New History of the Marathas v1.c11.48

v1.c11.48

But perhaps the highest gain which Shivaji derived from this adventure was that he came into direct contact with the men and politics, the currents and cross-currents of the imperial Court. He minutely noticed its strong and weak points and made full use of this experience in his future work. He concluded that the Mughal power was a hollow show, full of injustice, tyranny and corruption, and that it could be easily overthrown. Historians trace the decline of the Mughal Empire from this date of Aurangzeb’s ascent to the zenith of power. Hereafter his slide down began, although slowly at first. Shivaji was ever on his brain and the Emperor continued mourning to the last day of his life the mistake he had committed in not putting Shivaji to death at once. He wrote in his will, “A moment’s negligence in gathering correct news from the Kingdom leads to serious consequences and would have to be repented for life. I neglected to guard carefully that wicked Shiva, and have on that account to suffer these terrible hardships of war till my end.”¹