Fall of the Mughal Empire v1.c6.s3.1

v1.c6.s3.1

With a foolish, idle, and fickle master on the throne, the nobles began to give free play to the worst forms of selfishness. They found it necessary to form parties of their own for their support and advancement, and even for their very existence. The controlling and unifying centre of the government having ceased to function, disintegration became inevitable in the Court itself. The instinct of self-preservation drove the nobles to group themselves in factions according to race, to divide the administration among themselves, and to gird themselves around with a body of clients from among the vassal princes and the provincial governors. The Court was divided into two armed camps of Turānis and Irānis, each with its hand ever on the hilt of its dagger, and this civil dissension spread throughout the realm.