History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v4.c58.s1.1

v4.c58.s1.1

In the middle of the Fourteenth century the foundation of the Bahmani kingdom created an independent centre of Muslim power in Southern India. The conquest of the western coast-strip (Konkan) by the kings of this line also put them in possession of sea-ports like Dabhol, Chaul, Rajapur and Goa, through which they established direct intercourse with Persia, Arabia, Africa and the Malay Peninsula. Thus, the stream of recruits could flow into the Deccan from the outer Muhammadan world without being intercepted by the rulers of Delhi. At a time when the force of the first Islamic penetration of Northern India was spent, the Muslim advance there was arrested by impact on the northern and eastern natural barriers of our country, and the Delhi monarchy was seized with decay and dissolution,—Indian Islam started on a new career of expansion in the south and crushed out the great Hindu kingdoms of the Deccan which had hitherto retained their independence.