Read the passage and answer the question :
The annexation displaced not just the Nawab. It also dispossessed the taluqdars of the region. The country side of Awadh was dotted with the estates and forts of taluqdars who for many generations had controlled land and power in the countryside. Before the coming of the British, taluqdars maintained armed retainers, built forts and enjoyed a degree of autonomy, as long as they accepted the suzerainty of the Nawab and paid the revenue of their taluqs. Some of the bigger taluqdars had as many as 12,000 foot-soldiers and even the smaller ones had about 200. The British were unwilling to tolerate the power of the taluqdars. Immediately after the annexation, the taluqdars were disarmed and their forts destroyed.
How did the 'Taluqdars' of Awadh respond to their dispossession by the British?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → They lobbied with the peasants and fought against the British in the revolt of 1857.
The passage tells how the annexation of Awadh dispossessed the taluqdars. Their dispossession broke up an entire social order, and the peasant, too, now faced overassessment of revenue under the British. In Awadh, where resistance during 1857 was intense and long lasting, the fighting was carried out by taluqdars and their peasants; many taluqdars joined Begum Hazrat Mahal in Lucknow to fight the British.
Option (1) They followed the Nawab in his exile to Calcutta and settled with him. — Incorrect. It was Nawab Wajid Ali Shah who was exiled to Calcutta; many who loved him followed him all the way to Kanpur, singing songs of lament. The taluqdars stayed in Awadh and took up arms in 1857.
Option (2) They sided with the French East India Company to fight against the British. — Incorrect. The taluqdars fought alongside their own peasants and the Begum of Awadh, not with any European company.
Option (4) They set up printing press and started writing against the British. — Incorrect. The taluqdars were landed chiefs with armed retainers and forts. Their answer to dispossession was armed revolt, not writing.
NCERT (2026-27): “2.3 Firangi raj and the end of a world … The dispossession of taluqdars meant the breakdown of an entire social order. The ties of loyalty and patronage that had bound the peasant to the taluqdar were disrupted. In pre-British times, the taluqdars were oppressors but many of them also appeared to be generous father figures: they exacted a variety of dues from the peasant but were often considerate in times of need. Now, under the British, the peasant was directly exposed to overassessment of revenue and inflexible methods of collection. There was no longer any guarantee that in times of hardship or crop failure the revenue demand of the state would be reduced or collection postponed; or that in times of festivities the peasant would get the loan and support that the taluqdar had earlier provided. In areas like Awadh where resistance during 1857 was intense and long lasting, the fighting was carried out by taluqdars and their peasants. Many of these taluqdars were loyal to the Nawab of Awadh, and they joined Begum Hazrat Mahal (the wife of the Nawab) in Lucknow to fight the British; some even remained with her in defeat.…” |