Aurangzeb

Abu Muzaffar Muhiuddin Muhammad Aurangzeb Alamgir (November 3, 1618 – March 3, 1707), usually known as Aurangzeb, but also sometimes as Alamgir I, was the ruler of the Mughal Empire from 1658 until 1707. He was and is a very controversial figure in Indian history.

Rise to throne

Early life

Aurangzeb (from Persian, ????????? meaning "befitting the throne") was the third son of the fifth great Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (builder of the Taj Mahal.) 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.

Related Topics:
Persian - Mughal - Shah Jahan - Taj Mahal - Jahangir

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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.

Related Topics:
1627 - 1634 - Deccan - Aurangabad - 1637 - Dara Shikoh

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

Related Topics:
1644 - Jahanara Begum - Agra - 1654

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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.

Related Topics:
1645 - Gujarat - 1647 - Balkh - Badakhshan - Murad Baksh

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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.

Related Topics:
Multan - Sind - Kandahar

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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.

Related Topics:
1652 - Deccan

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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.

Related Topics:
Hindu - Devadasis

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

Related Topics:
Golconda - 1657 - Bijapur - 1658

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War of succession

Shah Jahan fell ill in 1657, and was widely reported to have died. With this news, the struggle for succession began. Aurangzeb's eldest brother, Dara Shikoh, was regarded as heir apparent, but the succession proved far from certain.

Related Topics:
Shah Jahan - 1657 - Dara Shikoh

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On news of the Shah Jahan's supposed death, his second son, Shah Shuja declared himself emperor in Bengal. Imperial armies sent by Dara and Shah Jahan soon restrained this effort, and Shuja retreated.

Related Topics:
Shah Shuja - Bengal

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Soon after, however his youngest brother Murad Baksh, with secret promises of support from Aurangzeb, declared himself emperor in Gujarat.

Related Topics:
Murad Baksh - Gujarat

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Aurangzeb, ostensibly in support of Murad, marched north from Aurangabad, gathering support from nobles and generals. Following a series of victories, Aurangzeb declared that Dara had illegally usurped the throne. Shah Jahan, determined that Dara would succeed him, handed over control of the empire to Dara.

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A series of bloody battles followed, with troops loyal to Aurangzeb battering Dara's armies. Aurangzeb's forces surrounded Agra. Fearing for his life, Dara departed Agra for Delhi, leaving Shah Jahan. The old emperor surrendered the Red Fort of Agra to Aurangzeb's nobles, but Aurangzeb refused any meeting with his father, declaring that Dara was his enemy.

Related Topics:
Agra - Delhi - Red Fort

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In a sudden reversal, Aurangzeb then had Murad arrested. Murad's supporters fled to Aurangzeb.

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Meanwhile Dara gathered his forces, and set up an alliance with Shuja. But the key commander of Dara's armies, the Rajput general Jai Singh, defected to Aurangzeb, along with many thousand Rajput soldiers.

Related Topics:
Rajput - Jai Singh

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Dara fled Delhi, and sought an alliance with Shuja. But Shuja pretended to drop his claim to emperor after Aurangzeb offered him the governorship of Bengal. This move had the affect of isolating Dara and causing some troops to defect to Aurangzeb.

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Shuja, however, uncertain of Aurangzeb's sincerity, continued to battle Aurangzeb. His forces suffered a series of defeats at Aurangzeb's hands. At length, Shuja went into exile in Arakan (in present-day Myanmar) where he disappeared, and was presumed to be dead.

Related Topics:
Arakan - Myanmar

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With Shuhja and Murad disposed of, and with Shah Jahan confined in Agra, Aurangzeb pursued Dara, chasing him across what is now northwest India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. After a series of battles, defeats and retreats, Dara was betrayed by one of his generals, who arrested and bound him.

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In 1659, Aurangzeb arranged a formal coronation in Delhi. He had Dara openly marched in chains back to Delhi; when Dara finally arrived, he had him executed. Legends about the cruelty of this execution abound, including stories that Aurangzeb had Dara's severed head sent to Shah Jahan.

Related Topics:
1659 - Delhi

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Aurangzeb kept Shah Jahan under house arrest at the Red Fort in Agra. Legends concerning this imprisonment abound, for the fort is ironically close to Shah Jahan's great architectural masterpiece, the Taj Mahal. More details of these legends may be found in the article on Shah Jahan.

Related Topics:
Taj Mahal - Shah Jahan

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