Pemerintahan mughal bermula sekitar......... hingga... . pada masa ini

islam berkembang sangat pesat di india. terdapat banyak

pemerintahan mughal yang Berjaya membentuk Negara india hingga

menjadi sebuah Negara yang maju. Sumbangan pemerintah mughal

dapat dilihat dalam pelbagai aspek antaranya kesenian, keagamaan,

ketenteraan, politik dan ekonomi. Antara pemerintah mughal adalah

seperti Shah jahan, , akbarAurangzebdan lain-lain.

Kertas kerja ini hanya akan menjelaskan serba sedikit latar belakang

tokoh pemerintahan Aurangzeb pemerintah mughal yang keenam dan

sumbvangannya diera pemerintahannya.

Aurangzeb was the greatest king among the Mughals and ruled over

the largest territory of any ruler in Indian history. His empire extended

from Kabul in present Afghanistan to areas in South India bordering

Madurai in present Tamil Nadu State. He was a kind-hearted man and

led a simple life. He was a just ruler and forgave his enemies. He

abolished all non-Islamic practices at his court; abolished Ilahi calendar

introduced by Akbar and reinstated Islamic lunar calendar. He enforced

laws against gambling and drinking. He abolished taxes on

commodities and inland transport duties. He forbade the practice of

Emperor being weighed in gold and silver on birthdays. Aurangzeb did

not draw salary from state treasury but earned his own living by selling

caps he sewed and selling copies of the Quran he copied by hand.

2.1 Biografi

Miangul Aurangzeb, the last Wali Ahad (Crown Prince) of Swat State, was born May 28, 1928

in Saidu Sharif. He has served in the National Assembly of Pakistan as well as theGovernor of

Balochistan and later as Governor of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Miangul Aurangzeb was the heir apparent Wali Ahad to his father, Miangul Jahan Zeb the last Wali of

Swat State.

His wife, Begum Nasim Aurangzeb, was the daughter of Pakistan's first military dictator, General Ayub

Khan, and accompanied her father on state visits since her mother kept purdah.[1]His children are

Ishrat Aurangzeb, who is married to Nawabzada Khwaja Amanullah Askari, son of Nawab Khwaja

Hasan Askari the Nawab of Dhaka, Bangladesh see Dhaka Nawab Family, Fakhri Aurangzeb, who is

married to Miangul Akbar Zeb (High Commissioner of Pakistan to Canada), son of Miangul Alam Zeb

(brother of Miangul Aurangzeb), Crown PrinceMiangul Adnan Aurangzeb, Miangul Mahmood

Aurangzeb and Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb.

Abu Muzaffar Muhiuddin Muhammad Aurangzeb Alamgir (November 3, 1618 – March 3, 1707),

usually known as Aurangzeb, but also sometimes as Alamgir I (Alamgir means world conqueror),

was the ruler of the Moghul Empire from 1658 until 1707. He was and is a very controversial figure

in Indian history. Unlike his predecessors, Aurangzeb led a remarkably austere and pious life. Strict

adherence toIslam and Sharia (Islamic law)—as he interpreted them—were the foundations of his

reign. He backed up his faith with action, abandoning the religious tolerance of his predecessors,

especially Akbar the Great. During his reign many Hindu temples were defaced and destroyed, and

many Indians converted to Islam. This is controversial since the Qur'an forbids forceful conversion

(2:256) but Aurangzeb understood Q:5 as justifying, demanding the conversion of non-Muslims on

pain of death; "Then, when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters wherever ye find them,

and take them (captive), and besiege them, and prepare for them each ambush. But if they repent and

establish worship and pay the poor-due, then leave their way free. Lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful"

(Qur’an 9:5).

Aurangzeb for many represents an anti-hero, an example of someone whose rule exacerbated enmity

between different peoples and tended to divide person from person. His policies polarized India and

may have directly contributed to the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947 based on the idea that two

incompatible nations existed in India, one Hindu and one Muslim.

He set back, perhaps irrevocably, inter-communal relations in the sub-continent where the term

“communitarian” was first coined, which pits the respective interests of one community over-and-

against others, creating competition, rivalry, and positing inalienable difference between them. For

those whose vision for humanity is of a unified world in which difference is regarded as a positive not

as a negative asset, Aurangzeb's reign is an example of how progress can be reversed by the efforts

of someone whose view of what is right is exclusive and narrow. Aurangzeb used vast military might to

expand and consolidate the Mughal Empire, at high cost. His rule inspired revolt that he constrained

during his life, but which exploded and completely changed India after his death.

Early life

Aurangzeb (from Persian, اورنگزیب meaning "befitting the throne") was born Abu Muzaffar Muhiuddin

Muhammad Aurangzeb Alamgir, the third son of the fifth great Moghul emperor Shah Jahan (builder of

the Taj Mahal), on November 3, 1618. After a rebellion by his father, part of Aurangzeb's childhood

and early manhood was spent as a kind of hostage at his grandfather Jahangir's court.

After Jahangir's death in 1627, Aurangzeb returned to live with his parents. Shah Jahan followed the

Mughal practice of assigning authority to his sons, and in 1634 made Aurangzeb governor of the

Deccan. He moved to Kirki, which in time he renamed Aurangabad. In 1637, he married. During this

period the Deccan was relatively peaceful. In the Mughal court, however, Shah Jahan began to show

greater and greater favoritism to his eldest son Dara Shikoh.

In 1644, Aurangzeb's sister Jahanara Begum was seriously burnt in Agra. The event precipitated a

family crisis that had political consequences. Aurangzeb suffered his father's displeasure when

returning to Agra three weeks after the event. Shah Jahan dismissed him as governor. Aurangzeb

later claimed (1654) to have resigned the post in protest of his father favoring Dara.

Aurangzeb's fortunes continued in decline. In 1645, he was barred from the court for seven months.

After this incident, Shah Jahan appointed him governor of Gujarat. He performed well and was

rewarded. In 1647, Shah Jahan made him governor of Balkh and Badakhshan (near

modern Turkmenistan and Afghanistan), replacing Aurangzeb's ineffective brother Murad Baksh.

These areas were at the time under attack from a variety of forces. Aurangzeb's military skill proved

successful, and the story of how he spread his prayer rug and prayed in the midst of battle brought

him much fame.

He was appointed governor of Multan and Sind and began a protracted military struggle against the

Persian army in an effort to capture the city of Kandahar. He failed, and fell again into his father's

disfavor.

In 1652, Aurangzeb was again appointed governor of the Deccan. Both man and place had changed

in the interim. The Deccan produced poor tax revenue for the Mughals. As a youth in his previous

term, Aurangzeb ignored the problem, allowing state-sanctioned corruption and extortion to grow. This

time Aurangzeb set about reforming the system, but his efforts often placed additional burdens on the

locals, and were poorly received.

It was during this second governorship that Aurangzeb first recounts destroying a Hindu temple. He

also forbade the temple dancers (devadasis) from their practice of "sacred prostitution." In addition,

Aurangzeb's officers began treating non-Muslims harshly, and he defended these practices in letters

to Shah Jahan's court. These practices would become themes in Aurangzeb's rule as emperor.

In an effort to raise additional revenues, Aurangzeb attacked the border kingdoms of Golconda (near

Hyderabad) (1657), and Bijapur (1658). In both instances, Shah Jahan called off the attacks near the

moment of Aurangzeb's triumph. Even at the time it was believed that the withdrawals had actually

been ordered by Prince Dara, in Shah Jahan's name.

With his victory in the war of succession, Aurangzeb became the Emperor in 1658. Only coming to the throne, he styled himself as Alamgir by keeping his old father a prisoner, and by killing his brothers, he proved himself a man of merciless character.

In many respects, Aurangzeb was a remarkable man. Among the great Mughals, he possessed extraordinary personal qualities. In this private life, he was far from vices, pleasures and extravagance. He was so puritan that he abolished music from the royal court and dismissed the singers and musicians. He maintain high moral standard and lived a simple life. He devoted himself wholeheartedly to the affairs of the State. He remained dutiful till the sunset of his life.

Aurangzeb was deeply religious. To many Muslims, he appeared as a living saint, Zinda Pir. Even in the thick of battle, he could kneel down to pray when the time of prayer come.

But with all these personal qualities, he became a sad failure as a ruler. Though pure in private life, he could not rise above some grave defects of his character. He is suspicious of everybody. He gave no trust to others, and therefore received no trust. His heart and mind were too hard. He had no pity. People were afraid of him. He had no friends and advisers. As he worked hard to run the empire, he took all responsibilities upon himself. His fearful officers did not get opportunity to show their ability. The administration of a vast empire became a personal matter of the emperor.

The Mughal Empire reached its zenith under Aurangzeb. Its territorial extent became the largest. Yet the signs of decline became clear. For this, Aurangzeb’s

personal character was partly responsible. Side by side, his religious and political policies became largely responsible for the decline of the Empire.

2.2 Kehidupan Awal

2.3 Kemangkatan

Died – 1707 at the age of 88. Buried at Khuldabad, near

Daulatabad.  "On his deathbed he acknowledged his mistakes

and asked his successors to seek inspiration from the liberal

policies of his predecessors, and not from his" [Mughal India,

Splendours of the Peacock throne]

3 Accession to power – In 1658 seized the throne by killing all his brothers and imprisoning his father. Crowned in Shalimar Gardens, 5 miles north of Delhi.Formal coronation in June 1659.

4 Length of rule in India – Reigned 50 years. 1658 – 1707

3 DASAR PEMERINTAHANThe Mughals had for the most part been tolerant of non-Muslims, allowing them to practice their customs and religion without too much interference. Though certain Muslim laws had been in place during earlier reigns—prohibitions against Hindu temples, for example, or on the tax on non-Muslims (the Jizyah), enforcement by earlier emperors had been lax, encouraging a political tolerance toward non-Muslims.

Expansion of the empire

From the start of his reign up until his death, Aurangzeb engaged in nearly constant warfare. He built

up a massive army, and began a program of military expansion at all the boundaries of his empire.

Aurangzeb pushed into the northwest—into Punjab, and what is now Afghanistan. He also drove

south, conquering Bijapur and Golconda, his old enemies. He further attempted to suppress the

Maratha territories, which had recently been liberated from Bijapur by Shivaji.

But the combination of military expansion and political intolerance had far deeper consequences.

Though he succeeded in expanding Mughal control, it was at an enormous cost in lives and treasure.

And as the empire expanded in size, the chain of command grew weaker.

The Sikhs of Punjab grew both in strength and numbers in rebellion against Aurangzeb's armies.

When the tolerant Muslim kingdoms of Golconda and Bijapur fell beneath Aurangzeb's might,

rebellious Hindus flocked to join Shivaji and the Maratha Confederacy. For the last 20 years of his life,

Aurangzeb engaged in constant battles in the Deccan, at enormous expense.

Even Aurangzeb's own armies grew restive—particularly the fierce Rajputs who were his main source

of strength. Aurangzeb gave a wide berth to the Rajputs, who were mostly Hindu. While they fought for

Aurangzeb during his life, immediately upon his death they revolted against the empire.

With so much of his attention on military matters, Aurangzeb's political influence waned, and his

provincial governors and generals grew in authority.

Aurangzeb’s Religious Policy

Personal Orthodoxy- Aurangzeb was an orthodox Sunni Muslim. His extreme devotion to his own faith made him rigid in his outlook. He lacked vision, imagination and understanding in religious matters. To him, his own religion was the only true religion. Other faiths counted for nothing.

In the respect, he was just the opposite of Akbar. Akbar was pious Muslim, but he respected the religions of others. To him, the substances of all religions were same. All religions also pointed to the same goal. In India, as Akbar realized, the Hindus formed the vast majority of the population. Without their sympathy, the foundation of the Mughal Empire could never be strong. He, therefore, adopted a liberal policy towards the Hindus. As a result, the Hindus gave him their maximum support. The Mughal Empire thus received a secular national character. Akbar’s son Jahangir, and Grandson Shah Jahan followed that policy. The Mughal Empire thus completed a century of its grand existence.

But Aurangzeb abounded the wisdom of Akbar. This signaled a danger to the Empire. He fought the war of succession as the champion of orthodoxy against the liberal Dara. Coming to the throne, he thought it wise to follow a rigid Islamic policy. His mistake was that he looked at the Empire through the zeal for his faith.

The reign of Aurangzeb is rather cruel and Puritan. Alcohol, cannabis, court music and poetry and even the official court chronicles were banned. The traditional emperor’s morning audience to public was also left behind. Aurangzeb built vast mosques around the important Hindu temples at Mathura near Agra and Benares on the Ganges which could be the symbols of Islamic pressure on Hindus far from the earlier policy of Mogul tolerance. The withdrawal of jizya in 1679, the tax taken from the non-believers was the clear sign of Aurangzeb’s intolerance and he conducted a military campaign in the same year from Delhi to the Rajputs, once one of the most reliable Mogul’s allies.

Janahara , the forgiven sister of Aurangzeb died in September 1681 at the age of sixty-seven on the eighteenth month of Aurangzeb campaign. Rewarded with the title of Sahibat-uz-zamani –Mistress of the Age by his brother, Janahara, was buried in Delhi in a modest tomb covered with grass close to the grave of a Sufi saint according to her request.

Advantaging from the chaos in Marwar (Jodhpur) with the death of the raja, Augrenzeb easily captured the state and destroyed many Hindu temples, therefore, receiving the public’s hatred. The other Rajput state of Mewar(Upaipur) was Aurangzeb’s next concern. Akbar, the twenty-three year old son of Aurangzeb was positioned as commander. However he was not succeeded enough and consequently was dismissed from the army by Augrenzeb which was the reason for Akbar’s rebel. Supported by the Rajputs who have also common interest, Akbar gathered a powerful army together with his ally, but the army was broken apart by Aurangzeb’s clever written letters of conspiracy. Akbar escaped as refugee to Deccan in the south on the lands of Hindu Marathas who were not in good relationship with Augrenzeb. The previous chieftain, Shivaji killed Shaista Khan -the Mogul garrison and the brother of Mumtaz in 1663 while he was fighting as a guerrilla against the Mogul. He was known as the symbol of India’s independence struggles with his growing power on Deccan mountains. After the death of Shivaji, his son Shambuji was on duty a year before when Akbar sought refuge. Aurangzeb decided to occupy the enemy Muslim states of Bijapur and Golconda beforehand to ease the attack to the Marathas. He first invaded Bijapur after fifteen months of blockade in June 1685 and the next state of Golconda surrendered after eight month of siege. Meanwhile, Akbar managed to escape to Persia with the help of French merchants. But this could not prevent Augrenzeb’s eagerness to defeat the Marathas. Shambuji was captured and was killed torturously with the order of Augrenzeb, as because he did not give any clue of his treasure’s

location. The events during the reign of Augrenzeb undoubtedly reveal that the Mogul Empire, was become an occupying power as in the times of Babur by enlarging its borders not a tolerable empire anymore. Augrenzeb turned to the north to Ahmednagar on the east of Mumbai in October 1705 after sixteen years and died in February 21, 1707 and was buried in Khuldabad, about twenty miles from Ahmedabad in a modest tomb unlikely to the eye-catching monumental mausoleums of his parents due to his request

The Reign of Aurangzeb, 1658-1707

Aurangzeb was a well educated person with a strict religious orthodoxy. He had an acute sense of political realism and a fierce appetite for power. In the summer of 1659, Aurangzeb held a coronation durbar in the Red Fort where he assumed the title of Alamgir (World Conqueror). After a bitter struggle with his three brothers, Aurangzeb was the victor who took the throne.

Aurangzeb's harsh treatment of his brothers, Dara Shukoh, Shah Shuja and Murad Bakhsh, as well as of his father, Shah Jahan, is hard to justify. After having imprisoned his father, Aurangzeb was compelled during the first seven years of his reign to purchase the loyalty of Shah Jahan's amirs, writes Hambly. To provide plunder, Aurangzeb undertook aggressive frontier campaigns; these forays were generally unsuccessful.

Hambly writes that Aurangzeb maintained his court in the same manner as his father and grandfather. Like them, he celebrated the Nuruz (Persian New Year) and was publicly weighed against gold coins or precious stones.

As his predecessors had done, Aurangzeb appointed the Rajput chieftains to many of the highest offices of state where they worked side by side with Muslims, writes Hambly. But, continues Hambly, Aurangzeb eventually ended this practice. Bothered by Hindu and other Indian influences encroaching upon the Muslim state, Aurangzeb sought to bring Muslim orthodoxy to the empire.

Aurangzeb's policies totally alienated the Rajput element of the empire. Aurangzeb's inflammatory and discriminatory practices reached their zenith in 1679 when he re-imposed the jizya, a poll-tax on non-Muslims that had been abolished by Akbar.

Under Aurangzeb the Mughal empire reached its greatest extent, yet the emperor's puritanical outlook and his costly wars meant that the generous support given by his predecessors to learning and the arts was almost completely withdrawn.

Aurangzeb was, by temperament, an ascetic who avoided all forms of luxury and ostentation; he even refused to wear silk against his body. Aurangzeb limited his reading to works of theology and poetry of a devotional or didactic character, writes Hambly. And the emperor found both music and the representational arts to be distasteful.

Aurangzeb had none of his father's passion for the arts and architecture. Only a few monuments in Delhi are associated with Aurangzeb's name. These constructions, note Hambly, include the two massive outer defenses or barbicans protecting the gateway of the Red Fort and the exquisite Moti (Pearl) Mosque at Delhi. This mosque was built inside the palace to provide the emperor with a place for private prayers.

The decoration of this mosque, note Blair and Bloom, is made noteworthy by its exuberant floral carvings. The vases with stems of flowers fill the spandrels and spreading tendrils echo the cusps of the arches which culminate in a fleur-de-lys. In this exquisite mosque, continue Blair and Bloom, the realistic floral motifs that had been typical of the Shah Jahan period became increasingly abstract.

The most impressive building of Aurangzeb's reign, write Blair and Bloom, is the Badshahi (Imperial) Mosque which was constructed in 1674 under the supervision of Fida'i Koka. This mosque is adjacent to the fort at

Lahore. The Badshahi is the last in the series of great congregational mosques in red sandstone and is closely modeled on the one Shah Jahan built at Shahjahanabad, note Blair and Bloom. The red sandstone of the walls contrasts with the white marble of the domes and the subtle intarsia decoration. The materials depart from the local tradition of tile revetment that is seen in the Mosque of Vazir Khan. According to Blair and Bloom, the cusped arches and arabesque floral patterns inlaid in white marble give the building, despite its vast proportions, a lighter appearance than its prototype.

Additional monuments from this period are associated with women from Aurangzeb's imperial family, writes Hambly. The construction of the elegant Zinat al-Masjid in Daryaganij was overseen by Aurangzeb's second daughter Zinat al-Nisa. The delicate brick and plaster mausoleum in the Roshan-Ara-Bagh in Sabzimandi was for Aurangzeb's sister Roshan-Ara who died in 1671. Unfortunately, the tomb of Roshan-Ara and the beautiful garden surrounding it were neglected for a long time and are now in an advanced state of decay.

Of all the men who sat upon the throne in Delhi no name evokes such an image of somber grandeur as that of Aurangzeb. His rule, which stretched across nearly half a century of Indian history, ended with his death in 1707. Despite Aurangzeb's personal hostility to the arts and his removal of the seat of government to the south, Delhi remained an artistic and cultural center and the foremost city of the empire.

Abu Muzaffar Muhiuddin Muhammad Aurangzeb (3 November 1618 - 3 March 1707), also known as Alamgir I (Seizer of the Universe), was the ruler of the Mughal Empire from 1658 until 1707. He is commonly considered the last of the great Mughal emperors.

Aurangzeb (from Persian, اورنگ زیب meaning "suitable for the throne") was the third son of Emperor Shah Jahan. Shah Jahan, himself the child and grandchild of Hindu mothers was relatively relaxed in his pratice of Islam. He had liberally incouraged his eldest son Dara Shikoh to follow in the steps of Akbar-e-Azam. Dara was an accomplished poet and devoted Sufi, who was favored for succession.

Aurangzeb had fallen under the influence of the Ulama who believed in a more rigid form of Islam. Beginning in 1657, upon the severe illness of his father, Aurangzeb challenged his brother to the succession. He claimed that Dara Shikoh was a habitual gambler, had drinking problems and was an atheist. Shah Jahan who had given Dara his blessings, gave Dara the royal treasury at Delhi. Dara hastily used the treasure to raise an army which would soon prove to be no match for the well trained professional forces of Aurangzeb. Aurangzeb who had been repeatedly humiliated by his brother's influence with his father at court, had, as well, the support of his youngest brother and his forces. Despite strong support from Shah Jahan, who had recovered enough from his illness to remain a strong factor in the struggle for supremacy, Dara was defeated. He attempted to rally support after this defeat, but was betrayed and turned over to his brother. Dara Shikoh's severed head was presented to Aurangzeb, the story goes that Aurangzeb had the severed head taken to their father to be served to the old man in a dish. Aurangzeb also killed another of his brothers who had supported Dara.

AurangzebImprisonment of Shah Jahan

In July 1658 he put his father under house arrest in Agra Fort limiting his authority. Shah Jajan's access to his costumes and jewels was limited, his food was cut back, he was finally confined to one room from which he could at least view the Taj Mahal, he was never to see any of his sons again. His only company was his daughter Jahanara. It is said the major reason for putting his father under house arrest was that Shah Jehan wanted to build another Taj Mahal, a black one this time. But recent research has found that their was a black Tag in the garden across the Yamuna. One whose 'Black Taj' could be seen reflected in a large tank in the garden. Aurangzeb was to waste much of the Mogul fortune of his forbearers in endless wars in the Deccan suporting an army of more than a million men.

The Selafist of His Time?

Before Aurangzeb, Indian Islam had been influenced by mystical Sufi precepts. But based on his conservative interpretation of Islamic principles, Aurangzeb propagated a less mystical, more severe form of Islam. People were forcefully converted to Islam.

Aurangzeb became fascinated with conservative interpretations of the Qur'an, which he set about codifying. According to Aurangzeb's interpretation, Islam did not allow music, so he banished court musicians, dancers and singers. Further, based on Muslim precepts forbidding images, he stopped the production of

representational artwork, including the Persianate Mughal miniature painting that had reached its zenith before his rule. He even stopped the practice of his morning appearance on the balcony of the Laal Qila.

In 1675, Aurangzeb publicly executed the ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji. Sikh history states that Guru Tegh Bahadur sacrificed himself to save the Hindu Pandits of Kashmir who, had been threatened with death if they refused to accept conversion to Islam. The execution marked a turning point for Sikhism. His son the successor Guru Gobind ji (later Guru Gobind Singh ji) further militarised his followers with the inception of the Khalsa. After the death of his mother and four sons who were martyred in the events put into motion when the Sikhs were betrayed after leaving the fortified city of Anandpur Sahib, by the forces of the Mughals and those of their Rajput neighbors, who had laid siege to their city, Gobind Singh sent Aurangzeb his letter the Zafarnama (Notification of Victory) that questioned the Emperor's Godliness, while indicting his deceit and treachery. Sikhs believe this document caused Aurangzeb to realize his many mistaken policies and lose the will to live, leading to his death in 1707.

He was suceded by his son Bahadur Shah who t Rather than keeping with the tribal beliefs of the vendetta that that the region holds to, even today, the young Guru lent his support and his soldiers to help Aurangzeb's son Bahadur (later Bahadur Shah) win the Mughal throne in the battles that ensued after Aurangeb's death.

A modern exhibit

Below is a link to a recent exhibit in Bangalore titled Aurangzeb, as he was According to Mughal Records, An Exhibit mounted by fact.

The exhibition contains, and is based on Farmans, original edicts issued by Aurangzeb, preserved at the Bikaner Museum, Rajasthan, India

Aurangzeb, as he was according to Mughal Records

Aurangzeb: The Intolerant

(1658-1707)

By most accounts, Aurangzeb was a warrior with an axe to grind. Much less tolerant of other religions than his great-grandfather Akbar, Aurangzeb spent much of his time making enemies with the Hindus of northern India. He removed the tax-free status that Akbar had granted the Hindus, destroyed their temples, and crushed their vassal states that had previously enjoyed semi-independent status.

Aurangzeb was a conqueror from the start, having deposed his father Shah Jehan and mercilessly executed his brother, Crown Prince Dara Shukoh. And for the next 49 years, he pushed his kingdom's territory to its high water mark, expanding into the far south of India through the Deccan plain. But not unlike the empire of his renown ancestor Ghengis Khan, Aurangzeb was unable to maintain this overbloated domain. The vastness of the empire strained its army, its bureaucracy, and its economy, and when Aurangzeb died in 1707, the empire was near the point of implosion. His successor and son, Bahadur Shah, was so old by the time Aurangzed died, he only managed to live a few more years before passing on the throne again. But at this point in time, the government had become so weak, the empire became an easy target of invasion and explotation, first by the Persians, and then by the British.

With the ascension of the British Raj in India, the Mughals' time as absolute monarchs was near an end. In 1803, Raj forces captured both Delhi and Agra, and the Mughals themselves became vassals of the British. By 1858, they had burnt themselves out - the last Moghul Sultan, Bahadur Shah II, sided against the British during the Sepoy Mutiny, and when the British regained control, Bahadur Shah II was exiled, his monarchy abolished, and his heirs executed. The glory that was once the Mughal empire was now but a faint memory.

Aurangzeb's Architectural Legacy:

Moti Masjid (Delhi Fort), Delhi (1659)Burj-i-Shamali (Delhi Fort), DelhiBadshahi Mosque, Lahore (1674)Bibi ka Maqbara, Aurangabad (1678)Zinat-ul-Masjid, Delhi (1710)Safdar Jang's Tomb, Delhi (1753-4)Zafar Mahal, Hira Mahal (Delhi Fort), Delhi (1842)Gate to Zafar Mahal (Mehrauli), Delhi (c. 1850)

Aurangzeb

Born: 3-Nov-1618Birthplace: Dhod, Malwa, IndiaDied: 3-Mar-1707Location of death: AhmadnagarCause of death: unspecified

Gender: MaleReligion: MuslimRace or Ethnicity: Asian/IndianSexual orientation: StraightOccupation: Royalty

Nationality: IndiaExecutive summary: Mogul Emperor

Aurangzeb, one of the greatest of the Mogul emperors of Hindustan, was the third son of Shah Jahan, and was born in November 1618. His original name, Mahommed, was changed by his father, with whom he was a favorite, into Aurangzeb, meaning ornament of the throne, and at a later time he assumed the additional titles of Mohi-eddin, reviver of religion, and Alam-gir, conqueror of the world.

At a very early age, and throughout his whole life, he manifested profound religious feeling, perhaps instilled into him in the course of his education under some of the strictest Mahommedan doctors. He was employed, while very young, in some of his father's expeditions into the country beyond the Indus, gave promise of considerable military talents, and was appointed to the command of an army directed against the Uzbeks. In this campaign he was not completely successful, and soon after was transferred to the army engaged in the Deccan. Here he gained several victories, and in conjunction with the famous general, Mir Jumla, who had deserted from the king of Golconda, he seized and plundered the town of Hyderabad, which belonged to that monarch.

His father's express orders prevented Aurangzeb from following up this success, and, not long after, the sudden and alarming illness of Shah Jahan turned his thoughts in another direction. Of Shah Jahan's four sons, the eldest, Dara, a brave and honourable prince, but disliked by the Muslims on account of his liberality of thought, had a natural right to the throne. Accordingly, on the illness of his father, he at once seized the reins of government and established himself at Delhi. The second son, Shuja, governor of Bengal, a dissolute and sensual prince, was dissatisfied, and raised an army to dispute the throne with Dara. The keen eye of Aurangzeb saw in this conjuncture of events a favorable opportunity for realising his own ambitious schemes.

His religious exercises and temperate habits gave him, in popular estimation, a great superiority over his brothers, but he was too politic to put forward his claims openly. He made overtures to his younger brother Murad, governor of Gujarat, representing that neither of their elder brothers was worthy of the kingdom, that he himself had no temporal ambition, and desired only to place a fit monarch on the throne, and then to devote himself to religious exercises and make the pilgrimage to Mecca. He therefore proposed to unite his forces to those of Murad, who would thus have no difficulty in making himself master of the empire while the two elder brothers were divided by their own strife. Murad was completely deceived by these crafty representations, and at once accepted the offer. Their united armies then moved northward.

Meanwhile Shah Jahan had recovered, and though Dara resigned the crown he had seized, the other brothers professed not to believe in their father's recovery, and still pressed on. Shuja was defeated by Dara's son, but the imperial forces under Jaswant Singh were completely routed by the united armies of Aurangzeb and Murad. Dara in person took the field against his brothers, but was defeated and compelled to fly. Aurangzeb then, by a clever stroke of policy, seized the person of his father, and threw him into confinement, in which he was kept for the remaining eight years of his life.

Murad was soon removed by assassination, and the way being thus cleared, Aurangzeb, with affected reluctance, ascended the throne in August 1658. He quickly freed himself from all other competitors for the imperial power. Dara, who again invaded Gujarat, was defeated and closely pursued, and was given up by the native chief with whom he had taken refuge. He was brought up to Delhi, exhibited to the people, and assassinated. Shuja, who had been a second time defeated near Allahabad, was attacked by the imperial forces under Mir Jumla and Mahommed, Aurangzeb's eldest son, who, however, deserted and joined his uncle. Shuja was defeated and fled to Arakan, where he perished; Mahommed was captured, thrown into the fortress of Gwalior, and died after seven years' confinement.

No similar contest disturbed Aurangzeb's long reign of forty-six years, which has been celebrated, though with doubtful justice, as the most brilliant period of the history of Hindustan. The empire certainly was wealthy and of enormous extent, for there were successively added to it the rich kingdoms of Bijapur and Golconda, but it was internally decaying and ready to crumble away before the first vigorous assault. Two causes principally had tended to weaken the Mogul power. The one was the intense bigotry and intolerant policy of Aurangzeb, which had alienated the Hindus and roused the fierce animosity of the haughty Rajputs. The other was the rise and rapid growth of the Mahratta power. Under their able leader, Sivaji, these daring freebooters plundered in every direction, nor could all Aurangzeb's efforts avail to subdue them.

For the last twenty-six years of his life Aurangzeb was engaged in wars in the Deccan, and never set foot in his own capital. At the close of the long contest the Mogul power was weaker, the Mahratta stronger than at first. Still the personal ability and influence of the emperor were sufficient to keep his realms intact during his own life. His last years were embittered by remorse, by gloomy forebodings, and by constant suspicion, for he had always been in the habit of employing a system of espionage, and only then experienced its evil effects. He died on the 3rd of March 1707 at Ahmadnagar, while engaged on an extensive but unfortunate expedition against the Mahrattas.

Father: Shah JahanBrother: DaraBrother: ShujaBrother: MuradSon: Mahommed

Aurangzeb: A Political History

[See also "Aurangzeb: Religious Policies"; "Aurangzeb, Akbar, and the Communalization of History" ; Mughal Empire; Shivaji; "Shivaji and the Politics of History"]

The four sons of the Mughal Emperor , Shah Jahan, all laid claim to the throne when their father fell seriously ill in 1658. Each had considerable administrative experience and military skills, each commanded a considerable military force, and each had a loyal following. Dara Shikoh (1615-58), the eldest son, was resident at Shah Jahan's court as the designated heir; Shuja was Governor of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa;

Aurangzeb governed the Deccan; and Murad was Governor of Gujarat and Malwa. Dara's forces were defeated by Aurangzeb, who occupied the imperial capital of Agra; and Aurangzeb took his own father prisoner. Shuja's army was routed in battle; and Murad was lured into a false agreement and taken prisoner. Dara eventually collected together another force, suffered defeat as before, and once again he fled; but soon he was betrayed by one of his allies, and handed over to his brother. Accused of idolatry and apostasy from Islam, Dara was condemned to death, and the sentence was carried out on the night of 30 August 1659, one year after

Shuja, Aurangzeb, and Murad Bakhsh: Mughal Miniature,38.7 x 26 cm. c. 1637. Attributed to Balchand. Coll: British Museum.

(Click image for a large view.)

Aurangzeb took over the Fort at Agra and assumed the throne. Aurangzeb delivered the head of his brother to their father.

Aurangzeb Alamgir ("World Conqueror"), whose reign lasted for forty-nine years until his death in 1707, conducted vigorous military campaigns to extend the frontiers of the vast Mughal empire which he had inherited. Both in the northwest and northeast, the imperial armies gained ground, but the losses, which were very considerable, drained the treasury. Already under his father, the revenue of the crops had been raised from a third to a half, and the extensive and interminably long military campaigns he waged required him to keep the peasantry heavily taxed. Some notable victories were likewise achieved in the Deccan. Aurangzeb retained Shahjahanabad as his capital, but after some two decades the capital, in a manner of speaking, shifted to wherever Aurangzeb would set camp during his long military campaigns, which in the Deccan alone lasted some 26 years and perhaps cost him his life. Aurangzeb's mobile army consisted of some 500,000 camp followers, 50,000 camels, and 30,000 war elephants; and when this gargantuan force moved, bands of Maratha guerrillas would strike the rear, attacking the stragglers and fleeing with booty.

A considerable part of Aurangzeb's energies were consumed in keeping his numerous opponents at bay, and he had to deal with the Rajputs, the disloyalty of his son Akbar, and the Sikhs, whose leader, Guru Tegh Bahadur Singh, was killed at Aurangzeb's command when he refused to convert to Islam. Neither could Aurangzeb forgive the Sikhs for having supported his brother and principal rival, Dara. The most effective opposition to his rule, however, came from the Marathas, whose chief, Shivaji, could not be contained. Only Shivaji's premature death at the age of 53, in 1680, appeared to offer the Mughal Emperor some relief, but that very year the Rajputs of Jodhpur and Mewar forged an alliance against Aurangzeb and declared themselves free from his sovereignty. The army that Aurangzeb sent under his son Akbar to subdue them was formidable, but the emperor had perhaps not reckoned with his son's traitorous conduct. However, Akbar, who had rather vainly declared himself the emperor, was compelled to flee to the Deccan, where he enlisted the help of Shivaji's son, Sambhaji. Aurangzeb decided to take to the field himself, and eventually drove his own son into exile in Persia, from where Akbar never returned. The Sultanates of Bijapur and Golconda were also reduced to utter submission, and Sambhaji was captured in 1689 and tortured before being murdered.

Towards the end of his reign, Aurangzeb's empire began to disintegrate, a process which would be considerably accelerated in the years after his death, when "successor states" came into existence. Aurangzeb's harsh treatment of Hindus, and the reversal of the liberal religious policies of his predecessors, particularly Akbar, have been cited as principal reasons for the disintegration of his empire. [For a more detailed consideration, see the accompanying article on "Aurangzeb and the Encounter with Religion."] More likely, the peasantry was bled to death, and the system of political alliances established by Akbar was allowed to go to seed. The empire had become far too large and unwieldy, and Aurangzeb did not have enough trustworthy men at his command to be able to manage the more far-flung parts of the empire. Many of the his political appointees broke loose and declared themselves independent, and Aurangzeb's preoccupation with affairs in the Deccan prevented him from meeting political challenges emanating from other parts of the empire. Shortly after the death of Aurangzeb, the Mughal Empire ceased to be an effective force in the political life of India, but it was not until 1857-58, when the Indian Rebellion was crushed and the Emperor Bahadur Shah was put on trial for sedition and treason, that the Mughal Empire was formally rendered extinct.

Further Reading:

Richards, John. The Muhgal Empire. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993; Indian ed., Delhi: Foundations Books, 1995. New Cambridge History of India, I:5.

AURANGZEB: RELIGIOUS POLICIES

[See also "Aurangzeb: A Political History"; "Aurangzeb, Akbar, and the Communalization of History"; Mughal Empire]

The disintegration of the Mughal Empire followed rapidly after the death of Aurangzeb in 1707. During his long reign of 49 years, Aurangzeb had done much to extend the frontiers of the empire he had inherited from his father, Shah Jahan, but the extensive military campaigns he conducted, particularly in the Deccan, created a

severe financial drain on his resources. The burden of oppressive taxation fell on the peasantry, and political feudatories who owed their positions to Aurangzeb were constantly breaking loose from the emperor's control. But more often than not, it is the religious policies pursued by Aurangzeb that have been cited as one of the principal reasons for Aurangzeb's undoing, and among many Hindus the name of Aurangzeb evokes the same passionate hatred as do the names of Mahmud of Ghazni and Muhammad of Ghori. With the ascent of the Hindu right to political power in India, a great many people have been emboldened to further attack Aurangzeb. A brief consideration of Aurangzeb's policies, consequently, is in order, but not only to understand the nature of his reign, or the state of Hindu-Muslim relations in India over a period of time, important as are these questions; it is also imperative to ask questions about how our histories are written and how notions of 'minority' and 'majority' get constructed and become part of the political vocabulary.

A year after he assumed power in 1658, Aurangzeb appointedmuhtasaibs, or censors of public morals, from the ranks of theulema or clergy in every large city. He was keen that the sharia or Islamic law be followed everywhere, and that practices abhorrent to Islam, such as the consumption of alcohol and gambling, be disallowed in public. But he was at the outset faced with one problem, namely that the treatment he had meted out to his own father, subjecting him to imprisonment, was scarcely consistent with the image he sought to present of himself as a true believer of the faith. Accordingly, Aurangzeb sought recognition of his ascent to the Mughal Emperor's throne from the ruler of the holy places in the Hijaz, and he became a great patron of the Holy Places. He is reported as well to have spent seven years memorizing the Koran, and unlike his predecessors, his reign was marked by austerity. The monumental architecture that characterized the reigns of Akbar and Shah Jahan -- the Agra Fort, Fatehpur Sikri, the Taj Mahal, Shahjahanabad, among others -- held little interest for Aurangzeb, and similarly the musicians who had adorned the courts of his predecessors were dismissed.

From the standpoint of Aurangzeb's Hindu subjects, the real impact of his policies may have started to have been felt in 1668-69. Hindu religious fairs were outlawed in 1668, and an edict of the following year prohibited construction of Hindu temples as well as the repair of old ones. Also in 1669, Aurangzeb discontinued the practice, which had been originated by Akbar, of appearing before his subjects and conferring darshan on them, or letting them receive his blessings as one might, in Hinduism, take the darshan of a deity and so receive its blessings. Though the duty (internal customs fees) paid on goods was 2.5%, double the amount was levied on Hindu merchants from 1665 onwards. In 1679, Aurangzeb went so far as to reimpose, contrary to the advice of many of his court nobles and theologians, the jiziya or graduated property tax on non-Hindus, and according to one historical source, elephants were deployed to crush the resistance in the area surrounding the Red Fort of Hindus who refused to submit tojiziya collectors. The historian John F. Richards opines, quite candidly, that "Aurangzeb's ultimate aim was conversion of non-Muslims to Islam. Whenever possible the emperor gave out robes of honor, cash gifts, and promotions to converts. It quickly became known that conversion was a sure way to the emperor's favor" (p. 177).

It can scarcely be doubted, once the historical evidence is weighed, that the religious policies of Aurangzeb were discriminatory towards Hindus, Sikhs, and other non-Muslims. Nonetheless, numerous inferences have been drawn from the literature which are not warranted by the historical record. Though many historians have written of conversions of Hindus, surprisingly little, if any, evidence has been offered to suggest how far the conversion of Hindus took place, and whether there was any official policy beyond one of mere encouragement that led to the conversion of Hindus. Then, as now, conversion would have been more attractive to the vast number of Hindus living under the tyranny of caste oppression, and it isn't clear at all how the kind of inducements that Aurangzeb offered -- if indeed he did so for the purposes of conversion, as Richards maintains -- are substantially different from the inducements that modern, purportedly secular, politicians offer to people in their electoral constituencies. And what of the popular representation of Aurangzeb as a ferocious destroyer of Hindu temples and idols? Hindu temples in the Deccan were seldom destroyed, notwithstanding Aurangzeb's extensive military campaigns in that area. True, in north India, some Hindu temples were undoubtedly torn down, but much work needs to be done to establish the precise circumstances under which these acts of destruction took place. The famed Keshava Rai temple in Mathura was one such temple, but here Aurangzeb seems to have been motivated by a policy of reprisal, since the Jats in the region had risen in revolt. Like his predecessors, Aurangzeb continued to confer land grants (jagirs) upon Hindu temples, such as the Someshwar Nath Mahadev temple in Allahabad, Jangum Badi Shiva temple in Banaras, and Umanand temple in Gauhati, and if one put this down merely to expediency, then why cannot one view the destruction of temples

as a matter of expediency as well, rather than as a matter of deliberate state policy? Moreover, recent historical work has shown that the number of Hindus employed as mansabdars, or as senior court officials and provincial administrators, under Aurangzeb's reign rose from 24.5% in the time of his father Shah Jahan to 33% in the fourth decade of his own rule. One has the inescapable feeling that then, as now, the word 'fanaticism' comes rather too easily to one's lips to characterize the actions of people acting, or claiming to act, under the name of Islam. It is also notable that as a firm Sunni, Aurangzeb dealt as firmly with the Shia kingdoms of Bijapur and Golconda as he did with the Hindus or Muslims. One can safely assert that Aurangzeb acted to preserve and enhance the interests of his own Muslim community, and restored the privileges of the Sunni ulema, but his actions with respect to the Hindus, Shias, and others are more open to interpretation.

Suggested Reading:

Ali, M. Athar Ali. The Mughal Nobility Under Aurangzeb. Bombay: Asia Publishing House, 1968.

Chandra, Satish. "Reassessing Aurangzeb", Seminar, no. 364: Mythifying History (December 1989).

Mukhia, Harbans. "Medieval Indian History and the Communal Approach", in Romila Thapar, Harbans Mukhia, and Bipan Chandra, Communalism and the Writing of Indian History. New Delhi: People's Publishing House, 1969.

Richards, John F. The Mughal Empire. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993; Indian ed., Delhi: Foundation Books, 1995. New Cambridge History of India, I:5.

Aurangzeb, Akbar, and the Communalization of History

[see also Aurangzeb: A Political History; Aurangzeb: Religious Policies; Mughal Empire]

In Indian history, the syncretistic and communalist viewpoints have conventionally been represented, to take one case in point, by offering a contrast between the lives of the two emperors under whom the Mughal Empire was at its zenith, Akbar (reigned 1556-1605) and Aurangzeb(reigned 1658-1707). Akbar is often adduced as an example of the tolerant ruler, whose policies demonstrate that though he himself was a Muslim, the state was not Islamic. Some have even pointed to him as a 'secular' ruler, when scarcely any monarch in Europe was such, and his advocacy of a new faith, the Din-i-ilahi, which combined elements from various religions, exemplifies the ecumenism with which he is associated. "He looked upon all religions alike", writes Tara Chand, "and regarded it his duty to make no difference between his subjects on the basis of religion. He threw upon the highest appointments to non-Muslims." [1] Though it is admitted that he may have forged political and military alliances with Hindu rulers from considerations of expediency, other historians allude to more enduring signs of his real commitment to religious harmony and interest in different faiths, such as his marriage to Rajput women, his scholarly interest in epics such as the Ramayana, and his zeal in promoting Hindu learning. Historians point to Akbar's elimination of the jizya (poll-tax) usually levied on non-Muslims and his assumption of final authority on religious questions on which there might have been conflict of opinion among Muslim theologians, thereby undermining the authority of the ulama (Muslim clergy). Describing Akbar's success as "astonishing", Jawaharlal Nehru gave it as his opinion, in a work that places him among the ranks of historians, that Akbar "created a sense of oneness among the diverse elements of north and central India." [2]

The commonplace view of Aurangzeb, on the other hand, is that he repudiated Akbar's policies of religious toleration, and by alienating Hindus he undermined the very empire whose tremendous expansion he masterminded. Nehru maintained that Aurangzeb had "put the clock back", undoing what his predecessors had achieved by working against the "genius of the nation" and ignoring the common culture that had been forged among the different elements of the Indian population. "When Aurangzeb began to oppose this movement [of synthesis] and suppress it and to function more as a Moslem than an Indian ruler," Nehru argued, "the Mughal

Empire began to break up." But where Nehru saw Aurangzeb as a "bigot and an austere puritan" whose policies were instrumental in creating unease and dissent, and Tara Chand deplored his "misdirected efforts" which caused "irreparable damage" to the "great edifice of the empire", [3] many Indian historians have been inclined to take a much harsher view of Aurangzeb's conduct. In this they were to follow the lead supplied by Jadunath Sarkar, whose 1928 biography of Aurangzeb in four volumes bequeathed the view of Aurangzeb that still predominates in the popular imagination. Sarkar suggested that Aurangzeb intended nothing less than to establish an Islamic state in India, an objective that could not be fulfilled without "the conversion of the entire population to Islam and the extinction of every form of dissent"; and to render this scenario more complete, he proposed that the jizya (poll-tax) on non-Muslims, which Aurangzeb had re-instituted in 1679, was aimed at forcibly converting Hindus to Islam, though he was unable to marshal evidence to substantiate this view. [4]

If Aurangzeb was so ferocious a communalist, why is it, some historians have asked, that the number of Hindus employed in positions of eminence under Aurangzeb's reign rose from 24.5% in the time of his father Shah Jahan to 33% in the fourth decade of his own rule? They suggest, moreover, that Aurangzeb did not indiscriminately destroy Hindu temples, as he is commonly believed to have done so, and that he directed the destruction of temples only when faced with insurgency. This was almost certainly the case with the Keshava Rai temple in the Mathura region, where the Jats rose in rebellion; and yet even this policy of reprisal may have been modified, as Hindu temples in the Deccan were seldom destroyed. The image of Aurangzeb as an idol-breaker may not withstand scrutiny, since there is evidence to show that, like his predecessors, he continued to confer land grants (jagirs) upon Hindu temples, such as the Someshwar Nath Mahadev temple in Allahabad, Jangum Badi Shiva temple in Banaras, Umanand temple in Gauhati, and numerous others. [5] On the other hand, one might argue, if Akbar was so dedicated to the principle of religious harmony, why is it that none of the Mughal princesses were ever allowed to marry into Rajput households? And while he may have propagated a new syncretistic faith, how was it received by ordinary Muslims? Moreover, do not both the supporters of Akbar and critics of Aurangzeb presume that relations between Hindus and Muslims are to be inferred by studying the lives of rulers, or at best members of the ruling class? What, in any case, is really conceded when it is admitted that Akbar was tolerant towards other faiths to the same extent that Aurangzeb was only solicitous of the welfare of his Muslim subjects? As the historian Harbans Mukhia has argued, "Once one accepts that the liberal religious policy of Akbar was only the reflection of his own liberal outlook, the conclusion becomes inescapable, for instance, that the fanatic religious policy of Aurangzeb flowed from his fanatic disposition." [6] If Aurangzeb sought to convert members of important Hindu families to Islam, all the more to ensure the preservation of his empire, why should that serve as a basis for the presumption that a wholesale conversion of Hindus was a matter of state policy? By what method of transference is it possible to construe that conflicts among the ruling elite are conflicts at the broader social level? In the debate over the nature of the Indian past, then, particularly with respect to Hindu-Muslim relations, Akbar and Aurangzeb were to become, as they still are, iconic figures.

Notes:

[1] Tara Chand, History of the Freedom Movement, 4 vols (New Delhi: Government of India, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Publications Division, 1961-72), 1:111-12.

[2] Jawaharlal Nehru, The Discovery of India (Calcutta: Signet Press, 1946; reprint ed., Delhi: Oxford University Press/Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund, 1981), p. 270.

[3] Ibid., p. 265, 271; Tara Chand, History of the Freedom Movement, 1:112.

[4] J. Sarkar, History of Aurangzeb, 4 vols. (Calcutta, 1928), 3:249-50, cited by Satish Chandra, "Reassessing Aurangzeb", Seminar, no. 364: Mythifying History (December 1989), p. 35.

[5] This paragraph draws upon M. Athar Ali, The Mughal Nobility Under Aurangzeb (Bombay: Asia Publishing House, 1968), pp. 30-32; Chandra, "Reassessing Aurangzeb", pp. 35-38; and B. N. Pandey's comments in Parliamentary Debates, Rajya Sabha, Vol. 102 (29 July 1977), col. 127. See also Sita Ram Goel, "Some historical questions", Indian Express (16 April 1989), p. 8.

[6] Harbans Mukhia, "Medieval Indian History and the Communal Approach", in Romila Thapar, Harbans Mukhia, and Bipan Chandra, Communalism and the Writing of Indian History (New Delhi: People's Publishing House, 1969), p. 29.

And

¤ The Death of Shah Jhan

Now the great emperor was in the custody of his son Alamgir Aurangzeb. At the end of his life, Shah Jahan found himself right in the middle of one of the messiest battles for succession in Indian history and certainly the worst in Mughal history. It all began on September 1657 when Shah Jahan fell ill. The prognosis was not very optimistic and things deteriorated at such speed that the emperor felt compelled to make his will and testament. The air was rife with rumours; everyone had a different version about the emperor’s health. and then came the day when they started whispering that Shah Jahan was dead. All the four claimants to Shah Jahan’s throne were the children of the same mother – although one would never have guessed it from their temperaments and their determination to make it to the throne.

¤ The Four Competitor To The Throne

In 1657, Dara Shikoh was 43, Shah Shuja 41, Aurangzeb 39 and Murad 33. All of them were governors of various provinces: Dara was the governor of Punjab, Murad of Gujarat, Aurangzeb of the Deccan and Shah Shuja of Bengal. Two of them emerged as clear frontrunners in the race: Dara Shikoh and Aurangzeb.

¤ Dara, The Eldest Son

Dara, the eldest and most famous of them all, was a celebrated and popular scholar. Manucci tells us that he was handsome man of ‘…dignified manners… joyous and polite in conversation, ready and gracious speech of most extraordinary liberty.’ Dara’s spiritual quest led him to both Sufis and Vedantists. He had the Upanishads translated into Persian and took active part in religious debate – a fact that made orthodox Muslim clerics denounce him as a heretic. The major problem with Dara was that he was of uncertain disposition. His temper was violent and his general manner with people was haughty and supercilious. Dara’s track record in battle however did not match up with his intellectual prowess. He wasn’t much of a statesman either. The only sound he liked to hear was ‘Yes’. But what mattered, however, was that Dara was his father’s favorite.

¤ Aurangzeb-The Ablest of Shah Jahan;s Sons

Aurangzeb was without doubt the ablest of Shah Jahan’s sons. His credentials both in battle and administration were impeccable. Time and again he had demonstrated that he could keep a cool head under crisis. In matters of planning he believed in keeping secrets from even his best friends. He was also an orthodox Muslim - of the oldest school possible - which made him a hot favorite with the clergy. However like most over-competent supermen, Aurangzeb seemed to suffer from a lack of sense of humour and took himself entirely too seriously. According to one contemporary observer, his life was, ‘…austere and laborious and he never seems to have indulged in a holiday.’

¤ Shah Shuja and Murad Not Serious Contenders

The other brothers, Shah Shuja and Murad, were never serious contenders to the throne. Shah Shuja has been

likened to Dara Shikoh. Minus the haughtiness and plus the single-mindedness of purpose. Unfortunately, that single-mindedness often manifested itself in the pursuit of wine and women. Shuja further weakened his case by converting to Shiaism. Murad, though a fearless and doughty warrior, was far from intelligent.

¤ Aurangzeb's Move Towards The Throne

As stated earlier, the actual events that unfolded around Shah Jahan’s illness were confused. Aiding and abetting the confusion with every word and gesture was the favorite son Dara Shikoh, who had his own axe to grind. The news, as Aurangzeb got it, was that the old emperor was dead and that Dara was acting with great speed to ensure that he ascended the throne. Aurangzeb moved with his customary caution and secrecy towards the capital. He, along with Murad, were met in battle twice by the Mughal armies, acting on Dara Shikoh’s behalf. He beat them each time while moving on relentlessly towards Agra where Shah Jahan was convalescing.

When Shah Jahan heard of Aurangzeb’s advance, he expressed a wish to meet Aurangzeb and talk to him. It was the emperor’s belief that upon seeing him alive, his son would turn back. Clearly the old king had been ailing only in body and not in mind, for certainly the appearance of Shah Jahan himself would have laid to rest the whole issue of succession. Even the most ardent of Aurangzeb’s supporters would have had second thoughts about openly defying the great Mughal’s authority.

However Dara Shikoh did not share his father’s belief. He was not so sure that Aurangzeb would meekly go back once the king had reassured him. In panic he let on that he was the heir apparent. Within a year Aurangzeb had all his brothers out of the way, his father permanently in custody at the Agra Fort (Shah Jahan hung on for eight years before dying in 1666) and was firmly entrenched on the Mughal throne.

¤ Scholars Write About Aurangzeb

If Shah Jahan has been over-romanticized by scholars, his son and successor Aurangzeb has been unduly denigrated. Aurangzeb, it seems, could do nothing right. Later writers were to contrast his bigotry with Akbar’s tolerance, his failure against the Marathas with Akbar’s success against the Rajputs - in fact he has been set up as the polar opposite of everything that earned one the Akbarian medal of genius. One writer has said about him, ‘His life would have been a blameless one, if he had no father to depose, no brothers to murder and no Hindu subjects to oppress.’

¤ Aurangzeb-A Ruler of Single Largest State In India

This picture of him has left such an impact on popular imagination that even today he is regarded as the bad guy, the evil king of the Mughal regime who slayed all Hindus and Sikhs. Hardly anyone remembers that he governed India for nearly as long as Akbar did (over 48 years) and that he left the empire larger than he found it. In fact Aurangzeb ruled the single largest state ever in Indian history, with the exception of British India.

¤ An Efficent Ruler of Statecraft

Aurangzeb’s rise to power has been criticized as being ruthless. However it was no more so than that of others of his family. His brothers wouldn’t have spared him if he had spared them. He succeeded not because he was crueler but because he was more efficient and more skilled in the game of statecraft and dissimulation.

Once established he showed himself a firm and capable administrator who retained his grip on power till his death at the age of 88. True, he lacked the magnetism of his father and great-grandfather, but he commanded an awe of his own. In sharp contrast to the rest of the great Mughals, Aurangzeb was simple and even austere in private life. He was an orthodox Sunni Muslim who thought himself a model Muslim ruler.

¤ Two Major Era's of His Rule

Aurangzeb’s reign can be divided into two almost equal portions. The first 23 years were largely a continuation of Shah Jahan’s administration with an added footnote of austerity. Marathas, Jats, tribesmen in the far northwest were all kept firmly in check. The emperor sat in pomp in Delhi or progressed in state to Kashmir for the summer. From 1681 he virtually transferred his capital to the Deccan where he spent the rest of his life in camp, superintending the overthrow of the two remaining Deccan kingdoms in 1686-7 and trying fruitlessly to crush the Maratha rebellion. The assured administrator of the first period became the embattled, embittered old man of the second. Along with the change of occupation came a dramatic metamorphosis of character. The scheming and subtle politician became an ascetic, spending long hours in prayer, fasting and copying the Quran, and pouring out his soul in tortured letters. Yet he remained very much the grand Mughal and never lost his grip on power. It was said that his eldest surviving son in Kabul never received a letter from his father without trembling. The Mughal ogre of popular historians was in fact both an able statesman and a subtle and highly complex character.

It was in the second or the Deccan phase of his career that Aurangzeb began to drift towards complete intolerance of Hindus. Earlier his devotion to Islam had very rarely taken the form of religious bigotry. He had done things like sending and receiving emissaries from far flung Muslim countries and dignitaries and prohibiting the use of the kalima (sacred verse) on coins (so that non-Muslims may not touch it). Aurangzeb discontinued the practise of jharokha darshan (lit. window view; the emperor used to present himself at a window from where he would listen to his subjects who could address their grievances directly to him) which Akbar had started because he thought that it promoted human worship. But so far there was nothing that actively harmed the Hindus.

¤ Aurangzeb Developed A Complete Intolerance To Hindus.

The Deccan, however, took its toll on him and he seemed to have permanently lost his temper there. Aurangzeb actively started adopting measures to oppress Hindus. It was now that he began having Hindu temples destroyed. This was a very different king from the one who had ordered in February 1659: ‘It has been decided according to our cannon law that long standing temples should not be demolished… our Royal Command is that you should direct that in future no person shall in unlawful ways interfere with or disturb the Brahmins and other Hindu residents in those places.’

¤ Hindu's Started Concerting Themselves Into Muslims

Sometimes the fanaticism took absurd forms. For instance, a diktat was issued that no Hindu, except Rajputs and Marathas, could ride an Iraqi or Turani horse. However in the end it was re-imposition of the infamous jaziya (tax on infidels) that hurt the Hindu and Sikh subjects of Aurangzeb the most. The idea was to hurt the so-called infidels enough to make them convert to Islam. Those who did convert were welcomed to the Mughal fold and rewarded with high offices. In fact a sizeable chunk of Hindus in the government converted. They did so not only because their jobs were in danger (Aurangzeb, to break the Hindu monopoly over the revenue and other departments, banned hiring of Hindus), but also to escape various taxes levied on non-Muslims, especially the jaziya. In the latter half of Aurangzeb’s reign there were few Hindus in high offices.

¤ Aurangzeb Developed Enemies For Himself.

In his misguided zeal to promote Islam, Aurangzeb made many fatal blunders and needless enemies. He alienated the Rajputs - whose valuable and trusted loyalty had been won so hard by his predecessors - to such an extent that they revolted against him. Eventually he managed to make peace with them but he could never be easy in his mind about Rajputana again, a fact that hampered his Deccan conquest severely. Next he made bitter enemies with the Sikhs and the Marathas. Things came to such a head that Guru Tegh Bahadur, the 9th Guru of the Sikhs, was first tortured and then executed by Aurangzeb for not accepting Islam; a martyrdom

which is mourned to this day by the Sikh community. The 10th Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Govind Singh, then raised an open banner of revolt against Aurangzeb.

Prelude to Aurangzeb's Reign

Shah Jahan was a bigoted Muslim and a confirmed nepotist. He provided for the imperial princes before anyone else in the matter of administrative and judicial postings regardless of age, capability and talent. He also started the practice of conferring the cream of the offices on each prince; like Dara Shikoh was made the governor of Punjab and Multan, Aurangzeb was appointed governor of all the four provinces of the Deccan and so on. This might have been just a clever way to keep them occupied, but that was not how the nobility viewed it. The nobles saw this, and rightfully so, as an obstacle in the path of their promotions.

However, the end of Shah Jahan's reign did not live up to the beginning; it saw one of the messiest battles of succession (also see History in Delhi) that Indian history ever witnessed. In September 1657, Shah Jahan fell ill. The prognosis was so unoptimistic that the rumors had it that the emperor was dead. This was enough to spark off intense intrigue in the court. All the four claimants to Shah Jahan's throne were the children of the same mother � although one would never have guessed that from their temperaments and their determination to make it to the throne.

In 1657, Dara Shikoh was 43, Shah Shuja 41, Aurangzeb 39 and Murad 33. All of them were governors of various provinces: Dara was the governor of Punjab, Murad of Gujrat, Aurangzeb of the Deccan and Shah Shuja of Bengal. Two of them emerged clear frontrunners in the battle for the throne quite early: Dara Shikoh and Aurangzeb.

Aurangzeb was with doubt the ablest of Shah Jahan's sons and a clear favorite for the throne. His credentials both in battle and administration were legendary. He was also an orthodox Muslim of the oldest school possible, which made him a hot favorite with the clergy.

As stated earlier, the actual events, which unfolded around Shah Jahan�s illness, were confused. Aiding and abetting the confusion with every word and gesture, for his own aims and purposes, was the favorite son Dara Shikoh. Aurangzeb did not waste much time. Acting on Dara Shikoh's behalf, Aurangzeb along with Murad met the Mughal armies twice in battle, and beat them each time while moving on relentlessly towards Agra, where Shah Jahan was convalescing.

When Shah Jahan heard of Aurangzeb's advance, he expressed a wish to meet Aurangzeb and talk to him. It was the emperor's belief that upon seeing him alive, his son would turn on his heels and go back. Clearly the old king had been ailing only in body and not in mind, for certainly the appearance of Shah Jahan himself would have laid to rest the whole issue of succession. Even the most ardent of Aurangzeb's supporters would have had second thoughts about defying the great Mughal's authority openly.

However, Dara Shikoh lacked the potentate's easy confidence in his son. He was not so convinced that Aurangzeb would meekly go back to where he had come from once the king had reassured him. In panic he also gave out that he was the heir-apparent.

So with suspicion and rumours ruling the day and power having the last laugh, Aurangzeb was the most amused of them all. Within a year he had all his brothers out of the way, father permanently in custody in the Agra Fort (where he hung on for eight years before dying in 1666) and was firmly entrenched on the Mughal throne.

If Shah Jahan has been over-romanticized by scholars, his son and successor Aurangzeb has been unduly denigrated. Aurangzeb, it seems, could do nothing right. Later writers were to contrast his bigotry with Akbar's tolerance, his failure against the Marathas rebels with Akbar's successes against the Rajputs; in fact he has been set up as the polar opposite of everything that earned one the Akbarian medal of genius. One writer has said about him, rather tongue-in-cheek, "His life would have been a blameless one, if he had no father to depose, no brothers to murder and no Hindu subjects to oppress."

This picture of him has left such an impact on popular imagination that even today he is regarded as the bad guy of the Mughal

regime, the evil king who slayed all Hindus and Sikhs. Hardly anyone remembers that he governed India for nearly as long as Akbar did (over 48 years) and that he left the empire larger than he found it. In fact, Aurangzeb ruled the single largest state ever in Mughal history.

Aurangzeb's rise to the throne has been criticised as being ruthless. However, he was no crueler than others of his family. He succeeded not because he was crueler but because he was more efficient and more skilled in the game of statecraft with its background of dissimulation; and if it's any consolation, he never shed unnecessary blood. Once established, he showed himself a firm and capable administrator who retained his grip of power until his death at the age of 88. True, he lacked the magnetism of his father and great-grandfather, but commanded an awe of his own. In private life he was simple and even austere, in sharp contrast to the rest of the great Mughals. He was an orthodox Sunni Muslim who thought himself a model Muslim ruler.

Aurangzeb's Reign

Aurangzeb's reign really divides into two almost equal portions.

The first twenty-three years were largely a continuation of Shah Jahan's administration with an added footnote of austerity. The emperor sat in pomp in Delhi or progressed in state to Kashmir for the summer. From 1681 he virtually transferred his capital to the Deccan where he spent the rest of his life in camp, superintending the overthrow of the two remaining Deccan kingdoms in 1686-7 and trying fruitlessly to crush the Maratha rebellion. The assured administrator of the first period became the embattled, embittered old man of the second. Along with the change of occupation came a dramatic metamorphosis of character. The scheming and subtle politician became an ascetic; spending long hours in prayer, fasting and copying the Quran, and pouring out his soul in tortured letters. It was in the second or the Deccan phase of his career that Aurangzeb began to drift towards complete intolerance of Hindus. Earlier his devotion towards Islam had very rarely taken the form of any religious bigotry. Now all that changed � the very king who had ordered in February 1659 that "It has been decided according to our cannon law that long standing temples should not be demolished� our Royal Command is that you should direct that in future no person shall in unlawful ways interfere with or disturb the Brahmins and other Hindu residents in those places" became a total fanatic.

In this zealousness to promote the cause of Islam, Aurangzeb made many fatal blunders and needless enemies. He alienated the Rajputs, whose valuable and trusted loyalty had been so hard won by his predecessors, so totally that they revolted against him. Eventually he managed to make peace with them, but he could never be easy in his mind about Rajputana again, a fact that hampered his Deccan conquest severely. Then, he made bitter enemies in the Sikhs and the Marathas. Things came to such a head that Guru Teg Bahadur, the 9th Guru of the Sikhs was at first tortured and then executed by Aurangzeb for not accepting Islam; a martyrdom which is mourned to this day by the Sikh community. The 10th Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Govind Singh then raised an open banner of revolt against Aurangzeb.

No, Great-grandfather Akbar would certainly not have approved or been amused. He would have raised his imperial eyebrows at such a royal mess and sharply rebuked Aurangzeb for squandering away what he had worked so hard to achieve. Deccan or no Deccan.

Aurangzeb ended his lonely embittered life in Aurangabad in 1707. Perhaps with relief, but surely with much grief too for surely he knew that with him set the glorious sun that was the Mughal dynasty.

Many directly blame Aurangzeb and his destructive policies, which eroded the faith of the subjects in the Mughals for this. However, this is by far an overstatement. Whatever might have been Aurangzeb's policies, he remained very much the emperor till his dying breath in 1707. True, his policies did lead to resentment; even at the end of Shah Jahan's reign the rot had set in. Aurangzeb in fact tried to stop it and did a good band-aid job for a little while, but then things just went haywire with his persistent Deccan devil.

Deccan wrung Aurangzeb the man, the king, the father and the believer out of all softer emotions and decorum. He simply lost all sense of balance. He alienated a sizeable portion of his subjects along with allies and employees and made completely unnecessary enemies, which cost his successors dearly. He tried during his lifetime to put down rebellions all over his empire

(the Marathas, the Sikhs, the Satnamis and the Rajputs) by one hand while trying to take Deccan with the other. However, it was like trying to put out a wild fire. Ultimately, it was these alternative power blocs, which were cropping up all over the country that sped up the fall of the Mughals. Not to mention the foreign powers who were already among those present: the British stretching their legs in Calcutta, the Portuguese in Goa and the French testing waters in the South.

Of course, it did not help matters that the successors of the great Mughals were weak and unworthy of their forefathers. But that was bound to happen some time or the other, wasn't it? So, from the late-18th century the field was wide open for any new power that wanted to try to set up shop in India.

This was the time when a certain East India Company suddenly realized that they had stumbled upon a gold mine.Ancient India History | Medieval India History | Modern India History

Aurangzeb - The Last Great Ruler of The Mughal Dynasty

BALDEV BISHNOI

HISTORY

Aurangzeb was the sixth Mughal (Moghul) emperor (r. 1658–1707). He ruled for 49 years as Emperor Alamgir (conqueror of the universe); he was the last great ruler of the Mughal dynasty, but left the empire economically exhausted and widely disaffected.

As Shah Jahan aged, his sons openly rebelled against him. The winner was the 44-year-old Aurangzeb, who imprisoned Shah Jahan and killed all three of his brothers. His personal strengths included widespread administrative and military experience, strict frugality in personal life, and devotion to work. He curbed corruption and took measures to improve agriculture. A strict and devout Muslim, he was also a bigot who had no tolerance of other religions and persecuted their followers. Thus began his troubles, which also contributed to the disintegration of the Mughal Empire. He ordered Hindu schools closed, had many Hindu temples destroyed, and ousted many Hindus from government service. Although he could not eliminate all Hindus from government, no Hindu under him rose to high positions. The last straw for Hindus was the reinstatement of the poll tax and other harsh taxes on non-Muslims, which had been dropped under his ancestor, Emperor Akbar.

Aurangzeb’s religious policy contributed to the growth of revivalist Hinduism, a mixture of religion and what may be termed protonationalism. It began in southern India under Shivaji, who rebelled in 1662, heading the Maratha Confederacy. Long and costly campaigns failed to end the Marathas’ insurgency. In 1683, the Rajputs, powerful Mughal supporters, also revolted, even attracting one of Aurangzeb’s sons to their cause. While his lieutenants led the campaigns against the Marathas and Rajputs, Aurangzeb took personal charge of a drawnout war in the south, where he had been viceroy under his father. His objective was to subdue the two remaining independent kingdoms of the Deccan, beginning in 1683. He was militarily successful, with the result that the Mughal Empire under Aurangzeb extended from Kabul in the north to Cape Comorin to the south. However, the wars left the empire financially exhausted and the overtaxed peasants in revolt. Moreover, his total 28 Aurangzeb preoccupation with the campaign and absence from the capital had left the administration neglected.

Aurangzeb died in 1707 at the age of 89. Because he ascended the throne after killing his brothers, he trusted no kinsman and kept all power in his own hands. His religious bigotry alienated Hindus and his focus on subduing rebels and expanding the empire left him unaware of the new shift of power among Europeans in India and the passing of maritime supremacy from the Portuguese to the English. His Muslim generals served him faithfully in his life, but rose to usurp his inept sons’ inheritance after his death. Mughal power soon declined and fell.

Aurangzeb

Aurangzeb

Jahan's son Aurangzeb was the last great Mughal Emperor.

Itimad-ud-Daulah's tomb in Agra is considered a landmark in Mughal architecture ©History's verdict on Aurangzeb largely depends on who's writing it; Muslim or Hindu.

Aurangzeb ruled for nearly 50 years. He came to the throne after imprisoning his father and having his older brother killed.

He was a strong leader, whose conquests expanded the Mughal Empire to its greatest size.

Aurangzeb was a very observant and religious Muslim who ended the policy of religious tolerance followed by earlier emperors.

He no longer allowed the Hindu community to live under their own laws and customs, but imposed Sharia law (Islamic law) over the whole empire.

Thousands of Hindu temples and shrines were torn down and a punitive tax on Hindu subjects was re-imposed.

In the last decades of the seventeenth century Aurangzeb invaded the Hindu kingdoms in central and southern India, conquering much territory and taking many slaves.

Under Aurangzeb, the Mughal empire reached the peak of its military power, but the rule was unstable. This was partly because of the hostility that Aurangazeb's intolerance and taxation inspired in the population, but also because the empire had simply become to big to be successfully governed.

The Muslim Governer of Hydrabad in southern India rebelled and established a separate Shi'a state; he also reintroduced religious toleration.

The Hindu kingdoms also fought back, often supported by the French and the British, who used them to tighten their grip on the sub-continent.

The establishment of a Hindu Marathi Empire in southern India cut off the Mughal state to the south. The great Mughal city of Calcutta came under the control of the east India company in 1696 and in the decades that followed Europeans and European - backed by Hindu princes conquered most of the Mughal territory.

Aurangzeb's extremism caused Mughal territory and creativity to dry up and the Empire went into decline. The Mughal Emperors that followed Aurangzeb effectively became British or French puppets. The last Mughal Emperor was deposed by the British in 1858.