As we all know, the Mughal Empire, under Emperor Aurangzeb practically unified India during the late 17th century with Aurangzeb's successor as Emperor of the Mughal Empire Bahadur Shah I strengthened the Mughal Empire and helped solidify it's grip over India, helping the Mughal/Indian Empire survive the encroaching European powers advancing into India, but what if the Mughals didn't more or less unify India? What PODs might have been necessary for that? Aurangzeb doing away with religious tolerance (he was well-known as a very devout Muslim historically)? The Marathas being luckier? A combination of the two?
DBWI: Mughal Empire doesn't unify India
- Thread starter Whiteshore
- Start date
longsword14
Banned
Well, the inevitable collapse of Mughal power in India might not have been as complete. Signs of overstretch were present even as Aurangzeb was involved in the Long War, and contrary to pop history Mughal rule did not actually manage a better grip, it only made the religious divide much worse. The resulting wars in the 18th century led to the destruction of the empire and the Sikh Empire laying the base for its energetic rule in Punjab.
OOC: The OP implies the Mughal Empire didn't collapse into a civil war and survived encroaching European powers.
I guess you'd want to avoid Aurangzeb appointing Mu'azzam as his northern regent. Mu'azzam proved to be quite competent in administering the north, later becoming Emperor Bahadur Shah I after his father's death, and he decided to repeal his father's intolerant measures because he deemed them failures. Perhaps if Aurangzeb did not do this, imperial neglect would cause rebellions in the north, which would mean he would have to stop his conquests early.
longsword14
Banned
OOC: The OP did not specify the time period of surviving. You can last until the 19th century but you could still be a puppet of others. "Survived" only to be humiliated and turned into Qin China. Seems the most likely.