Fall of the Mughal Empire v1.c15.s2.12

v1.c15.s2.12

“He could refuse nothing to his friends” (Muz. 81.) In consequence his income fell far short of his expenses, and the peasants were subjected to severe exaction and oppression. The Sikhs were known to hold it a religious duty to help one another of the faith to the utmost. So, wherever the villagers underwent oppression, they let their hair and bread grow, cried out *Akāl! Akāl!* and embraced the religion of Guru Govind. The other Sikhs came to their help, and thus their religion spread rapidly through the Panjab. As the peasantry were more and more ruined by their rulers, the number of Sikhs multiplied in proportion. This phenomenon became most manifest after Muin’s death and during the incompetent and changeful regency of his widow Mughlāni Begam. [Siyar, iii. 51.]