Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v1.c20.s7.23

v1.c20.s7.23

by the latent, but more durable support of moral influence. When Aurangzeb neglected the indigenous Rajputs, he endangered the keystone of his power; and in despising opinion, though his energetic mind might for a time render him independent of it, yet long before his death the enormous fabric reared by Akbar was tottering to its foundation: demonstrating to conviction that the highest order of talent, either for government or war, though aided by unlimited resources, will not suffice for the maintenance of power, unsupported by the affections of the governed. The empire of Aurangzeb was more extensive than that of Britain at this day—the elements of stability were incomparably more tenacious: he was associated with the Rajputs by blood, which seemed to guarantee a respect for their opinions; he possessed the power of distributing the honours and emoluments of the state, when a service could be rewarded by a province,¹ drawing at will supplies of warriors from the mountains of the west, as a check on his indigenous subjects, while these left the plains of India to control the Afghan amidst the snows of Caucasus. But the most devoted attachment and most faithful service were repaid by insults to their habits, and the imposition of an obnoxious tax; and to the jizya, and the unwise pertinacity with which his successors adhered to it, must be directly ascribed the overthrow of the monarchy. No condition was exempted from this odious and impolitic assessment, which was deemed by the tyrant a mild substitute for the conversion he once meditated of the entire Hindu race to the creed of Islam.²