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Basic Essay Plan
INTRODUCTION
1. In your first sentence rewrite the question in your own words. This shows
the teacher that you have understood the meaning of the question.
2. Introduce what you are going to cover in your essay.
3. Mention the key points you will make (these should be your paragraph
subjects) but save the detail for the paragraphs!
PARAGRAPH 1 – ‘Religious Intolerance’
1. Give a fact about ‘Religious Intolerance.’
2. Explain the fact.
3. If you are able to use evidence to show the teacher that you have
understood the information.
4. How does this information link to other areas? What effect did this have?
Did this event or feeling cause something else to happen? If it did you
need to write this. Go on to explain what you have written.
5. Mini-conclusion – sum up what you have said in your paragraph and
make your link to the next paragraph. Make sure you are relating
everything you say back to the question.
PARAGRAPH 2 – ‘Organisational Skills’
1. Give a fact about ‘Organisational Skills’.
2. Explain the fact.
3. If you are able to use evidence to show the teacher that you have
understood the information.
4. How does this information link to other areas? What effect did this have?
Did this event or feeling cause something else to happen? If it did you
need to write this. Go on to explain what you have written.
5. Mini-conclusion – sum up what you have said in your paragraph and
make your link to the next paragraph. Make sure you are relating
everything you say back to the question.
PARAGRAPH 3 – ‘Money Problems’
1. Give a fact about ‘Money Problems.’
2. Explain the fact.
3. If you are able to use evidence to show the teacher that you have
understood the information.
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4. How does this information link to other areas? What effect did this have?
Did this event or feeling cause something else to happen? If it did you
need to write this. Go on to explain what you have written.
5. Mini-conclusion – sum up what you have said in your paragraph and
make your link to the next paragraph. Make sure you are relating
everything you say back to the question.
CONCLUSION
1. Should only be 2 or 3 sentences to recap what you have covered in your
essay.
2. Should be about as long as your introduction so that the essay is balanced.
3. Make sure you relate everything you have said back to the question.
4. Actually answer the question.
5. Don’t introduce any new information.
This is the basic format you should be using for every essay you write. Using
this, let’s take a look at how we would write our essay on Aurangzeb.
Aurangzeb Essay Plan
Essay Question – Where did Aurangzeb go wrong?
INTRODUCTION
1. In your first sentence rewrite the question in your own words. This shows
the teacher that you have understood the meaning of the question.
Aurangzeb’s reign from 1658 to 1707 marked the beginning of the
downfall of the Mughal Empire. In this essay I will examine how
Aurangzeb caused this.
2. Introduce what you are going to cover in your essay. I believe that he
came to power using selfish methods, which he continued using
throughout his reign.
3. Mention the key points you will make (these should be your paragraph
subjects) but save the detail for the paragraphs! Aurangzeb’s selfish
behaviour, such as his religious intolerance, caused problems in
controlling his land and money problems. This caused unrest and
rebellion, which led to the eventual downfall of the Mughal Empire.
PARAGRAPH 1 – ‘Religious Intolerance’
Opening to Religious Intolerance (link to Introduction)
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Aurangzeb came to power using selfish methods. He imprisoned his ill father
and executed his brother. This shows that Aurangzeb was intolerant of anyone
else’s position or feelings, even within his own family. This intolerance was
especially obvious in Aurangzeb’s approach to religion.
1. Give a fact about ‘Religious Intolerance.’ He wanted everyone in the
Mughal Empire to be Muslim, like him.
2. Explain the fact. To achieve this he destroyed many Hindu temples,
sacked Hindus from their jobs as public and military officers and
reintroduced taxes on the Hindu religion.
3. If you are able to use evidence to show the teacher that you have
understood the information. He extended this treatment of Hindus by
introducing Shari’ah Law. This Islamic law governed all areas of a
person’s life and was based on the Qur’an and attendance at Islamic
courts.
4. How does this information link to other areas? What effect did this have?
Did this event or feeling cause something else to happen? If it did you
need to write this. Go on to explain what you have written. Aurangzeb’s
introduction of Shari’ah Law showed how intolerant he was of his subjects’
religion and was the cause of his growing unpopularity.
5. Mini-conclusion – sum up what you have said in your paragraph and
make your link to the next paragraph. Make sure you are relating
everything you say back to the question. Aurangzeb’s religious intolerance
had the effect of producing rebellions, which began the downfall of the
Mughal Empire.
PARAGRAPH 2 – ‘Organisational Skills’
1. Give a fact about ‘Organisational Skills’. Under Aurangzeb the empire
was at its greatest, which meant that trying to put down rebellions was
extremely difficult. Something that also cost him a huge amount of
money.
2. Explain the fact. The Empire was spread over a huge area, no longer
controlled by a district system, which the rebels took advantage of. Many
groups of rebels in different areas rebelled at the same time, meaning
Aurangzeb had to fight them with divided forces over a vast area. As he
had disbanded the district system Aurangzeb could no longer call on
others for help. He had to fight the rebels himself.
3. If you are able to use evidence to show the teacher that you have
understood the information. For example, the Marathas, a Hindu tribe
based in the Deccan Mountains in the south rebelled at the same time as
the Sikhs in the north.
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4. How does this information link to other areas? What effect did this have?
Did this event or feeling cause something else to happen? If it did you
need to write this. Go on to explain what you have written. Organisation
suffered meaning that Aurangzeb was not successful in fighting the
rebellions. For Aurangzeb fighting one rebellion was costly, but fighting
several rebellions at the same time over a number of years was very costly
indeed.
5. Mini-conclusion – sum up what you have said in your paragraph and
make your link to the next paragraph. Make sure you are relating
everything you say back to the question. Aurangzeb’s unpopularity led to
numerous rebellions all over the Empire, which were very difficult for him
to control, as the Empire covered such a large area of land. This lack of
control was extremely costly and one of the reasons for his money troubles.
PARAGRAPH 3 – ‘Money Problems’
1. Give a fact about ‘Money Problems.’ Aurangzeb’s father had already
increased the tax rate to 50%, which had proved unpopular.
2. Explain the fact. Aurangzeb chose to spend most of his income from this
tax rate on luxurious palaces and Muslim temples.
3. If you are able to use evidence to show the teacher that you have
understood the information. For example, he built the famous Pearl
Mosque purely for his private worship.
4. How does this information link to other areas? What effect did this have?
Did this event or feeling cause something else to happen? If it did you
need to write this. Go on to explain what you have written. This caused
the people to view him as squandering the money that they had worked so
hard to pay him in taxes. Quite rightly, his already growing unpopularity
was made much worse by this. The people hated him and he had lost all
support.
5. Mini-conclusion – sum up what you have said in your paragraph and
make your link to the next paragraph. Make sure you are relating
everything you say back to the question. The high tax rate and
Aurangzeb’s selfish spending of his income from it were made worse by the
costly rebellions he was fighting. These factors caused him to become very
unpopular and lose all support from his people. Aurangzeb had gone so
wrong that it is doubtful whether the Mughal Empire would ever recover.
CONCLUSION
1. Should only be 2 or 3 sentences to recap what you have covered in your
essay.
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2.
3.
4.
5.
Should be about as long as your introduction so that the essay is balanced.
Make sure you relate everything you have said back to the question.
Actually answer the question.
Don’t introduce any new information.
In conclusion, Aurangzeb went wrong by being religiously intolerant, trying to
control such a large Empire and by handling his money badly. These key factors
caused him to become extremely unpopular, which had the effect of creating the
downfall of Aurangzeb and ultimately the Mughal Empire.
Year 7 and 8
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