power in India. We expect to add to this blog every week and pretty soon this will be moved to a full-fledged website. 

The eventual goal is to compile and link the various sections and make it a book. We expect to be done with the 1700s by the middle of 2023. 

 The key figures in this period are:

Mughals:

·         Bahadur Shah I

·         Muhammad Shah

Afghans:

·         Ahmad Shah Durrani

Persians:

·         Nadir Shah

Rajputs

·         Banda Singh Bahadur – Rajput who converted to Sikhism

·         Jai Singh II  

·         Sansar Chand   

·         Zorawar Singh Kahluria  

·         Maharaja Gulab Singh  

Marathas:

·         Shahu Bhosale I 

·         Balaji Vishwanath

·         Baji Rao I  

·         Balaji Baji Rao  

·         Peshwa Madhav Rao I  

Sikhs:

·         Kapur Singh

·         Jassa Singh Ahulwallia

·         Nawab Kapur Singh

·         Maharaja Ranjit Singh

Gorkhas:

·         Prithivi Narayan Shah

·         Nara Bhupal Shah

·         Pratap Singh Shah

Mysore:

·         Hyder Ali

·         Tippu Sultan

·         Krishnaraja Wadiyar III

Pudukkottai Kingdom

·         Raghunatha Raya Tondaiman 

·         Vijaya Raghunatha Raya Tondaiman I

·         Raya Raghunatha Tondaiman 

·         Vijaya Raghunatha Tondaiman  

East India Company

Plus others.