Page:Aurangzíb and the Decay of the Mughal Empire.djvu/151

Rh He also subdued Berár, and took the fortress of Ahmadnagar. So long as his reign lasted, no harm came of this forward policy: the kings of Bíjápúr and Golkonda were impressed by his boldness, sent embassies to assure him of their admiring goodwill, and consented to pay him tribute. It may be doubted, however, whether he would not have been wiser to draw his scientific frontier at the Narbadá. He set an example which led his successors on to further aggression, and for more than a century the governor of what was known as the súbah of the Deccan, which included Burhánpúr and the country round about, was perpetually striving to enlarge his borders at the expense of the dominions of the Nizám, 'Ádil, or Kutb Sháh of the period, with the result that tranquillity was unknown to the inhabitants of the marches. During the reign of Jahángír the struggle went on without advantage to the Mughals; Ahmadnagar was lost and regained; and when Sháh-Jahán ascended the Peacock Throne, the three southern dynasties held most of their old territory, whilst the Mughal province consisted of little more than part of Khándésh and Berár with the fort of Ahmadnagar as a lonely outpost. The new Emperor, who had shown his prowess as a general in the Deccan in his younger days, renewed the contest, extinguished the Nizám Sháh's line, and compelled the kings of Golkonda and Bíjápúr once more to pay homage in the form of a usually unpunctual annual tribute.

Prince Aurangzíb was Viceroy of the Deccan at the