Official Answer Key & Detailed Solution
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Correct Answer: Option (C) — A is true but R is false
Concept & Option Breakdown
Standard Reference Verified- Assertion (A) is true: With the decline of Aurangzeb and the later Mughals in the 18th century, the Maratha Confederacy expanded rapidly across western, central, and northern India, becoming the pre-eminent political power.
- Reason (R) is false: The Marathas were driven by dynastic, regional, and revenue-maximizing interests (Chauth and Sardeshmukhi) rather than the modern political concept of a unified Indian nation-state.
The concept of a modern 'united nation-state' developed during the 19th-century national movement, not during 18th-century feudal expansions.
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