Later Mughals v2.c17.s1.2

v2.c17.s1.2

How was the work of Akbar and Shah Jahan, Man Singh and Mir Jumla, thus undone? Why did the seemingly flourishing State of Aurangzeb fall down like a house of cards only 31 years after his death? In reviewing the history of these 31 years, we find first of all a startling decline in the character of the nobility and the efficiency of the army. For this the havoc of civil war was to some extent responsible. In the thirteen years following the death of Aurangzeb, seven bloody battles of succession* had been fought among his descendants in which large numbers of Princes nobles and the best soldiers had perished. Equally destructive of officers and men were the armed contests between rival nobles. For instance, the Nizam could confirm himself in the viceroyalty of the Dakhin only after defeating three rivals. For the governorship of Gujarat there were three ruinous encounters in which Shujaat Khan and Rustam Ali Khan fell and Sarbuland Khan was defeated.