Fall of the Mughal Empire v4.c44.s1.4

v4.c44.s1.4

No policy could have been more blind or unpatriotic. This open sore drained away all the life and energy of the Maratha power in the Mughal dominions; it paralysed the hands of Mahādji and made it impossible for him to impose Maratha suzerainty over North India as a generally accepted change. Such a public belief alone could have awed the refractory vassals of Delhi into obedience and averted the necessity of war and war’s inevitable consequences—the drain on the finances and the interruption of revenue collection. Thus even after Patan and Mertā the subdued North gained no real peace and time for recuperation.