BAHADUR'S SHORT REIGN 177 councils. His great object was to settle affairs in the Deccan so as to be free to deal with the many troubles in Hindustan. Fortunately, there was a split among the Marathas, and two claimants to the chief com- mand, one of whom, the rightful heir, was a captive in the Moghul camp. This Sahu was released by Baha- dur, who recognized his title on conditions of peace. Leaving the Marathas to arrange their own differences, the emperor went north and made terms with the insurgent Rajputs, practically restoring them to the position they had held in Akbar's reign. The terms might have been less favourable if Bahadur's anxieties had not been concentrated on a new danger. The Sikhs, who had begun about two centuries before as a purely religious sect of theists, had been driven by Moslem persecution to form themselves into a military organization, with distinctive uniform, customs, and ceremonies; and by the close of the seven- teenth century they had developed into a fierce and fanatical soldiery, burning to avenge the atrocities suffered by their leader, Guru Govind, at the hands of the Moslems. The general confusion at the time of Aurangzib's death gave them their opportunity. From their retreats on the upper Sutlaj they raided the eastern Panjab, butchering their enemies, men, women, and children, and destroying the mosques. A second raid, as far as Lahore and even Delhi, brought Bahadur into the field. He drove them to the hills, but without materially shaking their power; and then, unfortunately, he died in 1712. Short as his reign had
