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Q.1) “18th century India witnessed decline of centralized empire and created a political vacuum” critically comment (10 Marks)

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Swatantra

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In introduction write briefly about the political situation prevailing prior to 18th century in India and how it got changed after decline of Mughal empire.

In first part of main body expand on political vacuum aspect caused by the decline of centralized authority.
In second part write, critically, that though the centralized power had declined but there was no political vacuum as we saw the rise of various successor states which more or less continued Mughal political practices and traditions.

Conclude your answer with notion that there was transformation of polity rather than complete collapse.

Comments

48 responses to “Q.1) “18th century India witnessed decline of centralized empire and created a political vacuum” critically comment (10 Marks)”

  1. Vishal Nagle Avatar
    Vishal Nagle

    Ref id 422329

    1. Swatantra Avatar
      Swatantra

      .

    2. Swatantra Avatar
      Swatantra

      Vishal,
      Introduction is fine here You can club first heading with the intro.

      However, You have failed to understand the demand of the question.
      Key word is critically comment
      So you had to analyse the statement, and write critical i.e. points that denies the claim made in the statement.

      Actually India never witnessed political vacuum rather there was change of just ruling authority.

      Though Mughal power declined but various regional powers replaced it. And these powers continued with Mughal practices like revenue System, currency, even cited Mughal emperor as symbolic head.

      Read the question properly, notice the keywords given with the question.
      Take your time, frame your ans in mind than write.

      Take Mentor’s Comments help for better understanding.
      Keep writing, you’ll improve with time.

  2. subhashree mallick Avatar
    subhashree mallick

    pay_HH1EGxOD3EGEhl

    1. Swatantra Avatar
      Swatantra

      Shubhashree,

      Introduction is well written.
      Good use of map (must write label below the map/figure).

      You have started your answer on the right track but diverted form it.
      See key word given with the question is critically Comment, so you had to write against the statement.
      Question didn’t ask you to write how regional states ruled.
      Before writing various regional states you had to point out that the decline of the Mughal authority was seen as political vacuum (i.e. non existence of a political system what so ever) .
      However India didn’t Actually faced political vacuum rather there was change in nature of authority from centralised to decentralised.

      Political system continued as it was under Mughals. Various regional states continued Mughal style administration, revenue System, currency, even acknowledged symbolic authority of Mughal.

      Pls read question properly, Always take note of keyword given.
      You have factual knowledge but try to analyse the question.
      Keep writing:)

  3. shivanshu pandey Avatar
    shivanshu pandey

    #0000416168 please check

    1. Swatantra Avatar
      Swatantra

      Shivanshu,

      Your intro is fine.
      But you need to read more about the topic.
      You failed in understanding and fulfilling the demand of the question.
      The statement made in the question is only partly true i.e. decline of centralized power of Mughal but there was not a political vacuum (absence of political system whatsoever )in India.

      There was just changed nature of authority from centralised Mughal to decentralised successor states.

      Which more or less continued Mughals traditions and practices.

      Read the question carefully you had to analyse it critically, take help from Mentor’s comments to frame your answers if facing difficulty.

      Gather more information about the topic.
      Keep writing 🙂

  4. Anupam Singh Avatar
    Anupam Singh

    Ref_id# 422544

    1. Swatantra Avatar
      Swatantra

      Anupam,

      Your introduction fine.
      You have understood the question well and written the answer in write direction. However you could not fully justified it.

      What you have written only depicts that there was change of authority, but it’s just a part of the answer. Political system is a broader term which goes beyond the ruling dynasties.
      So you had to also point out continuation of traditions , practices of Mughals by successor states even after they lost hold on the power.

      You have knowledge just had to analyse the question one step further.

      Keep writing for further improvement:)

  5. Gauri Shankar Meena Avatar
    Gauri Shankar Meena

    Payment Id pay_HHlJ1R1WIIMdGT

    1. Swatantra Avatar
      Swatantra

      Gauri Shankar,

      Your introduction is fine. But what you have written in whole answer can be summed up in 2 paragraphs.
      Question doesn’t ask you to write the Reasons for decline of Mughals.

      Rather the core Demand of the question is to point out why the statement made is only partly true.

      You had to comment being critical of the statement. Yes there was decline of centralised authority of Mughal but not the political vacuum ( absence of any kind of political system). Centralized authority was replaced by decentralised Successor states which more or less continued political and administrative devised by Mughals.

      Read more about the topic, try to analyse the question. Always be mindful of the keywords associated with the question.
      Keep writing 🙂
      1.5/10

  6. deepika annamalai Avatar
    deepika annamalai

    Payment ID – HIWaoP4yYMjmlq

    1. Swatantra Avatar
      Swatantra

      Deepika,
      UPSC will give you just 2 pages for a 10 marks question so use that much pages only.
      You started answer with fine introduction.
      But what you have written in whole answer can be summed up just in 2-3 points as reason behind decline of Mughals.

      Question doesn’t ask you write about reign of various successors of Aurangzeb.

      Read the question properly, try understand the demand of the question. If necessary take help of Mentor’s Comments.

      Statement given in question is only partly correct, that there was decline of centralised Mughal rule but not the political vacuum. It was replaced by Decentralised successor states Which continued Mughal political and administrative system.

      Read the question properly, notice the keyword.
      Read more about the topic if necessary.
      Keep writing 🙂

  7. Naresh Venkat Saragadam Avatar
    Naresh Venkat Saragadam

    REF ID: #0000422921
    Please review

    1. Swatantra Avatar
      Swatantra

      Naresh,

      Introduction in fine.
      But your answer doesn’t satisfy the demand of the question.

      You have written the reasons which led to fragmentation of centralised Polity but it doesn’t mean there was political vacuum.

      Here you had to write how the rise of successor states filled in the shoe of Mughal rulers and continued the political structure created by Mughals so essentially ab There never was a political vacuum in 18th century.

      Read the question carefully, you have the knowledge just mold argument as per the demand of the question.
      Keep writing:)

  8. Kartikey Singh Avatar
    Kartikey Singh

    pay_HHogiMPYpQ87sC

    1. Swatantra Avatar
      Swatantra

      Kartikeya,

      You have understood the Question well, your introduction is fine.

      You need to work upon the arrangement of the arguments.
      Paragraph 2 and 3 can be written together in fewer lines.
      Core aspect of the question must have at least 3/4th space. You started writing it from 2nd page also arguments are very limited. Add more argument to prove there was no vacuum just changed nature of political system.

      Also always label you map/diagrams.

      Conclusion is fine.

      You are moving in right direction. Keep writing:)

  9. SUMITA DOWERAH Avatar
    SUMITA DOWERAH

    Payment Id
    pay HFrdyJMOEZ9967

    1. Swatantra Avatar
      Swatantra

      Sumita,

      You have written a very lengthy introduction.
      Also your whole first page must be written in just 2-3 lines.
      What you Actually had to write in main body, you have written in conclusion.
      In main body with more details you had to prove the argument that though centralised authority of Mughals declined but there was not a political vacuum.

      Give arguments like Successor states continued administration, currency, revenue and other legal and judicial systems as devised by the Mughals, even the symbolic authority of Mughal emperor continued

      You have just written political events which is not the demand.

      It seems you understood by the question but couldn’t justify the demand.

      Take your time, understand the demand frame the answer in mind than write it down.
      Do this exercise It’ll help you improve.
      Keep writing:)

  10. Santosh kharat Avatar
    Santosh kharat

    Payment I’d 115009045817

    1. Swatantra Avatar
      Swatantra

      Santosh,

      Your introduction is good.
      You understood the demand of the question but could not justified the core demand of the question.

      The core part of the body must be your Fifth point i.e. rise of Regional powers also how they continued various Mughals administrative, economic, social systems even accepted Mughal emperor as symbolic head even when his authority was virtually non existing.

      Your whole first page can be written in just on 2-3 lines paragraph.

      Core part must cover 3/4 of the space. Always be mindful of that.
      Also always label your map/diagrams

      You have understanding just arrangement of the arguments and molding of the arguments you need to improve.

      Keep writing 🙂
      2.5/10

  11. Arpit Singh Avatar
    Arpit Singh

    Payment id HHU8LODcXby9Db

    1. Swatantra Avatar
      Swatantra

      Arpit,

      You have written a good introduction.
      Also written answer as per the demand of the question.

      How ever you need to work upon the structure.
      Write smaller paragraphs, make different points easily identifiable.

      Add more points in the main body to prove that there was no political vacuum.

      Conclusion is very well written.

      Knowledge doesn’t seems to be an issue for you just work on structure and arrangements of ideas in your answer.

      Keep writing 🙂
      4.5/10

  12. Shikhar Lohia Avatar
    Shikhar Lohia

    Payment ID – pay_HHRDszyfOKKRDw

    1. Swatantra Avatar
      Swatantra

      Shikhar,

      Your introduction and conclusion both are framed really good.

      You have understood the Question well and addressed the demand of it.
      However you could have given more space to ‘not political vacuum section, and lesser to decline of Mughals.

      Overall a good Attempt.
      Keep writing 🙂

  13. Mradul sharma Avatar
    Mradul sharma

    ref id – #0000422539. please review

    1. Swatantra Avatar
      Swatantra

      Mradul,
      Your introduction and conclusion are fine.
      You understood the question but could not justifies the demand of the question 100%.

      Political system is more broader term than just rulers.
      You have written, essentially, Mughal declined and replaced by Regional powers.
      Here you also had to add points like continuation of administrative system, revenue and legal justice system under regional powers as it was under Mughals, etc.

      You have fine factual knowledge but try to present it in a way so that it fulfills the demand of the question.

      Keep writing:)

  14. Anuraag Chandra Madina Avatar
    Anuraag Chandra Madina

    ID #0000397693 @Swatantra please check.

    1. Swatantra Avatar
      Swatantra

      Anurag,

      Your introduction and conclusive are Written fine.

      You have understood the demand of the question but could not justified it.

      You have written a very factual answer. Political system doesn’t consist only ruling powers it is much more broad term.
      Section on the first page after intro need to be written in just one 2-3 line paragraph.
      Than you had to expand on ‘No political vacuum by giving analytical argument’ like continuation of administrative and legal justice system as it was under Mughals, revenue system was also same, economy flourished under Successor states which is signifies political stability and security rather than vacuum and anarchy, Mughal emperor being a accepted as the symbolic head Etc.

      You have factual knowledge just try to be more analytical.
      Also mind the word limit. Keep writing 🙂

  15. Utkarsha Yadav Avatar
    Utkarsha Yadav

    Please review
    Payment Id pay_HHWzC2O9xhkaqA

    1. Utkarsha Yadav Avatar
      Utkarsha Yadav

      @Swatantra Sir please review

    2. Swatantra Avatar
      Swatantra

      Utkarsha,

      Your introduction is remotely related to the question.

      You have understood the question but didn’t write what you needed to

      Essentially you have answered only a small aspect of the question that is declining of Mughals that too written in much space. It could have written in 2-3 line paragraph.

      Core demand of the answer was to illustrate how there was not a political vacuum. You have just given it a passing reference.

      Read more about the topic.

      Whole current scenario section is totally unrelated avoid such unnecessary write-up.
      Conclusion also unrelated to what is asked in the Question.

      Read others answer for better understanding.
      Keep writing 🙂
      1.5/10.

  16. Vishnu Agrawal Avatar
    Vishnu Agrawal

    Order id: 0000422561

    1. Swatantra Avatar
      Swatantra

      Vishnu,

      In introduce your claim about central authority is not correct as India remain under Decentralised politically for most of the history.

      You have understood the question but need to structure it better.

      Arguments of Second and third paragraphs can be written in one paragraph of 3-4 lines.
      You had to give more space to idea discussed in 4th paragraph.
      You can divide it under multiple points so to bring more clarity.

      Try to write in smaller paragraphs.

      Conclusion puts forward a valid point but it is remotely related to the question Asked. Conclusion must be directly related to the question.

      Read others’ good answers as well and keep writing 🙂
      2.5/10

  17. ankita thakur Avatar
    ankita thakur

    Payment id- HJHAZEWKSzM3CX

    1. Swatantra Avatar
      Swatantra

      Ankita,
      Your introduction is very lengthy. Try to write short introduction.

      You have failed to understand the demand of the question.
      Question doesn’t ask you to write political events of 18th century.

      You had to write whether or not there was a political vacuum after fall of centralised authority.

      In 18th century Mughals centralised authority declined but there was not a political vacuum in India as there emerged regional powers in India which continued various administrative, social and economic system as they were central Mughal rule.
      Conclusion also not related to what is asked in the question.

      Read more about the topic.
      Read question properly, notice key word attached with the questions (here it was critically comment) take your time to frame your arguments in mind than try to write the down.

      Read others’ answers as well. keep writing 🙂

  18. Vivek H Avatar
    Vivek H

    Payment Id : 115213946268

    1. Swatantra Avatar
      Swatantra

      Vivek,
      Your claim in the introduction that India remained United for most of the historical time is not correct as mostly it was under Decentralised rule.

      You failed in understanding the question.
      You have written only the reasons for decline of Mughals which should be just a small section of 1 para or two
      You have totally missed the core section whether or not there was a political vacuum.

      You needed to write in that section on the lines that though Centralised Mughal rule declined but there was not any political vacuum as various regional states filled in the space also they Continued various administrative practices of Mughals.

      Read questions carefully, notice keywords given (critically comment in this question), frame your answer in mind than write it down.
      Keep writing for the improvement 🙂

  19. Harshaa Sharma Avatar
    Harshaa Sharma

    Idpay_HJ2s89guguFYwg

    1. Swatantra Avatar
      Swatantra

      Harshaa
      First of all I want to tell you that follow proper upsc pattern answer writing practices, write on upsc answer notebook if not available than A4 size sheets.
      Now coming to your answer introduction is good. But you failed in understanding the Question.

      Keyword given with the question is comment critically. So you had to analyse whether statement is Right or wrong. You agreed with the statement but it was not the case.

      There was not a political vacuum in India in 18th century just change in ruling authority from centralised Mughal power to decentralised regional states.
      Political system is a broader term which contains not just ruling power but also administrative, governance, economic even social Practices. Many of such practices under Mughal rule continued even under Regional states.

      Read question properly, take help from Mentor’s Comments if necessary than write.
      Read other good answers written
      Fellow Aspirants, keep writing:)

  20. Rupesh Kumar Pandey Avatar
    Rupesh Kumar Pandey

    Order No #0000416426
    Please review

    1. Swatantra Avatar
      Swatantra

      Rupesh,

      Your introduction is fine.
      However answer doesn’t address the demand of the question.

      You have written the reason for decline of the Mughals However it is not the demand of the question.
      It must be written in just one para.

      See British claimed that 18th century, After decline of Mughals, India gone into a dark age having total chaos and no political system.

      But India actually never was in political vacuum. Centralised authority was replaced by Decentralised authorities.
      These Regional powers continued with policies and tradition of the Mughals. Even economy was flourishing which is a sign of sound political system than vacuum.

      Try to read question properly and under the demand of the question.
      Address all the possible aspects.
      Keep writing:)

  21. Sakshi Jain Avatar
    Sakshi Jain

    @Swatantra Sir please review
    #0000416382

    1. Swatantra Avatar
      Swatantra

      Sakshi,

      Your introduction is good but try to write it in just one paragraph.

      However you have failed in understanding the question.
      India did not witnessed any political vacuum.
      Though there was fall of a centralised empire, rise of Regional states but it cannot be called as vacuum. Rather transition of nature of Polity.
      More or less same political economic conditions prevailed under these states. They continued most of Mughals policies, administration even recognized Mughal emperor as symbolic head.

      You have enough factual knowledge but need to analyse the question. Always notice keyword given with the question it’s a key to find out hidden interpretation of questions.

      Sakshi, try to write questions on the same day, it becomes hectic to keep the track and leads to delay in answer evaluation for next days.
      keep writing:)

  22. shubham yadav Avatar
    shubham yadav

    Please review it – sir
    Payment Id – pay_HHhwlNw9vfR4HH

    1. Swatantra Avatar
      Swatantra

      Shubham ,

      Your introduction is innovative but still it can be written more closely.

      It was British who made the claim that 18th century India was in political vacuum and they gave India a stable rule.

      Actually there was not a political vacuum in India caused by decline of Mughal, rather there was just a transition from Centralised to Decentralised Polity.

      Decentralised rule under Regional states continued policies, tradition of Mughals, even economy was flourishing- a sign of political stability not vacuum.

      So try to understand the demand of the questions. Analysis it then write.
      Your Factual knowledge is good but need more analytical approach in answer. Read mentor’s comments for understanding.

      Shubham, try to write questions on the same day, it becomes hectic to keep the track and leads to delay in answer evaluation for next days.

      Keep writing:)

  23. AABHA RANI Avatar
    AABHA RANI

    Razor payment id :- HHOoNABVzCCLcD

    1. Swatantra Avatar
      Swatantra

      Aabha,

      You have understood the question well.
      Introduction is good.
      Also addressed the demand of the question.
      But you need to expand more on the regional state’s policies and tradition so to prove political continuity more broadly.
      Political system doesn’t only consist of Ruling powers it’s a broader term.
      So to give your answer more depth talk about administration on Mughals line, Social policies, even flourishing economy, as symbol of stable Polity.

      It’s a fine attempt overall.

      Abbha, try to write questions on the same day, it becomes hectic to keep the track and leads to delay in answer evaluation for next days.

      Keep writing:)

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