54 INFLUENCE OF POLITICS IN EUKOPE AND ASIA

Ms administration everywhere these were the ordinary symptoms of debility, decay, and approximate dissolu- tion in an Oriental dynasty. In the northwest, the Persians and the rebellious Afghan tribes had now wrested from Aurangzib his border strongholds, and thus his grasp on that all- PEASANTS DRAWING WATER. important frontier had become insecure, and the high- roads from Central Asia were again open to invaders. In the southwest, the Moghul, after putting down the kingdoms of Bijapur and Golkonda, had been unable to reconstruct an administration strong enough to re- press the turbulent elements that his impolitic demoli- tions had set free. The disbanded soldiery, the plun- dered peasants, and the disaffected Hindu landholders all rallied round the standard of the Maratha captains,