The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c29.3

v3.c29.3

The history of these kingdoms is a record of almost continuous strife. Yūsuf 'Ādil Shāh and Sultān Qulī Qutb Shāh had always been Shiahs, Burhān, the son and successor of Ahmad Nizām Shāh, was converted to that faith, to which his successors adhered except during the brief reign of Ismā'īl, and the small Sunni states of Berar and Bīdar, the former absorbed by Ahmadnagar in 1574 and the latter by Bījāpur in 1619, could not have disturbed the harmony which should have existed between them; but community of religion, community of interests, and frequent intermarriages were alike powerless to curb the ambition of the rulers of the three greater states, each of whom aspired to the hegemony of the Deccan. Common jealousies not only prolonged the existence of the smaller states, but saved each of the larger from annihilation, and the usual course of warfare was a campaign of two of the larger states against the third, the smaller states ranging themselves as the policy of the moment might dictate. The assistance given to an ally was so measured as to restrain him from overwhelming his adversary, and a decisive victory was often forestalled by a shameless change of sides, the perfidy of which bred a new *casus belli*. The bitterness thus engendered led to alliances between Muslims and 'misbelievers' against Muslims, but this policy, apparently suicidal, produced a situation which enabled the petty kingdoms to succeed where the Bahmanids had failed, and to crush for ever the hereditary enemy.