History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v4.c62.s1.3

v4.c62.s1.3

In the Deccan there were provincial separation and aristocratic organization of society; but the line of cleavage was personal, not territorial; its root-cause was not an assertion of local life and local aspirations, but the ambition of the local viceroy. The people played no part in the change; they obeyed the independent rebel Nawab as their fathers had obeyed the Nawab's predecessor, viz., the viceroy loyal to the central Government. Nor did the independent provincial Government take a peculiar colour from the locality; it merely bore the stamp of the race of its new ruler. There is no reason to suppose that, if Siddi Masaud had made himself Nawab of Ikkeri in Kanara instead of Karnul in Telugu-land, his form of administration and Court-life would have been different. It was essentially a foreign product planted in the soil without any regard for the past history and present character of the natives of the locality.