The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c16.51

v4.c16.51

Rājā ‘Alī Khān was in a dilemma. His sympathy lay with the states of the Deccan, and he earnestly desired the maintenance of their independence, though he knew that their constant bickerings, their internecine strife, and their bitter and bloody domestic feuds, to which the continued independence of his own small kingdom was partly due, not only exposed them to the risk of imperial aggression, but deprived him of the hope of effectual assistance from any one of them should he venture to stand forth as their champion. He could not hope to withstand alone the might of Akbar, and he was thus obliged to belie his sympathies first by making formal submission to Akbar, and at a later period by aiding him with his forces against both Ahmadnagar and Bījāpur; but even when his troops were ranged in the field beside the imperial forces his influence was ever exerted to prevent the complete subjugation of Ahmadnagar.