Abstract: This study examines the political developments along the North-West Frontier of India during the 17th century, focusing on Mughal efforts to maintain authority and the resistance they faced. The region, stretching from Multan to Kabul, was strategically important for trade and defense but remained difficult to control due to its rugged terrain and powerful tribal groups. Mughal rulers from Babur to Aurangzeb used military campaigns, fortifications, diplomacy, and subsidies to secure the frontier. Despite these measures, Afghan tribal uprisings, the loss of Qandahar to the Safavids, and growing Sikh militarization under Guru Hargobind, Guru Tegh Bahadur, and Guru Govind Singh consistently weakened Mughal influence in Punjab and Kabul. Regional identities, coupled with socio-economic discontent, further strengthened opposition to imperial rule. By the early eighteenth century, the Safavid decline and the rise of independent Afghan powers deepened instability, resulting in the weakening of Mughal control over the frontier.