Aurangzeb Info

Aurangzeb, who won the war of succession, ascended the throne in
1658. He killed all his three brothers one by one and imprisoned his
father Shahjahan at Agra.
By doing so he proved himself as a man of merciless character. His

full name was Muhi-ud-din Muhammad Aurangzeb. He was born
on 3rd November, 1618. He ascended the throne in 1658 at the age
of just 40 years. He ruled for long 50 years which was up to the end
of 1707.
During his long reign, the Mughal empire reached its territorial
climax. It stretched from Kashmir in the north to Jinji in the South,
and from the Hindu Kush in the west to Chittagong in the east.
Aurangzeb was a man of extraordinary ability, strict discipline and a

hard working. He was remarkable on many respects. He possessed
extraordinary personal qualities. He led a very simple life and
maintained high moral standard. He was far from pleasures, vices
and extravagance. He was so puritan that he abolished music from
the court and dismissed the singers and musicians.
As he was a hardworking ruler, he devoted himself whole heartedly

to the affairs of the state. He remained dutiful till the end of his
reign. He was a strict disciplinarian who did not spare his own sons.
He was deeply religious. He was an orthodox and God-fearing
Muslim. Even in the thick of the battle, he could kneel down to pray
when the time for prayer came. Thus he was regarded by many
Muslims as a zinda pir or a unity saint.
Religious Policy:
Aurangzeb was an orthodox Sunni Muslim who did not have any
faith on the other religions except his own. To him, his own religion
was the only true religion. In this respect, he was just the opposite
of his great grandfather Akbar. Akbar had taken liberal stand in the
matters of religion as a result he had obtained the support of the
Hindus. Jahangir and Shahjahan also maintained the policy of
Akbar.
As a result the Mughal empire completed a century without much
trouble. But Aurangzeb abandoned the wisdom of Akbar and
instead of it he followed a rigid Islamic policy which annoyed the
Hindus who constituted the main bulk of the society.
This signaled a danger to the empire. He imposed restrictions on

religious practices of other communities. The Hindus for example,
could not attend their religious festivals freely.
Festivals like Deepavali were prohibited in the cities. The Hindus

could not get official appointment as before as he gave appointment
not on merit but on religious considerations. The Rajput’s who used
to enjoy higher posts were deprived of their post and honour.
He discontinued the popular system, the Jharoka Darshana which

shattered the faith of the Hindus on the emperor. He also abolished
the use of kalama or the Muslim confession of faith on the coins so
that men of other faiths should not touch it. Officers called
muhtasibs were appointed to regulate the lines of the people in
strict accordance with the Holy law.
Further he committed the blunder by reimposing Zaziya on Hindus.

By its revival, Aurangzeb lost the loyalty of the Hindus. He
restricted people to be in possession of arms, horse elephant and
palaquin. Thus by taking rigid religious measures Aurangzeb invited
troubles for himself and paved the way for the decline of the Mughal
Empire. The Gokla, Raja Ram and Churaman revolted against him.
Then the Hindus of Bundekhand and Malwa took up arms under
their leader Chhatrasal Bundela. He defeated the Mughal soldiers
repeatedly. He created an independent territory for himself.
Rise of the Sikh Power:

Aurangzeb’s religious measures forced the Sikhs, a peaceful
religious community to take up arms against him. Guru Nanak Dev
was the founder of the Sikh faith. He preached the unity of all
religions and the brotherhood of all men. One of his successors
named Guru Ram Das was a Contemporary of the emperor, Akbar.
Akbar showed him deep respect and granted him lands in Amritsar
for religious purposes. It was emperor Jahangir who disrespected
the Sikhs by executing Guru Arjun Dev for an insignificant reason.
When Jahangir’s eldest son prince Khusrau revolted against his
father and fled towards Punjab, Guru Arjun Singh gave him some
money as an act of charity in his distress without having any
political motives. But he was accused of treason against the emperor
and was executed.
His Rajput Policy:

It is a fact that the Mughal empire existed for a long time due to
Akbar’s sound Rajput policy. The Rajput’s were the bravest of the
Indian people in medieval times. Akbar made friendship with them
as a mark of foresighted statesmanship. The Mughal empire
reached its territorial zenith due to the support of the Rajput’s. Even
during the time of Jahangir and Shahjahan, the Rajput’s remained
as the friends of the Mughals. But Aurangzeb just did the opposite.
He suspected the Rajput’s and destroyed their independence.
He attached the state of Marwar first whose king Raja Jaswant

Singh was loyal to the Mughal empire and just died in the Frontier
while on duty in 1678. Aurangzeb wanted to occupy the kingdom of
the dead Raja by capturing his infant son Ajit Singh with his
mother. This enraged the Rathors of Marwar who rescued the queen
and the child from the hands the Mughals with typical Rajput
valour.
They took up arms against Aurangzeb under their brave leader

Durgadas to uphold their independence. In the mean while, the
Rana of Mewar, Raj Singh took up arms against the Mughals
protesting the religious policy of Aurangzeb and the reimposition of
the hated ziziya. Thus began the Rajput war against Aurangzeb.
While the war was in progress, the Marathas in the Deccan created
problems for the Mughal emperor. Leaving a hostel Rajputana
behind, Aurangzeb marched to South to suppress the Marathas.
Little did he know that the Deccan would prove a death trap for
him. The Rajput’s on the other hand continued their struggle
against the emperor.
The Deccan Policy of Aurangzeb:

Right from the time of Akbar, the Mughal emperors were following
the Deccan policy traditionally. Aurangzeb followed this policy as a
matter of legacy. During the time of Aurangzeb the Deccan situation
was completely different due to the rise of Marathas under the
brave leadership of Shivaji. He was Aurangzeb’s worst enemy. He
had defeated the Mughals on a number of accessions.
Shivaji created an independent Maratha state in the south. As long

as Shivaji was alive, Aurangzeb did not proceed to fight against him.
But when Shivaji died in 1680, the emperor felt relaxed. Shambhuji,
the son of Shivaji, was not so capable like his father. Now
Aurangzeb was inspired enough to attack and destroy Shambhuji at
the earliest

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Aurangzeb, who won the war of succession, ascended the throne in

By doing so he proved himself as a man of merciless character. His

Aurangzeb was a man of extraordinary ability, strict discipline and a

As he was a hardworking ruler, he devoted himself whole heartedly

This signaled a danger to the empire. He imposed restrictions on

Festivals like Deepavali were prohibited in the cities. The Hindus

He discontinued the popular system, the Jharoka Darshana which

Further he committed the blunder by reimposing Zaziya on Hindus.

Rise of the Sikh Power:

His Rajput Policy:

He attached the state of Marwar first whose king Raja Jaswant

They took up arms against Aurangzeb under their brave leader

The Deccan Policy of Aurangzeb:

Shivaji created an independent Maratha state in the south. As long

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