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Debendra K. DashDipti R. Pattanaik 29activity seems to have dwindled. Mughal rulers’ involvement withOrissa was confined to collecting revenue through their subedars.They neither participated in, nor contributed to, the cultural life ofthe people. Whatever translations we encounter in this region afterthe 17 th century were therefore undertaken at the religious centres orthe minor Gadajats or principalities under petty Oriya kings andzamindars.The focus of translation shifted to the south after 17 thcentury. The southern part of Orissa (from Chilika Lake onwards)had been occupied by Qutbsahi since the late 16 th century. Twocitations in Satyanarayana (1983) about the strategy behind theadministration of Qutbsahi rulers in general and their greatest rulerSultan Quli in particular, are worth quoting here:Further,(The Qutbsahi kings) believed that it was expedient toallow a large measure of freedom to the Hindus whoformed the bulk of the people subject to their rule, so thatthey might establish their power on firm and lastingfoundations. This fact perhaps explains why theycondemned the acts of intolerance perpetuatedoccasionally by some of their overzealous subordinates.Of all the Muslim dynasties that ruled India, the Qutbsahiof Golconda was the most enlightened. True, theyplundered and destroyed Hindu Temples in the enemy’sterritory during the course of invasions, but within theirown dominions the Hindus enjoyed a measure ofreligious freedom, not known in other Muslim kingdoms(516).