Study the picture and answer the following questions:

(a) Identify the person in the picture. Why did his successors fail to establish an all-India Empire?

(b) Name any three independent kingdoms established after the decline of the Mughal Empire.

(c) Do you think these independent regional kingdoms paved the way for the British ascendancy in India? If yes, how?

(a) The person in the picture is Shivaji.

His successors failed to establish an all India Empire because a war of succession broke out between his two sons — Rajaram and Shambhaji. Shambhaji ascended the throne but was defeated and killed by the Mughals under Aurangzeb. Later on, a civil war broke out between Shambhaji's son Shahu and his aunt Tara Bai. This made the Marathas weak.

(b) Three independent kingdoms established after the decline of the Mughal Empire were:

1. Awadh
2. Hyderabad
3. Bengal

(c) The establishment of independent regional kingdoms with the decline of the Mughal empire made it easier for the East India Company to establish itself in these states one by one. The British did not faced any tough resistance from these states as well as from Mughals. The kingdoms had small and inefficient army which was not capable of checking the aggressive and expansionist policies of the British. Thus we can say that the independent regional kingdoms paved the way for the British ascendancy in India.