History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v1.c17.77

v1.c17.77

Shah Jahan being given up as dead, all the confusion and disorder of a Mughal succession broke out, and the evil was intensified by the expectation of a four-sided duel between his sons, each with the army and resources of a province at his back. Everywhere lawless men caused tumults, the ryots refused to pay the revenue, the zamindars disobeyed the local governors or tried to rob and conquer their rivals; foreign powers, especially in the north-east, violated the frontiers and made inroads into the Imperial territory. Wicked men of every class took advantage of the political trouble to raise their heads, and thereby added to the disorder. The local authorities were paralysed by uncertainty and anxiety about the future, and law and order suddenly disappeared in many places.* Such is the curse of autocracy: when the one central authority, from which all have been accustomed to receive their orders and to which they have ever taught themselves to look up for guidance, ceases to exist, all the officers become bewildered and helpless like children.