There are two major debates in the eighteenth century: one is virtually resolved.

First Debate
Dark Age:
It has to do with whether the eighteenth century was a dark age or not.

 While colonial writers like James Mill and the early Indian historians like Jadunath Sarkar and
Iswari Prasad and even Tara Chand saw this century as a twilight period, characterized by
decline in all areas of life, from the economic to the political to the cultural.
 According to them, the Mughal Empire collapsed, regional powers failed to establish empires
and stability returned only with the spread of British supremacy in the late 18th Century.
 It suited the British writers of the Cambridge History of India, and their Indian followers, to paint
the 18th Century as black so that British rule would show up as a blessing in comparison.

Manifestation:
 Collapse of central institution which were giving stability to the empire.
 Institutional financial crisis referred variously as jagirdari crisis or agrarian.
 Power struggle between different groups of nobles leading to collapse
 Because of the decline of fiscal structure and unable to raise resources by themselves, short
term measures by the ruling class to raise the resources like ijardari
 Opposition movements against this -jat, maratha, sikh, satnami break down trade and
stability of agriculture

Political decline-> economic decline->decline in society

 More recently there has been a revision of this view. In the writings of K.N. Panikkar, C.A.Bayly,
Muzaffar Alam, Chetan Singh and others.
 This century comes across as being an extremely vibrant one with new trends in culture, the
development of regional commercial centres, the re-routing of trade etc.
 Decline of the Mughal state did not indicate an overall economic decline.
 Political and social forms also survived in areas where the Mughal reach had been limited.

Second Debate
 The second debate revolves around whether the eighteenth century can be seen as one
continuum or whether there is a structural break in the 1750s.
 This debate is still an active one with the battle lines being drawn between Irfan Habib, Athar Ali,
Sushil Chaudhuri, Om Prakash on one side and C.A.Bayly, Rajat Datta etc. on the other.
 Did the acquiring of political control by the British, beginning with Bengal in the mid-eighteenth
century have far reaching consequences which changed the entire character of the Indian
economy? Irfan Habib and others subscribe to this view
 These historians argue that with the collapse of the centralized Mughal state structure the
important political, economic and social institutions tied with the state also crumbled, bringing
unrest and havoc through the century .

Break
(a) Politics
1. Centralized administrative rule, military state, feudal elements
2. Rule by colonial masters, rule of law, equality before law
(b) Economy
1. Resources controlled by few groups, technologically backward.
2. Colonization, monetization
(c) Socio-Cultural
2. Modern outlook, secular view

Continuity Thesis
While Bayly and others believes that there were no structural changes and that there was continuity
from the first half of the eighteenth century into the second. This line of argument is referred to as the
‘continuity theses’. For them the basis for colonialism was already present in India and these elements
were simply initiated by colonialism

Continuity

(a) Politics
1. Even after the decline and fragmentation of Mughal Empire prestige of the emperor, the king of kings,
was so considerable, that whether it was acquiring territory, a throne or an empire, the sanction of the
emperor was sought.
2. Mughal administrative practice was adopted by the regional power. Even the states, such as the
Maratha, which began as popular reactions against imperial rule, copied Mughal methods of
administration. 

(b) Economy
1. Economic activities largely similar to previous centuries.
2. Indian products, especially textiles, were still in high demand in whole world. The European
governments had to impose trade barriers. India continued to be the sink of bullion of the world. India
had a great share in the world trade.
3. Urban centers were still flourishing. There was no decline in ports, craft centers and trade centers.

(c) Socio-Cultural
1. Culture also flourished. Examples of Jai Singh, Imam-bada of Lucknow. Literature also flourished
specially Urdu and regional language. A number of regional schools of painting flourished like the
Kishangarh school, the Bundi school, the Bikaner school.
2. Social evils continued.