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History Optional PYQ Master Pack · Model answer

The expansion of Mughal empire in Deccan brought about its decline. Discuss.

  • UPSC 1988
  • The Eighteenth Century

The Deccan question, begun under Akbar and pursued through Jahangir and Shah Jahan, reached its climax under Aurangzeb with the annexation of Bijapur (1686) and Golconda (1687) — a triumph that historians widely read as the beginning of Mughal collapse rather than its consolidation.

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What the full answer covers

  • Overextension and Administrative Overreach
  • The Maratha Factor
  • The Jagirdari Crisis: The Institutional Fallout
  • The Wider Agrarian Context
  • Weighing the Deccan Thesis Against Other Explanations

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