Previous Year Question

Statement 1 is incorrect. The origin of the Nizamat of Arcot or Carnatic cannot correctly be described simply as a state that emerged out of Hyderabad State. Its administrative roots lay in the Mughal system. The older Persian material used in the University of Madras publication Sources of the History of the Nawwabs of the Carnatic, preserved in the IGNCA archive, associates Arcot with Mughal administration in the Carnatic and records appointments there under Aurangzeb's imperial administration. After Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah established his authority in the Deccan, the Nawabs of Arcot subsequently became subordinate to the Asaf Jahis. Later subordination, however, is not the same as the original formation of Arcot out of Hyderabad State.

Statement 2 is correct. The Wodeyar/Odeyar rulers of Mysore were connected with the political structure of the Vijayanagara Empire, and with the decline of Vijayanagara power they developed an independent kingdom. Raja Odeyar occupied Srirangapatnam in 1610 CE and declared his independence from Vijayanagara authority. Older historical records relating to Mysore similarly state that Mysore had long formed part of the Vijayanagara Empire and that the fall of the Empire provided the Wodeyars with the opportunity to expand their power.

Statement 3 is incorrect. The political identity of Rohilkhand had developed before Ahmad Shah Durrani's invasions of India. The history of Rohilkhand preserved by IGNCA records the arrival and expansion of the Rohilla Pathans in the Katehar region from around 1707 CE, and states that by about 1730 CE the region had come to be known as Rohilkhand. Ahmad Shah Durrani, on the other hand, became ruler of Afghanistan only in 1747 CE and his invasions of India began thereafter. Rohilkhand therefore could not have been formed out of territories occupied by Durrani.