Page:History of Aurangzib (based on original sources) Vol 1.djvu/63

CHAP. III.] courses of the Krishna river (here called the Bhimá). But the annexation was in form only. The new territory was too large to be effectively governed or even fully conquered. Everywhere, especially in the south and the west, local officers of the old dynasty refused to obey the conqueror, or began to set up puppet princes as a screen for their self-assertion. The Sultans of Bijapur and Golkonda seized the adjacent districts of their fallen neighbour.

During Jahangir's feeble reign the Mughal advance was stayed and even beaten back. Emperor lay under the voluptuous spell of Nur Jahan. His generals took bribes from the Deccani kings and let the war languish. A great leader, too, arose in the South. Malik Ambar, an Abyssinian of rare genius and capacity, became prime minister of the shadowy king of Ahmadnagar, and for a time restored the vanished glories of the house. His wise revenue system made the peasantry happy, while enriching the State. A born leader of men, he conciliated all parties, maintained order, and left a