War and decline

Mughal rule was never unchallenged, and through the 17th century large parts of central and western India (part of the so-called Maratha confederacy) were at war with the Mughals, depleting their resources and weakening their authority. Aurangzeb, who was to inherit the throne in 1658, remained on campaign with up to 500,000 troops for 26 years, and even when he became emperor, was confronted with rebellion in the Rajput kingdoms (in the west) and of the Sikhs (to the north of Delhi).
On Aurangzeb's death in 1707, the Empire began a slow and steady decline and broke up into smaller kingdoms owing only nominal loyalty to their Mughal overlords. By the 1850s the Mughal emperor's power was largely confined to Delhi and its environs.The Mughal Empire was formally abolished by the British only in 1857 with the exile of the last emperor, and the execution of his heirs.