The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c21.64

c21.64

dominions and, for the most part, ruled them as their own. The conclusions of wars among Muslim rulers themselves meant, so far as possible, direct, downright annexation and the extermination of the defeated royal houses. Here Muslim policy was an antithesis of the Hindu tradition. As a result, the Musalmâns gave a tremendous impetus to the process of the political unification of India. The tendency, at its strongest, is represented by the Mughal empire which was founded by Bâbur in 1526 and which, with a short interregnum under Humâyûn, flourished in vigour until the death of Aurangzeb in 1707. It effectively united the north under one sceptre and for a time brought nearly the whole of the Deccan and the south under the same dominion, free from the presence of any feudatories in recently conquered territories. It is in matters other than the fundamentals of organisation that the Muslim state displays Hindu influence.