India Map 1766 CE — Historical Map & Timeline

Who ruled India in 1766 CE?

In 1766 CE, power in the subcontinent was shared among 10 major states and dynasties. Dates are conventional estimates.

• Mughal Empire — Later Mughal emperors (1707 CE–1857 CE)
  Northern India, and at its height most of the subcontinent. Founded by Babur after Panipat; nominal rule ended in 1857. Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica — Mughal dynasty · Read: The Mughal Empire
• Maratha Swarajya and Empire — Peshwa-led confederacy (1749 CE–1818 CE)
  Western Deccan, later much of central and northern India. From Shivaji Maharaj's coronation in 1674 to the Third Anglo-Maratha War. Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica — Maratha · Read: Maratha Swarajya and Expansion
• East India Company rule
  Bengal from 1757, expanding across the subcontinent. A trading company turned territorial power after Plassey, until the Crown took over in 1858. Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica — East India Company · Read: The Battle of Plassey
• Hyderabad State (Nizams)
  Deccan; capital Hyderabad. Asaf Jahi Nizams, the most populous princely state, integrated into India in 1948. Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica — Hyderabad historical state India
• Kingdom of Mysore
  Southern Karnataka. Wodeyar kingdom, independent of Vijayanagara from about 1610; under Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan from 1761 to 1799. Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica — Wadiyars
• Mewar (Sisodia Rajputs)
  Southern Rajasthan; capitals Chittor, later Udaipur. Rajput kingdom of Rana Kumbha, Rana Sanga and Maharana Pratap; a princely state under British paramountcy from 1818, merged into Rajasthan in 1949. Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica — Udaipur (historical state)
• Ahom kingdom
  Brahmaputra valley, Assam. Ruled the Brahmaputra valley for six centuries until the Treaty of Yandabo. Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica — Ahom
• Portuguese India (Goa, Daman and Diu)
  Goa and coastal enclaves. Goa was taken in 1510 and remained Portuguese until 1961. Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica — Goa
• Travancore
  Southern Kerala. Kingdom of Marthanda Varma; merged into Travancore-Cochin in 1949. Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica — Travancore
• Awadh
  Central Uttar Pradesh; capitals Faizabad and Lucknow. Nawabi state annexed by the East India Company in 1856. Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica — Awadh

What happened in India around 1766 CE?

• 1761: Panipat halts expansion but not Maratha power. At the Third Battle of Panipat, the Maratha army suffered a devastating defeat against Ahmad Shah Durrani and his allies. The loss checked northern ambitions, yet Maratha states recovered political influence within a decade. Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: Battles of Panipat
• 1764–1765: Buxar and the Diwani turn victory into fiscal rule. At Buxar, Company forces defeated the combined armies of Mir Qasim, Shuja al-Dawlah and Mughal emperor Shah Alam II. The following settlement granted the Company revenue-collecting rights in Bengal, Bihar and Odisha. Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: Battle of Buxar
• 1765: The Company obtains the Diwani. Revenue-collecting rights in Bengal formed a further step in the Company’s political transformation. Source: NCERT — From Trade to Territory
• 1767–1818: Mysore and Maratha wars decide the Company’s military position. Four Anglo-Mysore wars and three Anglo-Maratha wars broke the strongest organised checks on Company expansion in southern and western India. Victory depended on Indian sepoys, allies, credit and diplomacy as well as European military techniques. Source: Britannica: East India Company
• 1770 CE: Great Bengal famine devastates the region
• 1773 CE: Regulating Act reshapes Company rule