Unlock Elite Access: Level Up Your Preparation with Exclusive Content

History Optional PYQ Master Pack · Model answer

Do you think that the agrarian crisis of the 17th century led to the disintegration of the Mughal empire? Discuss.

  • UPSC 2016
  • The Eighteenth Century

The agrarian crisis thesis, most fully developed by Irfan Habib, is one of the most influential explanations of Mughal decline — but treating it as the sufficient cause, rather than one powerful strand within a wider structural crisis, overstates what the evidence can bear.

You are reading the opening of the model answer. The full answer is part of the History Optional PYQ Master Pack.

What the full answer covers

  • The Agrarian Crisis Thesis: Irfan Habib's Argument
  • Peasant and Zamindar Rebellion as Evidence
  • Qualifications and Counter-Readings
  • Assessing the Causal Weight

Unlock this answer and 1,350+ more

  • 1,350+ solved UPSC History Optional PYQs from 1985 to 2025, Paper-1 and Paper-2
  • Topic-wise across Ancient, Medieval, Modern, Post-Independence and World History
  • Model answers with a clear structure and historian citations
  • Map section solutions included, at no extra cost
  • Read online on lotusarise.com, plus PDF download

₹1,499₹2,50040% off

Get History Optional PYQ Master Pack @ ₹1,499 →

One-time payment · No subscription · Instant access · UPI, cards, RuPay

See every The Eighteenth Century question (44 solved) →Already enrolled? Log in