Post Mughal Kingdoms

The Mughal era saw its decline during the reign of the Emperor Aurangzeb. He was one of the last great Mughal rulers who ruled India and when he died at the age of ninety, there were around 17 major plaintiffs for the throne. Aurangzeb sadly saw his sons and grandsons fight against each other to claim the throne. With the decline of the Mughal Empire, the north of India broke into chaos and the entire region was fragmented into small princely states. Many rulers fought among themselves to gain control of this empire but with little success. The descendents of Aurangzeb were not able rulers and were not able to protect the name and fame of the Mughal Empire. There were many Indian kingdoms after the Mughal era that came into existence. They have been discussed below.

Kingdom of Oudh
Oudh was ruled by its own rulers who established themselves as hereditary rulers of this province. By the time the Mughal Empire collapsed, Oudh had gained substantial amount of power and wealth. The strategic location of Oudh was also an advantage for trade and commerce. This impelled the East India Company to use this state as a puppet to aid them in gaining a foothold in India. They took enormous loans and finally a stage arrived where they had almost had a veto.

Maratha Kingdom
One of the most powerful kingdoms that arose after the Mughal era was the Maratha kingdom. This kingdom was established by the great warrior Shivaji. It expanded into a full fetched empire that covered almost the whole of the Indian sub continent. But it was short lived empire as the Afghan army of Ahmed Shah Abdali invaded the empire and defeated it. This battle was known as the Third Battle of Panipat.

Kingdom of Mysore
The kingdom of Mysore was founded by the Wodeyar dynasty around 1400 A.D in southern India. Their empire was attacked by the ruler known as Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan. Tipu Sultan was an able ruler who waged many battles against British forces and died while saving his kingdom from them. Meanwhile, the province of Hyderabad was seized by a Mughal official named Asif Jah who proclaimed himself as the ruler of Hyderabad. When the British took over, both Hyderabad and Mysore became princely states.

Kingdom of Punjab
The kingdom of Punjab was ruled by group of people of the Sikh religion who were actually a political entity ruling the region of present day Punjab. Punjab was among the last areas to be conquered by the British. Constant wars with the British weakened the empire and resulted in its downfall.