Aurangzeb (1658-1707)

Part oneThe road to the throne

Aurangzeb was born in 1618, the third son of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal. As a boy he was sent as a hostage to his grandfather's court. He studied the Quran, hadith and law, and from a young age he showed courage. At fifteen he rode out alone to face a charging war elephant in front of the court. He governed the Deccan and led armies to Central Asia and Qandahar.

His eldest brother, Dara Shikoh, was their father's favourite. Dara was a scholar with a deep interest in Sufism and in Hindu mysticism, and he translated Hindu scriptures into Persian. When Shah Jahan fell ill in 1657, all four brothers prepared for war. Aurangzeb beat Dara at Samugarh near Agra in 1658, confined his father, and defeated his other brothers. Dara was captured and, after a trial on charges of departing from Islam, executed in 1659. Aurangzeb took the title Alamgir, "conqueror of the world".

Part twoA devout ruler

Aurangzeb lived very differently from his father. He prayed in congregation, avoided wine, and memorised the Quran after becoming emperor. He copied Qurans and sewed caps by hand, and he said he paid for his own needs from their sale. He wanted the law, not the emperor's person, to rule. To that end he had scholars compile a great collection of Hanafi legal rulings, the Fatawa-i Alamgiri, finished around 1675. He held court every day to hear complaints. In 1671 he ordered the Badshahi Mosque at Lahore, for long one of the largest mosques in the world.

He also ended court customs that he saw as contrary to Islam, such as the emperor showing himself at a balcony for the people to view and being weighed against gold on his birthday. In 1679 he brought back the jizya on non-Muslims, from which Akbar had excused them. Some temples linked to rebels were destroyed. His relations with the Sikhs and with some Rajput clans broke down into war.

His reign is still argued over. Critics in India see him as harsh to Hindus. Others point out that he kept many Hindus in high office, more than any earlier Mughal, that he protected and gave grants to many temples, and that most of his conflicts had political causes. When asked to give government posts only to Muslims, he is reported to have answered, "What connection have earthly affairs with religion?" and quoted the Quran: "For you is your religion, and for me is mine."

From the Quran

لَكُمْ دِينُكُمْ وَلِىَ دِينِ ۝٦

You have your way, and I have my Way.”

Part threeThe Deccan

In the Deccan a new power had risen. Shivaji, a Maratha chief, built a state from mountain forts and raided Mughal lands, and in 1674 crowned himself an independent king. Aurangzeb came south in 1682 and never returned to the north. He took the sultanates of Bijapur in 1686 and Golconda in 1687, and in 1689 captured and executed Shivaji's son Sambhaji. The empire now covered almost the whole subcontinent.

But the Marathas fought on. They knew the hills and moved fast, while the emperor's camp was a moving city of tents. Every fort he took was soon lost again. After Shivaji's younger son Rajaram died in 1700, his widow Tarabai led the Marathas with great skill. The war drained the treasury, and the provinces of the north were left with little oversight. Aurangzeb kept his own sons from real power, afraid they would treat him as he had treated his father, and they grew up without experience.

He died at Ahmadnagar on 3 March 1707, at about the age of eighty-eight. In his last letters to his sons he wrote of regret and fear of facing his Lord. He asked to be buried simply, and his grave at Khuldabad is open to the sky, paid for, it is said, from the caps he sewed.

He asked for a simple grave open to the sky, paid for from the caps he had sewn by hand.

WatchThe lecture for this chapter

Lecture Al MuqaddimahAurangzeb, the Ornament of the Throne (opens on YouTube)

The mapWhere it happened

• Delhi
• Agra
• Lahore
• Samugarh
• Aurangabad
• Bijapur
• Golconda
• Raigarh
• Jinji
• Ahmadnagar
• Khuldabad

This map is a simple sketch to help you picture where events took place. Positions, distances and borders are approximate, so please use it for reference only, not as an accurate map.

SourcesSources for this chapter