Later Mughals v1.c6.s6.37

v1.c6.s6.37

It may be fairly said, in summing up this part of our story, that Azam Shah brought on his own defeat by his overhaste and excessive rashness. Having failed to reach Agra in time to occupy that city before his rival, his chance of success was reduced enormously. He had little or no money, in comparison at least with the large resources thrown open to Bahadur Shah; he had left much of his equipage behind him in the Dakhin; and his army was largely composed of fresh and untrained troops; while many of his chief men, such as Zulfiqar Khan and Rajah Jai Singh Kachhwaha seem to have been only half-hearted in their support of his cause. Still, in eastern warfare a bold attack presumably succeeds, and many a field has been won in India more by boldness than by good generalship. But the fates were not propitious to Azam Shah, and as usual in Indian battles, the death of the leader decided the day. Nor can Azam Shah's failure to attain Empire be regretted by the impartial enquirer. He might have been a more vigorous ruler than his brother, Bahadur Shah, but his overweening conceit, violent temper, and easily excited jealousy of his son, would in the end have been far more disastrous to the Mughal dynasty in India than even the weak profuseness of his successful rival.