History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v5.c86.s2.5

v5.c86.s2.5

In Mughal India, as in all other absolute monarchies, popular happiness even under the best of sovereigns was unstable, because it depended upon the character of one man. "The Mughal system of education and training entirely failed to maintain a line of promising heirs-apparent. . . As the princes grew up, the jealousy of rival queens forbade their taking a leading part in the politics of the capital. . . A prince who took his proper part in the council of the State was suspected of intriguing against the monarch. . . Hereditary succession is only tolerable under a system where the responsibility falls on a ministry, which screens the viciousness or incompetence of the occupant of the throne."