Page:Aurangzíb and the Decay of the Mughal Empire.djvu/194

 CHAPTER XII

The Ruin of Aurangzíb

With the conquest of Golkonda and Bíjápúr, Aurangzíb considered himself master of the Deccan. Yet the direct result of this destruction of the only powers that made for order and some sort of settled government in the peninsula was to strengthen the hands of the Maráthás. The check exercised upon those free-lances by the two Kingdoms may have been weak and hesitating, but it had its effect in somewhat restraining their audacity. Now this check was abolished; the social organization which hung upon the two governments was broken up; and anarchy reigned in its stead. The majority of the vanquished armies naturally joined the Maráthás and adopted the calling of the road. The local officials set themselves up as petty sovereigns, and gave their support to the Maráthás as the party most likely to promote a golden age of plunder. Thus the bulk of the population of the two dissolved States went to swell the power of Sambhájí and his highlanders, and the disastrous results of this revolution in Deccan politics were felt for more than a century. The anarchy