 The Ulcer of the Mughal Empire: Mughals and Marathas, 1680-1707Eric W. Osborne Small Wars and Insurgencies, 2020, vol. 31, issue 5, 988-1009 Abstract: The Muslim Mughal Empire of India found itself at the height of its power under the reign of Emperor Aurangzeb (r. 1658–1707), yet the foundations of that power were unstable at the death of the emperor. While Aurangzeb was able to extend his dominion over the majority of the Indian sub-continent the cost of doing so greatly weakened Mughal fortunes in the years following his reign. This situation resulted from a shift in his religious policies towards non-Muslims that alienated groups in the empire that had once been part of a syncretic ruling relationship. The main problem group was the Marathas, whose insurgency Aurangzeb never fully defeated over the course of a twenty-seven-year war. The Marathas used the harsh religious stance of the emperor to mount a campaign for the creation of a Hindu kingdom in the area south of the Deccan Plateau. The failure to completely quell this revolt led to Maratha domination of large swaths of the northern Mughal Empire following the death of Aurangzeb. This heralded a decline in Mughal fortunes that were ultimately exploited by foreign powers, chief among them Great Britain. Date: 2020 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:fswixx:v:31:y:2020:i:5:p:988-1009 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from DOI: 10.1080/09592318.2020.1764711 Access Statistics for this article Small Wars and Insurgencies is currently edited by Paul Rich More articles in Small Wars and Insurgencies from Taylor & Francis Journals |
Is your work missing from RePEc? Here is how to contribute.
Questions or problems? Check the EconPapers FAQ or send mail to .
EconPapers is hosted by the
School of Business at Örebro University.