the mughals were better

320 years ago, aurangzeb laid siege to golkonda and waited for nine long months to reclaim his divine right to determine everyone's rights in telangana. for the last four days, senior congress leaders from telangana have been camping in delhi, waiting for sonia gandhi, congress president, to grant them an audience. no, not to renegotiate with her and bring back at least some of the sovereignty that aurangzeb had spirited away but to reassure her of their undying loyalty if she grants statehood to telangana. for the people, obviously, it wouldn't mean much- definitely not what abul hasan qutb shah had staked his life for. it wouldn't mean more freedom to decide the course of their own lives. but for the courtiers, of course, it would mean license. an exclusive concession over telangana. in the good old days, most successful politicians were very good at this kind of behind the scenes intrigue, skullduggery...obsequiousness..abul hasan was one of the rare exceptions. so, aurangzeb respected him enough to come knocking at his door to seek his audience. and it also looks like aurangzeb respected people's sovereignty more- he knew he'd have to wage war to grab it.