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Synopsis To the vast majority of people of India the Mughal Empire was essentially a foreign Empire, and on that account could not expect to secure its existence upon a firm foundation of spontaneous popular supports. At its best, the Mughal Government sought no higher goal than the maintenance of internal order and the preservation of external peace. The life of the country centred in and was held together by the imperial Court. Consequently, when the administrative machine deteriorated and the Government proved incapable of fulfilling its police duties, and when at the same time the line of the Great Mughals degenerated into a succession of puppets, who were the sport and victims of contending factions; the Empire was deprived of the only factors contributing to its continued stability. The invasion of Nadir Shah involved the Mughal Empire in disgrace and dismemberment. It was, however, not a cause of the decline of the Empire, but one of the clearest symptoms of that decline. The thought-provoking essays contained in this book are judiciously selected from various authoritative sources which weave an authentic history of the period. Major topics elaborately dealt are: Decline of Mughal Power; Later Mughals; Nadir Shah's Invasion of India; Internal Condition of India in 1738-Rise and Progress of Nadirshah; Diwan Al-Insha (A Comparative Study of Medieval Egypt); Nadir Shah in Delhi : His Return; Trade Training in Saudi Arabia: A Strategy for the Eighties; Political Letters of Shah Wali Allah; India in Eighteenth Century; Medieval Indian Historiography etc.