The Ulcer of the Mughal Empire: Mughals and Marathas, 1680-1707

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.