The Military System of the Marathas, with a Brief Account of Their Maritime Activities c5.23

c5.23

The question may very well be asked why did the Maratha *Jahgirdars* not make common cause against their Muslim masters and assert their independence. The answer is that everybody acted for himself and would not co-operate with his brother chiefs (in another kingdom) except for personal reasons. The Mughal power was deemed invincible; the weakness of the two surviving offshoots of the Bahmani kingdom was not yet apparent; they were still planning and making fresh conquests in the Karnatak. And people who have anything to lose do not generally favour a change. While the Marathas claimed a common origin, spoke a common language, and professed a common faith in normal circumstances, religious persecution alone could unite them under a common banner. The Muslim rulers of the South normally pursued a policy of religious toleration, and on occasions when a chief of note was compelled to forsake his father’s faith, the pangs of conscience were forgotten in the arms of a royal princess.¹ The Mughal annexation of Ahmadnagar, however, introduced a new element in southern politics, the more orthodox, the more uncompromising and the more bigoted belief of Shahjahan and Aurangzib; and the repeated invasions from which the subjects of Bijapur and Golkonda suffered and the scant consideration with which solemn treaties were treated by ambitious Viceroys like Aurangzib created an atmosphere of distrust and disquiet. Simultaneously a new spirit had been infused into Hinduism in the Deccan by what is popularly known as the Pandharpur movement. This, in short, was the situation when Shivaji appeared in the political arena.