Page:History of India Vol 8.djvu/310

268 to fear beyond her northwestern frontier. The ghost of the Moghul Empire, sitting crowned among the ruins of its ancient splendour, still reigned over Delhi. And although the imperial authority had lost all substance, the shadow of that great name still so far overspread the surrounding districts as to prevent their absorption under a new dominion.

CENOTAPH OF A NATIVE RULER AT JAIPUR.

Yet the political vacuum created by the final disintegration of the Moghul Empire, and the withdrawal of the Afghans, was already filling up in the Panjab, by the rapid rise and compact organization of the Sikhs. Under this new Hindu federation, much more closely knit together by ties of race and common faith than the Marathas, the people became animated by a martial