One reason is financial. At its peak the Mughal empire was the largest economy in the world. Estimated to be about 25% of global GDP. That's close to the position US occupies in the modern world.
Exactly abuse of citations is a much more prevalent and sinister issue and has been for a long time. Fake citations are of course bad but only tip of the iceberg.
That is the actual trick. To master one trick so well that you can spot anywhere its hiding. Unfortunately, this takes a long time, which is why most mathematicians can only do it for a couple of tricks in their lifetime